Omens are a new kind of split card in Magic: The Gathering, introduced in Tarkir: Dragonstorm. They always consist of a creature and a nonpermanent spell, and so far the creature is always a dragon. True to their name, omens are designed to foreshadow the coming of a mighty creature before its ultimate arrival.
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Since omens have some extra rules that change how they’re resolved, they can lead to some questions if things get complicated in the middle of a game. Here, we’ll break down the omen mechanic and some common scenarios you might encounter when using it in your deck.
How Do Omens Work In Magic: The Gathering?
If a creature has an omen in its text box, you can choose to either play it normally, summoning it as a creature, or to play it as a sorcery or instant, as described in the omen section of the card (the left side of the text box). If you play the card as an omen, shuffle it back into your library after it resolves instead of putting it in your graveyard like you normally would.
Like any split card, you have to pick a version; either play the creature, or play the omen, paying the listed cost for the one you choose.
While a creature with an omen is on the battlefield as a creature, none of its omen text has any effect; by the same token, when such a creature is cast for its omen cost, nothing in its regular text box (on the right) has any effect. You can only pay a creature’s omen cost while it’s in your hand; once it’s on the battlefield, it’s just a creature.
You also can’t change whether you’re playing the card as a creature or as an omen while it’s still on the stack.
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Important Things To Know About Omens
If you play a card as an omen, and it doesn’t resolve (usually because it got countered), it doesn’t shuffle into your library as part of the omen effect. The library shuffle only happens after the omen resolves. Similarly, if you play the card as a creature and it dies, it goes to the graveyard normally, since the library shuffle only applies when the omen is played.
Omens are always considered creatures except specifically when they’re being cast as omens, and then only while they’re on the stack. For example, if you have an omen in your hand, it’s a creature. If you pay its omen cost, it becomes a sorcery while it’s on the stack, then becomes a creature again once it resolves and goes to your library.
Going one step further, a card with an omen’s color, type, mana value, and all other characteristics are determined by the “main” card, the creature, except while the card is on the stack being cast as an omen. While the card is on the stack as an omen, its color, type, mana value, etc., are those of the miniature card shown in the omen section of the text box. They change back when the card leaves the stack.
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