Three Visits

Three Visits Full Guide

Portal Three Kingdoms Common
Mana Cost: {1}{G}
Type: Sorcery
Three Visits Text:
Search your library for a Forest card, put it onto the battlefield, then shuffle.
Flavor:
"Trying to meet a worthy man in the wrong way is as bad as closing the door on an invited guest." —Mencius, a Chinese philosopher
Artist: Qu Xin
Collector Number: 153
Release Date: 1999-05-01
Art crop

Strategy Guide

Last updated 2025-06-29
TL;DR Summary

Three Visits

This common sorcery, Three Visits, is a utility card that offers a flexible and versatile way to find and play Forests. With a mana cost of {1}{G}, it's an extremely low-cost option for ramping into more expensive spells or generating card advantage.

In the popular Commander format, Three Visits sees play in green-based decks as a reliable way to recur Forests and create a consistent source of life gain. It pairs well with cards like Llanowar Elves and Elvish Mystic, allowing players to accelerate into more complex spells while maintaining a strong mana base.

Overall, Three Visits is a solid choice for any deck looking to incorporate green ramp or find ways to play Forests more efficiently. Its power level and availability make it an attractive option in casual and competitive play alike.

Card Mechanics & Interactions

Card Mechanics & Interactions: Three Visits

Three Visits is a common sorcery from the Planeswalker Tactics set. This card's primary function is to search your library for a Forest card, put it onto the battlefield, and then shuffle your deck.

Stack Functionality

When you cast Three Visits, follow these steps:

  1. Search: Look through your library for a Forest card.
  2. Put onto battlefield: If you find a Forest card, put it onto the battlefield under your control.
  3. Shuffle: Shuffle your library.

Note that Three Visits is a non-creature sorcery with no power or toughness. As such, it doesn't interact with any of the usual creature-related rules.

Keyword Abilities

There are no keyword abilities associated with Three Visits.

Unusual Rules Interactions & Edge Cases

  • If you cast Three Visits during your main phase, you can only search for a Forest card if your library contains at least one.
  • If you have multiple Forest cards in your library and you put one onto the battlefield, you'll be left with additional Forest cards in your library. You can continue to cast Three Visits, putting more Forest cards onto the battlefield each time.
  • As mentioned earlier, Three Visits has no power or toughness, so it doesn't interact with any of the usual rules related to creature interactions (e.g., trample, deathtouch).
  • If you cast Three Visits and put a Forest card onto the battlefield, that Forest card will be under your control until it's removed from the game.

Commander-Specific Quirks

As a common sorcery with no inherent abilities or power/toughness, Three Visits is unlikely to interact with Commander-specific rules or restrictions. However, its ability to search for and put a Forest card onto the battlefield could be beneficial in certain Commander decks that rely on Forest synergies.

Comparison to Similar Cards

Three Visits can be compared to other cards like Tarn's Epiphany, which allows you to create 2/2 green Elf creatures. While both cards provide access to green mana, Three Visits focuses solely on putting a single Forest card onto the battlefield, whereas Tarn's Epiphany creates multiple tokens.

Deck Considerations

When building a deck around Three Visits, consider the following:

  • Include a sufficient number of Forest cards in your library to take advantage of Three Visits' ability.
  • Leverage the power and toughness of Forest cards on the battlefield to drive your strategy forward.
  • Be mindful of potential card disadvantage from repeatedly shuffling your library.

Keep in mind that Three Visits is a common sorcery with no inherent abilities or power/toughness. Its utility stems solely from its ability to search for and put a single Forest card onto the battlefield, which can be beneficial in certain green-themed Commander decks.

Strategic Applications

Three Visits is a versatile sorcery that provides a low-tide source of Forests, helping to accelerate mana development in Green-based decks. Its ability to search for and put a Forest onto the battlefield while shuffling the library makes it an attractive addition to several archetypes.

Competitive Builds

  • Azami's Favor: Three Visits is a great fit for this popular budget-friendly build, which leverages Azami's Favor to generate card advantage through token generation and mana acceleration.
  • Golgari Midrange: In this archetype, Three Visits can help to find Forests more efficiently, enabling the player to ramp up to more expensive spells.

Casual Builds

  • Mono-Green Aggro: Three Visits is an excellent choice for this aggressive deck, providing a way to consistently generate Forests and accelerate mana development.
  • Golgari Midrange (Budget): This build can also benefit from the card, as it provides a low-cost source of Forests to fuel more expensive spells.

Niche Builds

  • Merfolk Merrow: In this unusual build centered around Merrow, Three Visits can help find the necessary Forests for Merrow's ability.
  • Elf Tribal: This niche build focuses on elves and Elf Tribal is one possible combination. Three Visits provides a means to accelerate forest generation.

In general, Three Visits is most valuable in decks where consistent Forest production is crucial for executing key strategies. Its low cost and versatility make it an attractive addition to various Green-based archetypes.

Advanced Techniques

Three Visits is a versatile sorcery that can be used in various ways to generate value. When searching for a Forest card, consider pairing it with Rampant Growth or other mana ramp spells to accelerate your color development.

One potential strategy involves using Three Visits to find a land like Temple Garden, which not only provides a beneficial land but also has additional effects when tapped. You can then follow up with more ramp or acceleration to continue pushing your game forward.

Another approach is to utilize Three Visits in combination with cards that benefit from having multiple copies of the same land on the battlefield, such as Llanowar Elves. This allows you to generate an additional elf token and potentially create a strong threat on the board.

Three Visits can also be used to find lands with beneficial effects when tapped. For instance, if you're playing a deck that utilizes Expedition Map or similar cards, Three Visits can help you find these lands and turn them on quickly.

In more aggressive decks, you might consider using Three Visits as part of a combo that involves searching for specific cards to put onto the battlefield. For example, if you're playing a deck with Sylvan Caryatid or similar creatures, Three Visits can help you find these creatures and accelerate your game plan.

When incorporating Three Visits into your strategy, be mindful of the potential for card advantage. Since you'll need to shuffle your library after putting the found land onto the battlefield, make sure you're not disrupting your own plans with unnecessary shuffling.

Common Mistakes

Misplaying Three Visits in Commander

When evaluating Three Visits, players often overlook the importance of timing and synergies with their deck's composition. Here are some common mistakes to avoid:

  • Not considering mana availability: Players sometimes miscalculate their available mana when playing Three Visits. With a mana cost of {1}{G}, it's essential to have at least one green source on the battlefield or in hand before casting this sorcery.
  • Failing to exploit ramp spells: Combining Three Visits with efficient ramp cards, such as Gilded Light or Vivid Creek, can accelerate its mana cost and enable earlier plays. Ignoring these synergies can lead to missed opportunities for advantage.
  • Ignoring the need for Forests in deck construction: The card's ability to search for a Forest relies on having Forests available in the library. Players should ensure their deck includes an adequate number of Forests to make the most of this effect.

Understanding Timing Issues

Timing is crucial when playing Three Visits, especially in Commander formats where life totals are higher and turns can drag on. Consider the following:

  • Waiting for optimal mana availability: Attempting to play Three Visits without sufficient green mana sources can result in wasted opportunities or even losing a turn.
  • Not accounting for library shuffling: The Oracle text states that you must shuffle your library after searching for and putting a Forest onto the battlefield. Players should be aware of this interaction, especially when considering effects like Trostani's Summoner or Ezuri's Predators.

Common Deck Construction Mistakes

In Commander decks, players often misjudge how to incorporate Three Visits into their strategy:

  • Overemphasizing the search aspect: While searching for a Forest is beneficial, it shouldn't be the primary reason for including this card. Players should also consider its ability to add another Forest to the battlefield.
  • Ignoring potential synergy cards: Cards like Sylvan Library or Llanowar Elves, which can generate additional green mana sources, are often overlooked in deck construction.

By being aware of these common mistakes and timing issues, players can optimize their use of Three Visits and create more effective Commander decks.

Conclusion

Three Visits is a common sorcery from the PTK set, allowing players to search their library for a Forest card and put it onto the battlefield before shuffling. This simple yet powerful effect has appeared in various printings over the years.

History & Notable Appearances

One notable reprint of Three Visits can be found in the 2019 Core Set. In terms of EDHREC statistics, Three Visits currently holds an EDH Rank of 43, indicating moderate use in Commander decks.

In tournament settings, Three Visits has made appearances in some competitive events due to its ability to fix mana and provide a Forest card advantage. However, it is not as widely played or recognized as other more complex cards.

Budget & Accessibility

Three Visits is an attractive option for players looking to add some green value to their deck. With a mana cost of {1}{G} and a common rarity, it's not the cheapest option on the market. However, its affordability makes it a great choice for budget-friendly builds.

Reprint Status

Three Visits has seen several printings over the years, including its current appearance in the Planeswalker Tribal Khans set (PTK). This means that prices for the card are relatively stable, and reprints will continue to be available in the future.

Budget-Friendliness

While Three Visits may not be the cheapest option for players on a budget, it's certainly more affordable than some of its more powerful counterparts. For example, Llanowar Elves is a similar card that costs $10-15 less in USD. However, Llanowar Elves only searches for basic lands, whereas Three Visits can find any Forest.

Budget Deck Options

For players looking to build a budget-friendly Commander deck, here are some alternatives to consider:

  • Golgari Findbroker: A more expensive option that searches for any card with a cost of 4 or less.
  • Llanowar Elves: A cheaper option that searches for basic lands, but lacks the versatility of Three Visits.
  • Karametra's Return: A more powerful option that returns a creature to its owner's hand and gives it +2/+2.

Flavor & Lore

The forest of Tarkiron, a realm where the ancient trees hold secrets and whispers of the past. It is here that the sorceress, Eira Shadowglow, once communed with the land to unlock its hidden potential. Among her many incantations, one stands out – "Three Visits," a humble yet potent spell.

With the simple incantation "{1}{G}" , Eira's ritual summons forth a fragment of the forest's essence. As she chants the words, a shimmering light envelops her, and three distinct visits are conjured from the fabric of reality. Each visit transports Eira to a different era in the life cycle of a single tree: seedling, sapling, and mature giant.

The first visit bears witness to the tiny, vulnerable sprout as it pushes through the underbrush, reaching for sunlight. The second visit finds the sapling, strong yet still susceptible to the whims of nature. In the third and final visit, Eira beholds the majestic giant, its trunk broadened by seasons of growth and weathered by countless storms.

As Eira returns from these ethereal excursions, she brings with her a token of each stage: a seed, a sapling's sprig, or a fragment of the mature tree's bark. These tangible reminders of her journeys imbue her connection to the natural world, allowing her to craft potent incantations that harmonize with the pulse of the forest.

Those who seek to emulate Eira's communion with the land can employ "Three Visits" in their own rituals. This common sorcery requires but a single mana and a whisper of green magic. By invoking its power, a practitioner can summon a Forest card from their library, placing it on the battlefield as a testament to the ever-changing cycles of growth and decay.

As with Eira's own incantations, "Three Visits" serves as a bridge between the natural world and the realm of magic. It reminds us that even in the stillness of the forest, there lies potential for growth and transformation – an idea embodied by the majestic trees themselves.

Deckbuilding & Synergies

Three Visits: A Low-Cost Land Generation Tool

As a low-cost, one-mana sorcery, Three Visits is an attractive addition to any green-based deck. Its effect of searching for and putting a Forest onto the battlefield makes it an efficient way to ramp up to more expensive spells or generate additional mana.

Commanders and Color Identities

  • Selesnya Commanders: Selesnya Guildmages, Selesnya Herbalists, and Selesnya Vanguard all benefit from the additional lands provided by Three Visits.
  • Gruul Commanders: Chandra, Torch of Defiance and Kamigawa's Great Speaker can utilize the extra mana generated by Three Visits to cast their more expensive spells.

Themes

  • Land Generation: As mentioned earlier, Three Visits excels at generating lands quickly and efficiently. This makes it an excellent addition to any deck focused on land acceleration or ramp.
  • Green Stompy Decks: Green stompy decks often rely on quickly generating large amounts of mana to enable more expensive, high-power creatures. Three Visits helps these decks achieve their goal by providing a low-cost means of generating additional lands.

Engines and Synergies

  • Rhystic Study: This card allows you to draw two cards whenever you tap an untapped Forest for its mana cost. When used in conjunction with Three Visits, Rhystic Study creates a powerful engine for generating new cards while accelerating your land development.
  • Llanowar Wastes: As a dual land, Llanowar Wastes provides an additional source of green mana and can be tapped to generate one mana. This synergy enhances the effects of Three Visits, allowing you to tap the Wastes for its mana cost in addition to the Forest generated by the sorcery.
  • Terraforming: While not a traditional synergy, Terraforming can be used to accelerate the generation of specific lands, including Forests. By combining Terraforming with Three Visits, you can create an even more efficient land-generation engine.

Combo Notes

  • When paired with Llanowar Wastes, Three Visits enables you to tap both lands for their mana cost in a single turn, generating two green mana from just one sorcery.
  • The combination of Rhystic Study and Three Visits creates an explosive card draw engine that accelerates your land development while providing additional opportunities to play powerful spells.

In summary, Three Visits is an excellent addition to any deck focused on land acceleration or ramp. Its low mana cost and ability to generate lands quickly make it a versatile tool for generating green mana in a variety of different decks.

Format Roles

Three Visits in Commander

In Commander, Three Visits is a common sorcery that sees play in some green-themed decks. Its effect allows the player to search their library for a Forest card and put it onto the battlefield, then shuffle their deck.

Notable Interactions

  • When paired with cards like Verdant Force, which can produce multiple mana, Three Visits becomes more attractive as it enables players to accelerate their mana development.
  • In combo decks featuring cards like Yeva, Nature's Shield, Three Visits can help ramp up the mana for additional activations.

Competitive Considerations

While not a staple in competitive Commander lists, Three Visits can provide value in certain situations. However, its impact is limited compared to other green sorceries and card draw options.

Casual Play

In casual games, Three Visits is often overlooked due to the availability of more powerful and consistent ramp spells like Llanowar Elves. Players may consider running this card for nostalgic reasons or as a way to introduce new players to the concept of searching their library.

Banned Status

Three Visits is not banned in any Commander formats, although its impact is diminished by the existence of more efficient green sorceries and card draw options.

Key Scenarios

Scenarios where Three Visits excels:

  • Green ramp decks: In a mono-green or green-heavy deck, Three Visits can accelerate the play of Forests and other 1-G mana spells. With a single drop on turn one, you can quickly amass a large forest base.
  • Combo potential: If your library contains multiple copies of Llanowar Elves or Elvish Mystic, Three Visits can help you find one of these creatures more efficiently, allowing for an earlier and more aggressive start.
  • Ramp into bigger spells: In decks that aim to play larger spells like Verdant Force or Yavimaya's Embrace, Three Visits can provide a crucial boost in mana development.

Scenarios where Three Visits struggles:

  • Non-forest land-heavy decks: If your deck doesn't rely heavily on Forests, Three Visits becomes less impactful. You may need to find alternative uses for the card or consider playing it in a more forest-centric build.
  • Competitive metagames: In competitive formats where players are often prepared with anti-green strategies, Three Visits' ability to accelerate forest development might not be as valuable.
  • Against control decks: If facing aggressive control strategies, you may struggle to get value from Three Visits. These opponents will likely prioritize disrupting your mana development or attacking your life total directly.

Multiplayer politics and combos:

  • Combos with token generators: In multiplayer formats, Three Visits can be paired with cards like Llanowar Elves or Elvish Mystic to generate a large number of tokens quickly.
  • Forest synergies: When playing in groups, Three Visits can help you build a massive forest base more efficiently. This can lead to powerful synergy effects from cards like Yavimaya's Embrace or Verdant Force.

Keep in mind that these scenarios are not exhaustive and can be influenced by the specific decklist and playstyle. As with any card, Three Visits' effectiveness will depend on how it is integrated into your overall strategy.

History & Meta

Three Visits is a common sorcery from the PTK set, allowing players to search their library for a Forest card and put it onto the battlefield before shuffling. This simple yet powerful effect has appeared in various printings over the years.

One notable reprint of Three Visits can be found in the 2019 Core Set. In terms of EDHREC statistics, Three Visits currently holds an EDH Rank of 43, indicating moderate use in Commander decks.

In tournament settings, Three Visits has made appearances in some competitive events due to its ability to fix mana and provide a Forest card advantage. However, it is not as widely played or recognized as other more complex cards.

Three Visits can be found in iconic decks focused on green-based strategies, such as Golgari Grave-Trove or Simic Ascendancy, which rely heavily on the inclusion of multiple mana-fixing lands and efficient card draw effects.

Flavor & Lore

The forest of Tarkiron, a realm where the ancient trees hold secrets and whispers of the past. It is here that the sorceress, Eira Shadowglow, once communed with the land to unlock its hidden potential. Among her many incantations, one stands out – "Three Visits," a humble yet potent spell.

With the simple incantation "{1}{G}" , Eira's ritual summons forth a fragment of the forest's essence. As she chants the words, a shimmering light envelops her, and three distinct visits are conjured from the fabric of reality. Each visit transports Eira to a different era in the life cycle of a single tree: seedling, sapling, and mature giant.

The first visit bears witness to the tiny, vulnerable sprout as it pushes through the underbrush, reaching for sunlight. The second visit finds the sapling, strong yet still susceptible to the whims of nature. In the third and final visit, Eira beholds the majestic giant, its trunk broadened by seasons of growth and weathered by countless storms.

As Eira returns from these ethereal excursions, she brings with her a token of each stage: a seed, a sapling's sprig, or a fragment of the mature tree's bark. These tangible reminders of her journeys imbue her connection to the natural world, allowing her to craft potent incantations that harmonize with the pulse of the forest.

Those who seek to emulate Eira's communion with the land can employ "Three Visits" in their own rituals. This common sorcery requires but a single mana and a whisper of green magic. By invoking its power, a practitioner can summon a Forest card from their library, placing it on the battlefield as a testament to the ever-changing cycles of growth and decay.

As with Eira's own incantations, "Three Visits" serves as a bridge between the natural world and the realm of magic. It reminds us that even in the stillness of the forest, there lies potential for growth and transformation – an idea embodied by the majestic trees themselves.

Budget/Alternatives

Three Visits: A Budget-Friendly Option for Green Players

With a mana cost of {1}{G} and a common rarity, Three Visits is an attractive option for players looking to add some green value to their deck. At $59.06 in USD, it's not the cheapest option on the market.

Reprint Status

Three Visits has seen several printings over the years, including its current appearance in the Planeswalker Tribal Khans set (PTK). This means that prices for the card are relatively stable, and reprints will continue to be available in the future.

Budget-Friendliness

While Three Visits may not be the cheapest option for players on a budget, it's certainly more affordable than some of its more powerful counterparts. For example, Llanowar Elves is a similar card that costs $10-15 less in USD. However, Llanowar Elves only searches for basic lands, whereas Three Visits can find any Forest.

Budget Deck Options

For players looking to build a budget-friendly Commander deck, here are some alternatives to consider:

  • Golgari Findbroker: A more expensive option that searches for any card with a cost of 4 or less.
  • Llanowar Elves: A cheaper option that searches for basic lands, but lacks the versatility of Three Visits.
  • Karametra's Return: A more powerful option that returns a creature to its owner's hand and gives it +2/+2.

In terms of budget-friendly options in Commander, consider building around cards like Llanowar Elves, Golgari Findbroker, or Karametra's Return. These cards offer similar value to Three Visits but are more affordable for players on a budget.