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Rules AnswersCommander / EDH

Does Cyclonic Rift's overload affect permanents owned by the player who cast it?

Short answer
No. Overloaded Cyclonic Rift only bounces permanents your opponents own/control, explicitly excluding your own permanents.

Cyclonic Rift reads: when overloaded, return each nonland permanent you don't control to its owner's hand. The key phrase is "you don't control" — this means permanents under your control are entirely excluded from the effect, regardless of who owns them.

Under CR 109.5, 'you' refers to the player who cast the spell. So when resolving the overloaded Rift, that player's own permanents are simply not targeted or affected by the effect at all.

It is worth noting the distinction between 'ownership' and 'control' (CR 108.3, 109.4). A permanent you own but an opponent currently controls (e.g., a creature stolen via Gilded Drake) would be bounced by overloaded Rift, because you don't control it — it would then return to your hand as its owner. Conversely, a permanent you control but don't own (e.g., an opponent's creature you've stolen) would NOT be bounced, since you do control it.

Example: In a 4-player Commander game, you cast Cyclonic Rift with overload. Your Solemn Simulacrum stays on the battlefield. All nonland permanents controlled by your three opponents are returned to their owners' hands.

CR references: CR 109.5 (use of 'you' in spells), CR 108.3 (ownership), CR 109.4 (control), and the card's own Oracle text govern this interaction.

HIGH confidence CR 108.3 CR 109.4 CR 109.5
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