Shizuko, Better than Omnath

Commander / EDH Combo Competitive Group Hug Group Slug Mono-Green Ramp

AnonymousNinja7

Creature (24)

• 1x Ant Queen
• 1x Arbor Elf
• 1x Avenger of Zendikar
• 1x Blightsteel Colossus
• 1x Craterhoof Behemoth
• 1x Fyndhorn Elves
• 1x Genesis Hydra
• 1x Kamahl, Fist of Krosa
• 1x Karametra's Acolyte
• 1x Kozilek, Butcher of Truth
• 1x Llanowar Elves
• 1x Magus of the Vineyard
• 1x Omnath, Locus of Mana
• 1x Patron of the Orochi
• 1x Regal Force
• 1x Sakura-Tribe Elder
• 1x Sakura-Tribe Scout
• 1x Seedborn Muse
• 1x Selvala, Heart of the Wilds
• 1x Terastodon
• 1x Walking Ballista
• 1x Wolfbriar Elemental
• 1x Worldspine Wurm
• 1x Yeva, Nature's Herald

Planeswalker (3)

• 1x Freyalise, Llanowar's Fury
• 1x Garruk Wildspeaker
• 1x Nissa, Worldwaker

Enchantment (13)

• 1x Bear Umbra
• 1x Concordant Crossroads
• 1x Defense of the Heart
• 1x Dictate of Karametra
• 1x Eladamri's Vineyard
• 1x Growing Rites of Itlimoc  ^Flip
• 1x Heartbeat of Spring
• 1x Helix Pinnacle
• 1x Mana Reflection
• 1x Rites of Flourishing
• 1x Upwelling
• 1x Vernal Bloom
• 1x Zendikar Resurgent

Artifact (11)

• 1x Caged Sun
• 1x Chrome Mox
• 1x Doubling Cube
• 1x Emerald Medallion
• 1x Extraplanar Lens
• 1x Font of Mythos
• 1x Gauntlet of Power
• 1x Howling Mine
• 1x Mana Crypt
• 1x Sol Ring
• 1x Temple Bell

Instant (1)

• 1x Chord of Calling

Commander (1)

Sorcery (11)

• 1x Animist's Awakening
• 1x Collective Voyage
• 1x Cultivate
• 1x Genesis Wave
• 1x Green Sun's Zenith
• 1x Kodama's Reach
• 1x Nature's Lore
• 1x New Frontiers
• 1x Overwhelming Stampede
• 1x Tempt with Discovery
• 1x Tooth and Nail

Land (36)

• 1x Dryad Arbor
• 1x Gaea's Cradle
• 1x Mosswort Bridge
• 1x Nykthos, Shrine to Nyx
• 1x Oran-Rief, the Vastwood
• 31x Snow-Covered Forest

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Sideboard

Artifact (5)

• 1x Amulet of Vigor
• 1x Planar Portal
• 1x Ring of Three Wishes
• 1x Scroll Rack
• 1x Sensei's Divining Top

Enchantment (4)

• 1x Cream of the Crop
• 1x Mirri's Guile
• 1x Nature's Will
• 1x Sylvan Library

Creature (1)

• 1x Llanowar Druid

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I recently found Shizuko, Caller of Autumn and I immediately fell in love with the card. She allows you to build your mana base extremely fast, while keeping you as the last target on the field, since you are starting the game off by group hugging. In my opinion, she is a far better commander than Omnath, Locus of Mana . Yeah, I am convinced that this snake lady with only 25 decks on EDHREC can do the same job as a tier 1 fear-inducer, but way better.

Let's take a look at the two Commanders:

Omnath, Locus of Mana is a simple commander with a simple goal: make an assload of mana as fast as possible, then beat face with some crazy green card that requires a lot of mana. Though simple, he is extremely effective, and everyone knows it. If you play with omnath, there's a good chance you will be the immediate first target. because of that, most competitive builds spend a lot of card slots on control cards and cards that can protect omnath. After all, omnath is incredibly squishy and has no evasion. And if you manage to survive your first few turns AND keep omnath alive through all the gunfire, AND manage to break through the line of defense that one of your opponents has, its just that: ONE opponent. Since commander is usually played with 3-6 players, that limits his potential. Nevertheless, Omnath remains one of the best voltron commanders, and continues to be at the top of the mono-green commanders list on EDHREC.

Shizuko, Caller of Autumn on the other hand, is completely unheard of. Most people who I have played against with her have to pull the card over and see what she even does. After they do this, the most common reaction is "oh nice, a group hug deck!". So while Omnath will gain you an immediate target on your face, Shizuko gains you immediate alliances with everyone, and they collectively agree to kill you last. One of my favorite parts about this deck is that you need practically no control cards, and not worry about the downsides of cards like Heartbeat of Spring because you are trying to appear as innocent as possible. this allows you to dedicate huge numbers of card slots to fast ramp and alternate win-cons.

Because of these benefits, this deck can ramp to enormous amounts of mana by turn 4-6, and not just with one crazy good hand, but with probably about 70% of starting hands. Just wait until you see the faces of your opponents when the group hug deck plays their whole library on turn 6 with Genesis Wave, or lights off a Helix Pinnacle on turn 5, or kills someone with a hasty Blightsteel Colossus on turn 4, or casts a Green Sun's Zenith into a Craterhoof Behemoth followed by an Overwhelming Stampede on turn 5.

This intense speed matches the best of voltron decks, but it simply doesn't get targeted like they do. If she does get targeted, so what? you don't even need shizuko to win, she is simply your early game ramper. Unlike Omnath, your game plan isn't ruined if one of your win attempts fails. Go ahead, exile my Kozilek, Butcher of Truth , because next turn i'm gonna Tooth and Nail into Avenger of Zendikar and Kamahl, Fist of Krosa And, unlike other group hug decks like Phelddagrif , shizuko doesn't have to struggle and ass-kiss and cross her fingers to win.

I'm using the sideboard for my maybeboard cards so that you can try them out with tappedout's playtest engine.

The amount of fun that every player has, along with their faces of utter shock when I win with this crazy snake lady, makes her my all time favorite commander. As always, give me a +1 if you like it, and all suggestions are welcome

Top Ranked	Achieved #61 position overall 6 years ago
Date added	7 years
Last updated	6 years
Legality	This deck is Commander / EDH legal.
Rarity (main - side)	12 - 2 Mythic Rares 44 - 7 Rares 4 - 0 Uncommons 9 - 1 Commons
Cards	100
Avg. CMC	3.73
Tokens	Beast 3/3 G, Elephant 3-3 G, Elf Druid 1/1 G, Insect 1/1 G, Plant 0/1 G, Wolf 2/2 G, Wurm 5/5 G w/ Trample
Folders	Fun Commander decks, Favorite of the Favorites, recommended, Fun decks, Decks i like, Ideas and inspiration, Commander, Interesting Commander Decks, Decks I like, EDH