What Nissa vs Ob Nixilis Offers Duel Deck Singleton

By Dante Boey

6th September 2016

Hail Duellers! Duel Decks: Nissa vs Ob Nixilis has just been officially released. For Standard players, the two featured Planeswalkers represent a bargain, considering they are played in top decks and are in foil. Shops are retailing these Planeswalker singles at a cheaper cost than their Battle for Zendikar or Oath of the Gatewatch counterparts, meaning there is a healthy supply to meet demand. Well, there is more than one cause of demand for Nissa vs Ob Nixilis. Many of the cards included in this product add options and potency to the Duel Deck (DD) Singleton format.

Duel Decks: Nissa vs Ob Nixilis

Let's start with the characters that lend their names to the product, Nissa and Ob Nixilis. Nissa, Voice of Zendikar is a very efficient planewalker for a casting cost of 1GG. Her first ability puts a 0/1 Plant token into play under your control. This creature, although feeble, can chump block and protect you or Nissa while she builds up her loyalty tokens. Nissa's second ability puts a +1/+1 counter on each creature you control, essentially buffing them up and winning you combats. Her final ability allows you to gain an amount of life and draw an amount of cards equal to the number of lands you control, and

while not game-ending, helps to ensure you remain in pole position to win the duel.

Nissa, Voice of Zendikar

 

One card that will obviously benefit from Nissa, Voice of Zendikar is what else, the Avenger of Zendikar. The Avenger's Landfall trigger will also affect the Plant tokens spawned by Nissa, strengthening them. Likewise, the Avenger and its Plant brethren will grow from Nissa's second ability.

 

Avenger of Zendikar

 

Creatures feature as the main win condition in DD Singleton. Therefore, a planeswalker like Ob Nixilis Reignited represents a powerful control element, who can eliminate the most dangerous threats on board as his second ability, and when the coast is clear, evoke his first ability, which lets you draw a card at the cost of 1 life. Make no mistake, Ob Nixilis will net you card advantage. And if you can amass 8 loyalty counters, you can treat your opponent to a game-breaking effect the following turn, an emblem that forces him or her to lose 2 life whenever any player draws a card.
 

Thicket Elemental
 

Nissa's deck offers nature mages in DD Singleton exciting additions to their repertoire of spells. Thicket Elemental is 4/4 body for 3GG, but you will seldom cast it without its Kicker cost. By paying an extra 1G as you cast it, you are guaranteed to put one more creature on the battlefield. As long as you put a creature of casting cost 4 and above on the table, you would have obtained value.

Abundance

 

Abundance is an enchantment that helps you fix your draw. It doesn't allow you to draw an extra card a turn but if you have cards that do, you can consistently lay lands and play non-land spells on the same turn. Abundance plays well with draw engines like Phyrexian Arena and ironically, Ob Nixilis Reignited.

Crop Rotation + Stirring Wildwood or Sejiri Steppe

Crop Rotation deserves a special mention because it is a one mana spell that can tutor for manlands such as Treetop Village (also included in Nissa's deck) or Stirring Wildwood, or utility lands like Halimar Depths. Since it is an instant, it can even tutor for lands that do combat tricks, such as Sejiri Steppe or Turntimber Grove.

 

Elvish Visionary

 

 

The humble Elvish Visionary appears in a Duel Deck for the first time. Her draw trigger will help Elf tribal decks speed up their clock and even activate Abundance, as described above.

 

 

Desecration Demon

 

On the other hand, Ob Nixilis's deck grants formidable finishers to power-hungry Black mages, especially during mid-game. At 2BB, the Desecration Demon represents one of best 4 drops Black has to offer in DD Singleton. This bad boy was already infamous at the time of Mono-Black Devotion in Standard, serving as an inevitable executioner. It is 6/6 and has flying. Even its drawback does not sound like a drawback. At the beginning of each combat phase, your opponent may sacrifice a creature to tap it and put a +1/+1 counter on it. Sounds like the Demon gets to kill stuff whether it engages in combat or not. Your opponent can buy time by sacrificing creatures, but the Demon only gets bigger.

Priest of the Blood Rite + Venser, the Sojourner or Momentary Blink

 

Another demonic card that offers you value is Priest of the Blood Rite. When he enters the battlefield, put a 5/5 Demon token with flying into play. At the beginning of your upkeep, if the Priest is alive, you lose 2 life. So let's review this card. At 3BB you get a 2/2 Priest and a 5/5 flying Demon. That's a bargain. If you do not wish to lose life, you can play spells like Innocent Blood or Altar's Reap to sacrifice the Priest (both spells kindly provided by Ob Nixilis's deck itself). The latter even allows you to draw 2 cards. You can even blink the Priest with Venser, the Sojourner or spells like Momentary Blink and Otherworldly Journey, turning him into a demon producing factory.
 

Doom Blade ,Quest for the Gravelord and Unhallowed Pact

 

 

Honourable mentions of Ob's deck go to Doom Blade, a 1B removal spell that takes care of four-fifths of creatures in the format; as well as Quest for the Gravelord, a one mana enchantment that gives you a 5/5 Zombie once 3 creatures die (not a difficult criterium for removal-heavy Black decks). Unhallowed Pact works as a pseudo-reanimation spell. You enchant a creature for 2B and will gain control of it provided you have a way of killing it.


Duel Decks: Nissa vs Ob Nixilis serves as a veritable brewmaster's toolkit, particularly if your primary colour in DD Singleton is Black or Green. If you've not done so already, consider purchasing a set from your local gaming store. Until next time, keep the faith and duel!