Magic x Spider-Man: First Impressions of the Revealed Cards

The hype train can't stop.

While we've barely made it through Edge of Eternities pre-release week, Magic: The Gathering has already turned the public's attention to the game's next expansion: Marvel's Spider-Man, set for release on September 26th, and the first set of the collaboration between Wizards of the Coast and Marvel.

In the game's defense, however, it's worth noting that the pre-release coincided with San Diego Comic-Con, one of the world's biggest geek culture events and the perfect opportunity to promote the partnership between these two brands. However, the conversation on social media has already shifted away from Magic's space opera. Everyone is now thinking about how the new cards from the Friendly Neighborhood Spider-Man might fit in, what decks might emerge with it, and how, in the future, we might be able to leverage potential staples like Spider-Punk in the eternal formats.

With no news in the Metagame since we're awaiting the official release of Edge of Eternities on digital platforms, we've prepared an article individually evaluating the main cards that caught our attention in the new Spider-Man set, both those revealed at the Comic-Con panel and those we learned about through the Welcome Decks.

It's worth noting, however, that we've focused only on the cards that will be in the Spider-Man main set, codenamed SPM and bearing the hero's mask symbol. Cards codenamed SPE (Spider-Man Eternal, spider symbol) will only be legal in eternal formats like Legacy, Pauper, Commander, and Vintage, despite being present in the Welcome Decks.

A Resurrection coupled with a pseudo-Phyrexian Vindicator for five mana should have potential for Standard or Pioneer.

It's been a while since we've seen a Devotion-dedicated list in Pioneer in this color, and perhaps having a material that functions as both a threat and a recursion could be a good reason to try this strategy again.

I like this card. It puts a body on the board when it enters, boosts a creature's power, and then turns it into a potential hit-kill if we have an aggressive deck, all for just two mana.

Peter Parker reminds me a bit of Toby, Beastie Befriender, who saw play in some Selesnya Cage lists last season and should complement the archetype now.

An interesting point is that all the modal cards revealed so far have two casting costs and a transform activated ability, making them useful at any stage of the game. Unfortunately, a 4/4 with Vigilance and Reach for isn't nearly enough in competitive formats.

It looks like I'll have to play Spider-Man alongside Sephiroth, Fabled SOLDIER and Serah Farron in my Legends/Humans/Final Fantasy Standard deck that I use for FNM. Spectacular Spider-Man is good at this point: a decent body, protection for all the creatures we currently lack in Standard, and we can always activate its ability to pass through blockers while having Flash. which is the icing on the cake.

Spectacular Tactics seems good enough for both Standard—regardless of what happens in the new season, there will be removal and creatures with four or more power—and for Pauper, where dealing with Myr Enforcer or Tolarian Terror in the same slot where we protect our creatures deserves slots in decks like Mono White Aggro.

Speaking of Pauper, we'll have the first official cycle of common legendary creatures in history. Of all those revealed so far, Spider-Man, Web-Slinger is likely to be relevant in the format, serving as another bounce tool with tapped creatures, allowing for interactions that aren't too different from what we already do with Ninjutsu and Kor Skyfisher.

An Abbot of Keral Keep in the ETB that transforms into a Serra Angel with Haste late-game and bonus abilities is enough to make us consider Gwen Stacy's potential in Standard, with viability depending on how effective a Jeskai Aggro / Jeskai Midrange deck will be during the season, since her Mono Red side seems a bit too slow.

Spider-Punk is reminiscent of Frenzied Baloth, but in a more popular color and swapping out some keywords for casting flexibility. Of all the cards revealed so far, it probably has the best chance of making it into Modern and Legacy, although its abilities, like Baloth's, seem to be geared toward dealing with The One Ring before it was banned from Modern.

Miles Morales technically comes in as a 2/3 that offers a +1/+1 counter for a one-drop. Like Gwen Stacy, its flip side can win games in longer matches and also has the added bonus of protecting itself while getting stronger. It should appear in Standard, and perhaps someone will find a place for it in Pioneer.

This card is close enough to half the abilities of Jin-Gitaxias, Core Augur for two less mana to consider its potential as a curve-topper in some Control and Big Mana variants.

Despite not having the same keyword soup, spending the turn with Doctor Octopus, Master Planner in play can offer Ramp decks almost the same amount of card advantage as Atraxa, Grand Unifier, and if it remains in play, you're most likely outvaluing your opponent pretty quickly.

We're past the time when Aether Vial for Serra Avenger seemed absurd, and Spider-Man 2099 would do something very similar. I can imagine some good interactions with Plot, Warp, and Foretell, and with the right pumps, that could make a 2/3 with Double Strike and Vigilance a headache for our opponents.

One of my bets for the new Standard season involves Selesnya Counters using Dyadrine, Synthesis Amalgam as one of the main cards. If we get more support for artifacts and +1/+1 counters in the future, Iron Spider, Stark Upgrade is one of the main ways to interact with Dyadrine and start creating stacks of robots on the board every turn.

Would you play Crossroads Village if it entered untapped? Multiversal Passage works similarly and, fortunately, doesn't interact with Fetch Lands.

It looks like a great manafixing, should see a lot of play in Standard and perhaps Pioneer, and has a great interaction with Verges. With only half of the Shock Lands—it seems unlikely they'll be in the same set—it's possible that this new card and Starting Town could help fix the mana deficit for combinations that still lack a land cycle or two, like Azorius or Golgari.

That's all for today!

If you have any questions, feel free to leave a comment!

Thanks for reading!