Planeswalker Challenge - War of the Spark Diplomats (Casual)

Created for the Planeswalker Challenge - build a deck for any Planeswalker that is thematic, fun to play and accessible.

The simple rules of the challenge:

1. Choose your Planeswalker.
2. Your deck must include 3 copies of that Planeswalker (or, for those that already have theme decks, you can include 1 copy of that Planeswalker and the 2 cards from that deck that tutor that Planeswalker).
3. Your deck cannot include other Mythic cards, and can only include up to 4 Rare and 16 Uncommon.
4. Your deck can only include cards from the same block (or set, post-blocks) as your Planeswalker.

The guidelines for the challenge:

1. Try to create a deck that really shows off what your Planeswalker can do, and that suits their personality.
2. Try to stick to a colour identity that is thematic for your Planeswalker.
3. If your Planeswalker is aligned with a particular faction, try to include only cards from that faction and 'neutral' cards, not cards from other factions.

About this deck:

This Planeswalker Challenge deck is a bit different from the ones I've done before. Rather than being a Planeswalker deck for a single Planeswalker, I've based this one around three: Nissa, Who Shakes the World, Kaya, Bane of the Dead and Teyo, the Shieldmage. I've done this because there is no White-Black-Green Planeswalker, but I still wanted to build an 'Abzan' deck for this challenge. I've chosen these three Planeswalkers in particular because they work as team during the War of the Spark – they are the initial delegation to the Golgari to try to persuade them to join the forces allied against Nicol Bolas.

This all means a little bit of fiddling with the rules – I've decided I still need to include three copies of each Planeswalker, but can use cards with a colour identity and that thematically match any of the Planeswalkers I've chosen. I've tried to exclude any cards that do not fit thematically with them at this point in the story (so no Golgari cards, for example). Phew, with that out of the way, what about the deck?

Nissa is the biggest star of the deck, with her abilities providing significant ramp and extra creatures in the form of your lands, and if you use her ultimate your lands become indestructible, and, insult to injury, you tutor out all the Forests from your deck. Awesome. The other two Planeswalkers have supporting roles: Teyo creates blockers for you, and prevents shenanigans (not the spell) by making you hexproof. Kaya, meanwhile, can exile problematic creatures for you, even if they have hexproof. To make a thematic deck, we really want to go all out with Nissa's land army, so we'll try to include cards that can get us there faster, can help us survive until that point, and then make sure that it all goes off with a bang.

First things first is trying to build a reliable mana base for this three-colour deck. In addition to the basic lands, I've included Orzhov Guildgate and Gateway Plaza. To help me find these and get them onto the board, I've got Nissa's Triumph and Arboreal Grazer.

Next up are the defences – the cards I'm relying on to keep me and my Planeswalkers alive until I can win. Teyo, the Shieldmage comes in here, as does Oath of Kaya, making attacking an unpleasant prospect. It will damage your opponent for each Planeswalker they target, so it can be really quite punishing! Teyo's Lightshield also comes in handy.

You might have noticed that Nissa and Teyo's Lightshield are both sources of +1/+1 counters. I ran with that as a theme in the deck, and also included Pledge of Unity and the massive Awakening of Vitu-Ghazi to help ensure I can get counters on everything I want them on. Once I've got the counters there, it's time to use the proliferate tools in the deck – Grateful Apparition and Bloom Hulk – to make my creatures bigger, my Planeswalkers harder to kill, and Nissa's ultimate achievable.

The final cards included in the deck are there for utility: Thundering Ceratok is there to give your bonkers land army Trample, and Tithebearer Giant is there for a big body and also as a helping hand against top-decking misery in the late game.

I couldn't find room for Kaya's signature spell: Kaya's Ghostform. Otherwise I think I've ended up with a very thematic deck.