Prior to the surprise bans late last month, Lumra, Bellow of the Woods was one of the most format-warping decks in Duel Commander. Now, with Lumra banned as a Commander in the format, there’s a spot open for a new busted combo Commander to take the stage. In the wake of the changes, it appears players are staking their chips on Nissa, Resurgent Animist, which fills much of Lumra’s role while also adding some flair of its own.
Nissa, Resurgent Animist In MTG Duel Commander
Nissa, Resurgent Animist is a Landfall value deck through and through, packed with ways of leveraging what is essentially a Lotus Cobra in the command zone. Cards like Exploration and Icetill Explorer provide huge bursts of mana and help reach the second tier of Nissa’s ability. With only a few valid hits in the deck, this will always get you a Lumra, Aftermath Analyst, or Formidable Speaker.
This suite of creatures, in turn, unlocks a lot of Nissa’s latent combo potential. Analyst goes infinite with Shifting Woodland and Sylvan Safekeeper, for instance, by sacrificing all your lands then springing them back into play. Similarly, Lumra pairs with Springheart Nantuko and Zuran Orb to loop your lands while also making infinite 1/1 Insects. Speaker, while not a combo piece itself, can find any creatures you’re missing.
As with Lumra, these combos are the main way Nissa, Resurgent Animist wins games of Duel Commander. What sets it apart, however, is the way it incorporates a deeper Eldrazi package to play a bigger game. Both Emrakul, the Promised End and Ulamog, the Ceaseless Hunger make appearances here, alongside Lumra staple Emrakul, the World Anew. Each of these is a game-ending threat, which Nissa can easily ramp you into.
Thanks to the deck’s land base, which features the Tron lands and Eye of Ugin, it’s trivial to drop these big bombs and take over the game. Eye makes the already-terrifying Sowing Mycospawn even better, too, letting you swing the resource game way in your favor. With the ample mill in the deck, bolstered by newcomer Mole Man, Moloid Master, casting Emrakul, the Promised End normally is very possible too.
Better Than The Bear?
While it’s early days, with the deck only putting in one tournament result since last month’s bans, there’s a real chance that Nissa, Resurgent Animist could fill the vacuum Lumra left behind. Its biggest advantage over the Bear is speed: Nissa comes down as early as turn two, and starts boosting your mana from there. This lets it develop quickly, and play a much faster Landfall game than Lumra in the early stages.
Nissa also gets some points for consistency, with that second ability essentially serving as a free tutor for your key combo pieces. This lets you present potential wins much faster than Lumra, even with relatively tame draws. If your opponent prevents you from popping off, you can easily pivot to the Eldrazi plan, or leverage alternative win conditions like Weather Maker, with the help of Primeval Titan to stack up your land drops.
Where Nissa falls short of Lumra, however, is in the resilience department. The deck lacks a strong protection suite, which means your key card is extremely vulnerable to removal of all stripes. This wasn’t a problem for Lumra since its value came front-loaded, and it often didn’t mind going back to the command zone for an extra cast anyway.
Overall, while Nissa looks like a strong Lumra alternative, it’s probably too early to say for sure whether it’ll achieve staple status. Lumra is a ban-worthy legend with serious cEDH chops, after all, so it’s left some sizable shoes to fill. In any case, these early results are encouraging, as they show there’s still life in the Landfall archetype post-ban.
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