Booby Trap MTG Card

Booby Trap provides a strategic edge by pressuring opponents and disrupting their card draw tempo. Its six mana cost and predictive nature require careful play but can yield high rewards in-game. Understanding similar cards and countermeasures can optimize how Booby Trap fits into your strategy.

Tempest (TMP)
1997-10-14 - Number 277

Ninth Edition (9ED)
2005-07-29 - Number 289★

Ninth Edition (9ED)
2005-07-29 - Number 289

Salvat 2005 (PSAL)
2005-08-22 - Number H49

Card sets	Released in 4 setsSee all
Mana cost
Converted mana cost	6
Rarity	Rare
Type	Artifact

Text of card

When Booby Trap comes into play, name a card other than a basic land. Whenever target opponent draws any cards, he or she reveals those cards to all players. If any of those cards is the named card, Sacrifice Booby Trap and it deals 10 damage to that player.

Cards like Booby Trap

Booby Trap stands out amongst unique artifacts in Magic: The Gathering with its ability to turn knowledge into power – specifically, the knowledge of your opponent’s next draw. This is reminiscent of cards like Psychic Surgery, which also intervenes when your opponent is drawing cards, although the Surgery sculpts their deck instead of setting a deadly trap.

Grenzo, Havoc Raiser takes a different approach by exiling the top card of an opponent’s library and potentially casting it. While Booby Trap waits for a specific card name to claim victory, Grenzo acts more like a cunning goblin, stealing whatever treasure comes first. Conversely, Ghoulcaller’s Bell rings in with a universal approach, where controlling the top card of a library is a collective experience, impacting all players and flipping pages of everyone’s decks.

Finally, the comparison brings us to Codex Shredder, allowing players to target a single card in a library to grind away. Though it lacks the explosive finish of Booby Trap, its repeatability is a merit. Each of these cards shares the intrigue of manipulating draws, but Booby Trap’s dramatic win condition sets a stage for both suspense and explosive game endings within the MTG landscape.

Grenzo, Havoc Raiser - MTG Card versions

Cards similar to Booby Trap by color, type and mana cost

Card Pros

Card Advantage: Booby Trap offers strategic card advantage by putting pressure on your opponent. Once a target card is named, every time your opponent draws that particular card, they receive significant damage, potentially deterring them from using resources or digging deeper into their deck.

Resource Acceleration: While Booby Trap itself doesn’t accelerate resources directly, it can indirectly affect resource management. It forces opponents to reconsider their plays to avoid triggering the trap, possibly leading to a slower pace and allowing you to capitalize on this hesitation.

Instant Speed: Despite being an artifact, Booby Trap can create a sense of immediacy similar to instant speed interactions. Your opponents must be cautious with every draw, which can disrupt their tempo and give you the upper hand during critical turns.

Card Cons

Discard Requirement: Booby Trap requires you to name a card when you play it, which can be a guesswork if you’re not familiar with your opponent’s deck composition or if they have a unique build. This unpredictability can lead to missed opportunities to trigger its effect.

Specific Mana Cost: Booby Trap demands a precise mana investment of six, which can be challenging to muster, especially in multicolored decks that may struggle with color fixing.

Comparatively High Mana Cost: With its six mana cost, Booby Trap comes into play relatively late in the game. This delay often means that faster, more aggressive strategies can outpace its setup, reducing its overall effectiveness in high-tempo play environments.

Reasons to Include Booby Trap in Your Collection

Versatility: Booby Trap is a unique artifact that can adapt to various strategies. It provides a way to thwart your opponents’ plans by setting traps that are hard to avoid. As a versatile inclusion, it works in both aggressive and control decks, always lurking as a potential threat.

Combo Potential: The card thrives in a setting where knowledge of the opponent’s deck is a given. This makes it highly synergistic with cards that allow you to peek at the opponent’s deck, setting up devastating combos when they draw the named card.

Meta-Relevance: Amidst formats where players often rely on specific key cards to win, Booby Trap emerges as a tactical counter. In such metas, being able to predict and disrupt critical plays can shift the tides in your favor, making Booby Trap a valuable addition for those looking to outsmart the competition.

How to beat Booby Trap

In the landscape of Magic: The Gathering, Booby Trap presents an intriguing challenge. Often compared to cards like Telepathy, which allow insight into an opponent’s hand, Booby Trap requires strategic prediction to maximize its potential. When setting the trap, choosing a card your opponent is likely to draw and play is crucial to inflict a devastating blow to their life points.

However, getting around this artifact calls for clever maneuvering. Cards like Naturalize, which can directly destroy artifacts, are straightforward solutions to disarm the trap. For those who prefer subtlety, Elixir of Immortality provides a way to shuffle your graveyard into your library, potentially evading the predicted card and negating Booby Trap’s effect. Lastly, one might consider simply playing around the trap by holding onto the named card, thus preventing its trigger.

While Booby Trap can be a game-changer in the right circumstances, knowing your options to evade its explosive consequence is key in maintaining the upper hand. Via destruction, shuffling, or smart play, the power of Booby Trap can be diffused, allowing you to continue your MTG match without fear of an unexpected setback.

Where to buy

If you're looking to purchase Booby Trap MTG card by a specific set like Tempest and Ninth Edition, 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 Booby Trap and other MTG cards:

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Printings

The Booby Trap Magic the Gathering card was released in 3 different sets between 1997-10-14 and 2005-08-22. Illustrated by Doug Chaffee.

#	Released	Name	Code	Number	Frame	Layout	Border	Artist
1	1997-10-14	Tempest	TMP	277	1997	Normal	Black	Doug Chaffee
2	2005-07-29	Ninth Edition	9ED	289★	2003	Normal	Black	Doug Chaffee
3	2005-07-29	Ninth Edition	9ED	289	2003	Normal	White	Doug Chaffee
4	2005-08-22	Salvat 2005	PSAL	H49	2003	Normal	White	Doug Chaffee

Legalities

Magic the Gathering formats where Booby Trap has restrictions

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

Rules and information

The reference guide for Magic: The Gathering Booby Trap 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	The “if you do” part is only done if you successfully sacrifice this card. In other words, it has to be on the battlefield when the trigger resolves or it does not deal damage.
2005-08-01	If Booby Trap’s last ability is countered, Booby Trap remains on the battlefield (and no damage is dealt).
2005-08-01	If a single Booby Trap’s ability triggers multiple times, then only the first ability to resolve causes Booby Trap to be sacrificed and damage to be dealt.
2005-08-01	If an effect causes the player to draw multiple cards, each card is revealed as it’s drawn. If Booby Trap’s ability triggers, it will go on the stack once the card-drawing effect has concluded.
2005-08-01	The choice of which card to name is part of the resolution of the spell or ability which puts Booby Trap onto the battlefield. It can’t be countered.