Since Planeswalker Decks seem to always come out in pairs, here is the flipside to the Planeswalker Deck “Chandra, Pyrogenius”, which was all about going Aggro with vehicles. The Planeswalker Deck “Nissa, Nature’s Artisan” takes a slightly different approach, being the side of nature rather than showing the mechanical progress that takes place in Kaladesh; and this is reflected by energy counters being the mechanic this deck is working with. Now, I expect something more Control-heavy, seeing as the deck is Blue-Green and works with first accruing and then using a limited resource, but we will see how the package fairs in the article down below. Here is the decklist for the Planeswalker Deck featuring “Nissa, Nature’s Artisan”: Creatures (27): 2x Thriving Turtle (U) 2x Longtusk Cub (1G) 1x Sage of Shaila’s Claim (1G) 2x Servant of the Conduit (1G) 4x Terrain Elemental (1G) 2x Janjeet Sentry (2U) 2x Thriving Rhino (2G) 2x Empyreal Voyager (1UG) 3x Guardian of the Great Conduit (3G) 2x Long-Finned Skywhale (2UU) 1x Bristling Hydra (2GG) 2x Arborback Stomper (3GG) 1x Riparian Tiger (3GG) 1x Aethersquall Ancient (5UU) Spells (10): 3x Attune with Aether (G) 2x Appetite for the Unnatural (2G) 2x Malfunction (3U) 2x Verdant Crescendo (3G) 1x Nissa, Nature’s Artisan (4GG) Lands (23): 11x Forest 8x Island 4x Woodland Stream It’s not like the Planeswalker Deck “Chandra, Pyrogenius” can put up early aggression seeing as its starts with playing creatures to crew vehicles with during turn two at the earliest, but I still like the idea that this deck can potentially provide something right out of the gate: “Thriving Turtle” is a 0/3 creature for one mana that provides two energy when entering the battlefield and can be boosted with a +1/+1 counter when attacking by paying two energy, a combination that not only places a solid defense for the early game on your board but also can swing on its own if the opponent really takes their time setting up. “Longtusk Cub” is a 2/2 for two mana and is also all about energy counters, giving you two energy counters to work with whenever it inflicts damage to the opponent while paying two energy allows you to place a +1/+1 counter on the creature. “Sage of Shaila’s Claim” is less aggressive in nature, being a 2/1 creature for two mana that cannot be buffed via an effect of its own, but it does provide three energy counters when entering the battlefield and therefore sets up all sorts of other cards in the deck. “Servant of the Conduit” can provide mana, albeit only in a last resort-sort of way. The creature is a 2/2 for two mana, gives you two energy counters to work with when entering the battlefield and can make a mana of any color when being tapped for it; but that last part also takes one of your precious energy counters, which might have to be used for something else rather than producing more mana. Which introduces a playset of the last two-mana creature, a vanilla; but thankfully a rather good one: “Terrain Elemental” is simply a 3/2 creature for two mana and therefore a decent option to drop for some pressure on the opponent which works without relying on getting any of the energy counters. “Janjeet Sentry” is a Blue creature again for a change, being a three-mana option with 2/3 as its stats that provides two energy counters when entering the battlefield and can be tapped in addition to paying two energy to tap or untap target artifact or creature; which seems pretty expensive overall, at least in my opinion. “Thriving Rhino” has the same design philosophy as “Thriving Turtle“, meaning it produces two energy counters when entering the battlefield and can use two energy to gain a +1/+1 counter when attacking, but this one starts as a 2/3 instead of a 0/3. However, it also costs three mana total which is not ideal for what you get out of it. “Empyreal Voyager” marks the last three mana option creature-wise in the Planeswalker Deck “Nissa, Nature’s Artisan”. This 2/3 creature for three mana has both Trample and Flying, which is a rather weird combo in my opinion, but definitely helps the strategy since any combat damage it deals to a player results in getting that many energy counters. There are ways in this deck to deal with Flying creatures, but “Guardian of the Great Conduit” still seems like a reasonable addition being a 2/4 with Reach for four mana that actually becomes a 4/4 with Reach and Vigilance if you have a Nissa planeswalker on the board. It is definitely a better take than “Long-Finned Skywhale“, which is a 4/3 creature with Flying that can only block creatures with Flying; but fortunately, it serves as a solid attacker with that statline. “Bristling Hydra” is the first Rare of the deck and also a good way to use energy counters, being a 4/3 for four mana that creates three energy counters when entering the battlefield while getting a +1/+1 counter for three energy and Hexproof for the turn in which you activated the effect. More solid beaters are provided with “Arborback Stomper“, a 5/4 with Trample for five mana that heals you for five life points when entering the battlefield while “Riparian Tiger” is a 4/4 with Trample for five mana that provides two energy counters when entering the battlefield and can get +2/+2 when attacking if you are willing to pay two energy for it. The end of your mana curve comes with “Aethersquall Ancient“, a 6/6 creature for seven mana that has Flying, creates three energy counters during your upkeep every turn, and for eight energy counters bounces every creature except itself at sorcery speed. This makes “Aethersquall Ancient” both a great option to have around to fuel your other creatures as well as a solid equalizer that leaves you in a very favorable position. With that much focus on creatures, there is not much space left for other supporting option; though the Planeswalker Deck “Nissa, Nature’s Artisan” does have a few tricks up its sleeve. First, there is the eponymous “Nissa, Nature’s Artisan“, a planeswalker for six mana that starts off really slow. For +3, she simply gives the player three life points, which feels mostly irrelevant apart from getting loyalty counters onto her to work with. For -4, you reveal the top two cards of your library, place all lands revealed this way on the battlefield and put the rest into your hand, which is a pretty good draw effect in Green of all things, but probably means that you are going to reach her ultimate effect in that game. And that last effect is pretty good too, giving all your creatures +5/+5 and Trample until the end of the turn, basically a super-charged “Overrun“. Now, granted, the last effect is worthless without any creatures, but seeing how many bodies this deck can place on the board I would rather worry about not getting there in time rather than stressing about not having creatures to receive the buff. The rest of the non-creature spells in Planeswalker Deck “Nissa, Nature’s Artisan” are as follows: At one mana, we have “Attune with Aether” which allows you to search for a basic land card from the library to add to your hand while also gaining two energy counters; which is actually a pretty solid combo for just one mana. “Appetite for the Unnatural” is basically “Naturalize” and therefore artifact/enchantment removal, but costs one mana more to also give you two life points, the last part being somewhat unnecessary in my opinion. “Malfunction” is basically the “Pacifism” of this deck, tapping a creature (or artifact) and then not letting it untap during the untap step; but it is rather costly at four mana. And then there is “Verdant Crescendo“, a sorcery for four mana that allows you to search your library for a basic land card to put onto the battlefield, while also search your library or graveyard for a copy of “Nissa, Nature’s Artisan” and add that one to the hand. Overall, the Planeswalker Deck “Nissa, Nature’s Artisan” is fine. It really is more of a mid-range Aggro deck than anything I would have assumed, but the idea of giving your creatures higher stats by using your energy counters can definitely work. If I had to name a problem with this deck, I would probably mention the complete reliance on creatures to kill anything on the opposing side of the board, since you have absolutely no way of permanently dealing with creatures. Yes, there is the expensive “Malfunction“, but that will also only tap the creature instead of sending it to the graveyard. However, there is definitely room for improvement in form of tinkering with more energy counter-options, which sounds more inviting than the vehicle-ladened Chandra deck that is this deck’s counterpart. Price-wise, Planeswalker Deck “Nissa, Nature’s Artisan” is actually somewhat expensive, starting at 20€ on Cardmarket at the time of writing; a price I would not pay knowing what cards are in the box. All in all, the deck is decent but too expensive for me to give the green light for a purchase.