Cobra Trap
Instant — Trap
If a noncreature permanent under your control was destroyed this turn by a spell or ability an opponent controlled, you may pay 
rather than pay this spell's mana cost.
Create four 1/1 green Snake creature tokens.
- CMC
- 6
- Mana cost
- Color identity
- G
- Rarity
- uncommon
- Set
- Commander 2011
- Price
- $0.13
- EDHREC rank
- #15248
Cobra Trap puts four 1/1 Snake tokens on the board for as little as one green mana when an opponent's creature destroys one of yours — that's a four-for-one at instant speed if the condition is live. Aphelia, Viper Whisperer turns every one of those Snakes into a trigger, making Cobra Trap one of the most efficient token generators the deck can run.
Best Commanders
Commanders with the highest synergy
Aphelia, Viper Whisperer
Aphelia, Viper Whisperer cares specifically about Snakes entering the battlefield, so the four tokens from Cobra Trap can translate directly into card draw, counters, or whatever Aphelia's engine is paying out — all at instant speed for one mana when a creature of yours dies in combat.
Format Analysis
Where it lives, where it can’t
| Format | Verdict |
|---|---|
| commander | legal |
| legacy | legal |
| modern | legal |
| pioneer | not legal |
| standard | not legal |
| vintage | legal |
| pauper | not legal |
| oathbreaker | legal |
Cobra Trap is legal in Commander, Legacy, Modern, Vintage, and Oathbreaker, but its home is Commander by a wide margin. The trap condition — an opponent's creature destroying one of yours — fires constantly in a multiplayer game, and the four-token payoff at one mana is backbreaking in a format where token synergies compound. In Legacy and Vintage, the full five-mana cost competes with formats that end the game before combat attrition creates Trap windows, and four 1/1s rarely close anything out at that price. Modern is the most plausible competitive shell, but even there Cobra Trap sits behind faster token generators and sees essentially no play.
Key Combos
Combo lines featuring this card
Price Context
Current price
$0.13 bulk tier
At $0.13, Cobra Trap is deep bulk — a near-zero-cost inclusion for any Snake or token deck that can reliably trigger it. Bulk trap cards rarely move in price unless a new commander pushes the condition into the mainstream, so expect it to stay at this floor.
Explore
Sources
Mentioned
Updated . Data from Scryfall, EDHREC, and Commander Spellbook.