Reclaim the Wastes MTG Card


Reclaim the Wastes - Zendikar Rising
Mana cost
Converted mana cost1
RarityCommon
TypeSorcery
Abilities Kicker
Released2020-09-25
Set symbol
Set nameZendikar Rising
Set codeZNR
Number200
Frame2015
Layoutnormal
Borderblack
Illustred byWylie Beckert

Key Takeaways

  1. Provides dependable land tutoring, with potential card advantage through its kicker mechanic.
  2. Instant speed allows strategic plays and surprise maneuvers during gameplay.
  3. High utility in multiple formats, especially in decks that thrive on mana ramp.

Text of card

Kicker (You may pay an additional as you cast this spell.) Search your library for a basic land card, reveal it, put it into your hand, then shuffle. If this spell was kicked, search your library for two basic land cards instead of one.


Card Pros

Card Advantage: “Reclaim the Wastes” possesses versatility which can contribute to card advantage by enabling the search for not one, but potentially two lands off of a single card when the land is scarce. With the kicker mechanic, this card’s ability to secure land drops ensures you stay on curve or even ahead, crucial in ramp strategies or when setting up a formidable board presence.

Resource Acceleration: By facilitating the addition of lands directly into your hand or onto the battlefield, this card acts as a key component in resource acceleration. It allows for a smoother mana curve, ramping into bigger threats or enabling multi-colored decks by fetching the specific land types required at a critical junction in gameplay.

Instant Speed: Its instant-speed nature allows for strategic depth, offering flexibility to players who can respond to an opponent’s end-of-turn actions or otherwise unused mana. This guarantees mana utilisation efficiency or an unforeseen land search that could potentially disrupt an opponent’s calculations during their turn.


Card Cons

Discard Requirement: While Reclaim the Wastes doesn’t have a discard requirement, it’s important to consider this aspect in deckbuilding, as cards demanding you to discard can hinder your game plan, especially when you’re trying to maintain hand advantage.

Specific Mana Cost: Reclaim the Wastes requires green mana to cast. This mana specificity means that in a multicolored deck, you may face situations where you can’t access it due to a lack of the necessary green mana sources at the right moment.

Comparatively High Mana Cost: This card may seem affordable at one green mana, but to take full advantage of its kicker cost, you potentially pay three mana in total. For some players, there are other ramp options available that might provide a larger immediate return on mana investment, making Reclaim the Wastes less attractive in decks aiming for high-efficiency plays.


Reasons to Include in Your Collection

Versatility: Reclaim the Wastes is a flexible inclusion in decks that require land ramp. It allows players to either search for a basic land or kick it for multiple land tutoring, making it suitable for a variety of mana-needs.

Combo Potential: This card works well in synergy with landfall and multicolor strategies, enabling you to trigger multiple landfall abilities simultaneously or fix your mana to cast spells from different colors easily.

Meta-Relevance: Given that efficient mana acceleration is always relevant in the ever-changing MTG landscape, Reclaim the Wastes maintains its importance by helping establish a strong mana base early in the game, particularly in formats like Commander where versatility is key.


How to beat

Reclaim the Wastes is a versatile card from the world of Magic: The Gathering that offers solid mana fixing and ramp capabilities. At its core, this spell allows you to search for a basic land card and put it into your hand, ensuring consistent land drops or fixing your mana colors. However, like any card, it can be outpaced.

To effectively counteract Reclaim the Wastes, prioritize land disruption strategies. Utilize cards that hamper your opponent’s ability to benefit from additional land or cards that can remove lands from play. Denying them the extra mana they seek is key. Additionally, ramp acceleration cards can help you to outpace the incremental advantage granted by Reclaim the Wastes. Deploying a more aggressive early game strategy can also apply enough pressure to render their land fetching less impactful as they struggle to stabilize against your advances.

Ultimately, tactics that disrupt or outspeed your opponent’s mana development are your best tools in overcoming the advantages of Reclaim the Wastes. By keeping their resources limited while you advance your board position, you can mitigate the effectiveness of this land-fetching staple.


BurnMana Recommendations

Mastering your MTG deck’s mechanics depends on efficient resource management, making cards like Reclaim the Wastes invaluable. Its ability to ramp and fix mana at instant speed elevates your game and keeps you ahead of the curve. However, every card’s strength can be met with smart counterplay. Understanding the nuances of cards like Reclaim the Wastes not only improves your own strategic outlook but also equips you with the knowledge to disrupt your opponents. Curious about deepening your mastery over such versatile spells? Dive into our insights and elevate your MTG endeavors to new heights.


Cards like Reclaim the Wastes

Reclaim the Wastes has its own niche in the vast ensemble of mana fixing spells in Magic: The Gathering. Akin to cards such as Rampant Growth, it allows players to search their library for a land card. However, Reclaim the Wastes offers flexibility with its kicker mechanic, potentially grabbing two lands instead of one if additional mana is paid upon casting.

When compared to Cultivate, another popular mana ramp card, Reclaim the Wastes stands out for its lower initial casting cost and the benefit of being an instant, enabling play on an opponent’s turn for strategic advantage. Cultivate, in contrast, always fetches two lands but does so at sorcery speed. Then we have Nature’s Lore and Three Visits, both fetching a forest card that comes into play untapped, providing immediate mana acceleration. However, neither offers Reclaim the Wastes’s capacity for fetching two lands late game when the kicker is viable.

Ultimately, within the strategy of land fetching, Reclaim the Wastes balances cost, timing, and potential scaling, marking its territory as a versatile option for deck builders seeking to stabilize and ramp up their mana base in MTG.

Rampant Growth - MTG Card versions
Cultivate - MTG Card versions
Nature's Lore - MTG Card versions
Three Visits - MTG Card versions
Rampant Growth - Mirage (MIR)
Cultivate - Magic 2011 (M11)
Nature's Lore - Ice Age (ICE)
Three Visits - Portal Three Kingdoms (PTK)

Cards similar to Reclaim the Wastes by color, type and mana cost

Hurricane - MTG Card versions
Stream of Life - MTG Card versions
Metamorphosis - MTG Card versions
Winter Blast - MTG Card versions
Sylvan Tutor - MTG Card versions
Fruition - MTG Card versions
Salvage - MTG Card versions
Rofellos's Gift - MTG Card versions
Thrive - MTG Card versions
Lay of the Land - MTG Card versions
Chatter of the Squirrel - MTG Card versions
Dwell on the Past - MTG Card versions
Insist - MTG Card versions
Primal Might - MTG Card versions
Scale Up - MTG Card versions
Ancient Stirrings - MTG Card versions
Glimpse of Nature - MTG Card versions
Gelatinous Genesis - MTG Card versions
Green Sun's Zenith - MTG Card versions
Corrosive Gale - MTG Card versions
Hurricane - 30th Anniversary Edition (30A)
Stream of Life - 30th Anniversary Edition (30A)
Metamorphosis - Treasure Chest (PZ2)
Winter Blast - Introductory Two-Player Set (ITP)
Sylvan Tutor - Masters Edition IV (ME4)
Fruition - Portal (POR)
Salvage - Treasure Chest (PZ2)
Rofellos's Gift - Urza's Destiny (UDS)
Thrive - Double Masters 2022 (2X2)
Lay of the Land - Mystery Booster (MB1)
Chatter of the Squirrel - The List (PLST)
Dwell on the Past - Torment (TOR)
Insist - Torment (TOR)
Primal Might - Starter Commander Decks (SCD)
Scale Up - Magic Online Promos (PRM)
Ancient Stirrings - Time Spiral Remastered (TSR)
Glimpse of Nature - Champions of Kamigawa (CHK)
Gelatinous Genesis - Double Masters (2XM)
Green Sun's Zenith - Double Masters 2022 (2X2)
Corrosive Gale - New Phyrexia (NPH)

Where to buy

If you're looking to purchase Reclaim the Wastes MTG card by a specific set like Zendikar Rising, 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 Reclaim the Wastes and other MTG cards:

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Legalities

Magic the Gathering formats where Reclaim the Wastes has restrictions

FormatLegality
HistoricbrawlLegal
HistoricLegal
LegacyLegal
PaupercommanderLegal
OathbreakerLegal
GladiatorLegal
PioneerLegal
CommanderLegal
ModernLegal
PauperLegal
VintageLegal
DuelLegal
ExplorerLegal
TimelessLegal

Rules and information

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

DateText
2020-09-25 An ability that triggers when a player casts a kicked spell resolves before the spell that caused it to trigger, but after targets have been chosen for that spell. It resolves even if that spell is countered.
2020-09-25 If you copy a kicked spell, the copy is also kicked. If a card or token enters the battlefield as a copy of a permanent that’s already on the battlefield, the new permanent isn’t kicked, even if the original was.
2020-09-25 If you put a permanent with a kicker ability onto the battlefield without casting it, you can’t kick it.
2020-09-25 Kicker represents an optional additional cost that you may choose to pay as you cast the spell. A spell cast with that additional cost paid is “kicked.”
2020-09-25 Some instant or sorcery spells require alternative or additional targets if they’re kicked. You ignore these targeting requirements if those spells aren’t kicked, and you can’t kick those spells unless you can choose the appropriate targets. On the other hand, you can kick a permanent spell even if you won’t be able to choose targets for an enters-the-battlefield ability of that permanent once the spell resolves.
2020-09-25 To determine a spell’s total cost, start with the mana cost (or an alternative cost if another card’s effect allows you to pay one instead), add any cost increases (such as kicker), then apply any cost reductions. The converted mana cost of the spell is determined only by its mana cost, no matter what the total cost to cast the spell was.
2020-09-25 You can’t pay a kicker cost more than once.

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