Stone Idol Trap MTG Card


Stone Idol Trap - Worldwake
Mana cost
Converted mana cost6
RarityRare
TypeInstant — Trap
Released2010-02-05
Set symbol
Set nameWorldwake
Set codeWWK
Number93
Frame2003
Layoutnormal
Borderblack
Illustred byJung Park

Key Takeaways

  1. Stone Idol Trap’s creature token can quickly alter the game’s momentum without reducing hand resources.
  2. Instant speed play enhances strategic reaction to opponents’ actions, offering significant battlefield control.
  3. Despite its cost, the card’s versatility and combo potential make it a worthy collection addition.

Text of card

Stone Idol Trap costs less to cast for each attacking creature. Put a 6/12 colorless Construct artifact creature token with trample onto the battlefield. Exile it at the beginning of your next end step.


Card Pros

Card Advantage: Stone Idol Trap creates a creature token that can become a significant threat on the board. By introducing this potential attacker or blocker, it can shift the tide of the game in your favor without depleting your hand of other resources.

Resource Acceleration: Although not directly affecting your mana pool, the card leverages your opponent’s creatures as a trigger. This can translate into an acceleration of your board state, effectively using your opponent’s advance to your strategic advantage.

Instant Speed: The power of playing Stone Idol Trap at instant speed cannot be understated. This timing allows you to react to your opponent’s moves, potentially summoning a large creature token during their assault or just after they’ve committed significant resources to an attack, making it harder for them to deal with sudden threats you create.


Card Cons

Discard Requirement: Stone Idol Trap does not have a discard requirement, allowing you to maintain card advantage while playing it. This can be essential in maintaining pressure on your opponent and optimizing resource usage during gameplay.

Specific Mana Cost: This card requires a precise mana investment of six, including generic and red mana. This can be challenging to achieve early in the game or in multi-color decks that may not consistently produce the necessary red mana.

Comparatively High Mana Cost: With a mana cost of six, Stone Idol Trap may arrive too late in the game, especially against fast-paced or aggressive decks that aim to win quickly. While its effect can be powerful, the delayed play can be a significant disadvantage in pivotal moments of a match.


Reasons to Include Stone Idol Trap in Your Collection

Versatility: Stone Idol Trap can be a strategic addition to numerous deck builds, aptly fitting into strategies focused on creating unexpected blockers or using unique creature abilities to your advantage. Its instant speed and temporary creature can be crucial in combat scenarios.

Combo Potential: This card boasts excellent synergy with sacrifice outlets or effects that trigger upon a creature’s death. The temporary token it creates can be utilized in combination with other cards to pull off unexpected plays or conserve resources for bigger threats.

Meta-Relevance: Within a game environment where combat tricks and board states can shift quickly, Stone Idol Trap offers a significant impact in protecting life totals or diverting an opponent’s attack. Its ability to create a large token can be a game-changer in the right matchup.


How to beat

Stone Idol Trap brings a unique twist to creature deployment with its massive token generation during your opponent’s turn. Unlike permanent creatures, the token created by Stone Idol Trap disappears at the beginning of your next end step. One efficient strategy to dismantle the impact of this card is prioritizing removal spells that can be cast on your opponent’s turn. Instant-speed removal such as Path to Exile or Murderous Cut can handle the colossal token before it ever gets a chance to swing.

Another method is through counter spells that prevent Stone Idol Trap from resolving in the first place, like Mana Leak or Dovin’s Veto. Control decks, often equipped with such interactive spells, mitigate the card’s effectiveness significantly. Moreover, effects that reduce the damage to zero like Ethereal Haze or Holy Day can nullify the token’s attack, rendering the potential damage of Stone Idol Trap moot. In essence, maintaining open mana and having the right answers at the right time will ensure that the fleeting colossus becomes nothing more than a minor obstacle.


Cards like Stone Idol Trap

Stone Idol Trap is a unique piece within the massive catalog of cards in Magic: The Gathering. It bears a resemblance to spells like Heat Shimmer and Twinflame, which also create creature tokens that are copies of other creatures. However, Stone Idol Trap has an intriguing twist, as it conjures a colorless Construct artifact creature token with a potentially enormous power and toughness based on the number of attacking creatures. This differentiates it from Heat Shimmer and Twinflame, both of which copy a target creature you control and don’t scale with the number of attackers.

Another card to consider in comparison is Titan Forge, which similarly produces colossal artifact creature tokens. While Titan Forge requires an investment over time to accumulate charge counters, Stone Idol Trap’s instant speed allows for an immediate and reactive playstyle, surprising opponents with a potentially game-ending threat during their turn.

In the realm of creature generation and artifact synergy, Stone Idol Trap offers a strategic edge in the right deck, capable of creating high-impact play moments that can shift the tides of the game in a single turn.

Heat Shimmer - MTG Card versions
Twinflame - MTG Card versions
Titan Forge - MTG Card versions
Heat Shimmer - Lorwyn (LRW)
Twinflame - Journey into Nyx (JOU)
Titan Forge - Mirrodin Besieged (MBS)

Cards similar to Stone Idol Trap by color, type and mana cost

Pyrokinesis - MTG Card versions
Fireblast - MTG Card versions
Magmatic Sinkhole - MTG Card versions
Flame Javelin - MTG Card versions
Soulblast - MTG Card versions
Fiery Fall - MTG Card versions
Runeflare Trap - MTG Card versions
Thunderous Wrath - MTG Card versions
Explosive Impact - MTG Card versions
Blastfire Bolt - MTG Card versions
Steamfloggery - MTG Card versions
Diabolical Salvation - MTG Card versions
Inescapable Blaze - MTG Card versions
Flames of the Raze-Boar - MTG Card versions
Shatter the Source - MTG Card versions
Pyrokinesis - Eternal Masters (EMA)
Fireblast - Dominaria Remastered (DMR)
Magmatic Sinkhole - Modern Horizons 1 Timeshifts (H1R)
Flame Javelin - Duel Decks Anthology: Jace vs. Chandra (JVC)
Soulblast - Tenth Edition (10E)
Fiery Fall - Double Masters 2022 (2X2)
Runeflare Trap - Zendikar (ZEN)
Thunderous Wrath - Modern Masters 2017 (MM3)
Explosive Impact - Return to Ravnica (RTR)
Blastfire Bolt - The List (PLST)
Steamfloggery - Unstable (UST)
Diabolical Salvation - 2017 Heroes of the Realm (PH17)
Inescapable Blaze - Arena Beginner Set (ANB)
Flames of the Raze-Boar - Jumpstart (JMP)
Shatter the Source - March of the Machine (MOM)

Where to buy

If you're looking to purchase Stone Idol Trap MTG card by a specific set like Worldwake, 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 Stone Idol Trap and other MTG cards:

Continue exploring other sealed products in Amazon
See Magic products

Legalities

Magic the Gathering formats where Stone Idol Trap has restrictions

FormatLegality
CommanderLegal
LegacyLegal
ModernLegal
OathbreakerLegal
VintageLegal
DuelLegal
PredhLegal
PennyLegal

Rules and information

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

DateText
2010-03-01 An “attacking creature” is one that has been declared as an attacker this combat, or one that was put onto the battlefield attacking this combat. Unless that creature leaves combat, it continues to be an attacking creature through the end of combat step, even if the player it was attacking has left the game, or the planeswalker it was attacking has left combat.
2010-03-01 If you cast Stone Idol Trap during your opponent’s declare attackers step, the Construct token you put onto the battlefield will be able to block that turn.
2010-03-01 The Construct token isn’t exiled until the beginning of *your* end step. If you cast Stone Idol Trap during another player’s turn, the token remains on the battlefield after that player’s turn ends. During your next turn, it will no longer have “summoning sickness” and you’ll be able to attack with it. Then, at the beginning of that turn’s end step, it’ll be exiled.
2010-03-01 The cost-reduction ability doesn’t care who controls the attacking creatures. If you like, you may cast Stone Idol Trap during your own combat phase, in which case it will count your attacking creatures. If you do, however, the token you put onto the battlefield will be unable to attack that combat and will be exiled later that turn.
2010-03-01 This Trap doesn’t work the same way as other Traps. Rather than having an optional alternative cost, Stone Idol Trap has a mandatory cost-reduction ability.

Recent MTG decks

Continue exploring other format decks
More decks