For better or worse, the Marvel Super Heroes set has had a pretty muted impact on the secondary market so far. Despite almost every card from the main set being unveiled, we’ve only seen a couple of cards spike so far. While the impending reveal of the set’s precons this week may change that, for now, it seems only one legend is leading the charge.
Thanks to offering a new spin on Deathtouch Typal, The Serpent Society immediately caught players’ attention. By mixing in sacrifice and Poison synergies, this card didn’t hesitate to cause a seriously impressive price spike. As if one wasn’t enough, now Aphelia, Viper Whisperer, from the MTG Foundations Jumpstart set, has also spiked significantly.
MTG Aphelia, Viper Whisperer
Within the grand scheme of MTG, Aphelia, Viper Whisperer is already a pretty popular Commander. Helming just under 5,000 decks, Aphelia can set up lethal one-shot kills with just one other card. Alongside Wound Reflection, hitting an opponent with Aphelia’s third ability active will kill them outright.
Thanks to creating Snake Tokens with Deathtouch, too, Aphelia even handles the setup to facilitate this wincon. If anything, the only downside is how much Aphelia, Viper Whisperer’s final ability costs, but that’s not the end of the world. Between support like Hooded Blightfang, Ohran Frostfang, and Fynn, the Fangbearer, this deck is scary even without combo wins.
Beyond just being good in the command zone, Aphelia, Viper Whisperer is perfect within the 99 of The Serpent Society decks. By creating creatures with Deathtouch, Aphelia gives you tons of fodder to trade or sacrifice with, enabling The Serpent Society’s edict effect. Even if you’re only doing this once per turn cycle since Aphelia needs to attack, this can still be devastating.
Unsurprisingly, thanks to this synergy, Aphelia, Viper Whisperer already appears in 26% of The Serpent Society decks, according to EDHREC. Given it’s still very early days, this demand could easily increase as the set’s release draws nearer. Even before this happens, however, the new synergy has been more than enough to push the price of Aphelia up.
The Spike
Thanks to being a mythic in MTG Foundations Jumpstart, Aphelia, Viper Whisperer has always been somewhat expensive. Throughout most of May, for instance, this card was routinely selling for around $8, with a low of $7.82. Curiously, looking at MTGStocks, Aphelia’s price has been falling for a while as demand faded over time.
Now, however, this Jumpstart card has seen over 200 near-mint sales in the past week. Due to the card’s innate scarcity, these sales have almost completely drained the secondary market dry. On TCGplayer, there are just 14 near-mint listings left, and those copies don’t come cheap anymore.
Currently, if you’re in the market for a copy of Aphelia, Viper Whisperer, you’ll have to pay at least $25.95. While this is already a 231% price spike, it could easily climb higher, since supply is so low. With only a couple of near-mint copies on the market below $30, this spike could easily continue.
Unfortunately, even if you don’t care about card condition, there aren’t any significantly cheaper copies of Aphelia available. At best, there’s a single lightly played copy priced at $25.34, but that’s hardly the most exciting saving. To make matters worse, there’s no guarantee that Aphelia will come down in price even if demand fades.
The Future
For better or worse, Jumpstart cards have a bit of a history of being ridiculously expensive. This is especially true for mythics in these sets, which are usually unique to one theme pack. Even rares, like the $30 Scythecat Cub, however, can be big money if they see play in multiple archetypes.
When Jumpstart cards like these are popular, even reprints can do little to knock their price. Both Allosaurus Shepherd and Bruvac the Grandiloquent are super staples, for instance, selling for $49 and $39, respectively, even after being reprinted. With this in mind, it does feel possible that Aphelia, Viper Whisperer could hold her current price. That being said, there is one major difference between these cards.
Unlike other super staples from Jumpstart, Aphelia, Viper Whisperer is only really good in snake and Deathtouch themed decks. This key detail massively limits where Aphelia can see play, keeping a lid on her price somewhat. Even then, however, this card is still scarce, so don’t expect its price to drop off overnight.
Should past precedent continue, it may well take until Aphelia, Viper Whisperer is reprinted for her price to fall. Sadly, since reprints are quite hard to come by nowadays, this might mean she stays expensive for a while. Ultimately, as always, we’ll just have to wait and see what happens, since we can’t predict the future.
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