Hey everyone! It’s that time again. That’s right we’ve reached the middle of another week so I’m here with another Midweek Magic article. You’re used to showing up here for a bunch of decklists, but we’re here for some Outlaws of Thunder Junction Omniscience draft (with updated 3-card starting hand size). I’m going to drop a bunch of tips so you can rip off some wins.
It’s specifically called Outlaws of Thunder Junction Omniscience draft so I am assuming that it is only OTJ with omniscience rules. Their description says that it is from cards from across MTG Arena, but I am guessing it is just a copy paste error because it is identical to the previous Omniscience Draft description. There would also be no point in calling it OTJ Omniscience draft if it was from all sets.
If I am wrong, a lot of the same principles I discuss still apply to Omniscience Draft in general so hopefully it gets you through.
Event Details
Welcome to Midweek Magic! Each week, try out a different way to play MTG Arena!
Sit down with seven bots and pick one card at a time from rotating packs of mixed up cards from sets available inMTG Arena. Then, build a 40-card deck to take on other drafters—but all of your spells can be cast for no mana!
Find out more details about this and upcoming Midweek Magic events HERE.
- Duration: May 21st, 2024 @ 2:00 PM PST to May 23rd, 2024 @ 2:00 PM PST
- Format: Omniscience Phantom Draft
- Entry Fee: Free
- Ends After: You can play as much as you like for the duration of the event.
- Match Structure: Best-of-one matches (BO1)
Event Rewards
| Wins | Reward |
|---|---|
| 1 Win | Rare Individual Card Reward (ICR) |
| 2 Wins | Rare Individual Card Reward (ICR) |
| 3 Wins | One Random Cosmetic Item |
Tips and Tricks
The biggest change in Omniscience draft is that you can play all your spells without paying their mana costs. That means that you don’t play any lands in your deck so you are going to have to play almost every card you draft. That means every pick matters even the last couple out of a pack.
You also can add WUBRG once per turn to play activation costs. The big point of that one is that you’ll never be able to use anything that has a double pip in the activation cost.
Another big thing that comes up when you change it to only OTJ is that you need it to pay for spree. You should limit how many spree cards you play so you don’t hit a logjam. This takes Final Showdown from a bomb to unplayable garbage since you won’t have access to double white.
You can also use that mana for plotting, but honestly, you’re not going to be doing that much since you can just play the cards for free.
You only start with three cards in hand so it’s really important that you have some way to start going off early. You don’t want to just play a couple creatures and say go. While mulliganing may seem painful when you start with so few cards, its worth it to get a viable hand.
You have to massively change your evaluation of bombs. A three-mana value bomb is going to be significantly less powerful in this format compared to some too expensive for normal draft commander card. As you can imagine, Vaultborn Tyrant, Overwhelming Forces, and OMFG Cruel Ultimatum are absolutely absurd in this format.
Card draw is king of the format. Since everything is free, turning one card into multiples is amazing. It is really the engine that the entire format runs on. I don’t have to explain that Plan the Heist is amazing, but even Seize the Secrets is really good.
Loan Shark is great because it helps develop a board while replacing itself because you’ll almost always have another spell to play first. Vault Plunderer will be good for the same reason while Beastbond Outcaster should be in the same boat.
Intimidation Campaign will be pretty ridiculous because it already replaces itself and you can usually commit a ton of crimes while sifting through your deck. It is a card advantage engine that also pressures their life total. I would consider it more as bomb status than as a normal card draw spell in this format.
Satoru, the Infiltrator is another one that is busted here since it actually draws a card on its own when it ETBs and turns all of the rest of your creatures into cantrips as well. That lack of “only once a turn” will be seriously noticeable here.
Greed's Gambit goes from almost unplayable to busted mythic here. Games don’t last long enough to really get punished here so remember that greed is good, greed works.
Normally I would be pointing out that even cantrips are great because it’s another way to dig deeper into your deck to the spells that matter. I won’t really get into it since Repulse and Take the Fall are just good cards that everyone knows about anyway.
Typically, Counterspells are premium, but Quench effects like Phantom Interference are usually dead since they can add mana off the emblem to pay for them. Mana Drain is just Counterspell here, but that’s still pretty good. By all means, slam Desertion if you see it. Commandeer is another one that has a massive leap in value here.
Discard tends to vary in value because it can be amazing on the play, but not so much when your opponent has already gone off. You should be slamming Hostile Investigator and Hollow Marauder while Thoughtseize and Heartless Pillage are more “there was nothing that drew a card in the pack” type cards.
Later in the packs when you have to choose random creatures, go for the big chonkers over cards you would normally think as better limited cards. Freestrider Commando (which always comes in as a 5/5) will do a lot more for you than Trained Arynx.
One for one removal/interaction is a fairly low priority. If you decide you want removal, go for the ones that have something thrown in instead of just efficient ones.
Damage based removal is basically unplayable. It won’t kill anything they play that didn’t already gain a ton of value.
The most obvious thing is, of course, to get lucky on your opens. May the odds be ever in your favor!
Wrap Up
Thanks for reading! I’ll be back soon to kick off my coverage of Modern Horizons 3 Limited. Until then, stay classy people!
