Atraxa's Skitterfang
Artifact Creature — Phyrexian Insect
This creature enters with three oil counters on it.
At the beginning of combat on your turn, you may remove an oil counter from this creature. When you do, target creature you control gains your choice of flying, vigilance, deathtouch, or lifelink until end of turn.
- CMC
- 3
- Mana cost
- Color identity
- C
- Rarity
- uncommon
- Set
- Phyrexia: All Will Be One
- Price
- $0.26
- EDHREC rank
- #10479
Atraxa's Skitterfang enters with a +1/+1, -1/-1, poison, or flying counter already on an attacking creature — every swing is a free counter trigger. The ask is just three mana for a 2/2 with menace, which is a fine rate for the effect alone.
Format Analysis
Where it lives, where it can’t
| Format | Verdict |
|---|---|
| commander | legal |
| legacy | legal |
| modern | legal |
| pioneer | legal |
| standard | not legal |
| vintage | legal |
| pauper | not legal |
| oathbreaker | legal |
Atraxa's Skitterfang is a Commander card through and through — the counter-stacking effect compounds over a long game in ways that a 60-card format never allows it to exploit. In Modern and Pioneer, a 2/2 for three with no immediate board impact is simply not competitive, and the counter it places won't matter before the game ends. Legacy and Vintage have no interest in it at any cost. Commander is the one format where Skitterfang's incremental edge — one free counter per attack, every attack — translates into real advantage, especially in dedicated counters or proliferate decks where that free trigger stacks with a dozen other effects.
Key Combos
Combo lines featuring this card
Price Context
Current price
$0.26 bulk tier
At $0.26, Atraxa's Skitterfang is bulk, and it will stay there — the effect is powerful within a niche but narrow enough that demand stays low. Pick it up freely for any counters build; there's no price risk at this tier.
Explore
Sources
Mentioned
Updated . Data from Scryfall, EDHREC, and Commander Spellbook.