Permafrost Trap MTG Card


Provides control, allowing strategic planning and temporary neutralization of threats without losing card advantage. Instant speed casting increases flexibility, enabling real-time reactions to battlefield changes. While potent, it requires specific conditions and a dedicated mana base to maximize effectiveness.
Permafrost Trap - Worldwake
Mana cost
Converted mana cost4
RarityUncommon
TypeInstant — Trap
Released2010-02-05
Set symbol
Set nameWorldwake
Set codeWWK
Number34
Frame2003
LayoutNormal
BorderBlack
Illustred byHoward Lyon

Text of card

If an opponent had a green creature enter the battlefield under his or her control this turn, you may pay rather than pay Permafrost Trap's mana cost. Tap up to two target creatures. Those creatures don't untap during their controller's next untap step.


Cards like Permafrost Trap

Permafrost Trap enters the arena of tapping tactics within the world of Magic: The Gathering as a notable option. It draws parallels to cards like Frost Breath, both sharing the objective of freezing opponents’ creatures to gain strategic advantage. Permafrost Trap, though, requires the player to control a snow land before it can be cast for its alternative cost, bringing a unique dependency on your land base compared to the universality of Frost Breath’s cost.

Looking at another contemporary, we can evaluate Ice Cage. This card also deals with the concept of restriction, locking down a single creature as long as it remains on the battlefield. Permafrost Trap, in contrast, is a more temporary measure, but it affects multiple targets, demonstrating its potential for wider impact during a crucial turn. Meanwhile, Winter’s Rest shows a different kind of synergy with snow lands. Not only does it tap a creature, but it also keeps it tapped as long as you have a snow land, suggesting that Permafrost Trap is a part of a diverse family of control elements that MTG players can utilize.

Assessing their use in gameplay, Permafrost Trap holds its ground as a flexible control tool, adept at disrupting multiple threats at once, making it an astute pick for any player looking to cool down the competition.

Frost Breath - MTG Card versions
Ice Cage - MTG Card versions
Winter's Rest - MTG Card versions
Frost Breath - MTG Card versions
Ice Cage - MTG Card versions
Winter's Rest - MTG Card versions

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

Deflection - MTG Card versions
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Inspiration - MTG Card versions
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Blessed Reincarnation - MTG Card versions
Deflection - MTG Card versions
Ray of Command - MTG Card versions
Inspiration - MTG Card versions
Turnabout - MTG Card versions
Quash - MTG Card versions
Thwart - MTG Card versions
Plagiarize - MTG Card versions
Fact or Fiction - MTG Card versions
Cryptic Command - MTG Card versions
Fold into Aether - MTG Card versions
Part the Veil - MTG Card versions
Surging Aether - MTG Card versions
Careful Consideration - MTG Card versions
Gifts Given - MTG Card versions
Discombobulate - MTG Card versions
Bone to Ash - MTG Card versions
Sudden Storm - MTG Card versions
Weave Fate - MTG Card versions
Aetherize - MTG Card versions
Blessed Reincarnation - MTG Card versions

Card Pros

Card Advantage: Permafrost Trap provides control players with a means to manage opposing threats without losing card parity. By temporarily removing creatures from combat, it can effectively bypass a turn’s worth of opponent’s cards, setting up for favorable turns ahead.

Resource Acceleration: Although Permafrost Trap itself doesn’t directly offer resource acceleration, the breathing room it creates can allow for more strategic mana usage in subsequent turns, potentially leading to a more efficient play of cards and maximization of resources.

Instant Speed: The ability to cast Permafrost Trap at instant speed offers immense flexibility. This permits players to adapt to the battlefield on the fly, neutralizing incoming attacks or disrupting enemy combos during the most critical moments, which can be pivotal in securing victory.


Card Cons

Discard Requirement: Permafrost Trap doesn’t directly require you to discard a card, but it’s worth considering that activating trap cards often depends on meeting specific conditions. If those conditions aren’t met, holding onto this card might mean missing out on playing other valuable cards in your hand.

Specific Mana Cost: This card’s activation cost includes blue mana, which necessitates the inclusion of Islands or other blue mana sources in your deck. This requirement can restrict deck variety, making it less versatile for players who prefer not to run blue.

Comparatively High Mana Cost: With an activation cost of three mana—including two that must be blue—Permafrost Trap’s cost to freeze an opponent’s creature can be steep, considering other cards might perform similar functions for less mana, allowing for a more efficient tempo play.


Reasons to Include Permafrost Trap in Your Collection

Versatility: Permafrost Trap offers the adaptability every player craves, capable of stymieing aggressive opponents or buying crucial turns against formidable creatures, thus fitting smoothly into control and tempo decks alike.

Combo Potential: Excelling in synergy, Permafrost Trap can mesh with cards that capitalize on opponents’ tapped creatures, enabling various lockdown strategies or clearing the path for your own onslaught.

Meta-Relevance: In an environment heavy with creature-based strategies, this card shines by disrupting opponent momentum and evening the playing field, making it a potent sideboard card for anyone looking to keep pace with the current MTG competitive scene.


How to beat

Permafrost Trap presents a unique challenge on the battlefield that hinges on manipulating the tempo in Magic: The Gathering games. This cunning artifact allows its controller to lock down opposing creatures, essentially freezing the opponent’s offensive capabilities. To effectively neutralize Permafrost Trap, one should prioritize strategies involving removal or direct damage to artifacts.

Consider spells like Smash to Smithereens or Nature’s Claim, both of which excel in dismantling artifacts like Permafrost Trap. Another angle is to deploy cards with hexproof or shroud, ensuring your creatures remain untouched by such restrictive effects. Enabling an active counter-strategy with spells such as Negate can prevent Permafrost Trap from hitting the battlefield in the first place. This highlights the importance of deck versatility and the foresight to accommodate answers for pivotal cards like Permafrost Trap in an MTG match.


Where to buy

If you're looking to purchase Permafrost 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 Permafrost Trap and other MTG cards:

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Legalities

Magic the Gathering formats where Permafrost Trap has restrictions

FormatLegality
CommanderLegal
LegacyLegal
ModernLegal
OathbreakerLegal
VintageLegal
DuelLegal
PredhLegal

Rules and information

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

Date Text
2010-03-01 If a targeted creature is untapped at the time its controller’s next untap step begins, the second part of the ability has no effect on it.
2010-03-01 If an affected creature changes controllers before its previous controller’s next untap step, this ability will prevent it from untapping during its new controller’s next untap step.
2010-03-01 You may target any two (or fewer) creatures. It’s okay if any of them are already tapped. If you cast Permafrost Trap for , you don’t have to target the green creature that entered the battlefield under an opponent’s control.