Omnath, Locus of Eternity, is an exceptional and intriguing card in the world of Magic: The Gathering (MTG). With its unique abilities and role in various decks, it has gained significant attention from players.
This article will explore every aspect of Omnath, Locus of Eternity, from its lore and card mechanics to deck-building strategies, synergies, and tips on how to use this card to its fullest potential. By the end of this article, you’ll have a deep understanding of Omnath, Locus of Eternity, and how to maximize its effectiveness in the game.
What is Omnath, Locus of Eternity?
Omnath, Locus of Eternity, is one of the most powerful and resilient legendary creatures in the Magic: The Gathering multiverse. This card is the latest iteration of Omnath, an elemental entity that has gone through several transformations in the MTG lore. With each form, Omnath gains more power, and its abilities become more complex.
The key feature that makes Omnath, Locus of Eternity stand out is its “unkillable” nature by targeted spells and its ability to generate massive mana. When paired with cards like The World Tree, Omnath’s mana potential becomes game-breaking, allowing for a devastating ramp strategy.
The Evolution of Omnath
To understand the significance of Omnath, Locus of Eternity, we need to explore Omnath’s previous forms and how this card fits into the lore. Omnath first appeared in Zendikar as Omnath, Locus of Mana, a powerful mono-green elemental. Over the years, Omnath has evolved:
- Omnath, Locus of Mana – A green elemental that grows stronger as players accumulate green mana.
- Omnath, Locus of Rage – A red-green elemental that deals direct damage when elementals enter the battlefield.
- Omnath, Locus of the Roil – A red-green-blue elemental that manipulates lands and elementals to gain control of the battlefield.
- Omnath, Locus of Creation – A four-color (red, green, blue, white) elemental with life gain and landfall abilities.
- Omnath, Locus of Eternity – The latest and most powerful form, a five-color elemental that cannot be killed by targeted spells, allowing players to tap into Omnath’s near-infinite potential.
Omnath, Locus of Eternity: Card Mechanics and Abilities
Omnath, Locus of Eternity is a five-color legendary elemental creature that brings unmatched resilience and mana-generating abilities. Let’s break down its core mechanics:
- Mana Cost: Omnath requires five specific colors of mana (white, blue, black, red, and green) to cast, making it challenging but rewarding in five-color decks.
- Protection from Targeted Spells: One of the standout features of Omnath, Locus of Eternity, is that it cannot be destroyed by targeted spells, whether they’re removal spells like Swords to Plowshares or Doom Blade. This makes Omnath highly resilient and difficult for opponents to deal with, creating a significant strategic advantage.
- Mana Generation: Omnath’s other key ability is the ease with which it can generate massive amounts of mana. When used in combination with The World Tree, which allows you to tap for any color of mana, Omnath becomes a central piece in ramp strategies, making it easy to cast high-cost spells and flood the battlefield with creatures or game-ending spells.
The World Tree and Omnath: The Ultimate Combo
The World Tree is a key card that synergizes with Omnath, Locus of Eternity, providing players with access to all five colors of mana. Here’s why this combo is so powerful:
- Mana Fixing: The World Tree makes casting Omnath, Locus of Eternity much easier because it allows your lands to tap for any color of mana once you have six or more lands.
- Divine Ramp: With The World Tree and other mana ramp cards, you can quickly amass a huge amount of mana, which can then be used to cast not only Omnath but other high-cost cards as well.
- Unstoppable Synergy: Once Omnath is on the battlefield, its mana-generating abilities allow you to cast spell after spell, overwhelming your opponents and ensuring that you maintain a dominant position in the game.
Deck-Building Strategies with Omnath, Locus of Eternity
Building a deck around Omnath, Locus of Eternity requires careful consideration of mana sources, ramp, and protection. Here’s a breakdown of the essential components:
1. Mana Ramp
Given Omnath’s high mana cost, ramp is crucial. Cards that provide additional mana or fix your mana base are essential in any deck that runs Omnath.
- The World Tree: As discussed, this card is a perfect fit.
- Cultivate/Kodama’s Reach: These spells allow you to search for specific lands, ensuring you have the necessary mana colors available.
- Arcane Signet: A low-cost mana rock that taps for any color is a great way to accelerate your mana base.
2. Mana Fixing
Ensuring that you have access to all five colors is essential. Multi-colored lands and other cards that help fix your mana are vital.
- Command Tower: Taps for any color in your commander’s color identity, perfect for five-color decks.
- Farseek: This spell can find non-basic lands with specific colors, helping you fix your mana early in the game.
3. Protection and Resilience
Omnath’s protection from targeted spells is already a huge boon, but you’ll still want to add protection against board wipes and other non-targeted removal.
- Teferi’s Protection: This spell can phase your entire board out, providing insurance against board wipes.
- Heroic Intervention: Grants all your permanents hexproof and indestructible until end of turn.
4. Win Conditions
While Omnath’s mana production is a major benefit, you’ll want some powerful spells to take full advantage of that mana.
- Genesis Ultimatum: A perfect card to capitalize on the huge mana ramp Omnath provides, this spell allows you to put any number of permanents from the top five cards of your library directly onto the battlefield.
- Hydroid Krasis: Another great mana sink that provides a massive flying, trampling creature while drawing you cards and gaining life.
Advanced Strategies: Maximizing Omnath’s Power
To get the most out of Omnath, Locus of Eternity, consider these advanced strategies:
1. Landfall Synergy
Omnath’s previous forms have strong ties to landfall mechanics, and while Omnath, Locus of Eternity doesn’t specifically have landfall, you can build your deck around cards that generate value from lands entering the battlefield.
- Field of the Dead: This card can generate an army of zombies over time, especially when paired with Omnath’s mana ramping.
- Azusa, Lost but Seeking: Allows you to play additional lands each turn, ramping you even faster.
2. Elemental Tribal
Omnath is an elemental, and building an elemental tribal deck allows you to take advantage of synergies with other elemental creatures.
- Risen Reef: Every time an elemental enters the battlefield, you get to put a land onto the battlefield or draw a card, which pairs nicely with Omnath’s mana ramping abilities.
- Creeping Trailblazer: An elemental that buffs all your elementals, allowing you to go wide with creatures while still building up your mana base.
3. Infinite Mana Combos
Omnath’s ability to generate mana opens the door to various infinite mana combos, which can win the game outright.
- Freed from the Real: Attach this aura to a creature that generates mana, and you can untap it for blue mana, leading to infinite mana with the right setup.
- Pemmin’s Aura: Another card that enables infinite mana with creatures capable of tapping for colored mana.
FAQs About Omnath, Locus of Eternity
1. What makes Omnath, Locus of Eternity so powerful?
The card’s ability to avoid being destroyed by targeted spells makes it highly resilient, and its ability to generate large amounts of mana makes it a key piece in ramp strategies.
2. How can I cast Omnath, Locus of Eternity more easily?
Utilizing cards like The World Tree, mana ramp spells like Cultivate, and mana-fixing lands such as Command Tower will help you cast Omnath faster.
3. Can Omnath be destroyed by non-targeted spells?
Yes, Omnath, Locus of Eternity can still be affected by board wipes and global effects like Wrath of God, which do not target specific creatures.
4. What are some good support cards for Omnath?
Support cards that ramp mana, protect against board wipes, or provide synergy with elementals are ideal. Cards like Teferi’s Protection, Field of the Dead, and Risen Reef can enhance Omnath’s effectiveness.
By utilizing the strategies and insights discussed in this article, you can fully capitalize on the strengths of Omnath, Locus of Eternity. With its unkillable nature and impressive mana-generation potential, it can become the cornerstone of a powerful five-color deck that will dominate the game. Let’s explore even more strategies, synergies, and ways to maximize the card’s abilities.
Advanced Omnath, Locus of Eternity Strategies
In addition to the strategies outlined above, there are several more advanced ways to optimize your deck and gameplay when using Omnath, Locus of Eternity. By considering various synergies, spells, and other game mechanics, you can push the boundaries of what this card can do.
1. Five-Color Goodstuff
Omnath’s five-color identity allows you to build a “goodstuff” deck, where you simply play the best cards from each color. This strategy relies less on specific synergies and more on leveraging the best cards available in each color.
- Omnath as a Win Condition: In a five-color goodstuff deck, Omnath can function as a late-game win condition, helping you close out games once you’ve established a dominant board state.
- Niv-Mizzet Reborn: As another powerful five-color card, Niv-Mizzet Reborn can help you draw cards when it enters the battlefield, finding powerful multicolored spells that work well with Omnath.
2. Combo Decks
Combo decks that can generate infinite mana or perform other game-winning combos work particularly well with Omnath because of its ability to generate massive mana reserves.
- Omnath + Deadeye Navigator: Deadeye Navigator can pair with creatures that generate mana, allowing you to blink them repeatedly for infinite mana. Once you have infinite mana, Omnath can serve as a key piece in casting large, game-ending spells.
- Ashaya, Soul of the Wild + Quirion Ranger: This combination can create infinite landfall triggers and generate infinite mana, making Omnath an unstoppable force in late-game scenarios.
3. Planeswalkers and Superfriends
Since Omnath, Locus of Eternity provides so much mana, it is a perfect candidate for a deck that runs a large number of planeswalkers, known as “Superfriends” decks. With Omnath’s help, you can easily cast planeswalkers of any color, use their abilities, and protect them with Omnath’s indestructible nature.
- Teferi, Hero of Dominaria: Teferi allows you to control the board while providing card advantage and untapping lands, working in synergy with Omnath’s mana generation.
- Nicol Bolas, Dragon-God: As a five-color planeswalker with powerful abilities, Nicol Bolas fits perfectly into an Omnath Superfriends deck, allowing you to dominate the game through control and damage.
4. Token Generation
Another way to maximize Omnath’s potential is by pairing it with token generation. Omnath’s mana-generating abilities make it easy to flood the battlefield with tokens, which can overwhelm your opponents and help you win the game through sheer numbers.
- Avenger of Zendikar: This card creates a large number of plant tokens when it enters the battlefield, and it synergizes perfectly with Omnath’s ramping abilities, as each landfall trigger boosts your tokens.
- Doubling Season: If you’re going for a token-heavy strategy, Doubling Season is an essential card. It doubles the number of tokens you create and is also excellent in a Superfriends deck, as it allows your planeswalkers to enter with double the number of loyalty counters.
5. Graveyard Recursion
Graveyard recursion is another effective strategy with Omnath, as you can recycle powerful spells and creatures from your graveyard, maintaining a steady flow of threats.
- Eternal Witness: A classic green card that allows you to return any card from your graveyard to your hand, Eternal Witness works well with Omnath by ensuring you can reuse key spells or creatures.
- Seasons Past: This powerful recursion spell returns any number of cards with different mana costs from your graveyard to your hand, providing incredible card advantage, especially with Omnath’s mana ramp capabilities.
How to Counter Omnath, Locus of Eternity
While Omnath is a formidable and resilient card, it’s not entirely invincible. There are several ways opponents can deal with it or mitigate its effectiveness. If you’re facing an Omnath deck, consider the following strategies:
1. Non-Targeted Board Wipes
Omnath’s main weakness is that while it can’t be destroyed by targeted spells, it is still vulnerable to board wipes that affect all creatures.
- Wrath of God: This classic white spell destroys all creatures, bypassing Omnath’s protection from targeted removal.
- Toxic Deluge: This black board wipe allows players to pay life to destroy all creatures with toughness equal to the amount paid, making it an effective way to remove Omnath without targeting it.
2. Counterspells
Since Omnath requires a significant amount of mana to cast, counterspells are an effective way to disrupt your opponent’s game plan. By countering Omnath before it resolves, you can prevent it from ever hitting the battlefield.
- Counterspell: A low-cost, two-mana counterspell that works efficiently against Omnath and any other spells your opponent may try to cast.
- Force of Negation: A free counterspell that can counter noncreature spells during your opponent’s turn, making it a good option for surprise disruption.
3. Stax and Tax Effects
Stax effects are another way to slow down or disrupt Omnath’s game plan. Cards that increase the cost of spells or limit the number of lands players can untap each turn can severely hamper Omnath decks.
- Winter Orb: A stax piece that limits players to untapping only one land during their untap step, which can severely limit Omnath’s mana-generating potential.
- Thalia, Guardian of Thraben: By increasing the cost of noncreature spells, Thalia can slow down your opponent’s ramp and make it more difficult to cast Omnath or other key spells.
Conclusion: Omnath, Locus of Eternity, the Unstoppable Force
Omnath, Locus of Eternity is undeniably one of the most powerful and resilient cards in Magic: The Gathering. With its unkillable nature and the ability to generate massive amounts of mana, Omnath opens up a wide variety of strategies and combos that can dominate the game.
Whether you’re building a landfall deck, an elemental tribal deck, or a five-color Superfriends deck, Omnath offers versatility and power that can turn the tide of any game in your favor.
The key to successfully using Omnath is understanding how to optimize your deck for mana ramp, protection, and synergistic interactions with other cards. By focusing on these elements, you can build a deck that fully unleashes Omnath’s potential and overwhelms your opponents. And while there are counters to Omnath, its unique strengths make it a challenging and rewarding card to master.