Outside of its original 1999 printing in Urza's Destiny, it has only showed up in a couple of MTG Commander sets, which hasn't lowered its price a jot - it's sitting pretty at $46
Damage isn't removed from creatures during cleanup steps
Ophidian was played at the kitchen table as a four-of and people would attack each other with agreements to "not block" so they could each draw cards from the other
720.2a If an effect refers to a card, spell, or permanent that has an Omen, it refers to an object that has the alternative characteristics of an Omen spell, even if the object currently doesnt use them
One relatively cost-effective strategy I've used is combining Simba, Maui, and Maui's Fishook
But Im confident that if you build decks with strong identities, that you feel ownership of and which have the potential to thrive and show off that identity in a match, youll find yourself enjoying Commander to the fullest