Sleeptrap
Today we have the Sleeptrap, possibly the most underused card in the entire set.

The usefulness of the Sleeptrap is definitely questionable. With 0 Attack Power, it has absolutely no combat ability, relying entirely on its special ability to make it useful - any enemy card next to a Sleeptrap adds 1 to their activation cost. Under most circumstances, this is probably a desirable ability – anything which causes the opponent to use more Mana is definitely a good thing, but unfortunately, the fact that the card doesn’t do anything else – combat included – makes its value questionable at best. And for a Summoning Cost of 2, you’d probably be hoping for a little more.

The card isn’t entirely bad however. With 2HP (boosted to 4 on a Wood Field), it might be able to stay alive long enough to cause your opponent some problems, and the fact that most players tend to avoid it means that if you do play it, your opponent might not be entirely sure how to safely deal with it. And, if you manage to place it well, the extra Mana cost imposed on your opponents creatures might help keep your other cards alive too, even to the point where your opponent can’t break out of check because of it.

There are a number of ways to safely tackle an enemy Sleeptrap. The simplest way is to just kill it in a single shot with a newly summoned card – the Mana penalty only applies to the Activation Cost, not the Summon Cost, so if you can kill it right off, you won’t lose anything because of it. This might be a little tricky if it’s been placed on a Wood Field, however.
The other way is to attack it with Magic Attack cards, or ranged attackers such as the Bewitching Elf Archeress, or the Novogus Catapult. All ranged cards like this avoid the effects of the Sleeptrap, although it might take a few turns to kill it this way, unless you can hit its Blind Spot.

Given the likelihood that your Sleeptrap is going to be hit with Magic Attacks, most of the standard defensive measures won’t help you keep it alive. If you’ve managed to get it into the perfect position and want to keep it alive as long as possible, then (failing an Aegis Citadel to make it invisible), your best bet is to simply hit it with a Healing Shower. When combined with the Field Bonus, this will boost it to 7HP, which should be more than enough to keep around for a few turns.

The Sleeptrap is very much a support card, its only purpose in the game being to annoying your opponent. If your deck is themed around causing the other player as many Mana problems as possible, the Sleeptrap is a great card for doing that, but if you are looking for something which is more generally useful, you’re best off looking elsewhere.

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Posted by Pessimism on Tue, 18th Dec 2007, at 17:03
I think you're right, it is under-used. But having two of these out (on the official board, at least) covers a large portion of the board, and if you're running a Death Dancer in your deck, it can create a HUGE mana issue- of course, it's a matter of actually getting all three out, which is hard at best. These are actually useful for keeping current cards alive, however- their sole purpose being to make it a lot harder to to take out an friendly that is next to them, or to cover a blind spot.... just another observation!
Posted by drizzle on Tue, 18th Dec 2007, at 17:11
This card would be much better with a casting cost of 1, even if only had 1 hp instead of 2. If it added 2 to the casting cost of adjacent creatures it would be much better for its cost. I have tried to use this card but being that it has zero offense and costs a full turns worth of mana it just hasn't found a permanent spot in any of my decks.
Posted by bfiggins on Thu, 20th Dec 2007, at 13:59
I don't mind the Sleeptrap - he's my anti-fortress card. What I mean is, sometimes I see an opponent laying their creatures so there's a hole in their formation, which they plan to fill with a fortress or some other powerful creature. Drop a Sleeptrap there, and not only do you fill up the space, but you create a creature which is very annoying to get rid of.
Posted by drackmire on Thu, 20th Dec 2007, at 22:03
This card is just not worth the mana. All it really serves as is a placeholder. I am not a big fan of this card at all. This is one of those cards that you can draw at really bad times. If you draw this when in check, you lose. Any card that looks that way to me just isn't worth putting in the deck. In future sets maybe, but for now I don't feel this is a viable addition to the deck.
Posted by krisfairholm on Wed, 26th Dec 2007, at 16:49
I have loads of these cards all brand new never been used anyone want to swap for any other cards?? lol
Posted by DaLancer on Wed, 23rd Jan 2008, at 01:08
Useful if placed beside a enemy god or magic creature, but besides that its not worth 2 mana. Maybe if it had 1 attack, but otherwise no.
Posted by bjthecrazguy on Tue, 19th Feb 2008, at 20:48
jank?
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