MTG Salvation

Hi, today I sold an Azusa, Lost but Seeking... then at the binder of the buyer, I saw a Nissa, Steward of Elements. Bought the Nissa on impulse, because her abilities looked good.

Is there a home for this new Nissa in Modern? If there's none.. then I'd just probably resell it.

There is currently no home for her, cause she is in the wrong colours to say it this way. UGx is a colour combination, which doesn't mesh well with the 0 ability (aka the main reason to run her). If you go into Bant, there are way better options (Knight as a utility creature and Gideon, Ally of Zendrika as PW). Other colour combinations have better PW to say it this way.

Greetings,
Kathal

I think there is a home to be made for her, giving her 0 can flip a creature or land and put it on the battlefield if the CMC is lower than her loyalty. Her ult isn't impossible to reach, but given this is modern, not too easily.

I wouldn't mind brewing to see if she is feasible, but there is no shell she can go in yet. Maybe Bant Eldrazi, but it's not a deck I'm familiar with.

I love Nissas style (more X walkers plz) but if she can't find a home in standard she cant find a home in modern...

Ok, thanks for all the replies. Will be keeping the Nissa for now.

I do have some parts of the Vizier // druid combo, would try to put her there if I complete the deck.

This is one I've been toying with. While she's really cool it's hard pressed to want to spend 3 or 4 mana to cast her. After you have unlimited mana it becomes quite silly to play her in place of a card that can out right win on the spot.
If you are playing her in a more 3 or 4 color value deck then it's possible for her to be quite good.

Do you have a sample deck list?

And agreed that she's cool. I'm sure that the 9 dollars I paid were not wasted. Played a bit with Crystal Ball when it was in standard years ago... so I know that scry 2 every turn is deceptively powerful. However, my main problem is she is easier to dispose of than crystal ball, because can be attacked / burned. Which means I have to be slightly ahead or at least even in board presence with the opponent to benefit from casting her.

I’ve been a huge fan and pilot of green/white and green/white/X collected company decks for probably the last two years (when I started playing modern instead of standard) and it has been virtually the only deck I have played competitively in the modern format. I’ve recently replaced coco for Nissa, steward of elements but haven’t had a good opportunity to run it through an fnm but it feels like it could be a good home for Nissa. Check it out!

4x heirarch
3x birds
4x path (11)

1x qasali
2x scavenging ooze
3x voice of resurgence (11)
1x selfless spirit
4x nissa, steward of elements

3x courser of kruphix
4x Knight of the reliquary
2x eternal witness (14)
3x retreat to coralhelm
1x tireless tracker
1x chord of calling

1x shalai voice of plenty

4x windswept Heath
3x flooded strand
3x misty rainforest
2x temple garden
1x breeding pool
1x hallowed fountain
3x ghost quarter
1x Gavony township
1x horizon canopy
1x rogues passage
2x forest
1x plains

It’s hard for me to think of a situation where she’s better than Jace or Coco.

Thanks for the replies. I almost forgot about this thread. Reminds me that lost 6 dollars, becuase Nissa is only 3 dollars now.

Nice list. Might be testing that out when I have some spare time.

I use her in Sultai Midrange where your threats are low cost so she's likely to get them into the battlefield even at low loyalty. Also where you have Mishra's Bauble and Serum Visions to see if you're good to zero her. In a grindfest match up though, simply having the ability to scry 2 every turn is paramount. He ultimate creature-lands are flying too so its very threatening. My list is something like

I wish I could run more Nissa in this deck because she really complements everything quite well. Even Grim Flayer can set up a nice Zero for her.

Thanks for sharing your list. My straight BG midrange has a similar discard and removal suite.. although the creature config is different -- 4 goyf, 3 ooze, 1 flayer, 3 finks, 2 kalitas in the main. Only 1 flayer because delirium is not easy to get, and a bit budget since I don't own any lotv.

Are the 3 flayers and maindeck spellbomb working fine for you?

Nihil Spellbomb main deck is awesome. It's great in a meta game with lots of dredge. It also helps to give delirium with Grim Flayer. He is especially important since I'm using Stubborn Denial so that way I have 8 creatures that turn it on.

I don't know how I feel about kitchen Finks in the main deck. Totally dependant on your meta game though. It's not great against humans, spirits or affinity.

I would recommend trying a blue splash in your deck, trying out Snapcaster and Nissa, Steward of Elements. The LOTV is not a critical part of the deck

(accidental double post)

I see. Will try to add Nissa and the spellbombs.

Just one more question. Is the Creeping Tar-Pit useful? Since my list is GB, a Hissing Quagmire is used... but might change that to a tarpit if going sultai.

Quote from FuneralofGod »

I use her in Sultai Midrange where your threats are low cost so she's likely to get them into the battlefield even at low loyalty. Also where you have Mishra's Bauble and Serum Visions to see if you're good to zero her. In a grindfest match up though, simply having the ability to scry 2 every turn is paramount. He ultimate creature-lands are flying too so its very threatening. My list is something like

SmauG's DeckMagic OnlineOCTGN2ApprenticeBuy These Cards
Creatures (13) 4 Grim Flayer 4 Tarmogoyf 3 Snapcaster Mage 1 Scavenging Ooze 1 Kalitas, Traitor of Ghet Spells (19) 4 Inquisition of Kozilek 2 Thoughtseize 4 Fatal Push 2 Assassin's Trophy 1 Abrupt Decay 2 Traverse the Ulvenwald 2 Stubborn Denial 2 Serum Visions Other (9) 4 Mishra's Bauble 2 Nihil Spellbomb 1 Liliana of the Veil 1 Liliana, the Last Hope 1 Nissa, Steward of Elements	Lands (19) 3 Blooming Marsh 2 Darkslick Shores 1 Creeping Tar Pit 4 Verdant Catacombs 4 Polluted Delta 1 Overgrown Tomb 1 Watery Grave 1 Breeding pool 1 Swamp 1 Forest	Sideboard: 2 Collective Brutality 3 Fulminator Mage 1 Devour Flesh 1 Liliana of the Veil 2 Surgical Extraction 1 Ceremonious Rejection 4 Unmoored Ego 1 Cry of the Carnarium

I wish I could run more Nissa in this deck because she really complements everything quite well. Even Grim Flayer can set up a nice Zero for her.

I like this list very much
Used to run something very similar!

Quote from FuneralofGod »

I use her in Sultai Midrange where your threats are low cost so she's likely to get them into the battlefield even at low loyalty. Also where you have Mishra's Bauble and Serum Visions to see if you're good to zero her. In a grindfest match up though, simply having the ability to scry 2 every turn is paramount. He ultimate creature-lands are flying too so its very threatening. My list is something like

Simto's DeckMagic OnlineOCTGN2ApprenticeBuy These Cards
Creatures (13) 4 Grim Flayer 4 Tarmogoyf 3 Snapcaster Mage 1 Scavenging Ooze 1 Kalitas, Traitor of Ghet Spells (19) 4 Inquisition of Kozilek 2 Thoughtseize 4 Fatal Push 2 Assassin's Trophy 1 Abrupt Decay 2 Traverse the Ulvenwald 2 Stubborn Denial 2 Serum Visions Other (9) 4 Mishra's Bauble 2 Nihil Spellbomb 1 Liliana of the Veil 1 Liliana, the Last Hope 1 Nissa, Steward of Elements	Lands (19) 3 Blooming Marsh 2 Darkslick Shores 1 Creeping Tar Pit 4 Verdant Catacombs 4 Polluted Delta 1 Overgrown Tomb 1 Watery Grave 1 Breeding pool 1 Swamp 1 Forest	Sideboard: 2 Collective Brutality 3 Fulminator Mage 1 Devour Flesh 1 Liliana of the Veil 2 Surgical Extraction 1 Ceremonious Rejection 4 Unmoored Ego 1 Cry of the Carnarium

I wish I could run more Nissa in this deck because she really complements everything quite well. Even Grim Flayer can set up a nice Zero for her.

That deck looks really fun to play. How are you liking it in the current meta?

I feel it struggles a bit against Phoenix because they attack on so many different angles. But it's decent against most everything. It's incredibly fun to play. You have so many outs in so many situations. Every match is like a puzzle. Nissa is awesome with 4x Bauble and 4 flayer. They really help set up her zero. One key is that I don't always crack my Bauble right away unless I need to dig for a card next turn, such as too make a land drop or dig for a threat. Keeping the Bauble can help turn in revolt later, be used with Nissa, or even pump Tarmogoyf at instant speed if the graveyard lacks an Artifact.

I keep the one Creeping Tar Pit in there just because I also have Traverse to fetch it. It hasn't been super relevant for me in recent memory but it could be a nice stalemate break against something like Jund or GDS. I don't really have a lot of extra SB tech against Affinity so that might be something I change in the future

ive always viewed nissa steward as a fringe playable card, but it fails to show up anywhere because very few (to no) good UBx decks exist. sultai has always been the bastard child of GBx (and already has plenty of PW competition w/ liliana(s)) and RUG or bant (non-coco) midrange decks continue to be on the outside looking in.

perhaps if Shardless Agent gets printed into horizons things might change.

Quote from tronix »

ive always viewed nissa steward as a fringe playable card, but it fails to show up anywhere because very few (to no) good UBx decks exist. sultai has always been the bastard child of GBx (and already has plenty of PW competition w/ liliana(s)) and RUG or bant (non-coco) midrange decks continue to be on the outside looking in.

perhaps if Shardless Agent gets printed into horizons things might change.

I really hope it gets printed also, because Sultai is my favorite variation of GBx. Unfortunately Agent is a non-bo with Nissa because you want to be casting Shardless Agent and Nissa is putting it directly onto the battlefield. But still I think Shardless Sultai would be a savage force to be reckoned with in modern. We don't have force of will to pair with it but I think it could still put this archetype on the map.

Quote from FuneralofGod »

Quote from tronix »

ive always viewed nissa steward as a fringe playable card, but it fails to show up anywhere because very few (to no) good UBx decks exist. sultai has always been the bastard child of GBx (and already has plenty of PW competition w/ liliana(s)) and RUG or bant (non-coco) midrange decks continue to be on the outside looking in.

perhaps if Shardless Agent gets printed into horizons things might change.

I really hope it gets printed also, because Sultai is my favorite variation of GBx. Unfortunately Agent is a non-bo with Nissa because you want to be casting Shardless Agent and Nissa is putting it directly onto the battlefield. But still I think Shardless Sultai would be a savage force to be reckoned with in modern. We don't have force of will to pair with it but I think it could still put this archetype on the map.

ah yeah, good call on the cascade. in my mind i have nissa steward as a 3 cmc walker. shame, i was thinking you could use the scry 2 to improve cascade targets; oh well.

In the way of her scry, she could help. But you're never going to use her to zero into Shardless. And casting Shardless means you could cascade into a Nissa with X=0 which would be lame.

Alternatively, the new Kiora is something I'm considering for my build. CMC 3 Planeswalker that draws a card whenever a 4 power creature ETBs. Also starts with 7 loyalty and has -1: Untap target creature or land. Giving pseudo vigilance or free up mana for counter magic

I think that Nissa works best in a ramp-combo type decks where her abilities shine best.
Being able to +2 to dig for combo pieces (mainly creatures and lands) and being able to put them in play with the 0-ability and having the option to close out games with the -6 ability.

Recenly I've tried her in a Bant combo deck trying to cheat out Emrakul with Impromptu Raid (the nerfed version of Sneak Attack):
The deck also has Congregation at Dawn to set up the combo or alternatively the Druid-Vizier infinite mana combo to cast the Eldrazi from hand.
Nissa basically acts as a more expensive Serum Visions here which can also threaten to win the game on its own if it sticks long enough when the opponent is too focused on killing the ramp creatures or countering the the combo pieces.

Quote from FuneralofGod »

Unfortunately Agent is a non-bo with Nissa because you want to be casting Shardless Agent and Nissa is putting it directly onto the battlefield.

Double non-bo even, because cascading into Nissa kills her right away.