Clear the Land MTG Card

Mana cost
Converted mana cost	3
Rarity	Rare
Type	Sorcery
Released	1999-10-04
Set symbol
Set name	Mercadian Masques
Set code	MMQ
Number	235
Frame	1997
Layout	Normal
Border	Black
Illustred by	Bradley Williams

Key Takeaways

Clear the Land can potentially place multiple lands onto the battlefield, enhancing card and mana advantage.
The instant’s speed allows strategic flexibility and response, offering an edge during crucial turns.
While there is a cost to discard and specific mana requirements, the benefits can be game-altering.

Text of card

Each player reveals the top five cards of his or her library, puts into play tapped all land cards revealed this way, and removes the rest from the game.

Card Pros

Card Advantage: Clear the Land offers a unique spin on card advantage by revealing the top five cards of your library, enabling you to potentially put multiple lands into play, setting you ahead in resources without losing hand cards.

Resource Acceleration: This card propels your mana development rapidly forward. Putting additional lands into play can be the deciding factor between a win and a loss, especially if those lands come in untapped and ready to use.

Instant Speed: The card shines with its instant speed, giving you the flexibility to respond to your opponent’s actions or end-of-turn maneuvers. This can be strategically advantageous, allowing you to adapt to the unfolding game and make decisions with more information.

Card Cons

Discard Requirement: Clear the Land comes with an upfront cost, demanding you to discard a card. This can pose a significant setback when your hand is already running thin, forcing you to lose a potential game-changing card which may not be a viable trade-off for its effects.

Specific Mana Cost: This card’s mana cost is fixed at three mana of any type plus a green and a white. This requirement restricts its integration solely to decks that run on both of these colors, potentially leaving out a vast array of mono-colored or other multi-colored strategies.

Comparatively High Mana Cost: The five-mana investment needed to play Clear the Land can be quite steep, especially when you take into account that the return on this investment is subject to the luck of the draw. Alternative cards might present a more guaranteed or cost-efficient impact on the game state at a lower mana value.

Reasons to Include Clear the Land in Your Collection

Versatility: Clear the Land offers a unique way to manipulate your resources, fitting into decks that are focused on mana acceleration or those aiming to benefit from deck manipulation strategies. It allows both you and your opponents to potentially ramp up, creating dynamic gameplay interactions.

Combo Potential: This card holds great potential to synergize with landfall abilities or strategies that capitalize on having numerous lands in play. Players can also construct combos using cards that benefit from the number of lands entering the battlefield in a single turn.

Meta-Relevance: As the game ecosystem shifts, having a spell that can potentially accelerate your board state beyond your opponent’s can tip the scales. With a meta that favors decks building towards powerful late-game plays, Clear the Land could be a strategic addition to outpace opponents in resource gathering.

How to beat

Clear the Land is a unique card that can turn the tide of a game in Magic: The Gathering. It’s an intriguing challenge for any player to navigate, as it can potentially ramp up your opponent’s mana base dramatically. However, proficiency in countering this spell resides in understanding its mechanisms and vulnerabilities.

One effective strategy is focusing on permission spells, using counterspells such as Counterspell or Mana Leak to prevent the card from resolving. This approach can keep the balance of land distribution in your favor. Furthermore, graveyard manipulation also serves as a counteracting measure; cards like Tormod’s Crypt can exile the lands affected by Clear the Land, nullifying the card’s impact and maintaining control of the board state.

Another tactic is keeping track of the lands played. If an opponent is setting up for a big Clear the Land play, adjusting your playstyle to be more aggressive and lowering their life total may force them to change tactics. In short, preparedness and adaptability are your greatest assets when navigating around the potential upheaval that Clear the Land represents.

Cards like Clear the Land

Clear the Land is an intriguing card within the realm of Magic: The Gathering that offers a unique game mechanic. It’s akin to cards like Rishkar’s Expertise, which also allows players to draw a number of cards equal to the greatest power among creatures they control. Though both cards are green and cater to a creature-heavy strategy, Clear the Land provides an extra level of interaction by involving all players and potentially ramping one’s mana pool based on the card types revealed.

Considering other parallels, we turn to Collective Voyage. This card also invites all players to join in on the action, in this case by searching for basic land cards. However, unlike Clear the Land, which can result in an uneven advantage, Collective Voyage evenly increases players’ land bases. Another comparison leads us to Genesis Wave, which digs through multiple cards and puts any number of permanents onto the battlefield, providing a similar yet potentially more impactful game-changing effect than Clear the Land if the mana investment is high.

Ultimately, Clear the Land stands out in MTG as a gamble that can either ramp up your board significantly or help your opponents. Its distinct blend of group play dynamics and potential for a significant mana advantage provides an interesting choice for deck builders valuing high-risk, high-reward scenarios.

Cards similar to Clear the Land by color, type and mana cost

Rosethorn Acolyte // Seasonal Ritual - MTG Card versions

Lovestruck Beast // Heart's Desire - MTG Card versions

Where to buy

If you're looking to purchase Clear the Land MTG card by a specific set like Mercadian Masques, there are several reliable options to consider. One of the primary sources is your local game store, where you can often find booster packs, individual cards, and preconstructed decks from current and some past sets. They often offer the added benefit of a community where you can trade with other players.

For a broader inventory, particularly of older sets, online marketplaces like TCGPlayer, Card Kingdom and Card Market offer extensive selections and allow you to search for cards from specific sets. Larger e-commerce platforms like eBay and Amazon also have listings from various sellers, which can be a good place to look for sealed product and rare finds.

Additionally, Magic’s official site often has a store locator and retailer lists for finding Wizards of the Coast licensed products. Remember to check for authenticity and the condition of the cards when purchasing, especially from individual sellers on larger marketplaces.

Below is a list of some store websites where you can buy the Clear the Land and other MTG cards: