The number of games in which your opponent has a planeswalker out that you'll have a Deadlock Trap on the board and without its energy already used up is likely to vanishingly small.
Second, you don't need any mana to make it work atleast 2 turns
Third, you can feed it some more energy to make it last longer, Briber's Purse got a finite amount of uses.
But you can't use it on the turn you cast it unlike the purse, and you need a potentially very scarce resource (energy) to power it.
Hope this helps
Sure, comments are always welcome. My opinion is that the purse and the trap are both garbage ...
Comparing one to the other:
The Purse comes in with a finite number of counters which allows you to pacify a creature for a turn. Once it runs out, there's no way in the format to get counters back on it.
The Trap comes in a generates a resource on its own that is used for other cards, then requires you to use this resource to tap a creature OR planeswalker (this is limited, but adding an additional permanent type to its targets is still part of the discussion, and they also cannot use their abilities. Once you use up the two energy counters made by this, you can resupply it with other cards that generate energy. In addition, you can just say to heck with it and use the energy for cards that consume it.
Tldr; Deadlock Trap is better than Briber's Purse by a good margin. That's the answer to the OP's question. Now is it good enough for limited in general? I have my doubts. Purse never wowed me and I feel like I want to use my energy counters for better things. I think it's fine, but not high quality.
Tappers have two uses: tapping down attackers and tapping down blockers. The main difference being that if you want to tap down attackers, you're playing this *before* your main strategy comes into play, and for blockers, you want to play it *after*.
Purse was very bad at the former because if you were trying to stabilize, you couldn't afford to spend much on it and then it was super low impact. Trap is better because 2 mana is way better than 4 to tap down two things, and it can be recharged by other cards without spending any more mana at all. On the other hand, coming into play tapped makes it a marginally worse topdeck, but that shouldn't be a major consideration when compared alongside the mana efficiency argument.
Offensively, Purse's advantage of being usable immediately matters a lot, and since you want it *after* using up most of the other cards in your hand, to try to stop the opponent stabilizing, you're both more likely to have more mana when you want to cast it and more likely not to need more than a couple activations anyway. Trap doesn't compare as favorably here, since it's both slower and uses a resource you'd like to be spending on development, but on the other hand, in that situation you can just use it as a battery and not bother activating it at all.
In neither case is blocking a planeswalker activation a serious consideration: even if planeswalkers were a thing in Limited, it isn't like you would side this in as an answer to one.
Overall, I would say it's definitely a better card than Purse, and maybe even playable (!), but almost definitely not good.
The deck it'd be best in (an aggressive deck) would be much happier with just another creature. It's an option, but I doubt it'll be something you're excited about in a deck.
With limited use, it's just a liability in a deck that wants to keep creatures locked down with it.
Tappers have two uses: tapping down attackers and tapping down blockers. The main difference being that if you want to tap down attackers, you're playing this *before* your main strategy comes into play, and for blockers, you want to play it *after*.
Purse was very bad at the former because if you were trying to stabilize, you couldn't afford to spend much on it and then it was super low impact. Trap is better because 2 mana is way better than 4 to tap down two things, and it can be recharged by other cards without spending any more mana at all. On the other hand, coming into play tapped makes it a marginally worse topdeck, but that shouldn't be a major consideration when compared alongside the mana efficiency argument.
Offensively, Purse's advantage of being usable immediately matters a lot, and since you want it *after* using up most of the other cards in your hand, to try to stop the opponent stabilizing, you're both more likely to have more mana when you want to cast it and more likely not to need more than a couple activations anyway. Trap doesn't compare as favorably here, since it's both slower and uses a resource you'd like to be spending on development, but on the other hand, in that situation you can just use it as a battery and not bother activating it at all.
In neither case is blocking a planeswalker activation a serious consideration: even if planeswalkers were a thing in Limited, it isn't like you would side this in as an answer to one.
Overall, I would say it's definitely a better card than Purse, and maybe even playable (!), but almost definitely not good.
I think the true most recent comparison is Tumble Magnet from Scars, as it is an actual non-creature tapper, capable of shutting down both creature attack and block next turn for the cost. In my memory that card ended up working better than expected before the start of the format.
My positives and negatives after playing with it a bit during prerelease:
+ Fueling it is pretty easy once you have a just reasonable number of energy generating cards (consider Tumble Magnet that had much more uncommon Proliferate as the general fueling mechanism). Obviously the energy from them used on the Trap is away from their normal use, whatever it might be, but that you actually have the choice on where to put the energy to best use in that specific game state is a positive in itself.
+ The energy is usable immediately, even if the Trap is not. I see a lot of boards where that 2E can immediately make attacking with your energy expending creature both possible and the correct move. I was able to power out critical -4/-4 Die Young just because I could drop Trap before it.
+ It's very good shutting down single, strong attackers - namely, a big vehicles. And I don't think it's an uncommon scenario where this happens without actually using the energy. Consider a board where opponent has a small creature or two that by themselves cannot make a profitable attack, but can crew a bigger vehicle that could do so. It can be not worthwhile even crewing and forcing you to spend the energy on the tap if it leaves his board open for attack next turn.
+ In those few games where the planeswalker bit about the cards is relevant, I feel it has a huge impact. In prerelease I had screw all for answers against planeswalkers, other than attacking them dead, and the Trap absolutely saved my skin in a game where opponent could play Dovin Baan enough ahead on board that I couldn't touch it with attacks. Direct answers to planeswalkers ain't exactly common, this will almost negate the incremental advantage that makes planeswalkers so horrible to deal with if you're behind on board.
-- It ETB tapped. This is the big one, as the card dead for the first attack and defense you might want from it, as far as the actual ability is concerned.
- 2E is not that much (compare to Tumble Magnet's three charges) and a real problem if your deck is lacking on other energy generators to fuel it if necessary. I straight up wouldn't play it if it were one of my few energy generators, unless absolutely necessary for some reason.
- It's bad at stopping wide attacks where reasonably sized vehicles are involved, because the tap ability can be responded to by crewing the vehicles with the target.
I mean, I liked the card. I don't think it's something you pick high at all pack 1, but I think it's an easy inclusion in the 23 once you know what how its shaping up and what you will probably have.
These posts sum up my thoughts of the cases where the card can be good/bad, and I peg this as a 2.0 good filler card if you either need the artifact or have energy producers. Luckily every color except white generally wants one of those two things: so I think this makes the cut more often than not: RUB wants incidental artifacts to fuel their synergy cards, and UG can produce excess energy.
I had it in one of my pool yesterday and found it to be pretty solid, given that it was in a deck with a lot of energy production and not a lot of energy consumption (only cards that could use it were trap, the indestructible guy, and the hydra, with the hydra being the only thing that really wants a ton of energy). I was running 2x the 2/1 that makes 3 energy, and when paired with that card, deadlock trap was pretty good.
Granted, the 2/1 dude wasn't exactly stellar, but my pool was super thin, I was playing the 2/2 artifact dude who lets both players scry just to hit enough playables. Still went 4-0, though. That hydra is boss.
Overall I think it needs to be in a deck that wants to generate a lot of energy, but the effect is strong. Given enough juice, it's a hard to remove minister of impediments, and that card is great. As long as you build intelligently with it (i.e. have extra energy generation), it can be MUCH more mana-efficient than briber's purse, plus it helps you press the offense and defense at the same time, which purse generally doesn't.
-- It ETB tapped. This is the big one, as the card dead for the first attack and defense you might want from it, as far as the actual ability is concerned.
This just makes it like a creature with summoning sickness.
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Better or worse than Briber's Purse?
First, you can target Planeswalkers
Second, you don't need any mana to make it work atleast 2 turns
Third, you can feed it some more energy to make it last longer, Briber's Purse got a finite amount of uses.
Hope this helps
The number of games in which your opponent has a planeswalker out that you'll have a Deadlock Trap on the board and without its energy already used up is likely to vanishingly small.
But you can't use it on the turn you cast it unlike the purse, and you need a potentially very scarce resource (energy) to power it.
Sure, comments are always welcome. My opinion is that the purse and the trap are both garbage ...
This is the Limited subforum.
The Purse comes in with a finite number of counters which allows you to pacify a creature for a turn. Once it runs out, there's no way in the format to get counters back on it.
The Trap comes in a generates a resource on its own that is used for other cards, then requires you to use this resource to tap a creature OR planeswalker (this is limited, but adding an additional permanent type to its targets is still part of the discussion, and they also cannot use their abilities. Once you use up the two energy counters made by this, you can resupply it with other cards that generate energy. In addition, you can just say to heck with it and use the energy for cards that consume it.
Tldr; Deadlock Trap is better than Briber's Purse by a good margin. That's the answer to the OP's question. Now is it good enough for limited in general? I have my doubts. Purse never wowed me and I feel like I want to use my energy counters for better things. I think it's fine, but not high quality.
Purse was very bad at the former because if you were trying to stabilize, you couldn't afford to spend much on it and then it was super low impact. Trap is better because 2 mana is way better than 4 to tap down two things, and it can be recharged by other cards without spending any more mana at all. On the other hand, coming into play tapped makes it a marginally worse topdeck, but that shouldn't be a major consideration when compared alongside the mana efficiency argument.
Offensively, Purse's advantage of being usable immediately matters a lot, and since you want it *after* using up most of the other cards in your hand, to try to stop the opponent stabilizing, you're both more likely to have more mana when you want to cast it and more likely not to need more than a couple activations anyway. Trap doesn't compare as favorably here, since it's both slower and uses a resource you'd like to be spending on development, but on the other hand, in that situation you can just use it as a battery and not bother activating it at all.
In neither case is blocking a planeswalker activation a serious consideration: even if planeswalkers were a thing in Limited, it isn't like you would side this in as an answer to one.
Overall, I would say it's definitely a better card than Purse, and maybe even playable (!), but almost definitely not good.
Older Magic as a Board Game: Panglacial Wurm , Mill
With limited use, it's just a liability in a deck that wants to keep creatures locked down with it.
R Norin the Wary: I've Got a Bad Feeling About This
UG Thrasios & Kydele: Knowledge is Power
RG Borborygmos Enraged: The Breaking of the World
BG The Gitrog Monster: All Glory to the Hypnotoad
WUR Zedruu the Greathearted: Endless Possibilities, One Outcome
WBG Karador, Ghost Chieftain: What's Dead May Never Die
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These posts sum up my thoughts of the cases where the card can be good/bad, and I peg this as a 2.0 good filler card if you either need the artifact or have energy producers. Luckily every color except white generally wants one of those two things: so I think this makes the cut more often than not: RUB wants incidental artifacts to fuel their synergy cards, and UG can produce excess energy.
Granted, the 2/1 dude wasn't exactly stellar, but my pool was super thin, I was playing the 2/2 artifact dude who lets both players scry just to hit enough playables. Still went 4-0, though. That hydra is boss.
Overall I think it needs to be in a deck that wants to generate a lot of energy, but the effect is strong. Given enough juice, it's a hard to remove minister of impediments, and that card is great. As long as you build intelligently with it (i.e. have extra energy generation), it can be MUCH more mana-efficient than briber's purse, plus it helps you press the offense and defense at the same time, which purse generally doesn't.
EDH Primers
Phelddagrif - Zirilan
EDH
Thrasios+Bruse - Pang - Sasaya - Wydwen - Feather - Rona - Toshiro - Sylvia+Khorvath - Geth - QMarchesa - Firesong - Athreos - Arixmethes - Isperia - Etali - Silas+Sidar - Saskia - Virtus+Gorm - Kynaios - Naban - Aryel - Mizzix - Kazuul - Tymna+Kraum - Sidar+Tymna - Ayli - Gwendlyn - Phelddagrif 4 - Liliana - Kaervek - Phelddagrif 3 - Mairsil - Scarab - Child - Phenax - Shirei - Thada - Depala - Circu - Kytheon - GrenzoHR - Phelddagrif - Reyhan+Kraum - Toshiro - Varolz - Nin - Ojutai - Tasigur - Zedruu - Uril - Edric - Wort - Zurgo - Nahiri - Grenzo - Kozilek - Yisan - Ink-Treader - Yisan - Brago - Sidisi - Toshiro - Alexi - Sygg - Brimaz - Sek'Kuar - Marchesa - Vish Kal - Iroas - Phelddagrif - Ephara - Derevi - Glissa - Wanderer - Saffi - Melek - Xiahou Dun - Lazav - Lin Sivvi - Zirilan - Glissa
PDH - Drake - Graverobber - Izzet GM - Tallowisp - Symbiote Brawl - Feather - Ugin - Jace - Scarab - Angrath - Vraska - Kumena Oathbreaker - Wrenn&6
This just makes it like a creature with summoning sickness.