Leaks are a massive problem in the MTG space. Wizards of the Coast has a lot of stuff to keep track of, making the occasional mistake very easy to make. Edge of Eternities, for example, had tons of leaks, mostly due to a mix-up that occurred during Final Fantasy prerelease season.
Now, something similar has happened to Spider-Man but on an extraordinarily smaller scale, reportedly, at least. One MTG player seems to have accidentally received a Spider-Man card in place of what was supposed to be an Edge of Eternities promo. Worse yet, this card hasn’t been officially spoiled, showcasing the infamous Carnage from the Spider-Man franchise for the first time.
Now, because this Spider-Man card wasn’t officially revealed, there is a chance that the card is fake. That said, the card does look very real, and even includes a new Spider-Man mechanic that we know to be real thanks to official spoilers.
Carnage, Crimson Chaos
Carnage, Crimson Chaos is interesting enough to warrant consideration for its full mana value. If you can get the Mayhem cost, however, this card is an insane deal. For reference, Mayhem is similar to Madness, but instead of forcing the card’s cast immediately, you can cast it at any time during the turn you discarded it. This means that timing rules still apply, however, making Mayhem a bit worse than Madness overall.
For four or two mana, a 4/3 body that brings another one back, even if temporarily, is very strong. The downsides of needing to attack every turn, as well as sacrificing itself on dealing damage to a player, can be mitigated by reanimating a creature with a powerful ETB effect. There are no other restrictions other than the creature’s mana value being targeted, which can lead to a lot of different shenanigans.
If you’re just looking to deal a lot of damage, there are some great options in Standard. Rot-Curse Raksasha, for example, is a massive body that already has a significant downside. Decayed means that the Raksasha will end up in your graveyard all on its own, ready to be reanimated for a second time by Carnage. Rot-Curse Raksasha isn’t really seeing play at the moment, but it could fit into a new archetype starting to see play.
Mardu Sacrifice Incoming?
Orzhov Sacrifice is doing decently in early Standard, and if you’re willing to make that deck Mardu, Carnage could be a nice addition, especially if you include ways to trigger Mayhem. Carnage can reanimate a whole bunch of combo pieces, like Sephiroth, Fabled SOLDIER, or one of the repeatable sacrifice outlets like Umbral Collar Zealot. Even if they have to attack, they can still impact the board with all of their abilities.
If you want to squeeze Carnage’s potential to the limit, try a Mardu build with Charming Prince. Charming Prince can flicker Carnage, allowing you to grab another creature out of your graveyard. Carnage can even grab Charming Prince itself, allowing you to create multiple bodies in a sort of chain reaction. Charming Prince could even fit in a Mardu sacrifice deck, so long as there’s enough entry effects to make him worthwhile.
While it doesn’t quite fit in the aforementioned sacrifice deck, Fear of Missing Out is a very powerful creature to pair with Carnage. Not only is this a great creature to resurrect with Carnage’s effect, but the Rummage effect on entry can turn on Mayhem for Carnage. This turns Fear of Missing Out into straight card advantage, and could potentially allow you to swing in for a ridiculous amount of damage.
Carnage in Commander
When it comes to Commander, a few shells will shine better than others with Carnage, Crimson Chaos. The Mayhem ability on Carnage does make him a bit awkward as a Commander himself, but he should excel in many different 99s.
The most obvious home for Carnage is in Anje Falkenwrath Madness decks. Discarding Carnage won’t trigger Anje, but it will allow you to bring something else back that you discarded throughout the game for cheap. This can even be used to skip the Command Tax on Anje if you decide to keep it in your graveyard after it gets removed.
For similar reasons, Carnage, Crimson Chaos fits quite well in The Infamous Cruelclaw decks. Cruelclaw needs to discard to trigger its effect, which can turn on Mayhem for Carnage. Similarly, Carnage can resurrect Cruelclaw with his ability. This could even garner Standard interest.
Chainer, Nightmare Adept is another popular Commander that works with Carnage quite well. While Carnage can’t do the same resurrection trick with Chainer, it does play very naturally with the Commander. Chainer can discard Carnage to activate its ability, and once Carnage is truly gone, Chainer can re-cast him to get multiple bodies out of the graveyard in one go.
It’s not that difficult to enable Carnage, Crimson Chaos. The card is very powerful once Mayhem is enabled, and offers an acceptable effect even for four mana, depending on the speed of Standard. Personally, I would be surprised if this card sees play past Standard, since the card isn’t quite efficient enough for that, but as far as Spider-Man leaks go, this looks like a strong one.