Nissa's Pilgrimage 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
Search your library for up to two basic Forest cards, reveal those cards, and put one onto the battlefield tapped and the rest into your hand. Then shuffle. Spell mastery — If there are two or more instant and/or sorcery cards in your graveyard, search your library for up to three basic Forest cards instead of two.
Complete guide
Nissa's Pilgrimage is a powerful ramp spell that rewards you for focusing on green mana and filling your graveyard. While it functions similarly to classic search spells, its Spell mastery keyword allows it to scale significantly as the game progresses. This guide will break down how to optimize your forest searching and ensure you never miss a land drop.
Harnessing Spell Mastery
The core of Nissa's Pilgrimage is its ability to find basic Forest cards. Normally, you search for two, but if you have two or more instant or sorcery cards in your graveyard as the spell resolves, you search for three. Note that Nissa's Pilgrimage is still on the stack while it is resolving, so it does not count itself toward the two cards needed for Spell mastery.
Resolution Step-by-Step
When the spell resolves, first count the instants and sorceries in your graveyard to determine if you search for two or three cards. Next, search your library for up to that many basic Forest cards and reveal them. One of these cards must be put onto the battlefield tapped; any remaining revealed cards go into your hand. Finally, you shuffle your library. Even if you only find one Forest, it must go to the battlefield, not your hand.
Strategic Timing
Because this spell puts a land onto the battlefield and others into your hand, it is best played early to fix your mana or late to thin your deck and ensure you have cards to discard or play. Unlike generic land fetchers, this specifically requires basic Forests, so ensure your deck building accounts for this restriction to avoid failing to find targets.
Interaction examples
CultivateIf you cast Nissa's Pilgrimage with an empty graveyard, it acts similarly to Cultivate, but with a narrower search. While Cultivate can find any two basic lands, Nissa's Pilgrimage is restricted to basic Forests. In both cases, one land enters the battlefield tapped and one goes to your hand.
FarseekSuppose you have a Farseek and another sorcery already in your graveyard. When you resolve Nissa's Pilgrimage, Spell mastery is active. You search for three basic Forests; one enters the battlefield tapped, and the other two are added to your hand, giving you a massive card advantage over the single land provided by Farseek.
Guide written with AI from the official text and rulings. Official English text prevails.
How it works : Nissa's Pilgrimage
Original English text — Wizards of the Coast / Scryfall
- #1· Wizards of the Coast
If you only find one basic Forest card, you’ll put it onto the battlefield tapped. You won’t be able to put it into your hand, even if you want to.
No other card is named in this ruling.
- #2· Wizards of the Coast
If the spell mastery ability applies, and you find three basic Forest cards, one of them will be put onto the battlefield tapped and two of them will be put into your hand.
No other card is named in this ruling.
- #3· Wizards of the Coast
Check to see if there are two or more instant and/or sorcery cards in your graveyard as the spell resolves to determine whether the spell mastery ability applies. The spell itself won’t count because it’s still on the stack as you make this check.
No other card is named in this ruling.
Legal formats
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Meta decks with Nissa's Pilgrimage
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