Archive Trap

Format legality

Where you can play Archive Trap in sanctioned and popular formats.

All printings (3)

Prices range from $1.05 to $25.37 across finishes. Cheapest printing: Breaking News at $1.05.

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Rulings

Official rulings from Wizards of the Coast (8).

• 2009-10-01The opponent you target doesn’t have to be the opponent who searched their library.
• 2009-10-01Casting a Trap by paying its alternative cost doesn’t change its mana cost or mana value. The only difference is the cost you actually pay.
• 2009-10-01Effects that increase or reduce the cost to cast a Trap will apply to whichever cost you chose to pay.
• 2009-10-01If a search effect is affected by Aven Mindcensor’s ability (which causes a player to search the top four cards of their library instead), that still counts as searching that library.
• 2009-10-01You may ignore a Trap’s alternative cost condition and simply cast it for its normal mana cost. This is true even if its alternative cost condition has been met.
• 2009-10-01Archive Trap checks only whether an opponent searched their library. It doesn’t matter whether that player found a card during the search.
• 2009-10-01A spell or ability causes a player to search their library only if it specifically contains the word “search” in its text. For example, if a spell or ability lets a player look at the top four cards of their library and do something with one of those cards, that’s not a search.
• 2009-10-01If the targeted opponent has fewer than thirteen cards in their library, that player puts their entire library into their graveyard.

Frequently asked questions