Standard Set Review: Marvel's Spider-Man

Spider-Man is coming. The set that will kick off the long series of collaborations between Magic: The Gathering and Marvel will be released on September 26th, with 188 cards that bring the Spider-Verse to the card game.

Unlike Final Fantasy, however, Spider-Man is an awful set to review. Originally planned as a mini-set like Assassin's Creed, it was expanded to become a Standard-legal product after the failure of Beyond Boosters, and this consequence is noticeable in the repetitive design of most of its cards in both name, theme and even abilities.

More to the point, I hated this set. Working with it is exhausting in a way no other Magic expansion has been in the five years I've been creating content about the game. The card designs feel lazy, the set seems to have very little connection to the rest of the game, and several cards seem to have potential, but not enough to impact competitive Metagame.

In the case of Standard, the situation is a little worse: the format's Metagame is currently polarized. Over the past few weeks, we've seen the dominance of the Izzet Cauldron, and after Spotlight Series Orlando, the hype surrounding Mono Red Aggro has made the archetype dominate Challenge Top 8s, once again giving the impression of the format being in a deck-and-anti-deck situation, with the rest falling somewhere in between.

In this type of format, it's even more difficult to evaluate Spider-Man. There are so many missing elements to respond to the Metagame that a significant portion of a set that already doesn't interact very well with the rest of Standard becomes a bit more confusing. To make matters worse, did I mention that the cards have different names between tabletop Magic and Magic Online/Arena?

Unfortunately, Spider-Man doesn't have half the charm that Lord of the Rings and Final Fantasy had, and not even a set like Assassin's Creed felt so built on repetition and lazy designs. I'm sure this isn't the best review I can give for a Magic expansion, but it's the review this set (and perhaps Standard) deserves right now.

We already had this kind of effect last season with Phyrexian Vindicator, and the card barely saw any play, but perhaps having a Resurrection coupled with the possibility of a "combo" with With Great Power… will give Anti-Venom, Horrifying Healer (Verilax the Havenskin) some space in a Tier 2 deck.

Arachne, Psionic Weaver (Yera and Oski, Weaver and Guide) is a good bounce target, both as an enabler with Web-Slinging and as a card we can reuse in certain situations. It's worth remembering that the Web-Slinging ability is an alternative casting cost and, therefore, counts toward the number of spells played this turn for Cosmogrand Zenith.

Origin of Spider-Man (A Most Helpful Weaver) does a little bit of everything, from putting a body on the board for cheap, boosting another creature's power, and managing to end the game with the third chapter. This card screams "White Aggro" throughout its design; the question remains whether this strategy could re-emerge in Standard before or after the next banlist.

Peter Parker (Surris, Spidersilk Innovator) offers two bodies for a low cost, even though one of them is potentially irrelevant in combat. It's important to note that he pays Rent is Due the turn he enters, which is an excellent flavor win.

Competitively, however, Parker needs cards like Caretaker's Talent to function properly and may be a few steps behind Carrot Cake in this regard. His transformed side is mostly irrelevant, unless we're trying to cheat Valgavoth, Terror Eater or something similar.

Rent is Due (Confessor's Bindings) should replace Tocasia's Welcome in a slot that no longer exists during the White Aggro rotation. With enough ETBs and/or some ease in putting two creatures into play per turn, it's possible to enable the card as a cheap and constant source of card advantage. Cards like Peter Parker or Resolute Reinforcements can help in this category.

Spectacular Spider-Man (Ademi of the Silkchutes) does a lot on its own: it has a decent body, Flash, protects your creatures from sweepers and removal, can attack with evasion, and has two activated abilities copied by Agatha's Soul Cauldron.

Removal and protection spells in the same slot might merit some testing in the sideboard or even in the maindeck of white Midrange or Aggro decks if the Metagame demands more answers against huge creatures. Currently, Spectacular Tactics doesn't seem favorable for the metagame, but that could change if we see more Midrange mirrors in the future.

With the right shell, With Great Power… (Chosen by Valgavoth) can win games or, at the very least, prevent its controller from losing the game. In current Standard, we have cards like Swiftfoot Boots and Cloud, Midgar Mercenary to try some interactions with equipment and make it harder to interact with the enchanted creature, in addition to the combo potential that Anti-Venom, Horrifying Healer has with this card.

It will likely enable a Tier 3 deck similar to Gilgamesh, Master-at-Arms lists, but it won't be a competitively relevant card.

Hide on the Ceiling (Spectral Restitching) operates as mass protection against sweepers that also reuses the ETB of all your creatures and artifacts. While we no longer have the potential combination with Venerated Rotpriest, it still deserves some testing alongside Floodpits Drowner and the like in a more Tempo-oriented deck, or alongside Simulacrum Synthesizer and various artifacts with powerful ETB effects.

[Hydro-Man, Fluid Felon]] (Belion, the Parched) functions, technically speaking, as a two-mana ramp in blue during the opponent's turn. A quirky and innovative design, which may surprise players in how much use this card can offer during its three-year lifetime, even though it doesn't seem like an instant staple at the moment.

Secret Identity is a good Shore Up alternative that also functions as a pseudo-Dark Ritual with Vivi Ornitier (Vivi becomes a 3/4, then gains a +1/+1 counter, so he can generate up to four mana with one card per ). It may deserve a few slots in Izzet Prowess decks, as the mix of Flying, increased power, or the possibility of hexproof makes it a flexible option for both speeding up the clock and conserving resources.

Possibly the best staple for Standard, Spider-Sense (Detect Intrusion) interacts in many ways against and with the best deck in the format, reusing ETBs from Fear of Missing Out, Tersa Lightshatter, or Quantum Riddler.

It also works to counter cards like Winternight Stories or some other cheap interaction with the bonus of using, in the same slot, a card that handles the triggers of Proft's Eidetic Memory or Fear of Missing Out, not to mention the possibility of removing interactions in Control and Midrange games with the same card that responds to the triggers of Beza, the Bounding Spring or the Overlords cycle.

Like Origin of Spider-Man, The Death of Gwen Stacy (The House Grows Hungry) does a bit of everything for a decent cost and is a punishing attrition tool against slower archetypes. It's partially comparable to Strategic Betrayal, but trades the immediate exile effect for the possibility of destroying a creature of your choice, extending the clock, while also costing one more mana.

Eddie Brock (Viggo, Enforcer of Ig's Crossing) seems like the kind of card we can build around and generate a lot of value with a Midrange and/or Ramp in its color combination. Its front deck seems counterintuitive for a list of this type, but it can always return a Llanowar Elves or another one-drop when needed.

The crucial part is the back: sacrificing creatures in combat can generate a massive card advantage if their mana value is high enough, and even if it isn't, the ability to draw and then put another permanent into play makes Venom an immediate threat.

Bolas's Citadel usually sees competitive play only in Sacrifice lists, and Gwenom, Remorseless (Egrix, the Bale Bulwark), despite having the same ability, doesn't offer the same formula for building around it. Instead, it provides a very efficient body with useful abilities in any matchup, in addition to providing an immeasurable amount of card advantage if the top deck and life total allow it.

It may not stand out in the current Metagame and may have trouble gaining visibility in a format with Screaming Nemesis, but it has a lot of competitive potential for the next three years.

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Morlun, Devourer of Spiders (Luis, Pompous Pillager) seems versatile enough to merit some testing on two distinct fronts: as an early drop in games against Aggro, and also as a mana-sink that can win games in Ramp and/or Midrange mirrors.

The lack of immediate value and/or damage flexibility may hinder its potential, but I can imagine games where playing it could turn the tide of a match.

The Soul Stone (The Terminus of Return) is mechanically close to Virtue of Persistence in that it has a high-cost recursion ability coupled with a low-cost added value, but its "value" in this case refers to an unconditional black mana rock that can work in virtually any match as a means of ramping your heavier cards.

The legendary clause, unlike The One Ring, cannot be leveraged here and poses a real risk in using multiple copies of Soul Stone in the same deck. Personally, it seems like a mistake to design a card this way because it becomes an instant Commander staple and does something Standard isn't used to, but as mentioned earlier, this set doesn't seem to care about its environment and is way more focused on standalone designs.

Speaking of "mistakes," The Spot's Portal (Remorseless Coup) is another questionable design choice: an effect that puts cards onto the battlefield from the bottom of the opponent's deck has never belonged on black cards in Magic, and it seems to me that the only reason this card is this color instead of blue and/or white (which already had Banishing Stroke and Condemn with this same effect) is the color identity of The Spot.

It might see play if there are indestructible threats that need to be resolved, but Archenemy's Charm already exiles cards with indestructible in the current Metagame.

Villainous Wrath seems like a very effective sweeper and very punishing for go-wide strategies like Tokens. Zero Point Ballad sees little to no play in the format today, so the new card might not find an immediate place, but it's a good addition to the Standard card pool.

We can categorize Electro, Assaulting Battery (Bayo, Irritable Instructor) as a potential headache in spellslinger/Prowess lists alongside Vivi Ornitier, in addition to the "bonus" the card offers with the ability to generate mana from the mage and store it for later, or to use a second copy of Electro and the Legend Rule to damage the opponent with the extra mana.

It doesn't seem like a staple currently, and it's difficult to imagine it joining Izzet Cauldron or becoming a mainstay in Izzet Prowess now, but it serves another equally important function: offering a viable and fair replacement for Spellslinger decks in the event of a Vivi Ornitier ban in the future (which, it's worth mentioning, I am mostly against).

Both sides of Gwen Stacy (Nia, Skysail Storyteller) have useful abilities that complement each other relatively well. Combined with cards like Heroes' Hangout and Questing Druid, as well as the new Shadow of the Goblin, it's possible to consider an archetype that plays around exiled spells in the Jeskai combo, but this should fall below Izzet Prowess in terms of viability.

Heroes' Hangout (Fire-Brained Scheme) seems to me to be the best red card in the set for Standard. As a base, it offers a red Sleight of Hand for one mana that interacts with effects that care about exile, combined with a combat trick that extends the clock and creates unfavorable trades against the opponent.

It may deserve slots as a complementary cantrip in Prowess decks, but it's also an excellent tool for Boros Mice decks.

Molten Man, Inferno Incarnate (The Infernus) offers a Ramp in red under the condition that if it dies, the land it fetched is sacrificed. Cards like Zell Dincht and The Irencrag don't see much play in Standard these days, and I believe Molten will suffer the same fate, but it deserves a mention for its design.

Spider-Punk (Kraza, the Swarm as One) also deserves attention in Standard, despite being less impressive than the creatures we currently have in the two-mana slots in red. Protecting anything from counterspells, combined with a 3/2 or a 2/1 with Haste, will probably be the card's most relevant feature, especially against Azorius Control and other Blue-Based strategies.

If we have a relevant Spider deck, Spinneret and Spiderling (Rizna, the Spider-Crowned) become the best possible one-drop for the archetype, as any follow-up (especially Spider-Punk) already puts enough pressure on the board to require some removal. Otherwise, this card seems too conditional to work in current Red Aggro.

Grow Extra Arms serves as an alternative to Titanic Growth if the Stompy versions in Landfall decks need to be more explosive and/or if they start running a Spider creature. Otherwise, it at least guarantees access to a +4/+4 pump for two mana for Tifa Lockhart throughout its lifetime in Standard.

Kraven's Last Hunt (A Trail of Teacups) can work in Yuna, Hope of Spira decks after the next banlist. Despite the high cost, the saga feeds the graveyard while also functioning as board interaction and can return an Overlord or Yuna from the graveyard to its owner's hand. Yuna can also return the saga to the battlefield for a second round of board interaction.

It's very rare for a green card to have the ability to permanently change a creature's status, and Lizard, Connors's Curse (King of the Coldblood Curse) offers this for any creature, including your opponent's. In other formats, I can imagine running a copy with Green Sun's Zenith, but I have trouble imagining it having much space in Standard.

Sandman, Shifting Scoundrel (The Scouring Stormsoul) is a potential complementary mid/late game threat in Landfall decks, where there's a high density of lands that can be returned from the graveyard with its ability, and it interacts with Worldsoul's Rage to increase its own power.

Araña, Heart of the Spider (Gloria, the Great Armorer) offers an effective source of card advantage on cards with +1/+1 counters and equipped creatures while also enabling its own ability during combat. It may be worth some testing without Boros Aggro/Midrange, if these exist at any point.

Just before rotation, a Cloud, Midgar Mercenary deck featuring Astrologian's Planisphere and Cryptic Coat appeared in Magic Online Leagues. If this deck resurfaces, Biorganic Carapace (Angler's Shield) is an excellent one-of to fetch with Cloud.

Doctor Octopus, Master Planner (Neach, Pinnacle Pariah) is mechanically close to half of a Jin-Gitaxias, Core Augur to the point where we could consider him a complementary reanimation target to Valgavoth, Terror Eater, or even a late-game bomb for Ramp/Control decks, but the lack of immediate impact and protection should considerably limit his slots.

Jackal, Genius Geneticist (Druneth, Reviver of the Hive) could be a potential staple. Its ability to copy creatures is easy to enable from a Pawpatch Recruit in Simic Counters, and from this point on, copying Floodpits Drowner, Sentinel of the Nameless City, or even Ouroboroid already puts incredible pressure on the opponent to resolve the villain before it gets out of control.

Rhino's Rampage is a good sideboard option in an Izzet Cauldron Metagame and could be one of the most played cards in the set until we get a Banned and Restricted update. The ability to offer a one-mana two-for-one between removing an opponent's creature and destroying Agatha's Soul Cauldron should make it a staple this season, especially considering the "bonus" of triggering Emberheart Challenger or Screaming Nemesis.

In the worst-case scenario, Scarlet Spider, Ben Reilly (Borys, the Spider Rider) will be a 5/4 for , forcing us to return a tapped creature to hand in a color combination that's easy to tap for attacking or generating mana. At best, it'll be a 7/6, returning creatures with mana value three, or even returning a Nova Hellkite cast for the cost of Warp to hand after combat, where it will enter as a 9/8.

Spider-Man 2099 (Uharis, the Stormspinner) can work in more aggressive Izzet Aggro/Prowess variants in complementary threat slots. Having Double Strike expands the potential of all the pumps available in the format, and cards like Heroes' Reunion or Opera Love Song double in function by enabling it's triggers at the end of the turn, occasionally resulting in instant wins.

Spider-Woman, Stunning Savior (Makdee and Itla, Skysnarers) is a decent threat for its cost and also a cheap hate that prevents Aggro decks and even Cauldron decks from exploding too quickly. It doesn't present itself as the solution the format needs to overcome the current Metagame, but it is a good addition to the Standard card pool.

Peter Parker's Camera (Phenomena Recorder) can potentially be broken, but perhaps not in Standard. Despite the already tired engagement discussion about copying Vivi Ornitier's ability to generate extra mana, there's a real cost to adding an artifact that, in theory, does nothing more than copy triggers if it doesn't have enough backup and/or building around, especially since its film counters are limited.

Rocket-Powered Goblin Glider is an unnecessarily long name. Stitcher's Wings could be a good payoff for Izzet Aggro/Izzet Discard decks if Agatha's Soul Cauldron is banned in November as a payoff that generates immediate value when discarded and cast from the graveyard.

Multiversal Passage is a major addition for archetypes that don't yet have Shock Lands in their color combination and can't afford to use Starting Town due to the risk of the land entering tapped on crucial turns. It shouldn't see as much play as its predecessor, but it fits into the category of lands too good not to have four copies, especially on MTGArena, as it can function universally in multiple lists.

Oscorp Industries (Exclusive Nightclub) will function, in a worst-case scenario, as a Tri-Land in Grixis colors for archetypes that need this combination. Mayhem can be leveraged with Winternight Stories and similar cards to generate pseudo-advantage.

Just like the previous card, Urban Retreat functions as a Bant Tri-Land for decks that need it. The Web-Slinging bonus is more relevant in this case because we're technically talking about a Farseek on a land in exchange for a creature in play, which is a very fair trade.

That's all for today!

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

Thanks for reading!