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Amalia Benavides Aguirre

Legendary Creature — Vampire Scout

Ward—Pay 3 life.
Whenever you gain life, Amalia Benavides Aguirre explores. Then destroy all other creatures if its power is exactly 20. (To have this creature explore, reveal the top card of your library. Put that card into your hand if it's a land. Otherwise, put a +1/+1 counter on this creature, then put the card back or put it into your graveyard.)

CMC
2
Mana cost
{W}{B}
Color identity
BW
Rarity
rare
Set
The Lost Caverns of Ixalan
Price
$0.41
EDHREC rank
#3910
Buy on TCGplayer
Amalia Benavides Aguirre card art
Amalia Benavides Aguirre explores whenever you gain life and grows Wildgrowth Walker-style counters on herself, then resets the board entirely when she hits 20 — a two-card infinite combo engine stapled onto a two-color 3/3 for three mana. The cost is that the board wipe also hits her, so you win through power-boosted explore triggers or a payoff that survives alongside her, not by swinging with a 20/20.

Format Analysis

Where it lives, where it can’t

FormatVerdict
commander legal
legacy legal
modern legal
pioneer banned
standard legal
vintage legal
pauper not legal
oathbreaker legal

Amalia Benavides Aguirre is banned in Pioneer, where her combo with Wildgrowth Walker and any life-gain trigger proved too consistent and too cheap to interact with at instant speed. Every other format that can run her leaves her legal — Modern, Legacy, and Vintage have enough hate pieces to keep her honest, and Standard's card pool is narrow enough that the full engine requires specific deckbuilding. Commander gives her a pass for the usual reason: you only get one copy, your opponents have three sets of answers, and the 20-counter threshold is a hard stop that gives the table a clear window to respond.

Best Commanders

Commanders with the highest synergy

01

Sorin of House Markov

41.8% of decks · synergy 0.36

Sorin of House Markov is a Vampire tribal commander whose life-gain triggers fire constantly, and Amalia Benavides Aguirre turns each of those into an explore and a +1/+1 counter — the two cards share a color identity, a tribe, and a core mechanic.

02
Karlov of the Ghost Council

Karlov of the Ghost Council

27.8% of decks · synergy 0.22

Karlov of the Ghost Council rewards life-gain density with +1/+1 counters on himself, and Amalia Benavides Aguirre doubles down on that engine by converting every trigger into a board-sculpting explore — both cards want as many life-gain events per turn cycle as possible.

03
Astarion, the Decadent

Astarion, the Decadent

26.1% of decks · synergy 0.20

Astarion, the Decadent generates life-gain through his bite mechanic, and Amalia Benavides Aguirre converts those life-gain triggers into explore steps that find more threats or fuel further activations.

04
Licia, Sanguine Tribune

Licia, Sanguine Tribune

20.7% of decks · synergy 0.20

Licia, Sanguine Tribune cares deeply about life totals and life-gain density for her cost reduction, and Amalia Benavides Aguirre slots in as both a life-gain payoff and a continuous board-sculpting threat in the same shell.

05
Elenda, Saint of Dusk

Elenda, Saint of Dusk

25.1% of decks · synergy 0.19

Elenda, Saint of Dusk scales on other creatures dying, and Amalia Benavides Aguirre's board-wipe trigger creates the exact mass death event that pumps Elenda before she goes wide with Vampire tokens.

Key Combos

Combo lines featuring this card

258 decks
Amalia Benavides AguirreWildgrowth Walker

Amalia Benavides AguirreWildgrowth Walker

Infinite lifegain triggers; Infinite lifegain; Near-infinite surveil; Infinite +1/+1 counters on a creature; Put all lands from your library into your hand

View on Commander Spellbook ↗
31 decks
Amalia Benavides AguirreAnimation ModuleAshnod's AltarSoul Warden

Amalia Benavides AguirreAnimation ModuleAshnod's AltarSoul Warden

Infinite LTB; Infinite ETB; Infinite sacrifice triggers; Infinite death triggers; Infinite colorless mana; Infinite lifegain triggers; Infinite lifegain; Infinite creature tokens; Destroy all creatures opponents control; Infinite +1/+1 counters on a creature

View on Commander Spellbook ↗

Price Context

Current price

$0.41 bulk tier

At $0.41, Amalia Benavides Aguirre is firmly bulk — you're picking her up for under a dollar in any condition. That price reflects Pioneer's ban removing her largest demand driver, so she's unlikely to spike unless a new format or Commander precon pushes her into mainstream combo territory.

Explore

Sources

Mentioned

← All cards

Updated . Data from Scryfall, EDHREC, and Commander Spellbook.