Archive Trap

three generic mana one blue mana Instant — Trap

If an opponent searched their library this turn, you may pay zero mana rather than pay this spell's mana cost.

Target opponent mills thirteen cards.

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Showing Zendikar#41

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Archive Trap rulings

2009-10-01
The opponent you target doesn’t have to be the opponent who searched their library.
2009-10-01
Casting a Trap by paying its alternative cost doesn’t change its mana cost or mana value. The only difference is the cost you actually pay.
2009-10-01
Effects that increase or reduce the cost to cast a Trap will apply to whichever cost you chose to pay.
2009-10-01
If a search effect is affected by Aven Mindcensor’s ability (which causes a player to search the top four cards of their library instead), that still counts as searching that library.
2009-10-01
You may ignore a Trap’s alternative cost condition and simply cast it for its normal mana cost. This is true even if its alternative cost condition has been met.
2009-10-01
Archive Trap checks only whether an opponent searched their library. It doesn’t matter whether that player found a card during the search.
2009-10-01
A spell or ability causes a player to search their library only if it specifically contains the word “search” in its text. For example, if a spell or ability lets a player look at the top four cards of their library and do something with one of those cards, that’s not a search.
2009-10-01
If the targeted opponent has fewer than thirteen cards in their library, that player puts their entire library into their graveyard.

Archive Trap keyword rules

Mill Rule 701.13

For a player to mill a number of cards, that player puts that many cards from the top of their library into their graveyard.

A player can’t mill a number of cards greater than the number of cards in their library. If given the choice to do so, they can’t choose to take that action. If instructed to do so, they mill as many as possible. Similarly, the player can’t pay a cost that includes milling a number of cards greater than the number of cards in their library.

An effect that refers to a milled card can find that card in the zone it moved to from the library, as long as that zone is a public zone.

If an ability checks information about a single milled card but more than one card was milled, that ability refers to each of the milled cards. If that ability asks for any information about the milled card, such as a characteristic or mana value, it gets multiple answers. If these answers are used to determine the value of a variable, the sum of the answers is used. If that ability performs any actions on “the” card, it performs that action on each milled card. If that ability performs any actions on “a” card, the controller of the ability chooses which card is affected.