Venting time! If there's one major complaint I have about Planeswalkers, it's that for about 3 years WotC made them more or less generic value machines instead of interesting and flavorful focal points of a specific strategy.
Nissa, Vital Force is one such example. There's not really much here that steers us to a specific strategy, except for maybe the Land Animation direction. Unfortunately, there are several other Nissas that have similar abilities, and the design space isn't really big enough to take over multiple decks.
So what can we do? Well, if you read Nissa real close, there is one simple word that I found interesting enough to look into, and it's also a fairly open design space: "Elemental." Specifically, big Green Elementals.
Release the Kraken Plant-Thing!
Magic: The Gathering TCG Deck - Nissa, Vital Force by Andy Hurst
'Nissa, Vital Force' - constructed deck list and prices for the Magic: The Gathering Trading Card Game from TCGplayer Infinite!
Created By: Andy Hurst
Event:
Rank:
Freeform (Casual)
Market Price: $17.97
Thorn Elemental
Color Identity:G
Market Price: $0.10
ImageURL: https://tcgplayer-cdn.tcgplayer.com/product/162251_200w.jpg
You may have Thorn Elemental assign its combat damage as though it weren't blocked.
Buy This Card! https://www.tcgplayer.com/product/162251/magic-dominaria-thorn-elemental
Cloudthresher
Color Identity:G
Market Price: $0.29
ImageURL: https://tcgplayer-cdn.tcgplayer.com/product/131995_200w.jpg
Flash
Reach
When Cloudthresher enters the battlefield, it deals 2 damage to each creature with flying and each player.
Evoke {2}{G}{G} (You may cast this spell for its evoke cost. If you do, it's sacrificed when it enters the battlefield.)Buy This Card! https://www.tcgplayer.com/product/131995/magic-commander-anthology-cloudthresher
Llanowar Reborn
Color Identity:G
Market Price: $0.20
ImageURL: https://tcgplayer-cdn.tcgplayer.com/product/236332_200w.jpg
Llanowar Reborn enters the battlefield tapped.
{T}: Add {G}.
Graft 1 (This land enters the battlefield with a +1/+1 counter on it. Whenever a creature enters the battlefield, you may move a +1/+1 counter from this land onto it.)Buy This Card! https://www.tcgplayer.com/product/236332/magic-commander-2021-llanowar-reborn
Silvos, Rogue Elemental
Color Identity:G
Market Price: $0.45
ImageURL: https://tcgplayer-cdn.tcgplayer.com/product/118670_200w.jpg
Trample
{G}: Regenerate Silvos, Rogue Elemental.Buy This Card! https://www.tcgplayer.com/product/118670/magic-eternal-masters-silvos-rogue-elemental
Time to Feed
Color Identity:G
Market Price: $0.01
ImageURL: https://tcgplayer-cdn.tcgplayer.com/product/216464_200w.jpg
Choose target creature an opponent controls. When that creature dies this turn, you gain 3 life. Target creature you control fights that creature. (Each deals damage equal to its power to the other.)
Buy This Card! https://www.tcgplayer.com/product/216464/magic-jumpstart-time-to-feed
Gaea's Blessing
Color Identity:G
Market Price: $0.27
ImageURL: https://tcgplayer-cdn.tcgplayer.com/product/162223_200w.jpg
Target player shuffles up to three target cards from their graveyard into their library. Draw a card. When Gaea's Blessing is put into your graveyard from your library, shuffle your graveyard into your library.
Buy This Card! https://www.tcgplayer.com/product/162223/magic-dominaria-gaeas-blessing
Centaur Omenreader
Color Identity:G
Market Price: $0.29
ImageURL: https://tcgplayer-cdn.tcgplayer.com/product/14862_200w.jpg
As long as Centaur Omenreader is tapped, creature spells you cast cost {2} less to cast.Buy This Card! https://www.tcgplayer.com/product/14862/magic-future-sight-centaur-omenreader
Appetite for the Unnatural
Color Identity:G
Market Price: $0.05
ImageURL: https://tcgplayer-cdn.tcgplayer.com/product/123095_200w.jpg
Destroy target artifact or enchantment. You gain 2 life.
Buy This Card! https://www.tcgplayer.com/product/123095/magic-kaladesh-appetite-for-the-unnatural
Acidic Slime
Color Identity:G
Market Price: $0.09
ImageURL: https://tcgplayer-cdn.tcgplayer.com/product/243830_200w.jpg
Deathtouch (Any amount of damage this deals to a creature is enough to destroy it.) When Acidic Slime enters the battlefield, destroy target artifact, enchantment, or land.
Buy This Card! https://www.tcgplayer.com/product/243830/magic-commander-adventures-in-the-forgotten-realms-acidic-slime
Staff of the Wild Magus
Market Price: $0.13
ImageURL: https://tcgplayer-cdn.tcgplayer.com/product/90955_200w.jpg
Whenever you cast a green spell or a Forest enters the battlefield under your control, you gain 1 life.
Buy This Card! https://www.tcgplayer.com/product/90955/magic-magic-2015-m15-staff-of-the-wild-magus
Living Totem
Color Identity:G
Market Price: $0.03
ImageURL: https://tcgplayer-cdn.tcgplayer.com/product/91322_200w.jpg
Convoke (Your creatures can help cast this spell. Each creature you tap while casting this spell pays for {1} or one mana of that creature's color.)
When Living Totem enters the battlefield, you may put a +1/+1 counter on another target creature.Buy This Card! https://www.tcgplayer.com/product/91322/magic-magic-2015-m15-living-totem
Jaddi Lifestrider
Color Identity:G
Market Price: $0.09
ImageURL: https://tcgplayer-cdn.tcgplayer.com/product/122244_200w.jpg
When Jaddi Lifestrider enters the battlefield, you may tap any number of untapped creatures you control. You gain 2 life for each creature tapped this way.
Buy This Card! https://www.tcgplayer.com/product/122244/magic-duel-decks-nissa-vs-ob-nixilis-jaddi-lifestrider
Yavimaya Elder
Color Identity:G
Market Price: $0.11
ImageURL: https://tcgplayer-cdn.tcgplayer.com/product/248603_200w.jpg
When Yavimaya Elder dies, you may search your library for up to two basic land cards, reveal them, put them into your hand, then shuffle.
{2}, Sacrifice Yavimaya Elder: Draw a card.Buy This Card! https://www.tcgplayer.com/product/248603/magic-commander-innistrad-midnight-hunt-yavimaya-elder
Overgrowth Elemental
Color Identity:G
Market Price: $0.09
ImageURL: https://tcgplayer-cdn.tcgplayer.com/product/192553_200w.jpg
When Overgrowth Elemental enters the battlefield, put a +1/+1 counter on another target Elemental you control. Whenever another creature you control dies, you gain 1 life. If that creature was an Elemental, put a +1/+1 counter on Overgrowth Elemental.
Buy This Card! https://www.tcgplayer.com/product/192553/magic-core-set-2020-overgrowth-elemental
Elemental Bond
Color Identity:G
Market Price: $2.49
ImageURL: https://tcgplayer-cdn.tcgplayer.com/product/196642_200w.jpg
Whenever a creature with power 3 or greater enters the battlefield under your control, draw a card.
Buy This Card! https://www.tcgplayer.com/product/196642/magic-commander-2019-elemental-bond
Arbor Elf
Color Identity:G
Market Price: $0.52
ImageURL: https://tcgplayer-cdn.tcgplayer.com/product/161851_200w.jpg
{T}: Untap target Forest.Buy This Card! https://www.tcgplayer.com/product/161851/magic-masters-25-arbor-elf
Forest
Color Identity:G
Market Price: $0.04
ImageURL: https://tcgplayer-cdn.tcgplayer.com/product/125584_200w.jpg
({T}: Add {G}.)Buy This Card! https://www.tcgplayer.com/product/125584/magic-planechase-anthology-forest-156
Carven Caryatid
Color Identity:G
Market Price: $0.32
ImageURL: https://tcgplayer-cdn.tcgplayer.com/product/216128_200w.jpg
Defender (This creature can't attack.) When Carven Caryatid enters the battlefield, draw a card.
Buy This Card! https://www.tcgplayer.com/product/216128/magic-jumpstart-carven-caryatid
Drumhunter
Color Identity:G
Market Price: $0.57
ImageURL: https://tcgplayer-cdn.tcgplayer.com/product/72100_200w.jpg
At the beginning of your end step, if you control a creature with power 5 or greater, you may draw a card.
{T}: Add {C}.Buy This Card! https://www.tcgplayer.com/product/72100/magic-commander-2013-drumhunter
Fog
Color Identity:G
Market Price: $0.24
ImageURL: https://tcgplayer-cdn.tcgplayer.com/product/118683_200w.jpg
Prevent all combat damage that would be dealt this turn.
Buy This Card! https://www.tcgplayer.com/product/118683/magic-eternal-masters-fog
Elven Cache
Color Identity:G
Market Price: $0.13
ImageURL: https://tcgplayer-cdn.tcgplayer.com/product/2542_200w.jpg
Return target card from your graveyard to your hand.
Buy This Card! https://www.tcgplayer.com/product/2542/magic-classic-sixth-edition-elven-cache
Barishi
Color Identity:G
Market Price: $0.22
ImageURL: https://tcgplayer-cdn.tcgplayer.com/product/5985_200w.jpg
When Barishi dies, exile Barishi, then shuffle all creature cards from your graveyard into your library.
Buy This Card! https://www.tcgplayer.com/product/5985/magic-weatherlight-barishi
Terrain Elemental
Color Identity:G
Market Price: $0.13
ImageURL: https://tcgplayer-cdn.tcgplayer.com/product/122885_200w.jpg
Buy This Card! https://www.tcgplayer.com/product/122885/magic-kaladesh-terrain-elemental
Glade Watcher
Color Identity:G
Market Price: $0.05
ImageURL: https://tcgplayer-cdn.tcgplayer.com/product/96734_200w.jpg
Defender
Formidable — {G}: Glade Watcher can attack this turn as though it didn't have defender. Activate only if creatures you control have total power 8 or greater.Buy This Card! https://www.tcgplayer.com/product/96734/magic-dragons-of-tarkir-glade-watcher
Woodborn Behemoth
Color Identity:G
Market Price: $0.07
ImageURL: https://tcgplayer-cdn.tcgplayer.com/product/216090_200w.jpg
As long as you control eight or more lands, Woodborn Behemoth gets +4/+4 and has trample. (It can deal excess combat damage to the player or planeswalker it's attacking.)
Buy This Card! https://www.tcgplayer.com/product/216090/magic-jumpstart-woodborn-behemoth
Seed Guardian
Color Identity:G
Market Price: $0.13
ImageURL: https://tcgplayer-cdn.tcgplayer.com/product/111070_200w.jpg
Reach When Seed Guardian dies, create an X/X green Elemental creature token, where X is the number of creature cards in your graveyard.
Buy This Card! https://www.tcgplayer.com/product/111070/magic-oath-of-the-gatewatch-seed-guardian
Tornado Elemental
Color Identity:G
Market Price: $0.33
ImageURL: https://tcgplayer-cdn.tcgplayer.com/product/132199_200w.jpg
When Tornado Elemental enters the battlefield, it deals 6 damage to each creature with flying. You may have Tornado Elemental assign its combat damage as though it weren't blocked.
Buy This Card! https://www.tcgplayer.com/product/132199/magic-commander-anthology-tornado-elemental
Citanul Woodreaders
Color Identity:G
Market Price: $0.07
ImageURL: https://tcgplayer-cdn.tcgplayer.com/product/233986_200w.jpg
Kicker {2}{G} (You may pay an additional {2}{G} as you cast this spell.)
When Citanul Woodreaders enters the battlefield, if it was kicked, draw two cards.Buy This Card! https://www.tcgplayer.com/product/233986/magic-time-spiral-remastered-citanul-woodreaders
Nissa, Vital Force
Color Identity:G
Market Price: $7.34
ImageURL: https://tcgplayer-cdn.tcgplayer.com/product/122700_200w.jpg
+1: Untap target land you control. Until your next turn, it becomes a 5/5 Elemental creature with haste. It's still a land. −3: Return target permanent card from your graveyard to your hand. −6: You get an emblem with "Whenever a land enters the battlefield under your control, you may draw a card."
Buy This Card! https://www.tcgplayer.com/product/122700/magic-kaladesh-nissa-vital-force
Hail Storm
Color Identity:G
Market Price: $0.12
ImageURL: https://tcgplayer-cdn.tcgplayer.com/product/14603_200w.jpg
Hail Storm deals 2 damage to each attacking creature and 1 damage to you and each creature you control.
Buy This Card! https://www.tcgplayer.com/product/14603/magic-timeshifted-hail-storm
Child of Gaea
Color Identity:G
Market Price: $0.43
ImageURL: https://tcgplayer-cdn.tcgplayer.com/product/6815_200w.jpg
Trample
At the beginning of your upkeep, sacrifice Child of Gaea unless you pay {G}{G}.
{1}{G}: Regenerate Child of Gaea.Buy This Card! https://www.tcgplayer.com/product/6815/magic-urzas-saga-child-of-gaea
Canopy Surge
Color Identity:G
Market Price: $0.19
ImageURL: https://tcgplayer-cdn.tcgplayer.com/product/7447_200w.jpg
Kicker {2} (You may pay an additional {2} as you cast this spell.)
Canopy Surge deals 1 damage to each creature with flying and each player. If this spell was kicked, it deals 4 damage to each creature with flying and each player instead.Buy This Card! https://www.tcgplayer.com/product/7447/magic-invasion-canopy-surge
Havenwood Battleground
Color Identity:G
Market Price: $0.17
ImageURL: https://tcgplayer-cdn.tcgplayer.com/product/132062_200w.jpg
Havenwood Battleground enters the battlefield tapped.
{T}: Add {G}.
{T}, Sacrifice Havenwood Battleground: Add {G}{G}.Buy This Card! https://www.tcgplayer.com/product/132062/magic-commander-anthology-havenwood-battleground
Hickory Woodlot
Color Identity:G
Market Price: $0.24
ImageURL: https://tcgplayer-cdn.tcgplayer.com/product/6553_200w.jpg
Hickory Woodlot enters the battlefield tapped with two depletion counters on it.
{T}, Remove a depletion counter from Hickory Woodlot: Add {G}{G}. If there are no depletion counters on Hickory Woodlot, sacrifice it.Buy This Card! https://www.tcgplayer.com/product/6553/magic-mercadian-masques-hickory-woodlot
Creeping Mold
Color Identity:G
Market Price: $0.05
ImageURL: https://tcgplayer-cdn.tcgplayer.com/product/123106_200w.jpg
Destroy target artifact, enchantment, or land.
Buy This Card! https://www.tcgplayer.com/product/123106/magic-kaladesh-creeping-mold
Blossoming Defense
Color Identity:G
Market Price: $0.37
ImageURL: https://tcgplayer-cdn.tcgplayer.com/product/122871_200w.jpg
Target creature you control gets +2/+2 and gains hexproof until end of turn.
Buy This Card! https://www.tcgplayer.com/product/122871/magic-kaladesh-blossoming-defense
Nullmage Advocate
Color Identity:G
Market Price: $0.16
ImageURL: https://tcgplayer-cdn.tcgplayer.com/product/125475_200w.jpg
{T}: Return two target cards from an opponent's graveyard to their hand. Destroy target artifact or enchantment.Buy This Card! https://www.tcgplayer.com/product/125475/magic-planechase-anthology-nullmage-advocate
Centaur Garden
Color Identity:G
Market Price: $0.23
ImageURL: https://tcgplayer-cdn.tcgplayer.com/product/9591_200w.jpg
{T}: Add {G}. Centaur Garden deals 1 damage to you.
Threshold — {G}, {T}, Sacrifice Centaur Garden: Target creature gets +3/+3 until end of turn. Activate only if seven or more cards are in your graveyard.Buy This Card! https://www.tcgplayer.com/product/9591/magic-odyssey-centaur-garden
Ivy Elemental
Color Identity:G
Market Price: $0.04
ImageURL: https://tcgplayer-cdn.tcgplayer.com/product/212731_200w.jpg
Ivy Elemental enters the battlefield with X +1/+1 counters on it.
Buy This Card! https://www.tcgplayer.com/product/212731/magic-ikoria-lair-of-behemoths-ivy-elemental
Pounce
Color Identity:G
Market Price: $0.18
ImageURL: https://tcgplayer-cdn.tcgplayer.com/product/145755_200w.jpg
Target creature you control fights target creature you don't control. (Each deals damage equal to its power to the other.)
Buy This Card! https://www.tcgplayer.com/product/145755/magic-ixalan-pounce
We're looking to play one of our enormous Rares, and use it to bludgeon the opponent to submission. Heck, even former Rare Thorn Elemental will do in a pinch. Our early troops are not terribly impressive, but that's okay! They're just around to chip in some damage and hold the fort until the cavalry shows up to wreck shop. Carven Caryatid shines as a stud on defense that replaces itself immediately. Incidentally, writing out this decklist has provided me with my own "mandala effect" moment—I realized that it's actually "carven" and not "cavern". The art even clearly shows that something is carved, but "carven" is really throwing me for a loop!
Anyway. Once we hit the 4+ spots on the mana curve, our creatures start to become more impressive. Seed Guardian, Barishi, and Woodborn Behemoth can work over a board under the right circumstances with either resilience or just a fat body. Once we get to the 6-Drop slot, the Rares come into play and any of them can (and likely will) take over. The Thorn Elemental was a pleasant surprise; the Downshift from Dominaria came out after I had already designed the deck, and I chose the value of the "extra" Rare slot over the value of having the OG version with that awesome art. I'm still not sure if it was right. Another Downshift, Ivy Elemental, isn't a stud at any point on the curve, but its flexibility is welcome and locks up a slot.
The spells are...fine? We can't generally remove creatures unless we have something to fight, and we have several potent removal options for permanents that aren't creatures, which is about on par for Green. Gaea's Blessing seems like it belongs in a Nissa deck, and is one of my all-time favorite Magic cards to boot. Elemental Bonds is a flavorful means of card advantage in a deck that otherwise doesn't pack much.
As a casual/competitive player (in that order) when Onslaught came out, the five "Pit Fighter Legends" in that set were extremely cool. These gigantic creatures could take over a game if they resolved and lived long enough to attack, and (at least in Block Constructed) the environment allowed us to try to make it happen. I've loved these monsters ever since they were printed. Silvos hits like a train; 8 Power and a cheap Regeneration cost means stopping him will be a tall order. Never tap out once Silvos is down and our opponent will be hard pressed to stop it. My only complaint about Silvos is that he's not also a Rogue creature type. It's right there in the name!
This creature was a frequent inclusion-slash-finisher in a Standard deck that also played Cruel Ultimatum. We don't have mana that good, but since we are Mono Green there similarly won't be any issues with casting this as long as we get enough lands. Flash, Reach, a massive body, and the ability to Invoke it all provide us with a ton of flexibility! Remember when hardcasting or invoking that the effect still damages all players, so make sure to play to ensure it doesn't kill us or put us in a tough spot. If we can do that, a surprise 7/7 body can shut the door.
The poor man's Silvos is still a powerhouse. Good news: It's a gigantic trampler. Bad news: between the 2 mana upkeep cost and keeping open regeneration mana, this child will demand a lot of our resources. However, it's important to again remember that it's a gigantic trampler and can leave the opponent dead in short order.
"Flyers? What Flyers?" (That's a direct quote from anyone who has ever resolved this creature.) Its other ability ensures that it will not simply be chump blocked. Take care to remember that it doesn't deal double damage, so there might be board states where you need to choose between trading the Tornado off or getting a bit hit in. Don't make that choice lightly, but the fact that this lets us choose at all is valuable.
Hail Storm
What a weird card to show up in Green! I had never seen it before it got Timeshifted, and haven't gotten a chance to play it since then. But it's exactly the type of card I enjoy in a project like this: strange, sometimes powerful and game changing, but not really playable in any older format, and just a little too low impact for EDH. Here, most of our creatures are either gigantic or well suited to defense until the giants come online, so the downside of the storm won't impact us too much. It can, however, be devastating for opponents trying to Alpha Strike.
