MTG Salvation

Very excited to test this in super-ramp. It also may be a fine mana producer in storm, provided you have 2-4 forests to untap. I'm even more glad I switched out some mana elves for Wild Growth, Utopia Sprawl, and Overgrowth now.

This card is powerful. The first ability provides 8 worth of trampling power the turn after it hits play (like sweet Cube card Kalonian Hydra) or 4 hasty trampling damage if you cast it for 6. It can also ramp you by 2-4 mana the turn after it hits play. Being able to green-accel Nissa on T-4 followed by a T-5 Hornet Queen, Terastodon, Woodfall Primus, HOOF or even Kozilek, Butcher of Truth seems pretty awesome.

I think on its face it probably is the 4th best walker in green but I could see it being better than Garruk, Primal Hunter because of the versatility of ramping or putting out creatures (albeit while tying up your lands).

Really excited to test this one.

Not as powerful as the 5cc Garruk in a random green deck, but I like 'walkers that help contribute to specific archetypes. And this one helps land-heavy green super-ramp decks do awesome things. I'll probably give her a trial run because I support that very deck.

Having your ramp spells also be legit win conditions is a pretty big game. There are so many times I feel like where the green ramp decks just ramp to nothing. This goes a long ways towards preventing that problem. If you power this out early you can choose to either go aggro with it or just pump out something monstrous the next turn.

The more Ive thought about Nissa the more I like her. Ill definitely give her a spin.

Quote from spairy »

Having your ramp spells also be legit win conditions is a pretty big game. There are so many times I feel like where the green ramp decks just ramp to nothing. This goes a long ways towards preventing that problem. If you power this out early you can choose to either go aggro with it or just pump out something monstrous the next turn.

Good point. Sort of how Rude Awakening can run your opponent over when it isn't being Turnabout... come to think of it, Rude Awakening is not too bad a comp for this card either. Less explosive, but the long-term effects are much more drastic.

And if you know you're going to be seeing pressure against her, you can at least get a 4/4 trampler out of the deal, which isn't that bad a proposition. I also like how you can make you forests into trampling 4/4s and than give them "vigilance" to protect her in future rounds.

Or tap them for mana and still swing for 4/4 trample each!

I never got a chance to play Nissa but have a chance to acquire one now. How has she performed? How many forests does a deck need to make her worth running?

I like Nissa a lot, since it's a nice throw-in to those cheaty G/R or G/U decks and G/B reanimator ones to provide another shot at big mana as a plan B, for when the Show and Tell, Sneak Attack or Tinker Shenanigans don't come off. It's also a decent add to any generic midrange deck, providing a Mirari's Wake-esque steroid shot to your mana production but with the significant upside of producing 4/4 threats if the board state requires it. Overall, the number of Forests in the deck isn't of massive import since the primary ability works regardless of land type, but getting the full four mana untap bonus is very sweet when it happens. The ultimate on this card is not irrelevant either since repeatedly [+1]ing has been a thing quite often.

Overall it's a good archetype (big ramp/cheat deck) support card which has a very decent amount of playability in other decks; G/x midrange, Rock and the likes. I think she's well worth testing.

Nissa is great. The 4/4s are beefy and the trample is super relevant, the ramp is huge, and 5 mana is that sweet spot of "expensive-but-consistently-reachable" for most green decks. I like her a lot and pretty much always play her in my green decks.

Nissa is sweet. If you have enough forests in your deck to cast her, she's good enough to run. And then she just gets better the heavier into the mono-green ramp strategy your deck becomes.

You don't even need to use the untap forests ability to want her in a deck. She's at her best when you can, but the other abilities power level is high enough that it's not required.

Making a 4/4 hasted creature every turn ends the game extremly fast... And she's increasing loyalty while she's doing it.
It's generally not a big deal that you are constraining your mana, since 4/4 haste every turn is generally better than whatever you are potentially preventing yourself from casting.

Churning out 4/4's from your lands can occasionally lead to a blowout, but the upside is well worth it.

I think she's also sweet in any Upheaval strategy. Gives you a important win con in games where you don't have Upveaval and gives you the reach you need when you have it. 10 mana Upveaval via Nissa into Thrun, the Last Troll is quite brutal.

This card was recently discussed in the Random Card of the Day thread. Check out the discussion here.