Hello Everyone! I'm Levi from The Thought Vessel and welcome back to Commander Kryptonite, the series that looks at some of the nastiest commanders in the entire format, how they work, their strengths and weaknesses, and ultimately, how to beat them. This week we are looking at the Angry Jellybean himself, Omnath, Locus of Rage. These decks can be extremely powerful landfall decks with subtle typal synergies splashed in as well. It also packs one of the biggest lose-lose choices in all of Commander. Before we get too far into the plan, let's take a closer look at Omnath.

The Commander and Deck

Omnath, Locus of Rage made its debut in Battle for Zendikar. Costing a staggering 7 mana, Omnath is on the higher end of the curve from what we typically expect to see in the command zone. This never seems to be a big issue, however, since this commander loves nothing more than to put lands into play early and often. In fact, the average Omnath deck on EDHREC runs 39 lands, with some individual lists going even higher. The deck itself wants to take advantage of all of these lands by playing as many landfall synergies as possible, including with Omnath itself, that cashes the landfall triggers into 3/3 Elementals. The tough choice comes with removal: every time an Elemental is destroyed, Omnath is going to deal out 3 damage to any target. This could be simple board control, or a high output of non-combat damage. When there are enough Elementals in play, a simple board wipe could lead to lethal damage to the rest of the table. Here is an example of an Omnath deck you might see at your local game store.

Omnath, Locus of Rage | Commander

• Commander (1)
• 1 Omnath, Locus of Rage

• Creatures (23)
• 1 Ancient Greenwarden
• 1 Avenger of Zendikar
• 1 Azusa, Lost but Seeking
• 1 Courser of Kruphix
• 1 Dryad of the Ilysian Grove
• 1 Eternal Witness
• 1 Geode Rager
• 1 Goblin Anarchomancer
• 1 Lotus Cobra
• 1 Mina and Denn, Wildborn
• 1 Moraug, Fury of Akoum
• 1 Mossborn Hydra
• 1 Multani, Yavimaya's Avatar
• 1 Oracle of Mul Daya
• 1 Phylath, World Sculptor
• 1 Rampaging Baloths
• 1 Ramunap Excavator
• 1 Sakura-Tribe Elder
• 1 Scute Swarm
• 1 Springbloom Druid
• 1 Tireless Provisioner
• 1 Tireless Tracker
• 1 Titania, Protector of Argoth

• Planeswalkers (1)
• 1 Nissa, Vital Force

• Instants (7)
• 1 Beast Within
• 1 Chaos Warp
• 1 Crop Rotation
• 1 Entish Restoration
• 1 Harrow
• 1 Return of the Wildspeaker
• 1 Roiling Regrowth

• Sorceries (14)
• 1 Awaken the Woods
• 1 Blasphemous Act
• 1 Cultivate
• 1 Explore
• 1 Farseek
• 1 Kodama's Reach
• 1 Nature's Lore
• 1 Nissa's Pilgrimage
• 1 Rampant Growth
• 1 Scapeshift
• 1 Shamanic Revelation
• 1 Skyshroud Claim
• 1 Three Visits
• 1 Splendid Reclamation

• Enchantments (10)
• 1 Elemental Bond
• 1 Exploration
• 1 Garruk's Uprising
• 1 Goblin Bombardment
• 1 Greater Good
• 1 Khalni Heart Expedition
• 1 Perilous Forays
• 1 Warstorm Surge
• 1 Where Ancients Tread
• 1 Zendikar's Roil

• Artifacts (5)
• 1 Arcane Signet
• 1 Conduit of Worlds
• 1 Crucible of Worlds
• 1 Sol Ring
• 1 Swiftfoot Boots

• Lands (39)
• 18 Forest
• 3 Mountain
• 1 Blighted Woodland
• 1 Cabaretti Courtyard
• 1 Cinder Glade
• 1 Command Tower
• 1 Evolving Wilds
• 1 Fabled Passage
• 1 Ghost Town
• 1 Gruul Turf
• 1 Myriad Landscape
• 1 Reliquary Tower
• 1 Riveteers Overlook
• 1 Rockfall Vale
• 1 Rootbound Crag
• 1 Sheltered Thicket
• 1 Stomping Ground
• 1 Terramorphic Expanse
• 1 Windswept Heath
• 1 Wooded Foothills

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Strengths

The strength of an Omnath deck is in the resilience and built-in alternate win condition with non-combat damage. With the amount of lands that this deck can play, having Omnath get destroyed might as well be a simple bounce spell because the odds of the Omnath player having the mana to recast even after a few times being removed is a lot higher than one might expect. The non-combat damage output from Elementals being destroyed allows overgrown boardstates to be protected in ways that battlecruiser-style decks normally don't have access to.

Weaknesses

As most decks like this go, it can be a slow grind to get the value engine online, and players have to decide between rushing to get Omnath out early and losing out on landfall triggers, or being even slower and holding some ramp spells back for later. With a slower start, some decks can get early hits in or even hold up removal to set the Omnath player back even further. There are only a finite number of lands in a landfall deck, so if Omnath isn't able to close out the game after the first couple of waves of creatures, the deck might run out of gas. Additionally, if any player can prevent landfall triggers from occurring, the game for Omnath is over.

Here are some cards to look out for.

1. Ancient Greenwarden - This deck is brutal enough without having all the landfall abilities doubled. If that wasn't brutal enough, having the ability to replay lands from the graveyard like fetch lands to keep the value engine flowing can make this deck nearly impossible to stop.
2. Moraug, Fury of Akoum - This is more of a finisher, but having multiple combats to go with the dying Elementals is a lot of damage. With simple fetch lands and enough bodies, no one is going to see another turn.
3. Tribute to the World Tree - This is particularly strong in this deck since Omnath's tokens are 3/3 creatures. Tribute to the World Tree will see each one as it enters and draw a card, allowing this Red/Green deck to keep up with Aesi or Tuvasa as far as card draw is concerned. The thought of that is incredibly scary, and this enchantment cannot stay in play.
4. Goblin Bombardment - This also goes for really any sacrifice outlet. Having the instant-speed ability to start throwing 4 damage per creature can prevent the table from playing anything, almost like an Aura Shards. You almost want to force the issue with the Omnath player so they cannot hold the table hostage until they can win over the top.

How to beat Omnath

Like other commanders we talk about here on Commander Kryptonite, your avenue to victory can really depend on what your deck is capable of. If you are playing a deck that has a lower curve and can attack, take advantage of those free hits from the start while Omnath is ramping. Though it may not look like they are doing much, sacrificing the early game to have explosive turns is a choice that should not go without consequences. If possible, prevent any sacrifice outlets from being in play and dig to find removal that won't destroy. In a worst-case scenario where that might not be the case, work with the table to see if anyone can remove Omnath before sweeping the crest of the creatures to prevent that excess damage. Great cards to look for here are cards like Cyclonic Rift and Farewell, since they can sweep a board but not destroy anything, thus blanking the Omnath triggers. Between the chip damage from before and preventing excess non-combat damage from taking out the table, it shouldn't be too long into the later parts of the game where a card like a stronger flying creature might be able to swing for lethal.

If you are still struggling with Omnath, consider adding the following cards to your deck.

1. Elesh Norn, Mother of Machines - This card can prevent all landfall triggers while doubling up your enter-the-battlefield effects. This will stop Omnath dead in their tracks but will likely draw some hate from at least one other player at the table.
2. Farewell - As I mentioned earlier, these board wipes are really nice in this matchup since it gets around the death triggers with Omnath and that 3 damage per creature. This is a safe way to set everyone back to square one.
3. Insurrection - If you can't beat them, take them! Omnath decks normally don't run fog effects and usually build up quite the board before overextending, so simply cast Insurrection and send those creatures back where they came from.

And there you have it! This is how to go about defeating the angry jellybean. If you have a commander you would like to see featured on Commander Kryptonite, send me an email at thoughtvesselshow@gmail.com. Until next time, happy gaming!