thopter spy network still standard legal

Thopter Spy Network asks you to play an above-average number of artifacts, but if you do, it’s a combination of a pain-free Bitterblossom and a Bident of Thassa. While Abzan may have been the biggest deck on Day Two, it was definitely G/R Devotion that dominated the Top Eight, including putting three copies into the Top Four. However, I would still want the second Plains to give more ways for our Heaths to be live later. Maybe you just don’t rely on Windswept Heath to cast Elspeth (which means two Heaths can’t cast her). The more interesting decision is the use of just a single Plains. After all, even if you have searched out all of your Forests and you draw another Nissa, she’s still a “planeswalker.” Bruce has just four despite playing three copies of Nissa and four Windswept Heaths. Making room for enough Forests to support Nissa has scared some players off, but you really don’t need that many.

For three mana, we just got a land, a 4/4, and a planeswalker that draws a card every turn! We even get to make another big play that turn with the rest of our mana! Now, you can play Nissa on turn seven, find a seventh land, flip her and make a 4/4. It’s also awesome that you can just play her early for the land later, unmorph a Den Protector and get her back, get another land and Transform! Later, she is a three-cost planeswalker that affects the game like a five-cost planeswalker while also drawing an extra card when played. Early on, she’s a solid two-for-one and more than a speed bump.

Nissa, Vastwood Seer is more than just another Civic Wayfinder, and I kind of suspect that she’s worth warping our deck more for.

Thopter spy network still standard legal