Hello timeless community! As some people reading this may know, I wrote an Omnitell play guide for TheGathering a few months ago where I explored sideboarding for matchups and gave insight to my card choices for the deck. This helped many Timeless players, both New and Experienced, get great success in the Timeless metagame challenge or just in general ladder play.

So, why write a new one? A Lot has changed in the Timeless Meta in the past few months and a lot has changed with the current omnitell list, enough so that the Omnitell sideboard guide from just 2 months ago is already outdated and urgently needs an update. So, without further ado let’s get right into it.

What is this deck?

Omnitell is an all in combo deck that utilizes its namesake card Show and Tell to cheat Omniscience into play as early as turn 2. It then makes use of the most powerful digging and tutoring spells timeless has to offer to find a Masterminds Acquisition, tutor an Approach of the Second Sun from the sideboard and cast it twice to end the game on that same turn. This deck is largely proactive and the majority of the time you will be the one calling the shots and making the opponent have the answers to your cards.

Important Main deck Card Choices:

Waterlogged Teachings

Waterlogged Teachings is a main deck instant speed tutor that acts as the 2rd and 3nd copy of both borne upon the wind and hullbreaker horror  which saves us deck space and also is another tutor for when we are going off after Omniscience has been put on the field.

Additionally, with 2 Waterlogged teachings in your deck you can main deck any 1 copy of an instant speed hate card that you would want to fetch up instant speed when omniscience is in play. For example, if Omnitell is very popular and you get mirrors a lot you can main deck a copy of Krosan Grip and be able to quickly fetch it up with a teachings instant speed.

Hullbreaker Horror

Hullbreaker horror allows us to play through multiple pieces of permanent based hate and gives us more resilience to both sideboarded and main deck hate as hullbreaker can bounce anything while also being uncounterable, which gets around vexing bauble.. Additionally, hullbreaker is great in Omnitell mirrors and can help you win stack battles. Additionally it works very well with Krosan Grip. You can put Hullbreaker into play off of an opponent’s show and tell when you have 3 mana open for Krosan Grip. When they put Omniscience into play, grip their omni and bounce the spell they got to cast. This then leaves you with a 2-3 turn clock which you can use to make sure they never get to resolve any relevant spells.

Inquisition of Kozilek

Main Deck hand hate that helps slow down other combo decks and takes away counterspells from Dimir Tempo and Jeskai control. The reason why I went for Inquisition of Kozilek main deck over Thoughtseize is the life loss that comes from running Thoughtseize; which is worse into aggro decks such as Mardu Energy and Jund Delirium.

Borne Upon a Wind

Borne Upon a Wind is a great utility card that gives us a way to win in the face of a leyline binding or static prison being put into play off of our show and tell, targeting our omniscience. When this happens we can cast Borne for free on top of the destroy/exile trigger and win at instant speed.

Assemble The Team and Demonic Tutor

Assemble the team is the digging spell that holds the whole deck together as its basically just our 2-5th copy of demonic tutor. This is the best turn 2 play in the deck as it almost always finds Show and Tell and if it doesn’t just finds another digging spell so you can go again next turn.

Veil of Summer

Veil of Summer allows us to force Show and Tell through a counterspell, protect our hand against discard spells that would otherwise slow us down or can be used to play through a Vexing Bauble by making our spells uncounterable.

Sideboard Card Choices:

 Defense Grid

Defense Grid is a great tool against control and tempo decks as it shuts off most opposing counterspells and makes it a lot harder for your opponent to disrupt you.

Thoughtseize

More flexible hand hate for other combo decks and tempo/control decks.

Force of Vigor/Abrupt Decay

Our premiere answers to permanent based hate such as vexing bauble, roiling vortex and deafening silence that often comes out of aggro/midrange decks sideboards.

Force of Vigor additionally has nice application in the Jund Delirium matchup because it can remove opposing Patchwork Beasties and Fear of Missing outs to help take off the pressure..

Krosan Grip

This is our mirror breaker card that allows us to destroy our opponents’ omniscience without them being able to respond because of the card having split second. This then allows us to go off uninterrupted and without having to deal with our opponent fighting us in a free spell stack battle.

Fatal Push

Cheap removal spell that takes off early pressure from turn 1 Ragavans, Nethergoyfs or Dragon’s Rage Channelers and slows the opponent down which gives you more time to dig for the combo.

Leyline of Sanctity, or lack thereof

I’ve removed Leyline of Sanctity from the sideboard as there is not enough reason to run it at the moment. It takes up too many sideboard slots for not enough gain, we would much rather be using those slots for more common matchups.

Additionally, there is an argument to be made that Leyline isn’t worth it at all even if scam is reasonably popular because it dilutes your deck too much, makes your top decks worse if you don’t get it in play turn 0 and isn’t worth the 39% chance you might get it in your opening hand. Additionally, often veil of summer and mystic sanctuary are enough to play through griefs, which are already in the main deck.

Matchups:

Mardu Energy

Match Up Notes:

Game 1 try to goldfish your opponent as fast as possible, they have very little ways to interact with your combo outside of Static Prison.

Game 2 and 3 you still want to out goldfish your opponent, but you will be wanting to protect your hand from discard spells using veil of summer and destroy your opponents permanent based hate (vexing bauble) with abrupt decay. You can also make use of veil of summer to play through vexing bauble because it makes your spells uncountable 

Boros Energy

Match Up Notes:

In this matchup we just want to goldfish as fast as possible, because again they have little ways to interact with our combo. Games 2 and 3 we can make use of force of vigor to bail us out of a Blood moon lock and abrupt decay to destroy vexing baubles

Orzhov Vampires

Match Up Notes:

Disrupt them as much as possible with discard spells, they cant kill you quickly if they dont get their high roll Sorin + Elenda draw. You can also use your veils to protect from opposing griefs.

Omnitell (mirror) 

Match Up Notes:

Game 1 we want to sit back and tutor for instant speed digging spells which will let us with the stack war for as long as possible, while also trying to disrupt your opponent with discard spells. 

When the stack war starts you want to be the last to cast your instant speed digging spell as this gives you a big advantage (the person who casts their instant first needs one more than the person who cast their instant second to win.)

Game 2 and 3 we want to aggressively tutor for Krosan grip and be the first to cast Show and Tell so that we get priority for grip first. 

Omnitell Control

Match Up Notes:

See OmniTell (Mirror)

Dimir Tempo

Match Up Notes:

In this matchup you generally always want to have a veil before casting show and tell (unless you have perfect hand information from an earlier discard spell and know they dont have anything). 

Game 1 you want to try and kill them as fast as possible with early dark ritual + veil before they can get all their mana for their counterspells

Game 2 and 3 you just want to try and force defense grids through their early counterspells using discard spells and Veils of Summers. Otherwise try and tutor for veil of summers + the combo and slow them down using fatal push to kill their threats.

Abzan Birthing Ritual

Match Up Notes:

Pretty much the same as Mardu Energy, just you may need to use Force of Vigor on Birthing Ritual to prevent them from fetching a juggernaut peddler or hate piece easily.

Jeskai Control

Match Up Notes:

Main things to be wary of in this matchup are Teferi + Witchenchanter and High Noon. Abrupt Decay is crucial post board to remove these, as if they stick around and aren’t hit by a discard spell it can be very hard to win. If your opponent has lots of high noons, flutes and deafening silence you may want to bring in force of vigor in addition to the abrupt decays.

Mono U Belcher

Match Up Notes:

This is probably the hardest matchup to play for traditional Omnitell. You need to be very wary of Commandeer, which can steal critical spells from you and set you back a turn and can steal your veil of Summer when you’re trying to resolve Show and Tell for free. Additionally they have access to plentiful counterspells such as mana drain and test of talents. 

Additionally, you can make use of Krosan grip game 2 and 3 to destroy and opponents Omniscience or Belcher that was put into play off of your show and tell before they can cast any spells or activate Belcher

Esper Rescanimator

Match Up Notes:

Protect your hand with veil of summer and try to out goldfish them, in some matches you may want to play slower against this deck because aggressively tutoring as early as turn 2 sometimes won’t do anything because the card you tutored for will just get hit by a reanimated grief if you’re not careful.

Golgari Belcher

Match Up Notes:

Disrupt them as much as possible with discard and try to out goldfish them, not much else to it. 

Jund Delirium

Match Up Notes:

Game 1 out goldfish them as fast as possible and try to dodge discard spells/protect your hand with veil of summer.

Game 2 and 3 however we get alot of spice from our sideboard. Both Fatal Push and Force of Vigor are cheap/free answers to our opponents creatures (sometimes force of vigor can even kill 2 of the opponents creatures if they have a patchwork beastie and Fear of Missing out turn 2 for example) and abrupt decay as just a generally good answer to either a threat or a hate piece like roiling vortex.

Jund Breach

Match Up Notes:

You can use veil of summer to protect yourself from their Tendrils of Agony.

Jet Storm

Match Up Notes:

Disrupt your opponent with discard spells and outgoldfish them. Game 2 and 3 you board in Force of Vigor to help disrupt your opponents combo for free and Abrupt Decay to take out the hate pieces they bring in.

4C Beans