Hello and happiest of days to each of you! Recently I've been talking about all the ways to meet your mana needs in Casual and Multiplayer. I grew up playing multiplayer and the Five Color format for years, and at the time this was a format of 250 cards (18 of each color). Ever since then I've been paying attention to mana because the worst thing in the world is to have the perfect spell for a situation and not be able to cast it due to mana or color screw.

I've been writing tons overviews and lists, from a general look at all the ways to Ramp, to my top Mana Dorks to Ramp Spells, Mana Rocks, or Ramp Dorks like Solemn Simulacrum, Exploration effects, and even Landcyclers! Now we are looking at the classics that put lands in our hand like Land Tax, Civic Wayfinder, and Lay of the Land.

Ready? I got you!

Honorable Mention #1. (#22. Overall) - Morph Stuff

Trail of Mystery grabs you a basic land whenever a face-down creature you control enters. Then we also get a combat trick (+2/+2) when we a creature up. Nervous Gardener searches for a land with a basic land type when it is turned face up.

Honorable Mention #2. (#21. Overall) - Two-Cost Colorless Ramp Stuff

Next up are these great two-cost colorless options. Environmental Sciences gets you a land and gains you 2 life too, and the new Aang's Journey that can get a basic land and a shrine if kicked (plus 2 life). Mycosynth Wellspring is usually what I go to first since it gets a land when it enters and gets one when it goes to the graveyard. It's great with Goblin Welder effects too. Then there is another artifact called Ecologist's Terrarium printed that can tap and sac for two at sorcery speed to put a +1/+1 counter on a creature.

20. Spirit of the Aldergard

Spirit of the Aldergard is essential for Snow Brews! It's got a 0/4 body and then power equal to your Snow stuff. Then when this arrives you can Lay of the Land a Snow land of any type! Love it!

19. Gift of Estates AND Nissa's Triumph

Next up are these two uncommon sorcery spells that cost two and then can get three lands in one go (under the right circumstances). Gift of Estates gets three Plains of any type, but only if an opponent has more lands than you. Nissa's Triumph costs two Green and grabs two basic Forests, or three if you control a Nissa planeswalker - it's more limited in what it gets, but it's easier to resolve.

18. All of the Three-Drops That ETB With a Basic to our Hand

There are a plenty of three-mana creatures that grab a land when they enter! District Guide can grab a Gate or a basic, which works great with stuff like the Guildgate cycle for mana fixing. Nissa, Vastwood Seer arrives with a basic Forest and then when you play a land, if you control seven lands, you flip her to her planeswalker side. There are a few colorless and artifact options, but Pilgrim's Eye is my favorite and can fix mana without needing colors to cast.

17. Land Grant and Friends

Next up are these two-cost sorcery speed Lay of the Lands. Land Grant is the best of them, since it grabs any Forest (not just basics), and it can be cast for free if you have no lands in your hand. After it was printed, everyone ran it and embraced it and ran few lands, but tons of duals. Fork in the Road can grab two basics, one for the hand and then another for the graveyard. That's great with recursion effects like Crucible of Worlds and can easily be a two-for-one. Gatecreeper Vine is a 0/2 Defender that grabs a Gate or basic when it arrives. Path to the World Tree grabs any basic, and then sacs for to draw two cards, make an opponent lose 2 life, make a 2/2 Bear, deal 2 damage to a creature, and gain 2 life. It's pretty good, but needs to be in a Five Color brew to get maximize value.

16. Two-Mana Instant Ones Plus

Next up is this instant speed trio! Evolution Charm is versatile, being either an instant-speed Lay of the Land, Raise Dead, or Jump! Herd Migration makes a number of 3/3 Beasts equal to the number of basic land types you control, and then also can be discarded for two to net a basic to our hand and gain three life! Spinewoods Armadillo can also be discarded for a basic land or a Desert and then also get its life gain on.

15. Good Lay of the Lands

And then there's this group of excellent 1-drops! We even have instants or combat tricks here too. The best is Dig Up with the ability to spend four total mana to Tutor anything to our hand. Caravan Vigil will put the land it grabs into play if a creature died this turn. Then Bushwhack is a fight removal spell.

14. You Happen On a Glade

You Happen on a Glade costs three and gives you two great options. We can grab two basics to our hand or Regrowth a permanent. Both are good options depending on the circumstances!

13. Oreskos Explorer

Do you adore a 2-drop Ramp Bear that's better in multiplayer? I got you! Oreskos Explorer enters and grabs a Plains for every foe with more lands. That's nasty in blink decks prior to dropping your land for the turn, in Aggro, Hate Bears, Ramp decks and tons more decks!

12. Shard Convergence (Shout-out to Seek the Horizon)

Shard Convergence grabs four lands for a nice little 4:1. You get one each of any Plains, Island, Swamp, and Mountain. That's amazing for domain and five-color decks. Also, a shoutout to Seek the Horizon that gets three lands to our hand of a basic nature for four mana.

11. Armillary Sphere AND Gem of Becoming

Next up are these colorless artifacts that arrive and then get sacrificed for lands. Armillary Sphere costs two, sacs for two and then grabs us two basics to the hand. Gem of Becoming costs three and sacs for three to grab a Swamp, Island, and Mountain. And those can be nonbasics too!

10. Yavimaya Elder

Yavimaya Elder is next! When it dies you can Lay of the Land two basics! You can sac it for to draw a card as well. We nicknamed it "Yavimaya Ancestral" due to It basically drawing three cards with it's sac ability! It dominated for a long time and was part of a deck called "The Rock" and is still beloved today!

9. Sprouting Vines

Sprouting Vines has Storm, and you should never sleep on a card that has that busted mechanic!

8. Archaeomancer's Map

Archaeomancer's Map gets two basic Plains to our hand, then we can drop lands as our foes drop too if they have more lands than us!

7. Tithe

Tithe gives you any Plains to our hand at minimum. If someone has more lands in play than you, you get another land! Since it's an instant, you can get it EOT when someone has more lands and assure you hit your land drops!

6. Nylea's Intervention

Everyone favorite X-spell land grabber is next! Nylea's Intervention can grab X lands to our hand! And that's any lands, not just basics. Or you can shoot each flyer for twice X damage as mass removal. Love the versatility!

5. Realm Seekers

Realms Seekers enters with a number of +1/+1 counters equal to the number of cards in all players hands. You can then pull a counter off to tutor any land to your hand, from Command Tower to Academy Ruins!

4. The Kite Cycle

Next up we have an unofficial cycle of 2-drop artifacts that tap for three mana to grab a basic from your library to your hand over and over again! Thaumatic Compass flips into a Maze of Ith when we have enough lands out. Monument to Perfection will get a Sphere or Locus land in addition to basics. Then you can spend three to turn it into a game winning 9/9 toxic 9 and indestructible too if we have enough lands with different names.

3. Realms Uncharted

Next up is this brokenly good three-cost instant! Realms Uncharted grabs four lands of different names of any type! Two are grabbed by our foe for our hand and then the other two go to the graveyard. With a Crucible of Worlds out that's nasty good!

2. Life from the Loam

Life from the Loam is my pick for the #2 spot! It grabs three lands from our graveyard and puts them in our hand and then has dredge too to bring it back to our hand and dump more cards in the graveyard. It dominated Standard and other formats when released and is a sought after role player to this day. So get your Life on and embrace your inner-graveyard lover!

1. Land Tax

This 1-drop White enchantment is format defining and just had to be our top spot. During your upkeep, you grab three basics for our hand if any person has more lands than you, and it's an enchantment so you can just keep doing that over and over again! For that much value, it has to be at the top. Play it with Scroll Rack and turn all those basics into sweet new cards!

There we go! What did you think of my Top Lay of the Lands? What are your favorites? Let me know!