This deck aims to play/ramp a lot of lands and take advantage of landfall synergies, especially omnath's ability to create 4 mana, and win in a variety of ways! Piloting this deck is like solving a complex puzzle because there are so many interactions to consider and different lines to victory. The deck is really good because ramping and playing lands is something ever deck wants and needs to do already, so we are making a good strategy even better using landfall cards. The deck also has a blink sub-theme (blinking omnath gives a draw and resets the landfall ability counter), and is loaded with tutors and infinite combos.
The typical strategy is to play a ramp effect on turn 1 and/or 2, then play omnath turn 3, and on turn 4 play a fetch land to generate 4 mana from omnath's landfall ability, giving you 9 mana on turn 4. You can use cards like Lotus Cobra and Aesi, Tyrant of Gyre Strait to generate even more mana or card draw from playing lands, and then get more lands out with cards like Azusa, Lost but Seeking or Scapeshift. I'll talk more about the numerous combos and synergies below.
I put this deck in bracket 4 for now, even though it can often hang with bracket 5 decks, because the deck could be even better if I replaced some of the synergy-dependent cards with more interaction or high-value staples (e.g. Rhystic Study). But that would make the deck less unique and less fun imo. The Dockside Extortionist ban also hit this deck hard--I replaced it with peregrine drake which can still do the same thing (most notably, go infinite with Emiel the Blessed) for 3 more mana, but the ability to tutor dockside and blink or copy the ETB with cards like Virtue of Knowledge, Ephemerate, Springheart Nantuko permitted some very early explosiveness.
The deck has 7 game changers, if you want to make it bracket 3 with 3 game changers, I'd recommend keeping Crop RotationGC, Field of the DeadGC, and Mystical TutorGC. Those 3 are most integral to the game plan.
How does the deck actually win? (e.g. after going infinite)
- Combat damage
- Moraug, Fury of Akoum
- Finale of Devastation
- Field of the DeadGC or overwhelming with other creatures
- Direct damage
- Valakut, the Molten Pinnacle (especially when paired with Dryad of the Ilysian Grove!)
- Omnath, Locus of Creation's 3rd ability (can blink him to trigger multiple times)
Strategies and Tips for lands:
- When possible, save fetch lands for when omnath or another landfall effect is in play, to maximize landfalls.
- Try to get 3 islands out early, in case you need to use Mystic Sanctuary, which can be fetched with any blue fetch since it's an island
- To maximize the chance of getting 7 differently named lands for Field of the DeadGC, search for a snow-covered basic or vise versa if you already have the other
- If you already have Valakut, the Molten Pinnacle in play, get mountains when searching; otherwise, I like to avoid them to maximize the impact of Scapeshift.
- There are many options with Scapeshift. The big decision is usually whether to go for Valakut triggers or not. Valakut requires 6 mountains total, and the deck plays 7. The decision will depend on board state. Aside from Valakut, getting Field of the DeadGC is a must as it will create 7+ zombies if you get 7+ lands. Those zombies can even be used for Chord of Calling. Fetch lands are always good ofc, and Krosan Verge, and you can also grab bounce lands to return the other lands which come in tapped and then play them the same turn. This can be used to bounce and cycle triomes (e.g. Ketria Triome) for card draw if needed.
Combos (check mark = infinite landfall/life only, or limited by cards in deck):
- Emiel the Blessed
- [ ] + Peregrine Drake
- [ ] + Ashaya, Soul of the Wild
- [ ] + omnath
- [ ] + lotus cobra
- [ ] + Kodama + bounce land
- [ ] + 2 lotus cobra + Kodama + bounce land
- [x] + 3 lotus cobra
- [ ] + omnath
- [ ] + Kodama + bounce land + elesh norn
- [ ] + ashaya + (see above)
- [x] + springbloom + elesh norn
- [x] + ghostly flicker + mystic sanctuary
- [x] + Kodama + bounce land + 3 lotus cobra
- [ ] Ghostly flicker + mystic sanctuary
- [ ] + landfall draw
- [ ] + omnath
- [ ] + lotus cobra
- [ ] + dockside
- [x] + sol ring
- [ ] + omnath
- [ ] + landfall draw
- [ ] + elesh norn
- [ ] + kodama + bounce land/mina & denn
- [ ] + risen reef
- [x] + emiel
- [x] + 2 lotus cobra
- [ ] Kodama
- [ ] + bounce land
- [ ] + token maker
- [ ] + emiel + (see above)
- [ ] + omnath + ghostly flicker + mystic sanctuary
- [ ] + ashaya + landfall doubler + lotus cobra/dockside/omnath
- [x] + mystic sanctuary + landfall draw + ETB doubler
- [x] + skyshroud claim
- [x] + crop rotation
- [x] + entish restoration
- [x] + harrow
- [x] + three visits/nature’s lore
- [ ] + Mina and denn
- [ ] + omnath + ghostly flicker + mystic sanctuary
- [x] + lotus cobra + token maker
- [x] + tireless provisioner
- [ ] Springheart Nantuko
- [ ] Lotus cobra
- [x] Nissa, vital force (+1) (and semi-infinite mana if it’s a fetch land)
- [x] Spring bloom Druid
- [x] Dryad
- [x] Landfall doubler + bounce land
- [x] Lotus cobra + bounce land
- [x] STE + lotus cobra
- [x] STE + landfall doubler
- [x] Nissa, vital force + retreat to coralhelm
- [x] Dryad + mystic sanctuary + ghostly flicker + omnath (+playable lands)
- [x] Retreat to coralhelm + knight of the reliquary
Useful lines:
- [ ] Scapeshift + chord of calling (get zombies from FOTD, use for convoke to chord for Kodama)
- [ ] Kodama combo -> use bounce lands on triomes (and mystic sanctuary if needed), cycle for card draw
Full list:
- Ghostly Flicker
+
Mystic Sanctuary
+
Sol Ring
+ landfall-draw
- Ghostly Flicker
+
Mystic Sanctuary
+ omnath/lotus cobra + landfall-draw
- Ghostly flicker + mystic sanctuary + elesh norn, mother of machines + omnath, locus of creation
- Ghostly flicker + mystic sanctuary + ashaya, soul of the wild + omnath, locus of creation
- Ghostly Flicker
+
Mystic Sanctuary
+
Omnath, Locus of Creation
+ 2 lotus cobra
- Ghostly flicker + mystic sanctuary + omnath, locus of creation + emiel, the blessed
- Kodama of the East Tree + token maker + bounce land
- Kodama of the East Tree
+
Emiel the Blessed
+ bounce land + omnath + ashaya
- Kodama of the East Tree
+
Emiel the Blessed
+ bounce land + 3 lotus cobra
- [ ] Kodama + mina & denn + lotus cobra + token maker
- [ ] emiel + ashaya + lotus cobra + omnath/2 lotus cobra
- [ ] Kodama + emiel + elesh norn + bounce land + omnath
- [ ] Kodama + ghostly flicker + mystic sanctuary + omnath + bounce land/mina & denn
- [ ] Ghostly flicker + mystic sanctuary + omnath + risen reef
- [ ] Ghostly flicker + mystic sanctuary + dockside + landfall draw
- [ ] Mina and denn + dockside + ashaya
- [ ] Landfall draw + omnath + (mystical tutor -> crop rotation -> fetch -> mystic sanctuary -> mystical tutor -> ghostly flicker)
- [x] Moraug, Fury of Akoum + knight of the reliquary
Card tier list:
Tier 1
- Fierce GuardianshipGC
- Mystical TutorGC
- Scapeshift
- Ancient Greenwarden
- Crop RotationGC
- Elesh Norn, Mother of Machines
- Valakut Exploration
- Nature's Lore
- Lotus Cobra
- Three Visits
- Nissa, Resurgent Animist
- Aesi, Tyrant of Gyre Strait
- Tatyova, Benthic Druid
- Azusa, Lost but Seeking
- Ramunap Excavator
- Worldly TutorGC
- Harrow
- Farseek
- Ashaya, Soul of the Wild
- Tireless Provisioner
- Exploration
- Ghostly Flicker
- Chord of Calling
- Entish Restoration
- Carpet of Flowers
- Sylvan Library
- Sol Ring
Tier 1.5
- Finale of Devastation
- Kodama of the East Tree
- Springbloom Druid
- Emiel the Blessed
- Springheart Nantuko
- Khalni Heart Expedition
- Eladamri's Call
- Green Sun's Zenith
- Virtue of Knowledge
- Moraug, Fury of Akoum
- Knight of the Reliquary
- Bloom Tender
- Sakura-Tribe Elder
- Ephemerate
Tier 2
- Noble Hierarch
- Birds of Paradise
- Dryad of the Ilysian Grove
- Cyclonic RiftGC
- Nissa, Vital Force
- Rampant Growth
- Omnath, Locus of the Roil
- Genesis Ultimatum
- Brainstorm
- Last March of the Ents
- Tooth and Nail
- Mana Drain
- Peregrine Drake
Tier 3
- Swords to Plowshares
- Merchant Scroll
- Retreat to Coralhelm
- Collector Ouphe
- Burgeoning
- Deflecting SwatGC?
- Traveling Chocobo?
