Despite taking a bit of a back seat in the set, MTG Reality Fracture still had plenty of planeswalker support. Between an entire cycle of new loyalty ability-granting enchantments and some spicy new walkers, too, Superfriends decks have been supercharged. As if that wasn’t enough, Reality Fracture even gave us a stellar new legend to helm the archetype.
Thanks to all this new support, it’s little wonder that a fair few MTG planeswalkers have been spiking in price recently. This is exactly what has happened to Vraska, Betrayal’s Sting, as this card’s recent reprint has steadily climbed in price. With the original printing following suit, too, this Vraska is now starting to get rather expensive.
MTG Vraska, Betrayal’s Sting
Originally released as part of Phyrexia: All Will Be One, this extra evil Compleated Vraska is a seriously powerful planeswalker. If nothing else, its 0 ability to draw you a card and Proliferate is always good, but especially so in Superfriends decks. The same is also true for Vraska’s -2 ability, as having consistent removal is vital when you’re heavily planeswalker-focused.
As if this wasn’t enough, Vraska, Betrayal’s Sting also is a win condition, provided you can get to her ultimate. Even without any other Poison cards in your deck, this can easily knock out an opponent by using her 0 ability next turn. Alternatively, any counter doubler, like
Doubling Season
Doubling Season
If an effect would create one or more tokens under your control, it creates twice that many of those tokens instead.
If an effect would put one or more counters on a permanent you control, it puts twice that many of those counters on that permanent instead.
, will eliminate an opponent on the spot, while letting Vraska enter with 12 loyalty, too.
With this strength in mind, it’s little wonder that Vraska, Betrayal’s Sting has long been popular in Commander. Primarily, Vraska appears in Superfriends decks helmed by
Atraxa, Praetor’s Voice
Atraxa, Praetor’s Voice
Flying, vigilance, deathtouch, lifelink
At the beginning of your end step, proliferate. (Choose any number of permanents and/or players, then give each another counter of each kind already there.)
; however, she’s also a solid counter-focused card. Due to this, Vraska was actually reprinted in the -1/-1 Counter-focused Blight Curse precon, led by Auntie Ool, Cursewitch.
More recently, Vraska, Betrayal’s Sting has seen a solid bump in play rate thanks to two Reality Fracture Commanders. In particular,
Tam, the Possibility
Tam, the Possibility
Planeswalker spells you cast cost {1} less to cast.
{W}{U}{B}{R}{G}, {T}: Proliferate X times, where X is the number of planeswalker types among planeswalkers you control. (To proliferate, choose any number of permanents and/or players, then give each another counter of each kind already there.)
is responsible for almost 4,200 new decks running this Planeswalker. Not only is Tam the new go-to choice for a Superfriends deck, but Tam’s Proliferate ability helps push Vraska even further.
Alongside Tam,
Jace, Multiverse Architect
Jace, Multiverse Architect
At the beginning of combat on each opponent's turn, they may pay {2}. If they don't, creatures they control can't attack Jaces you control this turn.
+1: Draw two cards, then put a card from your hand on the bottom of your library.
−3: Exile another target planeswalker or creature you control. Reveal cards from the top of your library until you reveal a creature or planeswalker card. Put that card onto the battlefield and the rest on the bottom of your library in a random order.
Jace, Multiverse Architect can be your commander.
is also responsible for almost 2,500 decks using Vraska. In theory, Vraska could fit in the Multiverse Reforged precon as a solid do-everything threat to Polymorph into. Realistically, though, this Jace is commonly used as a Jace Typal deck, and as his love interest, it makes sense to play Vraska there too.
The Reprint Rises
Thanks to being so strong in multiple archetypes, unsurprisingly, Vraska, Betrayal’s Sting has always maintained a respectable price tag. Prior to the recent reprint in the Blight Curse precon, near-mint copies were hovering around $5 – $6. Following the reprint, however, not only did original copies fall to around $2.40, but the reprint itself offered a significant saving.
This time last month, for instance, you could pick up the Lorwyn Eclipsed Commander printing of Vraska, Betrayal’s Sting for just $1.02. Sadly, this once-budget price point is now long gone, as over 550 sales in the past month have pushed prices up considerably. Now, near-mint copies of Vraska, Betrayal’s Sting start at $3.90, marking a 282% price spike in just one month.
Unfortunately, while the Lorwyn Eclipsed Commander printing of Vraska, Betrayal’s Sting has spiked the furthest, the original printing has been climbing too. Currently, a near-mint Phyrexia: All Will Be One copy runs you $3.89, though prices quickly rise after that. Unfortunately, if you’re after a more budget-friendly option, only a couple of lightly played cards are at $3.60, as everything else has been bought up.
A Solid Staple
Typically, when we see Commander-based price spikes, we’re pretty doubtful about their long-term potential. Since interests can change quickly in Commander, especially when new sets come out, new synergies can be forgotten fast. Technically, the same could happen to Vraska, Betrayal’s Sting, but that does seem very unlikely.
Instead, since this Vraska is both a generally powerful card and a staple in a fan-favorite archetype, it could easily go the distance. Even when interests shift when MTG Star Trek comes out, Superfriends will endure as a popular archetype, after all. As a result, the price of Vraska, Betrayal’s Sting should stay high for a while, and it might not even slip.
If anything, it feels like the only thing Vraska, Betrayal’s Sting has to watch out for is a reprint. Given the impact the last reprint of Vraska had, another could easily push prices down to lower than before. Sadly, there’s no telling if or when a hypothetical reprint may happen, so we could easily be waiting a while.
Ultimately, as is often the case with MTG finance, we can only really wait and see what happens. Thankfully, the wait shouldn’t be boring, at least, as we’ve still got MTG Star Trek on the horizon. As if that wasn’t enough, 2027 is also jam-packed with exciting sets, so we definitely won’t be bored in the coming months.
Stick with us here at mtgrocks.com: the best site for Magic: The Gathering coverage. Be sure to check out our deckbuilder for your next big brew, and our MTG Rocks Podcast!