First printed in Khans of Tarkir (2014)
Instant
Counter target creature spell. Put two +1/+1 counters on up to one target creature.
"Meat sustains the body. The spirit requires different sustenance."
—Arel the Whisperer
- Illustrated by
- Raymond Swanland
- Watermark
- Temur
Legality
- Legal in
- Pioneer, Modern, Legacy, Vintage, Historic, Timeless, Penny Dreadful, Gladiator, Commander, Duel Commander, Tiny Leaders, Oathbreaker, Brawl, Competitive Brawl
- Not legal in
- Standard, Pauper, Future Standard, Alchemy, Premodern, Old School 93/94, Pauper Commander, PreDH, Standard Brawl
Ruling (1)
- You don’t have to target a creature to cast Trap Essence, although you must target a creature spell on the stack.
Prices
MTGO price: 0.006 TIX, the cheapest non-foil print (average sell price on GoatBots, 1 Nov 2026).
In Limited on MTG Arena
Win rates in Arena drafts and sealed, retrieved from 17Lands (CC BY 4.0).
| Set | GIH WR | vs set | IWD | Games |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Khans of Tarkir (KTK), Premier Draft | 52.9% | -1.4 | +1.7 | 1798 |
- GIH WR
- win rate of the games in which the card was in the opening hand or drawn
- vs set
- points above or below the average win rate of all decks in the set
- IWD
- improvement when drawn: GIH WR minus the win rate when the card stayed in the library
- Games
- games in which the card was seen