Planar Atlas MTG Card

Planar Atlas boosts card advantage by enabling frequent land access, thereby ensuring resource superiority. Capable of instant-speed land fetching, it offers strategic flexibility and can rapidly ramp mana. Demands careful deck building with its discard requirement and specific mana costs for best use.

Mana cost
Converted mana cost	2
Rarity	Uncommon
Type	Artifact
Released	2022-12-02
Set symbol
Set name	Jumpstart 2022
Set code	J22
Number	51
Frame	2015
Layout	Normal
Border	Black
Illustred by	Alexander Forssberg

Text of card

Planar Atlas enters the battlefield tapped. When Planar Atlas enters the battlefield, you may look at the top four cards of your library. If you do, reveal up to one land card from among them, then put that card on top of your library and the rest on the bottom in a random order. : Add .

Cards like Planar Atlas

Planar Atlas is a unique artifact in Magic: the Gathering, offering deck manipulation capabilities somewhat reminiscent of Scroll Rack. Both cards allow players to exchange cards from their hand with those from the top of their library, but Planar Atlas does this in a more controlled manner by restricting the cards to land cards. This makes Planar Atlas less versatile but more specialized for mana-fixing.

While comparing, we might consider Thaumatic Compass, an artifact that also facilitates land fetching. Thaumatic Compass ensures land drops but doesn’t interchange with hand cards and instead places them directly into your hand. Moreover, it can become the powerful Maze of Ith-like land Spires of Orazca, providing a notable defensive advantage.

Comparatively, Sensei’s Divining Top is another tool for manipulating the top of the library. Unlike Planar Atlas, Sensei’s Divining Top doesn’t exchange cards between your hand and deck, but it provides the foresight to strategically draw needed cards. This makes Sensei’s Divining Top a strong choice for setting up future plays.

Ultimately, for players looking specifically to optimize land draws and ensure a smooth mana flow, Planar Atlas stands out as a purpose-built option within its niche in Magic: the Gathering.

Sensei's Divining Top - MTG Card versions

Cards similar to Planar Atlas by color, type and mana cost

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Card Pros

Card Advantage: Planar Atlas contributes to the essential aspect of card advantage by enabling you to potentially access multiple lands throughout the game. This ensures you’re less likely to miss land drops, keeping you ahead in resources compared to your opponent.

Resource Acceleration: By effectively fetching lands directly into play, Planar Atlas can significantly ramp up your mana production. This immediate boost in resource acceleration can be critical for casting high-impact spells sooner than usual, giving you a sizeable edge.

Instant Speed: The ability to activate Planar Atlas at instant speed provides you with the flexibility to respond to game states on the fly. You can decide whether to use the Atlas on your turn or an opponent’s, offering strategic depth and surprise plays that can shift the tide of the game in your favor.

Card Cons

Discard Requirement: The Planar Atlas card comes with a discard specification that may challenge your strategy, particularly when your hand is running low on cards. This effectively reduces your options and can impede your momentum during critical phases of the game.

Specific Mana Cost: Planar Atlas requires a precise mana arrangement to cast, which could complicate your deck’s mana base and potentially slow down your ability to play it on curve. Players need to carefully consider their deck construction to accommodate this card’s mana demands.

Comparatively High Mana Cost: With a considerable mana investment needed to activate Planar Atlas, it’s essential to evaluate if the card’s benefit outweighs its cost, especially when there are alternative cards that provide similar effects at a lower mana expenditure.

Reasons to Include Planar Atlas in Your Collection

Versatility: Planar Atlas is the kind of card that seamlessly aligns with various deck archetypes, providing a substantial advantage by allowing you to shuffle and potentially draw the card you need at the right moment.

Combo Potential: This card opens up possibilities to build powerful combos, especially in decks that play around with the library or benefit from manipulating the deck’s top cards.

Meta-Relevance: In an environment where games can hinge on having the right answer at the right time, the utility provided by Planar Atlas ensures that your deck can adapt and respond to the evolving meta, keeping you one step ahead of opponents.

How to beat

Planar Atlas is a noteworthy card that can be a key component in Magic: The Gathering decks geared towards fixing mana and ensuring land drops. This powerful artifact allows players to keep their deck flowing smoothly by avoiding potential mana droughts. Although Planar Atlas has no immediate impact on the board when it comes into play, its recurring ability to provide land ensures long-term benefits, posing a challenge for opponents intent on disrupting your gameplay.

Addressing the threat of Planar Atlas involves strategic planning and a proactive approach. The aim is to minimize the advantage it gives to your opponent. This might involve using artifact removal spells to take it out of play before it can be activated, or deploying counter spells to prevent it from hitting the battlefield in the first place. Cards like Naturalize or Disenchant, which are widely available in most sideboards, can efficiently handle cards like Planar Atlas. Ensuring you have answers to artifacts in your deck is crucial as it prepares you to deal with not just Planar Atlas but a whole range of other potentially game-altering artifacts as well.

A sound strategy involves staying one step ahead of the opponent who is counting on the consistent land drops that Planar Atlas provides. Handling it swiftly is key to maintaining the tempo of the game and stopping your opponent from gaining the upper hand with a well-oiled mana base.

Where to buy

If you're looking to purchase Planar Atlas MTG card by a specific set like Jumpstart 2022, 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 Planar Atlas and other MTG cards:

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Legalities

Magic the Gathering formats where Planar Atlas has restrictions

Format	Legality
Commander	Legal
Legacy	Legal
Oathbreaker	Legal
Vintage	Legal
Duel	Legal