Nesting Grounds is one of those cards players keep asking about. Here is, in plain words, what its official text says, the rulings published by Wizards of the Coast, and the combos players actually run.
Official card text
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Complete guide
Nesting Grounds is a versatile utility land that serves as a mobile hub for your deck's resources. While it provides mana, its true power lies in its ability to redistribute counters between any two permanents you control, regardless of their type. This flexibility allows for unique synergies and strategic maneuvers that can catch your opponents off guard.
What Nesting Grounds Does
Nesting Grounds provides two functions: it taps for colorless mana and features a specialized activated ability. For one mana and tapping the land, you can move a counter from one permanent you control to another. Crucially, this ability can only be activated as a sorcery, meaning during your main phase when the stack is empty.
Step-by-Step Resolution
When you activate the second ability, you must declare two targets: the permanent you are taking a counter from and the permanent receiving it. You do not choose which counter to move at this time. Upon resolution, you choose one counter on the first permanent. That counter is removed from the first and placed on the second. If either target becomes illegal before the ability resolves—such as leaving the battlefield—the entire ability fails and no counters are moved.
Unusual Counter Placements
Nesting Grounds does not care about card types. You can move a loyalty counter onto a creature or a +1/+1 counter onto a land like Command Tower. While a +1/+1 counter won't do anything for a non-creature land, it remains there and will take effect if the land ever becomes a creature. Keyword counters, like flying or lifelink, will grant those abilities to the new permanent even if the recipient is a non-creature type like an enchantment.
Common Pitfalls
A common mistake is forgetting that moving a counter counts as both 'removing' a counter from the source and 'putting' a counter on the destination. Any triggered abilities that look for counters being placed or removed will trigger accordingly. Additionally, remember that you cannot move counters to your opponents' permanents; both targets must be controlled by you.
Interaction examples
Command TowerIf you have a creature about to be destroyed that has a +1/+1 counter, you can pay one mana and tap Nesting Grounds to move that counter onto Command Tower. The counter stays on the land safely. Later, if you play a new creature, you can use Nesting Grounds again to move that counter from the land back onto your new creature.
Exotic OrchardIn a scenario where you have multiple utility lands, Nesting Grounds ensures you have the right colors. You can tap Exotic Orchard for a specific color to pay the activation cost of Nesting Grounds, then move a keyword counter from a temporary token onto a more permanent threat, ensuring your board state remains optimal during your main phase.
Guide written with AI from the official text and rulings. Official English text prevails.
How it works : Nesting Grounds
Original English text — Wizards of the Coast / Scryfall
- #1· Wizards of the Coast
To move a counter from one creature to another, the counter is removed from the first permanent and put on the second. Any abilities that care about a counter being removed from or put onto a permanent will apply.
No other card is named in this ruling.
- #2· Wizards of the Coast
You choose the two target permanents as Nesting Grounds's second ability is put onto the stack. You choose which kind of counter to move as that ability resolves.
No other card is named in this ruling.
- #3· Wizards of the Coast
The two target permanents don't have to share a type, which can result in some counters on permanents that would not occur normally, such as loyalty counters on creatures or +1/+1 counters on lands. Keyword counters will grant the permanent that keyword even if it's meaningless (such as trample on an enchantment); +1/+1 counters won't affect the permanent unless it's a creature; and many named counters (such as soul counters) won't have an effect unless the recipient permanent refers to them in some way.
No other card is named in this ruling.
- #4· Wizards of the Coast
If either permanent becomes an illegal target, no counter is removed or put.
No other card is named in this ruling.
Popular combos
Real combos played by the community, sorted by popularity.
Magosi, the Waterveil + Nesting Grounds + Karn's Bastion
- 1Activate Karn's Bastion's last ability by paying
and tapping it, putting an eon counter on Magosi. - 2Activate Nesting Grounds's last ability by paying and tapping it, moving an eon counter from Magosi to Nesting Grounds.
- 3Activate Magosi's last ability by tapping it, removing an eon counter from it, and returning it to your hand, taking an extra turn after this one.
- 4Play Magosi from your hand.
- 5Move to your next turn.
- 6Activate Karn's Bastion's last ability by paying and tapping it, putting an eon counter on Nesting Grounds.
- 7Activate Nesting Grounds's last ability by paying and tapping it, moving an eon counter from Nesting Grounds to Magosi.
- 8Repeat from step 3.
Magosi, the Waterveil + Nesting Grounds + Evolution Sage
- 1Activate Nesting Grounds's last ability by paying and tapping it, moving an eon counter from Magosi to Nesting Grounds.
- 2Activate Magosi's last ability by tapping it, removing an eon counter from it, and returning it from the battlefield to your hand, taking an extra turn after this one.
- 3Play Magosi.
- 4Evolution Sage triggers, causing you to proliferate, putting an additional eon counter on Nesting Grounds.
- 5On your next extra turn, activate Nesting Grounds's last ability by paying and tapping it, moving an eon counter from Nesting Grounds to Magosi.
- 6Repeat from step 2.
Magosi, the Waterveil + Nesting Grounds + Contagion Engine
- 1Activate Contagion Engine by paying and tapping it, putting an eon counter on Magosi.
- 2Activate Nesting Grounds's last ability by paying and tapping it, moving an eon counter from Magosi to Nesting Grounds.
- 3Activate Magosi's last ability by tapping it, removing an eon counter from it and returning it to your hand, taking an extra turn after this one.
- 4Play Magosi from your hand.
- 5Move to your next turn.
- 6Activate Contagion Engine by paying and tapping it, putting an eon counter on Nesting Grounds.
- 7Activate Nesting Grounds's last ability by paying and tapping it, moving an eon counter from Nesting Grounds to Magosi.
- 8Repeat from step 3.
Magosi, the Waterveil + Nesting Grounds + Contagion Clasp
- 1Activate Contagion Clasp by paying and tapping it, putting an eon counter on Magosi.
- 2Activate Nesting Grounds's last ability by paying and tapping it, moving an eon counter from Magosi to Nesting Grounds.
- 3Activate Magosi's last ability by tapping it, removing an eon counter from it and returning it to your hand, taking an extra turn after this one.
- 4Play Magosi from your hand.
- 5Move to your next turn.
- 6Activate Contagion Clasp by paying and tapping it, putting an eon counter on Nesting Grounds.
- 7Activate Nesting Grounds's last ability by paying and tapping it, moving an eon counter from Nesting Grounds to Magosi.
- 8Repeat from step 3.
Magosi, the Waterveil + Nesting Grounds + Atraxa, Praetors' Voice
- 1Activate Nesting Grounds's last ability by paying and tapping it, moving an eon counter from Magosi to Nesting Grounds.
- 2Activate Magosi's last ability by tapping it, removing an eon counter from it, and returning it from the battlefield to your hand, taking an extra turn after this one.
- 3Play Magosi.
- 4At the beginning of your end step, Atraxa triggers, causing you to proliferate, putting an additional eon counter on Nesting Grounds.
- 5On your next extra turn, activate Nesting Grounds's last ability by paying and tapping it, moving an eon counter from Nesting Grounds to Magosi.
- 6Repeat from step 2.
Magosi, the Waterveil + Out of the Tombs + Nesting Grounds
- 1At the beginning of your upkeep, Out of the Tombs triggers, putting two eon counters on itself, then milling cards equal to the number of eon counters on it.
- 2Activate Nesting Grounds by paying and tapping it, moving an eon counter from Out of the Tombs to Magosi.
- 3Activate Magosi by tapping it, removing an eon counter from it, and returning it to your hand, causing you to take an extra turn after this one.
- 4In your main phase, play Magosi.
- 5Go to your next turn.
- 6Repeat.
Kilo, Apogee Mind + Magosi, the Waterveil + Nesting Grounds
- 1Tap Kilo by any method, triggering Kilo, causing you to proliferate and put an eon counter on Magosi.
- 2Activate Nesting Grounds' second ability by paying and tapping it, moving an eon counter from Magosi onto Nesting Grounds.
- 3Activate Magosi's third ability by tapping it, removing an eon counter from it and returning it from the battlefield to your hand, causing you to take an extra turn after this one.
- 4Play Magosi.
- 5Move to your next turn.
- 6Tap Kilo by any method, triggering Kilo, causing you to proliferate and put an eon counter on Nesting Grounds.
- 7Activate Nesting Grounds' second ability by paying and tapping it, moving an eon counter from Nesting Grounds onto Magosi.
- 8Repeat from step 3.
Nesting Grounds + The Mirari Conjecture + Time Warp
- 1Play The Mirari Conjecture and Time Warp, then go to the next turn.
- 2Use Conjecture's 2nd activation to add Time Warp back to hand, then play Nesting Grounds.
- 3Play Time Warp.
- 4Go to the next turn.
- 5Activate Nesting Grounds to remove a saga counter from Conjecture, then add back Time Warp when Conjecture's 2nd activation triggers again.
Legal formats
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Meta decks with Nesting Grounds
No archived Top 8 deck with this card yet.