Needlebite Trap
Instant — Trap
If an opponent gained life this turn, you may pay 
rather than pay this spell's mana cost.
Target player loses 5 life and you gain 5 life.
- CMC
- 7
- Mana cost
- Color identity
- B
- Rarity
- uncommon
- Set
- Zendikar
- Price
- $0.24
- EDHREC rank
- #22054
Needlebite Trap drains an opponent for 5 life and gains you 5 — a 10-point life swing — for as little as one black mana when an opponent gained life this turn. At full cost it's seven mana for an effect that doesn't impact the board, so it lives or dies by the trap condition.
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 |
Commander is where Needlebite Trap has the most realistic home, specifically in life-gain-matters decks like Oloro, Ageless Ascetic or Vito, Thorn of the Dusk Rose where opponents routinely gain life and trigger the discount. In Legacy and Vintage the card is legal but irrelevant — one-mana formats don't tolerate conditional sorcery-speed drain with no board impact. Modern has enough incidental life gain that the trap condition fires, but even there a 5-point drain without a body or permanent effect is too slow for a format that kills on turn four.
Key Combos
Combo lines featuring this card
Price Context
Current price
$0.24 bulk tier
At $0.24, Needlebite Trap is deep bulk — you're not paying for power, you're paying for postage. The price is stable because demand is narrow, and nothing on the horizon changes that trajectory.
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Sources
Mentioned
Updated . Data from Scryfall, EDHREC, and Commander Spellbook.