[Deck] MonoU OmniTell

[Matsaya]

Every first Wish after Omni is always Wish -> FF, because it's literally Wish -> Wish + Brainstorm + what you put in 2cc slot. And only after it second Wish goes for what you need.
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I agree. But my problem is that if you want to answer the trigger of an o-ring you use the second wish for trickbind and all you have in hand is brainstorm + a 2cc card. In monoblue version this usually means brainstorm + impulse.
In that case you have to hope to find something good (other cantrips are ok) in the top 7 cards.

[Cave]

It is very likely the solidarity player will go off in response to show and tell and not the annihilator 6 trigger so the example seems bad. Even if this is the case a decent solidarity player would likely play high tide during the upkeep anyways. Reset can't be played at this point (which you falsly stated above) but trying to make high tide resolve is crucial and not giving the opponent a chance to draw a counter is often correct. Now IF the pretty bad example with high tide in response to Annihilator 6 occur it is FALSE that solidarity can't win.

Either he wishes for surgical extraction with the emrakul-shuffle trigger on the stack OR he Blue sun's zenith for the rest.

Trickbind does very little as Solidarity can use Snapcaster Mage to recast Brain Freeze.

I still agree that using Solidarity as an example for anything is pretty pointless as you are right that it's not a real deck (sadly). I still want to make sure nobody thinks your post is correct.

My post is correct overall. My only mistake was believing Reset can be used only during upkeep and not only after; and that mistake occurred because it's been like one year and a half since i saw someone playing that deck. LOL
Solidarity is a deck that is well known for failing to combo on its own much more often than wanted.
Now you are trying to say it can win by freeze+recast freeze with snapcaster to overcome trickbind+extract emrakul+draw spell through our permission? Yes it can.
Chances are it will most likely not happen though.
And by the way, if it can win through all the struggles our deck puts into its way NATURALLY and effortlessly (i.e. emrakul just sitting in the deck, we don't have to do anything and it already hinders them a bit), then wishing for RtA is not a valid solution.
Solidarity is not a reason for this deck to pack RtA, I seriously have to advocate for that.
We have many many many better options.

@Kharumies i'm not mad at you for any reason, you don't have to apologize. It's just that I strongly disagree with your point there
I know it can happen as it did to you. However, OmniTell is a way different deck from SnS. 90% of the time if you have emrakul in play, you have taken an extra turn and dug through most of your deck. So i guess it's really no problem. As Mackan correctly states, their best options is going off in response to SnT, but we have plenty of ways to handle that.

@Baum: You need trickbind. Standard sidein plan for most aggro-ish decks is EtB-Exile-Permanent-effects.
However, Release the Ants is just not necessary. If they can win instant speed, they will do it in response to SnT.
If you pack curfew, you get the same "i win 100%" effect, you can bounce something for annihilator 12+1, and you get a *decent* side-in option. While it's not as good as Rushing River or Wipe Away, at least it *does* something instead of sitting there like RtA just because you want to be cool and finish the game with a spell.

[Baum]

It you run LDV you can simply kill them with Wish > Foresight > BS/LDV/Wish > RtA at instant speed in response to their exile trigger. So you don't need a Stifle effect in your board. That's what I tried to point out.

[Chronatog]

It's surprising to see so many posts about Black-Blue OmniTell in the thread dedicated to Mono Blue deck ("MonoU OmniTell"). Anyway. Getting back to MonoU.

Did anyone use Ensnare and/or Mindbreak Trap in SB as targets for Cunning Wish against fast decks?

For example, Elves can be fast and very nasty, and if we don't have any hard counters when they go off (e.g. [cads]Force of Will[/cards]) we are finished. So in situation when we have three mana available, but no counters in hand, we either can a) try to find Force of Will, or b) wish for some "free" spell from SB, stop them, and go off ourselves next turn.

In (a) we potentially can dig as deeply as 7 cards - 4 with Impulse and 3 more with Brainstorm (assuming that we can cast only instants). However, there is still a chance that we don't find Force of Will. And most likely we will not have both Impulse and Branstorm, taking into account that typically there is only on Impulse in our deck. So realistically we will be able to operate with the top four cards (assuming two Brainstorms).

So (b) looks like a sure deal - wish for Mindmreak Trap to counter Natural Order or Craterhoof Behemoth, or for Esnare to tap all creatures. The last one can be tricky since we would cast it for an alternative cost and if we don't already have Show and Tell, Omniscience, and any sol land in our hand, we are finished. There is still a chance to top deck a sol land though, but very slim.

All this sound complicated, and ideally it would be much easier to card Intuition for three Force of Wills, but I like to have optionality in case we have only Cunning Wish.

I never tried Ensnare or Mindbreak Trap for the situation described above so if you have some thoughts or practical observation, please share.

[Mackan]

It's surprising to see so many posts about Black-Blue OmniTell in the thread dedicated to Mono Blue deck ("MonoU OmniTell"). Anyway. Getting back to MonoU.

Did anyone use Ensnare and/or Mindbreak Trap in SB as targets for Cunning Wish against fast decks?

For example, Elves can be fast and very nasty, and if we don't have any hard counters when they go off (e.g. [cads]Force of Will[/cards]) we are finished. So in situation when we have three mana available, but no counters in hand, we either can a) try to find Force of Will, or b) wish for some "free" spell from SB, stop them, and go off ourselves next turn.

In (a) we potentially can dig as deeply as 7 cards - 4 with Impulse and 3 more with Brainstorm (assuming that we can cast only instants). However, there is still a chance that we don't find Force of Will. And most likely we will not have both Impulse and Branstorm, taking into account that typically there is only on Impulse in our deck. So realistically we will be able to operate with the top four cards (assuming two Brainstorms).

So (b) looks like a sure deal - wish for Mindmreak Trap to counter Natural Order or Craterhoof Behemoth, or for Esnare to tap all creatures. The last one can be tricky since we would cast it for an alternative cost and if we don't already have Show and Tell, Omniscience, and any sol land in our hand, we are finished. There is still a chance to top deck a sol land though, but very slim.

All this sound complicated, and ideally it would be much easier to card Intuition for three Force of Wills, but I like to have optionality in case we have only Cunning Wish.

I never tried Ensnare or Mindbreak Trap for the situation described above so if you have some thoughts or practical observation, please share.

Omnishow is about as fast as elves so using sideboard slots for a goldfish scenario when you need a wish AND can go off the next turn is likely not worth it. If elves is a big problem in your local meta I would play grafdigger's cage in this slot and use my wishes to set up for the combo instead. Cage is also a great card va dredge and reanimator, both beeing ok choices in the current meta.

[Arksz]

So quick question
My opponent has out a Thalia and I have a resolved omniscience. I want to cast dig through time for free. Can I exile 1 card to cast it for free or does the tax effect make me pay one mana?

It seems they changed the way delve works after the cards were released so I'm a bit unfamiliar with it.

[Karhumies]

@ Chronatog

In the 1 mana disruption slot, Spell Pierce and Flusterstorm are the "big tournament currently expected legacy metagame" choices. However, if you feel that in your FLGS you absolutely want to hit creatures as well in a monoblue build, you can try going into "Old Fogey mode" and experiment with a Force Spike or two. If they play into it, that will buy you some time; if they play around it, that will also buy you some time.

Typically, our deck is much more interested in countering non-creatures though. But if you know there's Thalia, E.Canonist, Elf combo and Gaddock Teeg heading your way in masses that's an option.

[pandaman]

Force of Will + Flusterstorm main and Thoughtseize side will allow you to beat Elves. I haven't lost to it yet.

[Chronatog]

Omnishow is about as fast as elves so using sideboard slots for a goldfish scenario when you need a wish AND can go off the next turn is likely not worth it. If elves is a big problem in your local meta I would play grafdigger's cage in this slot and use my wishes to set up for the combo instead. Cage is also a great card va dredge and reanimator, both beeing ok choices in the current meta.

Grafdigger's Cage is a good option. Though, I am not sure that it is reasonable to have several of them in main deck. At least three of them if we want to use Intuition to find it. And if it is in SB, it is too late to wish for it in the first round because we first need to survive at least three turns to be able to cast it.

My intent is to add some cards to SB that would help to handle a variety of decks in the first round.

[Chronatog]

@ Chronatog
In the 1 mana disruption slot, Spell Pierce and Flusterstorm are the "big tournament currently expected legacy metagame" choices. However, if you feel that in your FLGS you absolutely want to hit creatures as well in a monoblue build, you can try going into "Old Fogey mode" and experiment with a Force Spike or two. If they play into it, that will buy you some time; if they play around it, that will also buy you some time.

So far my experience with Elves tells me that most of the soft counters don't work well against them. Elves players know about Daze, Spell Pierce, and others, and have plenty of mana available. Flusterstorm is good for decks that play a lot of cheap spells and the most important later during their turn (Elves is a good example). However, they also know about Flusterstorm and may cast the most important spells/creatures during the first main phase to have both extra mana available and keep count of spells played low. Plus, Flusterstorm is pretty expensive and I am not sure that it adds much value to the deck for its $$$ price.

However, if you feel that in your FLGS you absolutely want to hit creatures as well in a monoblue build, you can try going into "Old Fogey mode" and experiment with a Force Spike or two. If they play into it, that will buy you some time; if they play around it, that will also buy you some time.

Typically, our deck is much more interested in countering non-creatures though. But if you know there's Thalia, E.Canonist, Elf combo and Gaddock Teeg heading your way in masses that's an option.

Personally, back then I liked Disrupt more than Force Spike. However, in this environment, I think, Spell Snare is more relevant for OmniTell than any other counters, except Force of Will. Most of our worst disruptions are creatures with cmc2 or some cards like Umezawa's Jitte. So Spell Snare feels all right except against Chalice of the Void.

[Chronatog]

Force of Will + Flusterstorm main and Thoughtseize side will allow you to beat Elves. I haven't lost to it yet.

I like the idea of splashing Black and adding some discard spells. However, just right now I am working on a MonoU version. It looks like it can play pretty well and just needs some SB adjustments.

[pandaman]

It does play well, admittedly. But your worst matchups are faster combo (Elves and Storm) and Reanimator. Elves is a DtB, Reanimator is seeing not insignificant play, and we all know from recent tournaments how deep Storm can go (in the hands of a strong pilot it is, in my opinion, the best deck in Legacy). The Delver/Stoneblade/BUG Control/Jund/Junk/D&T matchups aren't too bad for us. 4 Thoughtseize in the board, combined with your 4 FoW and Spell Pierces/Flusterstorm in the main deck, make it so that Storm/Reanimator/Elves really have to God-draw you to win. They are matchups you'll likely lose to if you don't have some cards in. Thoughtseize can also be used against Miracles effectively. And Black gives you Massacre for D&T and those pesky UWx decks and now BUG Control splashing W for Meddling Mage.

[KO Bossy]

OK so I've spent the afternoon doing some testing online.

Thoughts:

FF is such a god card for this deck its insane. Not a surprise but seeing it in action makes even more of an impact. As if people didn't know already, this should be Wish target #1.

I also like both RtA and Emrakul as win triggers off of Omniscience. Kind of a 1-2 punch. Finish off game 1 with Emrakul, then your opponent may assume that's the win con. Then throw them a curveball game 2 with RtA and they may not see it coming. Both work well, I think.

[lost_ronin_soul]

I have an omnitell list and have two questions to help me sideboard better. With a standard mono blue list, 1What is the best sideboard strategy against another mono blue list? 2. What is the basic sideboard strategy against a omnitell list running red splash for burning wish (yes, rare but meta game specific)?

[pinkfrosting]

I have an omnitell list and have two questions to help me sideboard better. With a standard mono blue list, 1What is the best sideboard strategy against another mono blue list? 2. What is the basic sideboard strategy against a omnitell list running red splash for burning wish (yes, rare but meta game specific)?

1. Generally I find in the mono U mirror that, when either you or the other player decide to put omniscience in play, that you want to end the stack with a C-wish for wipe away, then wipe away their omniscience. The power of split second in this type of stack war is crazy, and there's really nothing they can do about it. Let them burn their flusterstorms and defensive spells on your digs and cantrips, then wish away their Omni. If they cast a wish then you pretty much have to wish in response then try and defend it, if you suspect they're going for the same line. If you can probe them a turn or two before the Omni turn you can get enough info to know whether or not you can win the war. Also, if your opponent is inexperienced, they may even have more wishes/counters and lose if you go for it.

The average game might look something like this

Opponent casts show and tell
You both put down Omni
Opponent attempts to dig
You attempt to dig
Opponent attempts to brainstorm
You attempt to impulse
Opponent attempts to cunning wish
You attempt to cunning wish
Opponent attempts to force
You defend it with whatever countspells you have left
Wish resolves, wipe away their Omni

I actually also side 1 dream halls in my mono U list to break the symmetry in these types of matchups. It's great in mirror, vs reanimator, and vs miracles as well as any other fringe decks where the symmetry of show and tell can be dangerous (aluren, etc...)

2. The SB strategy against UR Omni is exactly the same, and even easier for us because they have fewer instants in their hand most of the time.

[Ogh!]

I actually also side 1 dream halls in my mono U list to break the symmetry in these types of matchups. It's great in mirror, vs reanimator, and vs miracles as well as any other fringe decks where the symmetry of show and tell can be dangerous (aluren, etc...)

I don't understand this point as Dream Halls allows your opponent to benefit from its effect as well. Would you please elaborate?

[Spam]

Cast defense Grid, cast Dream Halls and then cast your Omniscience or your single copy of Enter the Infinite for some funny wins. In the mirror, my plan is to basicly side out Show and tell and just wait for them to cast it; from there I try to bring more instants to the table.

[Lans89]

I don't understand this point as Dream Halls allows your opponent to benefit from its effect as well. Would you please elaborate?

See Dream Halls as Show and Tell number 5 in the mirror, not as 5th omni. So you play Omni after Dream Halls and win from there. Your opp is able to do some stuff, but you'll have more cards to cast with Omni.

[lost_ronin_soul]

1. Generally I find in the mono U mirror that, when either you or the other player decide to put omniscience in play, that you want to end the stack with a C-wish for wipe away, then wipe away their omniscience. The power of split second in this type of stack war is crazy, and there's really nothing they can do about it. Let them burn their flusterstorms and defensive spells on your digs and cantrips, then wish away their Omni. If they cast a wish then you pretty much have to wish in response then try and defend it, if you suspect they're going for the same line. If you can probe them a turn or two before the Omni turn you can get enough info to know whether or not you can win the war. Also, if your opponent is inexperienced, they may even have more wishes/counters and lose if you go for it.

Thanks for the fast reply. I been thinking about possibilty tackling that problem with cunning wish before going off. This way as soon as i have priority i can wipe away their omniscience. Is it better to hold cunning wish for the counter war of to go for cunning wish->wipe away at the end step of opponent's turn so you have the answer ready to go?

[Poron]

how does Dream Halls break any simmetry?

the only card that breaks consistently the simmetry is Gitaxian Probe, allowing you to see his hand and decide if you want to combo off or dig more