An Elegant Trap Ensnares the Field

Trapmaker’s Snare illustration by Daarken

Switching lists from the previous week, Walcutt finished 3-0 with 8-Trap Mill for back-to-back victories! While conventional wisdom would say that filling graveyard in a field with many graveyard strategies is risky, this iteration of the archetype lowers that risk in an elegant way.

Let’s see how this bold strategy ticks.

Mill Plan

The core mill archetype attacks the opponent’s deck directly, diminishing their potential for synergy and consistency until they run out of cards completely. Archive Trap is the most potent free spell, as all players are often searching their deck with fetches and most green decks are running Green Sun’s Zenith. The other strongest mill card is Hedron Crab, which gets paired with fetches and Harrow to trigger multiple times each turn. Stream of Thought lets you shuffle these potent cards back into your deck while still advancing your game plan. Most draws are live throughout the game, as even lands trigger crabs and get you closer to replicating Stream of Thought.

Relieving Pressure

While there may be an inevitability, you need to be able to weather aggression and disrupt your opponent’s combo plans. Dead of Winter clears the board while keeping Iceberg Cancrix around to continue milling. Whiplash Trap delays opposing threats, and can disrupt Yawgmoth and Reanimator combos. Abrupt Decay is the de facto best removal spell, being able to curb aggression and destroy most of the popular combo pieces that people play.

Trap Toolbox

In fact, 8-Trap tries to have an answer to everything by playing a toolbox of traps that can be retrieved with Trapmaker’s Snare. Too much aggression? Grab Lethargy Trap or Whiplash Trap. Opponent storming off with Aria, Hogaak, or Golgari Germination? Grab Mindbreak Trap. Reanimation on the stack? Snatch yourself Ravenous Trap. If you catch your opponent forgetting what your deck does best, dome them for 13 after finding an Archive Trap.

Trapmaker’s Snare

The best time to mill is when no one expects it. Walcutt set a trap when they won with Aria Oath and we all expected it again! Trapmaker’s Snare really shores up the deck’s weaknesses by letting it pivot to and from offense and defense without taking up too many spots in the deck. My favorite aspect of the list is how Stream of Thought can reshuffle one-of traps back into the deck to be found with Trapmaker’s Snare again, truly elegant. What trap lies in wait for next week?