Azusa or Omnath?

Commander (EDH) forum

Posted on April 14, 2015, 9:11 a.m. by Xavier4238

Could I please get an experienced edh player (Or anyone who knows their stuff) to outline the pros and cons of Azusa, Lost but Seeking compared to Omnath, Locus of Mana as your commander for a green fatty edh?

Xavier4238 says... #2

I don't know if that is grammatically correct ... basically I would like to know which one should be my commander, and also whether I can switch them in and out? Or are their respective decks very different? :)

\

April 14, 2015 9:13 a.m.

Necrotize says... #3

Both can play very similarly and can be switched out easily. In fact most decks featuring one usually have the other. A devoted Azusa deck will usually be a bit more heavy on the land side, while an Omnath deck will probably have more protection so that you don't lose your commander and all that mana you stored up.

As for which one is better, I'd have to say Azusa would be more consistent if you fine tuned the deck and filled it with goodstuff while Omnath would be more suited to a voltron style deck aiming for commander damage kills. Main reason is that all that floating mana from Omnath disappears if he's killed, but all those extra lands you play with Azusa don't get destroyed when she does.

April 14, 2015 9:23 a.m.

lemmingllama says... #4

Omnath, Locus of Mana is useful in the short term and long term due to the fact he can get big, and he can hold mana for a turn to cast a fatty the next. Azusa, Lost but Seeking doesn't do a lot in the long term, but in the early game she ramps hard and allows things like Scute Mob and Budoka Gardener to get huge. However, you need to run more lands in an Azusa deck, which means less things happening typically. I prefer Omnath.

That being said, both could be used interchangeably. It's just that Omnath is primarily better as a Green goodstuff general.

April 14, 2015 9:26 a.m.

I would agree with Azusa being more streamlined however I love mono green and find that lesser known green commanders fly under the radar better in multiplayer. I really love Yisan, the Wanderer Bard for that

April 14, 2015 9:28 a.m.

Xavier4238 says... #6

Thanks everyone, some great opinions :)

one thing I find about azusa, is that she can very quickly shut a game down with land destruction/mana deprivation. A primary wincon if you have the pieces can be a Crucible of Worlds + Strip Mine interaction (or something of the sort). It's quite easy to set up with a few tutors and there are all sorts of variations on it, and her reputation for brutal land destruction is widely known. This makes her a bit more vulnerable in multiplayer games as she can be a glaring target. However, I would still personally lean towards her in favour of omnath, as he generally is strongest in a voltronish build (as pointed out by Necrotize) .

lemmingllama you're quite right about the increased lands, if you don't have an efficient draw engine or filterer (such as courser or Oracle of Mul Daya) you can get stuck with no options to play. I particularly like Abundance in azusa builds.

Thanks for the thoughts, keep them coming though! I love a good debate and can see good reasons for both sides.

April 14, 2015 10:06 a.m.

Xavier4238 says... #7

fadelightningmm yisan is indeed an interesting commander, however it is a completely different build with him I find. He is almost a slower legendary birthing pod, and as such that would be the focus of the deck rather than excessive mana ramp.

April 14, 2015 10:08 a.m.

-Fulcrum says... #8

I played Azusa for about a year before moving on, and it's a ton of fun, but definitely a short game. You can build it to be more casual and multiplayer, or you can build it (like I did) to land an Eldrazi on Turn Four and ruin lives.

April 14, 2015 11:28 a.m.

Pedrodamus says... #9

I debated on both, and eventually went with Omnath. He can be a lot of fun, if built correctly. At first I was running Canopy Cover, Whispersilk Cloak, Rancor, Bear Umbra, etc, etc, and he was a Voltronesque type of General for me and I did win with him that way, but not as much as I have since he went through several transformations into the deck I run now. Honestly, Voltron is not the way to go with Omnath, in my personal opinion, it draws super hate because of how large he can become.

Feel free to check my Omnath list out on my profile if you want to get an idea of where to go :)

April 14, 2015 11:59 a.m.

thegigibeast says... #10

I played a deck with Omnath, Locus of Mana for a long time now, and I consider it greater than Azusa, Lost but Seeking. In term of consistency, maybe not, but he is far much stronger. For a good deck with him, you need to pack a lot of protection, cause it will be a target. I think it is kinda the same for the lady. Late game, he is far much stronger, and accumulating mana in a commander to kill someone with a Concordant Crossroads + Genesis Wave is really fun! Like said before, go the voltron style, Silent Arbiter, all the Swords, a lot of artifacts, and you should be fine!

April 14, 2015 12:10 p.m.

Omnath Helix Pinnacle would be fun

April 14, 2015 12:49 p.m.

Didgeridooda says... #12

I have run Omnath for like 4 years now. I love him. I think they are both very good, but I feel Azusa is better. She has an immediate impact when she resolves, Omnath takes a bit more to get going. Azusa resolves, you have priority, drop land, retain priority, drop land, then she gets kill spelled. Also, Recycle is an auto add to both. It is just better in Azusa though.

That said, they are very different decks. I see Azusa as a straight forward beat face deck. I see Omnath with a little more possibility for somewhat control. That is how I play Omnath. Azusa runs tons more lands in the deck that take those spots though.

I built Omnath because that is one of the low cost legends I had when I started playing EDH. Omnastic if you want to check it out. Recently changed it over to french by putting in the sideboard.

April 14, 2015 1:19 p.m.

-Fulcrum says... #13

Didge brings up a good point. Recycle is completely bonkers in Azusa. Like, draw 50 cards in one turn bonkers. Also, Horn of Greed.

April 14, 2015 2:12 p.m.

Omnath, Locus of Mana seems to be a higher impact card by itself, where Azusa, Lost but Seeking usually acts strictly as utility to feed into your decks win cons. I would say the choice is dependent on how you want to win.

April 15, 2015 2:12 p.m.

MirranTitan says... #15

Yeah, Azusa allows you to play more land tricks, Scrying Sheets kind of tricks. Also, azusa tends to be very consistent, I feel like there are not always instants to capitalize on your additional mana with omnath, true though, he becomes large very fast. But Path to Exile and cards like that are present, and what, you Momentous Fall? Krosan Grip maybe? nah. azusa creates a very permanent board state that allows your to resolve power cards like Vorinclex, Voice of Hunger very swiftly. omnath feels a little slow to me. With Azusa, you can end up with more mana very quick.

April 16, 2015 6:59 a.m.

This discussion has been closed