I tried to have this done by last weekend, but time was something I ran a little short of this week.  Over the weekend, I played in another Legends of Norrath Championship Qualifier.  This time I did much better, taking home 15th place and $75, but I was so close to doing so much better.  I started the tourney 6-0 before dropping my last 2 matches on Saturday.  Sunday the top 16 came back for four more rounds of Swiss where I managed to lose my first three there too.  Sigh.

Anyway, back to WoW.  Before I get to breaking down these matchups, let me say that I haven't played very much with Omedus other than to test other decks against it, so some of these matchups I haven't played at all and will be just going off of how I think they should play out.  I don't have the time to test every matchup for every deck, so some of the ones that I am unlikely to play don't get much time.  Now on to the matchups.

Ozzati

This matchup has to potential to be pretty rough.  Omedus tends to be faster than Ozzati, but Ozzati has the power to play just enough control to slow Omedus down to the point that Ozzati can finish the job.

The most important thing for Omedus in this matchup is to not get blown out by Dragon's Breath.  Given the option you should generally play fewer allies with bigger butts instead of more allies with smaller butts.  You should probably also mulligan for Bloodsoul.  This is one of the matchups where having Kagella in your deck really helps, so that's something to consider in deckbuilding. 

Early on, your goal is just to do as much damage as possible.  If they want to race that's just fine with you because you will win more times than not, even if they went first.  What will probably happen is they will try to start a slow but steady stream of pressure while using their burn and protectors to maintain at least partial control of the board.  Don't try to get fancy and make good trades here, just get as much damage through now as possible.

In the mid-game, their early control combined with the card-drawing power of Draenei decks will start to wear you down.  You are much more likely to run out of cards than they are.  At this point, you're really just looking to finish them off with a big blow from Shadow Weaving.  Try to save Morlug until you get it because he's particularly vulnerable in this matchup.  If you play Kiani De'Nara, be sure that playing him is the first thing you do after Morlug gets into play.  He's a better play here than Faesha because they can respond to Faesha by killing Morlug, but since destroying your resources is part of the cost to play Kiani, there is no chance to respond before they take the Morlug damage.

This matchup is highly dependant on the skill of the Ozzati player as it requires a very good ability to control the tempo.  While this next statement is true of all matchups, it is especially true in this one.  The better the Ozzati player, the worse the matchup for Omedus.

Mazar

Warlocks have historically been very good at beating rush decks.  Add Steal Essence, Shadow Bolt, and Sarmoth to everything else already available to them, and you should be able to see why.  This matchup depends quite a bit on the build of Omedus.  I think the decks with a splash of discard will fare much better against Warlocks than the all-out blitz versions will. 

If you're one of the people still playing Soul Rend in your Omedus, it's going to help a ton in this matchup.  Shadow Word: Deaths will also come in handy.  Like almost all of your matchups, you're just going to want to deal as much as possible early while falling back on the Shadow Weaving plan late.  This deck generally has solid answers to both allies and abilities though, so it can be difficult to really get things set up.

If you're playing Omedus, you would like to avoid Warlock control decks at all costs.

Gorebelly

Have you ever traded punches with someone?  That's pretty much how this matchup is going to go.  Neither deck really plays much defense and neither will really do anything to try to stop the other with one exception, Nyn'jah.  Nyn'jah is the only card in these decks that can have a major effect on the other player's board.  If you can Nyn'jah their Twig, that is huge. 

Even if they manage to kill Nyn'jah next turn the tempo swing is huge. You get an extra 4 damage in by swinging with their Twig, they get the Twig back exhausted meaning they miss an attack with it, and they are forced to use three damage that could have been sent to your face to kill Nyn'jah instead.  Even if they puncture him, that's three resources that could have been sent elsewhere.  Two Nyn'jahs?  GG.

This matchup is close, but Omedus is generally more consistent and has the trump card for the matchup giving it the edge.

Telrander

Another deck that is generally just going to trade hits and be a turn or 2 slower.  There's not a whole lot to worry about here, but me mindful of Shred.  Some wily players may pass up the opporunity to attack on turn 2 to try to take out a Shadowfiend.  Other than that, just go after them hard and fast.  You want to try to kill them by turn 6 when the Vengeance of the Illidari/Prowl combo can go off.

This matchup can be close, but against Omedus is usually faster and more consistent.

Rotun

This matchup is becoming less relevent as Rotun slowly fades away to join the likes of Phadalus and Elendril.  Rotun generally doesn't have quite enough creature control to handle to rush and then has very little as an answer for Shadow Weaving.  It is then forced to try to play the same game Ozzati does, applying steady pressure while trying to maintain the board.  Unfortunately for Rotun, it can't play that game as well as Ozzati can.  Before March of the Legion this matchup may have slightly favored Rotun, but with Bloodsoul and Shadow Weaving, the pendulum has swung back in favor of Omedus.

Taheo

This is a matchup of two fast decks, that have different endgames.  Omedus usually trumps GotW for one of two reasons: Cannibalize or Absorb Magic.  Absorb Magic can be particularly devastating.  They invest 6 resources in their Gift of the Wild thinking it's going to end the game only to see it destroyed for 2 resources and you healed 6 damage to boot.  Cannibalize is also really good, not only in this matchup, but also Telrander and Gorebelly as well.  Healing anywhere from 8 to 20 or more damage is backbreaking in a race to 28.


That wraps things up for Omedus.  I'm also giving everyone a chance to vote on what deck they would like to see featured later this week in my article and then have the matchups here on my blog. 

Ozzati
Mazar
Gorebelly Twig
Telrander
Rotun
Taheo

I will also consider talking about Boomkin or what is turning out to be this week's surprise winner Nathadan if enough people want to see these decks.  You're in control. Let me know what you want to see.  Please reply by tomorrow evening, so I have time to get everything submitted in time.

Tags: World Of Warcraft