MTG Foundations Jumpstart has some incredibly expensive cards. Last week, we saw Scythecat Cub and Rev, Tithe Extractor absolutely skyrocket in price for entirely different reasons. Rev is an incredibly powerful new Commander, and Scythecat Cub saw tournament play in the Legacy format. Now, it appears that a third MTG Foundations Jumpstart Mythic Rare has joined the previous two. Aphelia, Viper Whisperer has become extremely expensive.
Aphelia, Viper Whisperer
Aphelia, Viper Whisperer embodies the assassin-esque effect that was popularized by Vraska’s past iterations. This Commander wants to create snakes and use its secondary ability to chop opponents’ life totals in half. This flashy effect, in combination with Aphelia’s rarity, is the likely cause of her sudden price spike.
At the time of writing, a majority of Aphelia’s recent sales are for about $50. That’s $11 higher than her recent nadir at around $39. On the other side of the spectrum, there are sales for this card as high as $100 after tax. Needless to say, there’s no reason to buy an Aphelia that’s over $50 right now.
The scarcity of these MTG Foundations Jumpstart Mythics is nothing to sneeze at. Aphelia, alongside the other Anime artwork Mythics, are very difficult to find in MTG Foundations Jumpstart. Add on the fact that this set isn’t opened much, and you have a major scarcity issue.
Synergistic Cards
Since Aphelia wants to turn Snakes and Gorgons into deadly assassins, it makes sense to fill this deck up with Snake creatures. Fortunately, there are some surprisingly strong creatures to choose from.
Persistent Constrictor is a recent addition from Duskmourn Commander that fits the bill. Not only does this creature difficult to get rid of, but Perisistent Constrictor can clear small blockers that your opponents control to allow your Deathtouching Snakes to meet less resistance.
Ohran Frostfang synergizes with Aphelia’s game plan perfectly. Suddenly, all of your Snakes become very difficult to block, and any that get through reward you with a card. Ohran Frostfang puts your opponents in a tough situation, even if you don’t have the mana to activate Aphelia’s second effect.
Tower Winder is a cute addition that should be stock in any Aphelia deck. Not only can Aphelia turn this little snake into a life-halfing assassin, but it will fetch a Command Tower for you! Natural Deathtouch will put your opponent in the same difficult situation that this deck tries to create.
Vraska, the Silencer punishes your opponents for trading off powerful creatures into your Snakes. You can reanimate them as Treasures with additional abilities. Imagine having an Orcish Bowmasters or Sheoldred, the Apocalypse as an artifact!
If you’re building Aphelia, Seshiro, the Anointed is another card to keep an eye on. This six-mana Snake lord gives your creatures a significant buff while turning combat damage into cards. This creates a similar situation to Ohran Frostfang, which is exactly what Aphelia is trying to evoke.
Finally, Hooded Blightfang rewards you for going wide with Deathtouch creatures. The creature itself is also a Deathtouching Snake and makes your creatures lethal to Planeswalkers, which can help deal with that one guy in your playgroup who insists on playing Superfriends every other game.
A Snake Spike?
Aphelia, Viper Whisperer’s secondary market price is likely a reaction to a bit of demand that is completely outweighed by heavy scarcity. That said, if this creature becomes a popular Commander, there’s a chance that the other cards mentioned in this article could see spikes. They all synergize incredibly well with Aphelia so, if she causes a rise in demand, it may be wise to buy them sooner rather than later.
