Trip Wire
Sorcery
Destroy target creature with horsemanship.
- CMC
- 3
- Mana cost
- Color identity
- G
- Rarity
- uncommon
- Set
- Portal Three Kingdoms
- Price
- $2.20
- EDHREC rank
- #30824
Trip Wire destroys target creature with flying for three mana at instant speed — narrow, but it answers the threats that ground-based removal misses entirely. It's a sideboard card that rarely earns a mainboard slot, and in most formats something cheaper or more flexible does the same job better.
Format Analysis
Where it lives, where it can’t
| Format | Verdict |
|---|---|
| commander | legal |
| legacy | legal |
| modern | not legal |
| pioneer | not legal |
| standard | not legal |
| vintage | legal |
| pauper | legal |
| oathbreaker | legal |
In Commander, Trip Wire occupies the bottom tier of removal: conditional, one-for-one, and three mana in a format that demands answers to everything. The flying restriction means it blanks against a meaningful portion of any given board state, and better options like Doom Blade or Generous Gift exist at similar or lower cost. In Legacy and Vintage it's technically legal but sees no play — the formats are too fast and the competition too stiff. Pauper is the one context where Trip Wire becomes marginally interesting, since the commons-only card pool narrows the competition and fliers like Faerie Rogue or Spire Golem are real threats worth targeting.
Key Combos
Combo lines featuring this card
Price Context
Current price
$2.20 cheap tier
At $2.20, Trip Wire sits in the cheap tier but is overpriced for what it does — this is a card you'd expect to find in a bulk bin for a quarter. Don't pay above bulk; supply is ample and demand is essentially nonexistent.
Explore
Sources
Mentioned
Updated . Data from Scryfall, EDHREC, and Commander Spellbook.