Thanks to their strong ability to play the long game, planeswalkers are generally well represented in Commander. Offering value turn after turn, combined with the looming threat of an ultimate, this is the perfect card type to punish decks that don’t run interaction.
Despite these strengths, however, there are still some surprisingly powerful planeswalkers that are underplayed in Commander. Nissa, Worldwaker, for example, makes for a great ramp piece, win condition, and is an infinite combo machine.
MTG Nissa, Worldwaker
While her first ability certainly has some uses, Nissa, Worldwaker’s second ability, which ramps you up by four mana, is more interesting. When used with lands like Ancient Tomb and Temple of the False God, Nissa can easily set up massive Eldrazi Titans.
For the most part, Nissa’s restriction to only untapping Forests means she will perform best in mono-green decks. Fortunately, all kinds of green Commanders, like The Unbeatable Squirrel Girl, and Omnath, Locus of Mana can maximize the extra mana Nissa creates. You can even use Yavimaya, Cradle of Growth or Rootpath Purifier to allow Nissa to untap lands of any type.
Taking full advantage of this, Toph, the First Metalbender can turn Nissa into an artifact-untapping machine. This can unlock some ridiculous lines with cards like Strionic Resonator and The Chain Veil, floating tons of mana.
Should Nissa stick around long enough, you’ll be able to Ultimate her, creating a lethal board state. Notably, the land creatures she creates won’t have Haste, so you’ll need an enabler like Concordant Crossroads to close out the game. If you aren’t running a ton of basic lands, Rootpath Purifier can ensure that Nissa puts every land in your deck into play.
Because Nissa’s Ultimate is so powerful, accelerating towards her final ability can be a strong game plan. Having Vorinclex, Monstrous Raider in the command zone easily achieves this, setting Nissa up to Ultimate next turn. Alternatively, Proliferate effects like Evolution Sage pair extremely well with Nissa in Landfall strategies.
Despite Nissa’s first ability being the least exciting, there’s still some interesting stuff you can pull off. You can use this to bypass the activation costs of lands with attack triggers, like Restless Prairie, or to protect your Planeswalker in a pinch. For the most part, however, this first ability is mainly used for infinite combo shenanigans.
Creating Infinite Lands
Thanks to how easy it is to break land animation, Nissa, Worldwaker can create tons of infinite combos with her first ability. So long as you have a token doubler, like Parallel Lives in play, Bestowing Springheart Nantuko onto an animated land can create infinite bugs and tapped lands. Since each paid Landfall trigger will create two lands, you can use the new lands your Nantuko creates to pay for its Landfall trigger indefinitely.
Adding blue, Nissa can create infinite Squirrels by enchanting an animated land with Squirrel Nest while Intruder Alarm is in play. Alternatively, you can gain infinite life with Avid Reclaimer and Pemmin’s Aura, but any Nissa Planeswalker can be used for this.
Ramping to Victory
Between its ramping and combo potential, Nissa, Worldwaker makes for a fantastic addition to any green-heavy MTG Commander deck. Despite how far this planeswalker can pull you ahead, however, Nissa doesn’t see as much play as you might think. Appearing in only 12,400 decks according to EDHREC, this planeswalker could easily see more play.
While her play rate may suggest otherwise, Nissa, Worldwaker is sadly not a budget addition to your deck. That said, for what she can do for any mono-green MTG deck, $4.50 is a small price to pay. With all this in mind, the next time you consider building a green-heavy Commander Ramp deck, consider giving Nissa a try.
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