Nissa, Steward of Elements MTG Card


Nissa excels in card advantage with scrying and board presence boosts through her abilities. She accelerates resources, enabling ramp decks to play high-cost spells ahead of curve. Instant-speed play from the library with Nissa offers unexpected plays, keeping opponents on edge.
Card setsReleased in 6 setsSee all
Mana cost
Converted mana cost2
RarityMythic
TypeLegendary Planeswalker — Nissa
Abilities Scry
Loyalty X

Text of card

+2: Scry 2. 0: Look at the top card of your library. If it's a land card or a creature card with converted mana cost less than or equal to the number of loyalty counters on Nissa, Steward of Elements, you may put that card onto the battlefield. −6: Untap up to two target lands you control. They become 5/5 Elemental creatures with flying and haste until end of turn. They're still lands.


Card Pros

Card Advantage: Nissa, Steward of Elements is both an engine and a payoff for card advantage. With her scry ability, she ensures that you’re more likely to draw into the cards you need. Additionally, her ultimate ability can result in a massive swelling of your board presence, all while keeping your hand stocked with creature cards.

Resource Acceleration: Nissa’s ability to untap a land not only effectively reduces her casting cost but also accelerates your resources. This ability can be crucial for ramp decks that aim to play high-cost creatures or spells much earlier than normally possible, establishing a faster pace and a significant advantage.

Instant Speed: While Nissa herself isn’t an instant, her versatility in being able to play off the top of your deck at instant speed with her second +1 offers a unique form of pseudo-instant speed advantage. This capability allows you to keep mana available for actual instant-speed interactions while potentially deploying threats or gaining value on your opponent’s turn.


Card Cons

Discard Requirement: N/A

Specific Mana Cost: Nissa, Steward of Elements requires both green and blue mana, potentially restricting her presence to decks that can reliably produce both colors.

Comparatively High Mana Cost: While her starting loyalty is flexible due to X in her casting cost, to fully utilize her abilities, a significant mana investment is necessary, which can be cumbersome in faster-paced games where efficiency is key.


Reasons to Include Nissa Steward of Elements in Your Collection

Versatility: Nissa Steward of Elements offers a dynamic range of abilities that can adapt to various game situations. She’s a perfect fit for decks that capitalize on ramping up mana and benefit from manipulating the top of the library.

Combo Potential: Nissa’s ability to scry helps set up crucial deck synergies, and her ultimate can lead to a game-winning play by summoning a massive surge of lands-turned-creatures onto the battlefield.

Meta-Relevance: Given her flexible cost structure, Nissa slots well into current metas that include Simic, Bant, or other multicolor combinations, staying relevant in a shifting landscape of strategies.


How to beat

Nissa, Steward of Elements is a versatile planeswalker who can manipulate the top of the library, accelerate land drops, and even summon a powerful creature directly to the battlefield. Overcoming such a card requires a strategy that hinges on disruption and timing. Targeted removal spells are your first line of defense, swiftly dealing with Nissa before she can provide significant value to your opponent. Cards like Dreadbore or Hero’s Downfall can eliminate Nissa the moment she hits the board.

Counterspells are equally effective, ensuring she never gets a chance to impact the game. Negate or Essence Scatter can counter Nissa while she’s still on the stack. Alternatively, focus on applying pressure to your opponent’s life total, incentivizing them to use Nissa’s abilities defensively or diverting their resources away from optimizing her effectiveness. Finally, paying careful attention to the board state and keeping track of your opponent’s mana can indicate when it’s best to hold back removal or counters until it’s most devastating to their overall game plan against Nissa, Steward of Elements.


BurnMana Recommendations

For aspiring champions and strategic minds, Nissa, Steward of Elements stands as a beacon of possibility in the MTG arena. Her blend of card advantage, resource acceleration, and unique instant-speed capability opens the door to numerous pathways to victory. We encourage you to delve deeper into her synergies and discover how she can turn the tides in your favor. Whether you’re enhancing your deck’s dynamics or seeking to harness the raw power of Simic combinations, Nissa is a card worth mastering. Unearth deeper insights and strategies with us and ensure your next confrontation on the battlefield is crafted for success.


Where to buy

If you're looking to purchase Nissa, Steward of Elements MTG card by a specific set like Amonkhet and Amonkhet Promos, there are several reliable options to consider. One of the primary sources is your local game store, where you can often find booster packs, individual cards, and preconstructed decks from current and some past sets. They often offer the added benefit of a community where you can trade with other players.

For a broader inventory, particularly of older sets, online marketplaces like TCGPlayer, Card Kingdom and Card Market offer extensive selections and allow you to search for cards from specific sets. Larger e-commerce platforms like eBay and Amazon also have listings from various sellers, which can be a good place to look for sealed product and rare finds.

Additionally, Magic’s official site often has a store locator and retailer lists for finding Wizards of the Coast licensed products. Remember to check for authenticity and the condition of the cards when purchasing, especially from individual sellers on larger marketplaces.

Below is a list of some store websites where you can buy the Nissa, Steward of Elements and other MTG cards:

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Printings

The Nissa, Steward of Elements Magic the Gathering card was released in 6 different sets between 2017-04-28 and 2024-06-14. Illustrated by 2 different artists.

#ReleasedNameCodeSymbolNumberFrameLayoutBorderArtist
12017-04-28AmonkhetAKH 2042015NormalBlackHoward Lyon
22017-04-29Amonkhet PromosPAKH 204s2015NormalBlackHoward Lyon
32017-07-20San Diego Comic-Con 2017PS17 2042015NormalBlackVincent Proce
42020-04-17Commander 2020C20 2242015NormalBlackHoward Lyon
52020-08-13Amonkhet RemasteredAKR 2482015NormalBlackHoward Lyon
62024-06-14Modern Horizons 3 CommanderM3C 2702015NormalBlackHoward Lyon

Legalities

Magic the Gathering formats where Nissa, Steward of Elements has restrictions

FormatLegality
HistoricbrawlLegal
CommanderLegal
HistoricLegal
LegacyLegal
ModernLegal
OathbreakerLegal
VintageLegal
DuelLegal
ExplorerLegal
GladiatorLegal
PioneerLegal
TimelessLegal

Rules and information

The reference guide for Magic: The Gathering Nissa, Steward of Elements card rulings provides official rulings, any errata issued, as well as a record of all the functional modifications that have occurred.

Date Text
2017-04-18 If Nissa leaves the battlefield while her second ability is on the stack, use her last known loyalty to determine whether you may put the top card of your library onto the battlefield. If Nissa left the battlefield because she took enough damage to reduce her loyalty to 0, then her last known loyalty is 0.
2017-04-18 If X is 0, Nissa enters the battlefield with no loyalty and is put into her owner’s graveyard before you can activate her abilities.
2017-04-18 Nissa’s last ability sets the base power and toughness of the lands to 5/5. Any +1/+1 or -1/-1 counters that were on those lands will apply to those values.
2017-04-18 Once Nissa’s second ability begins to resolve, no player may take actions until it’s done. Notably, players can’t try to change Nissa’s loyalty once you look at the card or choose to put it onto the battlefield.
2017-04-18 While resolving Nissa’s second ability, if you can’t or don’t put the card onto the battlefield, it remains on top of your library.