Planar Overlay MTG Card

Mana cost
Converted mana cost	3
Rarity	Rare
Type	Sorcery
Released	2001-02-05
Set symbol
Set name	Planeshift
Set code	PLS
Number	28
Frame	1997
Layout	Normal
Border	Black
Illustred by	Ron Walotsky

Key Takeaways

Planar Overlay excels at hand reshaping, potentially drawing multiple cards at instant speed.
The card’s mana cost and discard requirement may hinder its inclusion in some decks.
Versatile and potent in combos, Planar Overlay can definitely enrich your MTG collection.

Text of card

Each player chooses a land he or she controls of each basic land type. Return those lands to their owners' hands.

The Phyrexians don't want to conquer Dominaria. They want to remake it.

Card Pros

Card Advantage: Planar Overlay provides a unique opportunity to reshape your hand by drawing a number of cards equal to the highest converted mana cost among the permanents you control. This can significantly boost your hand, giving you more options to outmaneuver your opponent.

Resource Acceleration: While Planar Overlay itself does not directly accelerate resources, its potential to draw into high-impact cards can open the door to powerful plays much sooner, effectively speeding up your game plan.

Instant Speed: The strength of Planar Overlay lies in its capacity to be cast at instant speed, allowing for strategic flexibility. You can wait until the end of your opponent’s turn to maximize the card’s potential or respond to an imminent threat with enhanced options at your disposal.

Card Cons

Discard Requirement: Engaging with Planar Overlay calls for players to part with a card from their hand, potentially straining your available options, especially in tight gameplay situations where card advantage is crucial.

Specific Mana Cost: Leveraging Planar Overlay requires a precise combination of mana, including colors that might not always be readily available depending on your deck’s mana base, thereby restricting its inclusion to decks that can consistently produce the necessary mana types.

Comparatively High Mana Cost: With Planar Overlay demanding considerable mana investment, this can be a drawback when planning your curve. Players are often on the lookout for more mana-efficient alternatives that provide similar or better value, potentially making this card a less appealing option for decks aiming to maximize mana efficiency.

Reasons to Include Planar Overlay in Your Collection

Versatility: Planar Overlay offers a unique approach to deck building, allowing players to manipulate their mana base and adjust their strategies on the fly. It’s able to slot into various archetypes that are seeking an innovative way to access different colors of mana or to simply thin the deck to increase the odds of drawing essential spells.

Combo Potential: This card can be a key piece in intricate combos, particularly in decks that capitalize on having specific lands present on the battlefield, or those that benefit from landfall triggers. By shuffling your lands into your library in exchange for new ones, you can repeatedly activate abilities that hinge on land plays or land types.

Meta-Relevance: In a meta where land interactions are prominent or where disrupting opponent’s mana bases is crucial, Planar Overlay can be an asset. It offers an element of control over your own land distribution, while potentially pairing well with other cards that punish nonbasic land-heavy decks or enable land-based strategies.

How to Defeat Planar Overlay

Planar Overlay is a spellbinding element within the world of competitive Magic: The Gathering gameplay. The card strategically allows players to search for basic lands with the same name from their library and put them onto the battlefield. While this creates an impressive mana-boost, it’s not infallible. To effectively navigate and ultimately outplay a Planar Overlay, savvy players should focus on land destruction or card disruption strategies.

Land destruction spells, such as Shatterstorm or Molten Rain, are adept at interrupting the land ramp that Planar Overlay aims to accelerate. These spells can strip the advantage away just as swiftly as it was gained. Another efficient method is to utilize counterspells such as Counterspell or Mana Leak. These will directly negate Planar Overlay’s activation, ensuring that your opponent’s mana base remains stagnant. Anti-search cards like Aven Mindcensor or opposition against additional land plays through cards like Ghost Quarter can also prove effective in curbing the onslaught. By preemptively implementing these tactics or responding aptly to an opponent’s Planar Overlay, players can maintain control over the game’s tempo and prevent their opponents from capitalizing on their mana-boosting maneuvers.

In understanding and applying these strategic counters, MTG enthusiasts can arm themselves against Planar Overlay and secure their position in any match.

Cards like Planar Overlay

Planar Overlay is a unique spell in the Magic: The Gathering universe, often compared to other blue spells that manipulate lands. Just like Sunder, which also bounces lands back to owners’ hands, Planar Overlay takes a spin on the concept by requiring each player to choose two lands they control, returns the rest to their owners’ hands, and then has those players discard two cards. This focused approach offers a level of strategy and control unlike the comprehensive reset provided by Sunder.

Another card with a related mechanic is Wash Out, which returns all permanents of the color of your choice to their owners’ hands. While Wash Out doesn’t affect all lands, it can still reset the board in a similar way to Planar Overlay, but without the discard. It presents a wider impact across nonland permanents but isn’t as narrowly focused on affecting the land base. Moreover, it leaves the player’s hand untouched.

In summary, Planar Overlay offers a distinct playstyle with its land and discard synergy, making it an intriguing choice for players looking to strategically disrupt opponents while adjusting their own board presence. Its blend of land interaction and the forced choice of discard place it in a special niche among MTG’s myriad options for controlling the battlefield.

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

Animating Faerie // Bring to Life - MTG Card versions

Counsel of the Soratami - MTG Card versions

Where to buy

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

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Legalities

Magic the Gathering formats where Planar Overlay has restrictions

Format	Legality
Commander	Legal
Legacy	Legal
Oathbreaker	Legal
Premodern	Legal
Vintage	Legal
Duel	Legal
Predh	Legal
Penny	Legal

Rules and information

The reference guide for Magic: The Gathering Planar Overlay card rulings provides official rulings, any errata issued, as well as a record of all the functional modifications that have occurred.

Date	Text
2004-10-04	If you have a land which counts as multiple land types, you can choose that land as each of those types. For example, a dual land could be chosen as two of your land types.