Umori’s Absolution

Companions have been a game-warping mechanic since their very introduction, and now even after a round of bannings, the upcoming June 1 Banned and Restricted Announcement promises that it “will change the Companion mechanic.”

How they’ll do that exactly remains to be seen, but it does mean this weekend is the last one you’ll be able to use your companion critters exactly as they were at launch for Ikoria.

The FNM at Home even on Arena for May 29, 2020 is Cascade, which means you bring a standard deck of your own construction and then the first spell you cast each turn will trigger a special emblem, which will then exile cards from the top of your library until it finds a card with a lower converted mana cost than the spell you just cast. This second spell then can be cast for free, and all the exiled cards get put back on the bottom of your deck in a random order.

With a clever bit of deck construction, you can maximize your chance of ‘hitting something good’ with your free spell, or, use instants and cards with flash to double-up on your triggers (since casting things on your opponent’s turn will also reward you with a free spell.)

I took this opportunity to try out a deck I had been experimenting with: Umori’s Absolution

3 Aphemia, the Cacophony
4 The Birth of Meletis
1 All That Glitters
4 Mire’s Grasp
4 Omen of the Sun
4 Tymaret Calls the Dead
4 Elspeth Conquers Death
3 Ethereal Absolution
4 Banishing Light
4 Elspeth’s Nightmare
1 Oath of Kaya
4 Fabled Passage
11 Plains
9 Swamp

Sideboard Companions:
1 Umori, the Collector

With Umori as your companion you’re limited to cards of just a single type in your deck, and for us that ends up being enchantments. Fortunately, Theros Beyond Death supplied a ton of options, giving us ways to remove our opponent’s threats (Mire’s Grasp, Banishing Light) and deploy a few of our own (Omen of the Sun.)

The big pay-off card though is Ethereal Absolution, from Ravnica Allegiance. With Umori in play on turn four, you can now drop this enchantment on turn five, and if you’ve been using The Birth of Meletis to find your lands, getting to five mana should be pretty easy.

From there, the zombie tokens created by Tymaret Calls the Dead and Aphemia, the Cacophony become especially dangerous (the latter we’re able to include because she is an enchantment creature.)

Is this the best thing you can do with Umori? Probably not, but I’ve always liked enchantments and the Cascade event gave this deck a chance to really shine – flashing in Omen of the Sun to sneak in a Birth of Meletis on my opponent’s end step felt especially good, and so did bringing back Umori with Elspeth Conquers Death to keep the cheap auras flowing.

Can you match my back to back wins in the event? Let me know how the deck works for you, or, consider putting together a version in paper – just make sure you follow the B&R Announcement next week, as changes to the companion mechanic could drastically affect how this deck runs.

Have a great weekend, and I’ll see ya!

—Ryan