Have you ever just known, in your heart of hearts, that something was meant to be? That for better or worse, through the good times and the bad, that you two would always be together? That maybe it was destiny? That maybe… just maybe true love does exist? Well that’s how I feel about Omni-Tell.
I’ve been piloting this deck for quite a while now, ever since it was a Tier 1.5 deck at best, back when it had Dream Halls and killed with Enter the Infinite. I tried other Show and Tell variants, like Reanimator and Sneak and Show, and while fun and powerful, none of them captured me quite the same. So I kept plugging away at the deck. I would occasionally switch to some other combo deck from time to time, but you always come back to the one you love. And then came a little card called Dig Through Time.
This card is the real deal, folks. It is what makes this deck a Tier 1 deck. It has gotten me out of so many jams that I can’t even begin to count. If you’re on the fence about this deck, play it and play it now.
Anyways, I’ve been jamming this deck for a good while now. I’ve had some pretty good success lately (went 10-0 at GP Vegas in two side events, went 3-1 or 4-0 at numerous Daily Format events), but I was still pretty nervous. I was actually considering skipping out on the tournament and just hoping that I had enough points from previous events to qualify for the Masters. Luckily my girlfriend was smart enough to talk me out of it. Plus she made me an awesome shirt (pics later), so I kind of had to go.
Here is the 75 I sleeved up for the day:
| Creatures (2) 2 Emrakrul, the Aeons Torn Spells (40) 4 Gitaxian Probe 3 Preordain 4 Omniscience 4 Brainstorm 4 Ponder 4 Force of Will 3 Dig Through Time 4 Show and Tell 1 Impulse 1 Flusterstorm 3 Spell Pierce 4 Cunning Wish 1 Intuition Lands (18) 5 Island 2 Volcanic Island 2 City of Traitors 1 Boseiju, Who Shelters All 4 Polluted Delta 4 Flooded Strand | Sideboard (15) 3 Young Pyromancer 1 Lightning Bolt 1 Pyroclasm 1 Pyroblast 1 Dig Through Time 1 Flusterstorm 1 Eladamri's Call 1 Wipe Away 1 Rushing River 1 Trickbind 1 Firemind's Foresight 1 Boseiju, Who Shelter's All 1 Release the Ants |
Round 1
I sit down across 12 Post expert Tony Murata and the first thing I tell him is “I have no idea how this matchup is for me, I’ve never tested it”. Well, a turn 1 Probe reveals that he next leveled me and was on Reanimator! Lucky for me I had a Spell Pierce for his Thoughtseize targeting himself. We both durtle forever, neither of us doing much expect cantriping and passing. I finally managed to resolve a Show and Tell + Omniscience + Emrakrul after WAY too many turns.
Game 2 was much quicker. I decided that I don’t want to play this game scared and go for the blind turn 3 Show and Tell. I drop Omniscience, he drops Grislebrand. Uh oh. Luckily my hand is Cunning Wish plus all the permission. He proceeds to draw 14 cards, and the stack was as follows: Cunning Wish (Me) > Force of Will (Him) > Force of Will (Me) > Force of Will (Him) > Force of Will (Me) > Force of Will exiling the 4th Force of Will in the process (Him) > Spell Pierce (Me) > Tap out to pay for Pierce (Him) > Spell Pierce (Me). I also had a Flusterstorm in hand if things got crazy. Sometimes you just get there.
1-0 (2-0)
Round 2
I get paired against Josh Granado playing Death and Taxes. Josh, while a good friend of mine, has a win percentage against me in sanctioned Magic tournaments that is in the negatives by now I’m sure. But we still always have fun, and the games, especially post sideboard, are always close. Game 1 is probably the closest I’ve ever played against that deck. Turn 1 Cavern on humans makes a Turn 2 Thalia a real pain for me. I cast Show and Tell on turn 4, dropping Omniscience while he flickers it with Flickerwisp. He then proceeds to flicker it yet again at the end of his turn, setting me back a whole turn. Luckily I managed to cast Cunning Wish for Fireminds Foresight, getting Cunning Wish, Impulse, and Brainstorm in my hand with the third Wish in my hand. I Brainstorm an Omniscience on top of my library with the flicker trigger on the stack. Then, after I pass my turn and Omniscience comes back, he attempted to equip a Sword of Fire and Ice to a Flickerwisp. In response to the equip, I cast Cunning Wish, getting Rushing River. I then cast Rushing River kicked, targeting the Thalia and the Flickerwisp. He used his only Mother of Runes to protect the Flickerwisp. I then got Release the Ants with the other Cunning Wish after Thalia was back in his hand and killed him that way and breathed a sigh of relief.
Game 2 was incredibly uneventful as my hand was the stone cold nut. Island, fetchland, City, Show and Tell, Omniscience, Emrakrul, Cunning Wish. He ports my land, so I don’t go off until turn 3, but after I Cunning Wish for Trickbind for the Flickerwisp that he drops off Show and Tell, it’s game over.
2-0 (2-0)
Round 3
I end up facing Logan Gunnison playing Shardless BUG. Normally Shardless is a decent matchup for me, however a couple of misplays on my part really punched me in the proverbial nutsack. Game 1 I Turn 1 probe and see he has nothing in the way of interaction, so a turn 3 Show and Tell + Omniscience + Cunning Wish gets a concession.
Game 2 we both play draw/go. I cantrip a couple of times. However, I make the mistake of getting greedy and tapping out to play Intuition to tutor up the combo piece I’m missing, and he Surgical Extraction’s my Show and Tell after winning the Force of Will counterspell fight. I scoop it up and head to Game 3.
Game 3 he drops an early Deathrite Shaman that proceeds to drain me quickly as I cantrip trying to assemble the combo. At one point I have the combo, plus Young Pyromancer in hand. I cast Young Pyromancer with Force of Will backup. He attempts to Force of Will it. I let it resolve then go for the Show and Tell + Omniscience. I cast Cunning Wish to go for the kill. His last card in hand? Krosan Grip. Insert sad face. If I had fought over the Young Pyromancer, I probably would have been fine, but instead I died to a Tarmogoyf a few turns later.
2-1 (1-2)
Round 4
I get paired against Demetri Cervantes and after losing the die roll, I quickly find out what he’s on because he tells me he’ll be on the draw. Well crap. Luckily for me he’s playing Mana Dredge, and so I’m able to Spell Pierce his turn 1 Faithless Looting. However, he manages to play an LED the next turn and flash it back, filling up his graveyard. Lucky for me he doesn’t mill a Dread Return for the Iona chilling in his graveyard. At one point I manage to Show and Tell Omniscience and cast Emrakrul, but he already had 7 permanents in play including a Stinkweed Imp, so he managed to block my Emrakrul. However, in doing so he had to exile his Bridges. I then cast Cunning Wish and killed him on the next turn.
Game 2 he had to mull to 4. I Spell Pierced his turn 1 LED and comboed off rather quickly. It was pretty uneventful sadly, as he really didn’t have much going for him.
3-1 (2-0)
Round 5
I played against Loren Toporek playing RUG Delver. This is a scary matchup because of all the permission they run. Luckily their Wastelands are mostly blanks against my deck because I love me some basic islands. Game 1 he plays a turn 1 Delver of Secrets which I promptly Force of Will. I Probe him the next turn and see some cantrips and some Mongoose and no other lands. So I play defensive and counter all his cantrips then combo off a couple turns later while he was stuck on one land.
Game 2 he against goes for a turn 1 Delver, which I Force of Will. I mean, it worked last time, and if it ain’t broke… I manage to drop a Boseiju and dodge a Wasteland while playing around the Stifle he had in hand that I saw off turn 1 Probe and then combo off on Turn 4.
4-1 (2-0)
Round 6
I get paired up against Bobby Hastings, but looking at the standings we decide that we can both draw into Top 8, so we do so! I take the time to relax and catch a much needed mental break.
4-1-1 (0-0-3)
Top 8
I end up as the 6th seed going in to Top 8, so I end up having to be on the draw, and against ANT no less. Michael Day is my opponent, and he’s a nice guy. Game 1 we both cantrip a couple of times, but I manage to combo off faster than he can luckily, as he was missing some pieces. It was a pretty quick game, and I was lucky considering I was on the draw.
Game 2 I manage to counter a Duress, but he plays a Cabal Therapy and then Xantid Swarm which he used to flash back Therapy in order to remove my permission and then he killed me pretty quickly.
Game 3 we both mulliganed to 6, and I had the turn two combo with Spell Pierce backup for his Turn 1 Duress. It was pretty sick. I wiped the sweat off my brow and considered myself lucky, shook his hand and moved on.
Top 4
I managed to somehow be able to be on the play, as I ended up facing Bobby Hastings, my round 6 opponent, who was the 7th seed! Game 1 was a great example of how sometimes a combo deck can just poop on you in the worst way possible. He quickly built a decent board state, but I had the turn 3 Show and Tell. I drop Omniscience. He drops Reclamation Sage. In response to the trigger, I cast Dig Through Time. I see 0 Cunning Wish. Instead I grab an Impulse and a Brainstorm. I then Impulse. Still nothing. Then Brainstorm. Still nothing. Instead I get to start at some Ponders and this Emrakrul sitting in my hand. Luckily I draw a Cunning Wish, which gets me a Dig, which gets me Show and Tell + Omniscience and I manage to squeak out the win.
Game 2 was a joke. I Force of Will his Turn 2 Choke, and then he proceeds to draw 5 of his 6 discard spells, including all 4 Cabal Therapy, which he flash backed 3 of. With my hand torn apart, he killed me with Deathrite Shaman drains and a Heritage Druid for exact lethal after I manage to Show and Tell an Emrakrul and he drops a creature.
Game 3 we both mulligan to 6, and I have the turn 2 combo. I got greedy and went for the Show and Tell + Omniscience with Emrakrul in my hand, even though I had no Cunning Wish in hand for if he had Reclamation Sage. In hindsight I should I just dropped Emrakrul because he can’t beat that card anyways. Either way, I lucked out and was on the finals!
Finals
I end up getting paired against Paul Cuillier, who is one of the best Miracle players as well as all around Magic players in the state. While I have a fairly decent matchup against Miracles thanks to my maindeck and sideboard Boseiju’s, I had been running hot all day long and didn’t want to risk it running out. Paul, for the record, is a great guy. A real class act through and through. He knew that as one of the very few Level 2 judges in the state, I don’t get to play in very many events, let alone make the finals. So when he was willing to take my offer of conceding to me so I could take home the trophy (he had already qualified for the Masters tournament as well), I could not have been happier. I eagerly shook his hand and finally slumped back in my chair.
All in all, it was an amazing day. I faced 9 great opponents, and combined with a great amount of playtesting, faith in the top of my deck, a little bit of luck, and an awesome shirt, I managed to make sure they all got Omni-TOLD.
