(Old One Eye| Mathias Kollros)

Introduction

The universe of Warhammer 40,000 may be a grim fascistic dystopia, but it did give us some pretty iconic commanders. There's Trazyn the Infinite who enables all kinds of graveyard/artifact synergies, Be'lakor, the Dark Master a staple Demon commander, and of course Ghyrson Starn, Kelermorph who leads more than 15,000 wacky pinger decks.

Not every legendary creature from these precons rose to the top though. Old One Eye, the subject of our article today, leads only 225 decks (as of 12/23/2024), making them the least popular Warhammer 40,000 Commander.

Although it may be unpopular, this one-eyed Tyranid can provide a lot of power. For only six mana, this scythe-clawed monstrosity provides 11/11 worth of stats spread out over two bodies. Let's give Old One Eye their due and analyze their truly terrifying untapped potential.

Tyranid Tactics

So how do we build around Old One Eye? Well, given that this commander costs six mana we're going to want some ramp to enable us to get them into play as quickly as possible.

Fortunately, we're in green so that will be no problem. Llanowar Elves, Kodama's Reach, and Cultivate are all classic cards that can help us play Old One Eye as quickly as possible.

Once the deck is full of ramp cards, it's best to take advantage of this by including some big green spells. Once you have gathered all of that mana, you'll want to spend it on more than just Old One Eye.

Green has no shortage of massive creatures from $30+ threats like Old Gnawbone and Vaultborn Tyrant to budget beaters like Regal Behemoth and Annoyed Altisaur. Pick a few of your favorites and load them into your deck.

The next thing to consider is how to repeat this commander's effect. Old One Eye's ability to create a 5/5 whenever it enters the battlefield is really strong. Since we don't have access to the plethora of blinking cards that are available in white and blue we'll need to be a bit creative here.

Panharmonicon is always a great option to repeat enter the battlefield abilities and Sword of Hearth and Home can be used to flicker Old One Eye into and out of play. We'll go into more detail about ways to repeat this effect when we start analyzing specific cards to add to the deck.

Finally, there might also be a few ways to build around Fast Healing, Old One Eye's final ability which enables them to return from the graveyard to the hand by discarding two cards.

This cheats around commander tax and you may be able to find some graveyard synergies that can turn this discard effect into an upside. This isn't really a strategy that the average deck list has done much with, so there is room for further exploration here.

Average Deck

EDHREC's average deck function combines all of the decks that have been built around a given commander. It then produces a single list containing cards that show up frequently.

You can think of it like a less sinister version of how Tyranids consume planets and then assimilate their biomass. There are currently 225 Old One Eye decks, as of 12/23/2024. EDHREC's average Old One Eye list looks like this...

As our speculation suggested this looks like a pretty archetypal mono-green stompy list. There are some big creatures like Ohran Frostfang, Zopandrel, Hunger Dominus, and Ghalta, Primal Hunger.

Not only are all of the ramp options we discussed in the previous section here but there are plenty of other ways of getting lands like Entish Restoration, Nature's Lore, and Sakura-Tribe Elder.

Finally, the deck also contains a very healthy selection of card draw effects like Return of the Wildspeaker, Beast Whisperer, and Rishkar's Expertise.

The list also contains more than its fair share of Tyranids. While there aren't specific typal payoffs for running lots of Tyranids, many cards of this creature type care about +1/+1 counters. Currently, this theme is a bit half-baked.

There's a smattering of Tyranids and some +1/+1 counter cards, but not enough for things to come together reliably game after game. Depending on your preference, you may wish to expand upon this theme further or cut it completely.

There aren't many cards here that can recur Old One Eye's ability. Conjurer's Closet is in the deck, but that's about it.

Even though green isn't spoiled for choice for effects like this, there are more options out there that this list doesn't contain. I'll delve into a few of those options in the "cards to add" section.

When it comes to pricey cards to cut, two choices immediately leap out. The Great Henge is a $50 card, while Vaultborn Tyrant costs about $35. Then seven cards fall into the $10-$20 price range. Namely, Zopandrel, Hunger Dominus, Vigor, Tribute to the World Tree, Last March of the Ents, Heroic Intervention, Biophagus and Conjurer's Closet.

Cutting the top two cards, along with a selection of these $10-$20 cards will save you more than 100 bucks without hugely impacting your overall power level.

5 Cards To Keep

Fanatic of Rhonas

Currently in 31% of decks.

While Fanatic of Rhonas costs one mana more than Llanowar Elves, this asp from Amonkhet has the potential to generate a lot more mana than its more famous counterpart. By default, Fanatic of Rhonas is just a two mana mana-dork.

This isn't great, nobody runs Druid of the Cowl. Fortunately, the amount of mana Fanatic of Rhonas can generate quadruples when you control a creature with power four or greater. This condition is very easy to fulfill, in fact Fanatic of Rhonas can even accomplish it by itself.

The card has eternalize, allowing it to be returned from the graveyard to play as a 4/4 Zombie for . There's a lot to love about this card, just don't get too fanatical.

Beast Within

Currently in 68% of decks.

Perhaps Beast Within is a bit of an obvious pick. Any deck running green deck should always include a copy of Beast Within, it's as essential as a Sol Ring. Nevertheless, I wanted to put Beast Within here to emphasize how vital this card is in mono-green decks.

Green has the worst creature removal in the game. Cards like Ram Through and Bite Down can be used to destroy creatures, but they rely on you having a powerful creature of your own to work. Even Monstrous Emergence, a new and very powerful green creature removal spell from Duskmourne: House of Horror, doesn't function unless you've got a powerful green creature in your hand.

Beast Within thus becomes absolutely necessary in mono-green so that there's always the option available to destroy a powerful threat, even when you don't have any big creatures around.

Of course, Beast Within doesn't merely deal with creatures. One of the primary things that makes this card so amazing is its versatility.

You can use Beast Within to destroy any kind of permanent. Blow up a pesky Rogue's Passage, a Doubling Season, or even a Liliana, Dreadhorde General. There seem to be 3/3 beasts hiding inside just about everything for some reason.

Conjurer's Closet

Currently in 30% of decks.

Mono-green blink is not exactly a popular or well-supported archetype. There are only 13 mono-green blink decks listed on the whole of EDHREC. Out of those 13 decks though, three of them are led by Old One Eye. Conjurer's Closet just works great with this commander.

Every end step just blink Old One Eye into and out of play and it will bring along a new 5/5 Tyranid pal. This is a simple strategy, but one that's undeniably effective.

Unnatural Growth

Currently in 45% of decks.

What's better than having a board full of creatures with massive stats? Having a board full of creatures with even more massive stats. Unnatural Growth doubles the power and toughness of every creature you control during each combat step, both yours and your opponents.

This card's mana cost would normally be quite prohibitive, since it has so many green pips. Fortunately, since this deck is mono-green that's not an issue at all and you're free to use this card to grow your creatures to colossal sizes.

Ghalta, Primal Hunger

Currently in 44% of decks.

Ghalta, Primal Hunger is one of the best mono-green stompy cards out there. While this card has a mana value of 12 you will never be casting it for that much. Ghalta, Primal Hunger gets its cost discounted by X where X is the total power of creatures you control.

Unless a board wipe has just gone off, you'll almost always have creatures in play, especially as a green deck. If you control Old One Eye and the Tyranid token then you'll already have the maximum discount. If you're hungry for some big creatures, then Ghalta should definitely be able to sate your appetite.

5 Cards To Cut

Harmonize

Currently in 38% of decks.

This deck features a lot of card draw options and Harmonize just can't compete. Three cards for four mana, while not an appalling rate, just isn't quite good enough. This deck is already loaded full of powerful drawing effects like Beast Whisperer, Return of the Wildspeaker, and Momentous Fall. With all of this stiff competition, it's just not worth keeping Harmonize around.

Colossal Majesty

Currently in 39% of decks.

Colossal Majesty is another card draw spell that just can't stack up. There are lots of different versions of this effect out there, and this is one of the weakest variants. The deck already contains Garruk's Uprising which is strictly better, as it grants your creatures trample and can draw you a card as it enters play.

Elemental Bond, another card that is already in the deck, is also significantly better. Elemental Bond activates as soon as a creature enters play, rather than during the next upkeep, and only requires that creature to have a power of three.

I'll give this card one thing, at least it's not Kavu Lair, all the same it's best to cut it from the list.

Clamavus

Currently in 37% of decks.

Old One Eye doesn't inherently care about +1/+1 counters. Given that the Tyranid precon was all about counters though, there are plenty of +1/+1 counter cards hanging around in this deck. Specifically, seventeen of the cards in this list explicitly care about +1/+1 counters, either because they generate them or interact with them in some way.

This isn't quite enough to make a card like Clamavus worth running, as there are times when it will just end up being a five mana 3/3. If you amp up the number of +1/+1 counter cards that you're running then Clamavus can be very powerful and become worth keeping around. As it stands though, this card needs to clam up and get out of the way.

Purestrain Genestealer

Currently in 46% of decks.

Green is absolutely spoiled for choice when it comes to ramping options. Frankly Purestrain Genestealer just feels like a slower version of Kodama's Reach or Cultivate. If you cast Cultivate on turn three then you'll have four lands in play, plus a guaranteed fifth land drop on your next turn.

If you cast Purestrain Genestealer on turn three, it can't even attack until turn four and then needs to survive and attack again to get you a land on turn five. Not only is this card slower than other ramping options, but it's much more easy to disrupt.

The whole point of ramp is speed, you want to get your mana out before your opponents can. This genestealer is far too ponderous to be viable.

Tyrant Guard

Currently in 53% of decks.

Ravenous is a neat mechanic. Several Tyranids have X in their mana cost, and gain X +1/+1 counters when they enter play. If X is five or more then they draw you a card. Several cards in this deck have ravenous like Termagant Swarm, Sporocyst, and Aberrant. Of these options, the least useful ravenous card is Tyrant Guard.

As mentioned above there are only 17 cards in this list that care about +1/+1 counters and that includes all of these ravenous cards. The protection effect of Tyrant Guard just won't be able to protect enough of your stuff to make the card worth running.

5 Cards To Add

Bala Ged Recovery

Currently in 16% of decks.

Zendikar Rising gave us a great selection of double-faced land cards. Bala Ged Recovery is one of the best of these cards. A Regrowth effect that can also just be a tapland if you don't have anything that you need to return.

This card's good in any mono-green deck, but here it has some synergy with Old One Eye that makes it notable. Sometimes, rather than sending Old One Eye back to the command zone when it dies, you might send it to the graveyard instead in order to return it to your hand by using its effect.

Bala Ged Recovery enables you to return Old One Eye without needing to lose a second card. You can also use Bala Ged Recovery to get back cards that you discarded earlier in the game that you now regret getting rid of.

This is a pretty great utility land that's worth swapping in for one of this deck's 28 forests.

Overwhelming Stampede

Currently in 15% of decks.

I can't recommend Craterhoof Behemoth here, given its huge price tag. Overwhelming Stampede does a pretty great Craterhoof Behemoth impersonation for a fraction of the price, and probably synergizes a little bit better with this specific deck.

This list features lots of big creatures from Ghalta, Primal Hunger to Hierophant Bio-Titan. While Craterhoof cares about you having a wide board, Overwhelming Stampede wants you to have big creatures in play.

If you only control Old One Eye, a 5/5 Tyranid token, and Ghalta then this card will grant you a total bonus of +36/+36 spread out over your creatures. For a price of only $2 or so, this card is an overwhelming bargain.

Growing Rites of Itlimoc

Currently in 10% of decks.

Growing Rites of Itlimoc provides a useful way of filtering through the top cards of your deck for a creature on its front side, and a Gaea's Cradle on its reverse. Gaea's Cradle is a card that typically costs hundreds of dollars, while Growing Rites of Itlimoc costs less than $5.

Even though there is some assembly required to turn Growing Rites of Itlimoc into Itlimoc, Cradle of the Sun it's well worth it. The useful effect this card provides when you first cast it, and its pretty easy flip condition, should give it a guaranteed place in any creature-based decks featuring green.

Temur Sabertooth

Currently in 18% of decks.

Temur Sabertooth can perform a variety of very useful functions in this deck. This card can serve both an offensive and a defensive purpose. Temur Sabertooth can protect your big creatures, and bounce them back to your hand if a removal spell ever gets pointed at them.

If you leave two mana up at the end of each of your turns then your opponents won't come at you with any removal since they'll know you can just use this effect.

You can then use that mana to bounce Old One Eye back to your hand during the last end step before your turn starts. With your commander back in your hand, you can play them again to get another 5/5 Tyranid token. Effects like this, which let you repeat the effect of Old One Eye are always fantastic. Speaking of which...

Helm of the Host

Currently in 3% of decks.

Helm of the Host lets you put 11/11 worth of stats into play every single turn. Slip this helmet on over Old One Eye's massive scaly head and you'll be able to clone both it and the 5/5 Tyranid token that it generates every single combat.

If your opponents don't deal with this, you will eventually overwhelm them. You'll fill your board with such a huge number of 5/5s and 6/6s that you'll be able to tear your way through just about any opposition. If the Tyranids in Warhammer 40,000 had access to this helmet, they would finish consuming the galaxy within an hour or so.

Conclusion

Given that Old One Eye can put such a huge amount of stats on the board, why are there so few decks built around it? Partially, it's because of the sheer quantity of legendary creatures that get released.

The Warhammer 40,000 decks gave us 24 legendary creatures, and every new Magic set gives us plenty more. With so many other legends out there, it can be hard to stand out. Partially, it is because Old One Eye is mono-color.

While there are some mono-color commanders like Orvar, the All-Form and Giada, Font of Hope that really take off, broadly speaking they tend to be a bit less popular than their more colorful counterparts. Even among mono-color commanders Old One Eye exists in a niche that's already pretty crowded.

There are no shortage of mono-green stompy commanders out there. Gwenna, Eyes of Gaea, Selvala, Heart of the Wilds, and Eladamri, Korvecdal are just a few of the competitors that Old One Eye is up against.

If you've read this far though, hopefully, you can see what makes Old One Eye so unique. The ability to swarm the board with 5/5 Tyranid tokens gives this commander a fun niche, and they're worth a bit of experimentation.