Landfall is a powerful mechanic in Magic: The Gathering that rewards players for playing lands. It can create explosive board states and generate huge amounts of value over the course of a game. In EDH, there are several commanders that specialize in the landfall mechanic and will generate value from lands entering the battlefield. All these landfall Commanders are in the color green, which is the dominant color in MTG when it comes to landfall.
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The basics of a landfall decks
As playing lands is the primary means of generating value in a landfall deck, it is crucial to have strategies in place that enable players to play more than one land per turn. One popular method is to include as many fetch lands as possible, such as Evolving Wilds or Misty Rainforest. These lands can be sacrificed upon entering the battlefield to search for another land, which counts as an additional landfall trigger.
In addition to incorporating as many fetch lands as possible, landfall decks can also benefit from including cards like Ramunap Excavator or Crucible of Worlds that allow for the recurring of lands. This approach can result in an immense amount of value, allowing players to use their fetch lands multiple times in a game and generate an unstoppable engine of landfall triggers.
In addition to fetch lands, green land ramp staples like Rampant Growth or Three Visits, and creatures that enable multiple land drops like Dryad of the Ilysian Grove or Azusa, Lost but Seeking, are crucial components of any successful landfall deck.
As decks utilizing landfall strategies revolve around the importance of lands and their multiple uses, it is typical to classify them as “lands matter” decks. This differs from decks that merely utilize lands for casting spells. Consequently, running a higher number of lands is standard practice, with some decks running upwards of 40 or more.
Reaping the Rewards: Landfall Payoff Cards
Besides our Commander’s ability to generate value from lands entering the battlefield, there are also numerous powerful staples in our 99 cards that can create advantages. Cards like Rampaging Baloths, Avenger of Zendikar, Scute Swarm, and Felidar Retreat are widely used in landfall decks, and they can generate significant additional value from dropping lands onto the battlefield. When played at the opportune moment, these cards can serve as game finishers, delivering a crushing blow to opponents and securing victory.
Now let’s dive into our top 5 landfall commanders for EDH, each of which has unique strengths that can be leveraged to create a powerful and dynamic deck that will keep your opponents on their toes.
1. Omnath, Locus of Creation
Omnath, Locus of Creation is a versatile commander with a host of powerful abilities. Upon entering the battlefield, Omnath immediately draws a card, providing card advantage for the landfall deck. Furthermore, with every consecutive land drop, Omnath’s abilities trigger in a set sequence:
- Land 1: You gain 4 life
- Land 2:Add 4 (RGWB) mana to your mana pool
- Land 3: Deal 4 damage to each opponent and planeswalkers you don’t control
After activating all three of Omnath, Locus of Creation’s landfall triggers, it’s important to blink him to generate additional advantage and triggers. The most effective way to do this is with repeatable effects, such as Emiel the Blessed. In addition, it’s helpful to include one-time use spells like Momentary Blink, which not only provide protection for Omnath but also replace themselves when used.
Being able to use his triggers multiple times per turn, combined with the ability to draw a card on ETB makes Omnath a top-tier and versatile landfall commander.
2. Aesi, Tyrant of Gyre Strait
Aesi, Tyrant of Gyre Strait draws you a card whenever a land hits the battlefield. This is incredibly versatile and powerful, making it a great foundation for a wide range of deck-building strategies. Its generic nature means that you can customize your deck to your own preferences and playstyle, without being restricted by narrow or specific requirements. This allows for a lot of creativity and flexibility when building an Aesi deck, as you can choose from a variety of different cards and themes to build around Aesi’s landfall ability.
She can be built very competitively, locking out your opponents and drawing through your deck searching for your infinite combo finisher. On the other hand, she can be used more casually as a mid-range commander, dropping big green creatures that benefit from landfall like Rampaging Baloths or Oran-Rief Hydra. In this version of the deck, you can copy your big creatures for cheap with cards like Double Major or Mystic Reflection.
3. Omnath, Locus of Rage
If you enjoy playing Gruul colors, creating a massive amount of tokens, winning with or without combat damage, blowing up creatures on the board, or ramping into bigger things and having a lot of lands, then you might like Omnath, Locus of Rage. Since he is 7CMC, the highest CMC landfall commander on this list, the first goal is to ramp into him and then start creating 5/5 Elementals.
Once we have our tokens there are different ways of abusing our token army. One way is of course smashing our opponents directly in the face with our 5/5 elemental tokens. Another way is with cards like Purphoros, God of the Forge and Impact Tremors that will damage our opponents whenever we create a token. Finally with cards like Ashnod’s Altar or Goblin Bombardmnet we can sacrifice our tokens, generating value and also triggering Omnath’s second ability.
4. Obuun, Mul Daya Ancestor
Obuun, Mul Daya Ancestor, is a landfall commander that can be built in various ways to suit different playstyles. Obuun’s first ability triggers whenever a land enters the battlefield, allowing players to place a +1/+1 counter on a creature. In addition to this, Obuun’s second ability allows players to turn a land into an attacker during their combat step, making it an excellent choice for a combat-focused landfall deck.
Players can choose to focus on stacks and land destruction strategies, locking opponents out and slowly building value. Alternatively, players can opt for a more general approach by playing big creatures that benefit from Obuun’s landfall trigger. Or Obuun can serve as a Voltron commander, where the aim is to put all the +1/+1 counters on him and buff him with enchant creature spells to make him a big attacker, which will also power his second ability. This last option seems like the most straightforward choice when evaluating.
5. Omnath, Locus of the Roil
Omnath, Locus of the Roil is another great commander card in MTG that can be built in various ways. Like Obuun, he can also be built as a Voltron commander, with players focusing on pumping him with +1/+1 counters to make him a powerful attacker. However, Omnath’s abilities are different from Obuun’s. Omnath’s ability triggers whenever a land enters the battlefield under your control, allowing you to deal damage to any target equal to the number of Elementals you control. This makes Omnath a great commander for decks that focus on Elemental tribal strategies.
One popular strategy for Omnath is to combine him with Valakut, the Molten Pinnacle. This strategy involves getting Valakut out when you have four lands on the battlefield and then using Omnath’s landfall trigger to pump out damage for every mountain you control. The colors of Omnath, Locus of the Roil, are well-suited for a Valakut strategy, making it a popular choice for players who enjoy combo decks.
In addition to this, Omnath has also been a popular choice in cEDH (competitive EDH) decks. Some of these decks focus solely on assembling a combo with the card Food Chain, making Omnath a critical part of the deck’s win condition.
Final Thoughts
In conclusion, landfall is a powerful mechanic in Magic: The Gathering that has given us some incredible commanders to build around. The five landfall commanders we’ve discussed each offer their unique abilities and playstyles that make them a joy to build around.
What’s so exciting about these landfall commanders is the variance in strategies and deck building that they allow. Players can choose to build around land-based combos, focus on ramping up their mana, or buff their creatures with +1/+1 counters. Landfall commanders offer a lot of diversity, ensuring that each game feels different and challenging.
If you’re interested in building a landfall commander deck, then check out our article for a useful template for creating a deck, helping you get started with your landfall commander journey.
