Omnath: Rage or Roil?
Commander (EDH) forum
Posted on May 8, 2022, 2:35 a.m. by Triton
I built Omnath about five years ago as my first complete Commander deck. It's my longest-intact deck and I've played many games with it.
I recently came back into the game after a 2-3 year hiatus and have been revising decks as I go. This deck has remained largely unchanged and I've been thinking of swapping commanders to Omnath, Locus of the Roil. I'm a bit torn because both are very fun commanders, and I have a majority of the mana base to add in blue.
My main question is what's everyone's experience with Omnath, Locus of the Roil? I've played Angry Omnath long enough to know I get targeted extremely frequently, and it's a bit tiresome repeatedly casting my commander for 12 mana. I've been wanting to build with all the cool simic cards that play more lands so I'm super interested in landfall goodstuff!
TypicalTimmy says... #3
By the way, I don't actually recall if I've seen this "combo" yet, but you can use Dryad Arbor and some sort of flicker, like Deadeye Navigator to get massive and draw a ton of cards - especially on someone's endstep.
- Sidenote: If you have global haste, such as Fervor or Anger, your Dryad Arbor can tap for , which can be used to pay the of Deadeye Navigator's . Then, from here, all you need is . If you do this, it costs you a single each time to blink Dryad Arbor. Now, if you happen to have something such as, oh I don't know... Chromatic Lantern, Fervor, Dryad Arbor, Deadeye Navigator and Training Grounds in play, well now your Dryad Arbor taps for and you can infinite-flicker her. Screw the +1/+1 counters and draw at that point, because Impact Tremors just became your wincon. There's a reason I'm a "Typical Timmy" :p
Similarly, a Rite of Replication would immediately put 5 lands into play.
Just food for thought ;)
May 8, 2022 3:07 a.m. Edited.
Thank youTypicalTimmy! I might try Roil for a bit, and worst case I can throw the UG pieces into a Simic money pile deck because I have some cards I want to put into decks sometime.
Also on a sidenote, that's a super fun combo! I have haste outlets in the deck already because of all the tokens Angry Omnom generates. Also dang, when did DEN become $10? I remember when it was $1-2, as with many other cards haha.
I definitely like the combos and interactions that blue opens up, like Retreat to Coralhelm + Sakura-Tribe Scout + bouncelands for infinite landfall triggers, pair that with Amulet of Vigor and you have infinite mana to boot!
May 8, 2022 3:13 a.m.
TypicalTimmy says... #5
Yeah, Roil is kinda strange in that regard. Being in Temur, many players will tell you that the key to win is to go infinte... but that is how TEMUR wins. Anything in those colors will win with going infinite; This is not mutually exclusive to Roil.
What Roil does is gives you the card advantage to make it easier, but again you're already in Temur so going infinite is child's play.
The way Omnath, Locus of the Roil WANTS to win is clearly via combat damage with big chonky bois. Clearly, his +1/+1 counters are intended to make himself bigger and eventually draw you into more lands, more land tutors, or more Elementals to keep the ball rolling. Going infinite is the easier route, and if you're in Temur or Temur+, there are better options to be had. That combo I mentioned works in literally any deck with those colors.
So I always find it a bit silly when someone tries to correct this notion, because it's like "yeh but like no?" lol
May 8, 2022 3:20 a.m.
plakjekaas says... #6
Omnath, Locus of Rage is the overt, "look at me being dangerous" commander.
Omnath, Locus of the Roil is a value engine that adds blue to your color identity. Mystic Sanctuary loops, tricksy stuff like Avenger of Zendikar with Mystic Reflection, loops with Walking Atlas and Retreat to Coralhelm, maybe Roil Elemental, blue really adds a lot to landfall decks that Gruul just can't provide. Or you could be Oneshotting people with Sylvan Awakening, turning 25 lands into elementals, playing your commander and sending the ETB trigger to someone's face.
Gruul and Temur Omnath just will not result in the same decks, the same way that the average OG Omnath, Locus of Mana deck won't look much like the Gruul Omnath deck. Just try and see if the blue additions fit your playstyle, and save a decklists for the Gruul build, in case it doesn't.
I will say that Omnath, Locus of Rage does belong in the 99 of Omnath, Locus of the Roil, because Risen Reef is one hell of an elemental.
May 8, 2022 10:41 a.m.
plakjekaas thank you! I’ve been playing with more value-based (vs combo) decks as of late so it sounds quite appealing the way you put it! ;) Gruul Omnath is very straightforward, and I do enjoy the playstyle a lot, but might start collecting cards for a Temur Omnath list! I have a good amount for a sort of landfall-RUG goodstuffs deck.
TypicalTimmy says... #2
In my experience, what I've seen is Roil tends to fall apart very quickly. One spot removal or wrath and suddenly your +1/+1 counters and wincons are gone. You could have used a fetch into a basic, then played that fetch from the yard to get another basic and have 4 lands enter that turn and get +4/+4 in counters and swing, and someone bounces / blocks / kills and suddenly all of that work went for nothing.
But Omrath Locus of GGs stops this negative interaction by punishing. Your same 4 lands netted you 4 tokens, each of whom punish if they die.
So, in my experience, Omnath, Locus of Rage always plays far more superior than Omnath, Locus of the Roil. Rage is simply more robust.
However, admittedly Roil does give you card advantage. For example, the above mentioned 4 lands and if you are at that trigger point, that is also an additional 4 cards.
So really the balance of design comes down to this:
Roil will load your hand so you can win on the spot later on in the game by giving you answers and combo pieces from the excessive amount of draw you're about to have. Your easiest build would be almost a Voltron-like +1/+1 counter build where you protect Roil, so he gets super massive and you maintain a full grip, waiting to Cyclonic Rift when someone swings at you. If you build this way, your goal would be to eventually clear the board and 1-shot an opponent, take an extra turn and 1-shot another. Pass, and when the final opponent says they can't win, you take the victory in strides.
When I've played against Roil, that was always the method that seemed the most consistent.
May 8, 2022 2:52 a.m.