Just like that, another Magic: The Gathering preview season has come to a close. We may have only gotten a week of Spider-Man spoilers, but every day was packed with a ton of interesting stuff. We saw lands that break the rules, and some potential eternal format playables. In particular, as is often the case with modern sets, there are a lot of new toys for Commander here. To celebrate this fact, we’ve decided to break down the five best new Commanders from MTG Spider-Man.
This was a tricky list to put together. Where Edge of Eternities had a mere handful of relevant legends, Spider-Man is saturated with them. There are nearly 80 new legendary creatures in the set, spread across all rarities, and a huge chunk of them are powerful enough to lead a successful deck. The five cards that follow, then, are the cream of the Commander crop. Even if you don’t choose to run them yourself, you can expect to see others doing so soon.
5 | Jackal, Genius Geneticist
- Mana Value: GU
- Type: Legendary Creature – Human Scientist Villain
- Rarity: Rare
- Card Text: Trample.
Whenever you cast a creature spell with mana value equal to Jackal’s power, copy that spell, except the copy isn’t legendary. Then put a +1/+1 counter on Jackal. (The copy becomes a token.)- Stats: 1/1
In a clear case of saving the best for last, Jackal was one of the final cards previewed for Spider-Man. This is one of the most efficient creature-copiers we’ve ever seen, and it’s absolutely deadly in the early stages of a Commander game. Drop Jackal on turn two, for example, and you can follow up with a mana dork and a value two-drop like Ice-Fang Coatl on turn three. You’ll then enter turn four with a huge resource advantage over your opponents, both in terms of cards and mana.
This is just one example of the explosive starts Jackal can provide. Commander decks in general are trending more towards low mana curves these days, and Jackal performs exceptionally well alongside these. The fact that it’s also a scaling Trample threat is significant too. This opens the door for Commander damage wins, if you want to go down a pseudo-Voltron route.
The only thing keeping Jackal from the upper echelons of this list is its narrow window of usefulness. While it’s relatively easy to copy a one and two-drop with this, moving further up the curve is much harder. This problem can’t be solved with cards like Birthing Pod, either, since you need to cast the creatures to copy them. This makes Jackal great early on in a game, but fairly low-impact later. Aggressive Simic decks, and some cEDH lists, will love Jackal, but in casual it’ll likely get outpaced as the game goes on.
4 | Gwenom, Remorseless
- Mana Value: 3BB
- Type: Legendary Creature – Symbiote Spider Hero
- Rarity: Mythic Rare
- Card Text: Deathtouch, Lifelink.
Whenever Gwenom attacks, until end of turn you may look at the top card of your library any time and you may play cards from the top of your library. If you cast a spell this way, pay life equal to its mana value rather than pay its mana cost.- Stats: 4/4
We singled out Gwenom as one of the potential best Commanders in MTG Spider-Man when it was previewed, and that opinion still holds now that we’ve seen the full set. It’s hard to overstate how good having access to a Bolas’s Citadel in the command zone really is. Even with the pesky attack requirement, this is essentially a Game Changer that starts in your hand every game.
If you can give Gwenom Haste through something like Lightning Greaves, you can even start enjoying the effect a turn earlier than Citadel. This can be used “fairly” to dump a handful of cards into play, or as the enabler for a number of instant-win combos. Either way, you’ll easily be able to extract a huge advantage from this card.
The only real downside here is that running Gwenom as a Commander locks you into Mono-Black. This prevents you from using some of the more egregious combo options, like Thassa’s Oracle or Underworld Breach. There are still plenty of ways for the deck to pop off, however, which could even earn it a spot at cEDH tables.
3 | Peter Parker//Amazing Spider-Man
- Peter Parker
- Mana Value: 1W
- Type: Legendary Creature – Human Scientist Hero
- Rarity: Mythic Rare
- Card Text: When Peter Parker enters, create a 2/1 green Spider creature token with Reach.
1GWU: Transform Peter Parker. Activate only as a sorcery.- Stats: 0/1
- Amazing Spider-Man
- Mana Value: 1GWU
- Type: Legendary Creature – Spider Human Hero
- Card Text: Vigilance, Reach.
Each legendary spell you cast that’s one or more colors has Web-slinging GWU. (You may cast a spell for its Web-slinging cost if you also return a tapped creature you control to its owner’s hand.)- Stats: 4/4
All five of the mythic MDFC legends from Spider-Man are great Commander options. The flexibility of having a cheap early Commander that can become a better one later is huge. Of these new MTG Commanders, Peter Parker/Amazing Spider-Man is clearly one of the best.
The front side here is, admittedly, pretty unexciting. A 0/1 and a 2/1 with Reach doesn’t quite feel worth two mana these days. The fact that it exists at all, however, makes Amazing Spider-Man much better than it otherwise would be. Not only does it give you a guaranteed turn two play if you need one, but it also gives you a body that can fuel the Web-slinging shenanigans on the back half.
Amazing Spider-Man is legitimately scary. The ability to cast any legendary spell, not just creatures, for three mana while you have a tapped creature to spare is a big deal. This not only gives you a big discount on high-impact spells, but it also lets you reuse enters abilities on the creatures you bounce. You can get a ton of value out of this early on in a game, and it also scales beautifully late. Even with Vigilance dampening Amazing Spider-Man’s potential, this is still a fantastic new Bant Commander option.
2 | Cosmic Spider-Man
- Mana Value: WUBRG
- Type: Legendary Creature – Spider Human Hero
- Rarity: Mythic Rare
- Card Text: Flying, First Strike, Trample, Lifelink, Haste.
At the beginning of combat on your turn, other Spiders you control gain Flying, First Strike, Trample, Lifelink, and Haste until end of turn.- Stats: 5/5
Cosmic Spider-Man may be an obvious pick, but it’s good enough to earn a spot here despite that. Naturally, this card will be the go-to Spider Typal Commander from now until the end of time. It’s hard to imagine Wizards printing a better support piece for the type, never mind one in all five colors.
What really makes this card special, however, are its applications beyond that. This is probably the new best Commander for a Changeling deck, edging out Morophon in many cases. A huge burst of keywords is much better for closing out games than a mana discount, and Cosmic Spider-Man comes down much earlier, too. Additionally, it also makes a great Voltron Commander. Starting with so many crucial keywords is great, and having access to all five colors means you can play the best buff cards to boot.
Even if you’re not pursuing those specific gameplans, Cosmic Spider-Man is a pretty solid generic Commander for a five-color deck. It lacks the utility of Terra or Kenrith, but it offers a ton of raw aggression in exchange. Due to all this flexibility, I won’t be surprised if this is the most-played Commander in the set overall when the dust settles.
1 | Norman Osborn//Green Goblin
- Norman Osborn
- Mana Value: 1U
- Type: Legendary Creature – Human Scientist Villain
- Rarity: Mythic Rare
- Card Text: Norman Osborn can’t be blocked.
Whenever Norman Osborn deals combat damage to a player, he Connives. (Draw a card, then discard a card. If you discarded a nonland card, put a +1/+1 counter on this creature.)
1UBR: Transform Norman Osborn. Activate only as a sorcery.- Stats: 1/1
- Green Goblin
- Mana Value: 1UBR
- Type: Legendary Creature – Goblin Human Villain
- Card Text: Flying, Menace.
Spells you cast from your graveyard cost 2 less to cast.
Goblin Formula – Each nonland card in your graveyard has Mayhem. The Mayhem cost is equal to its mana cost. (You may cast a card from your graveyard for its Mayhem cost if you discarded it this turn. Timing rules still apply.)- Stats: 3/3
While it would’ve been flavorful for Spider-Man himself to take the top spot here, it actually goes to his nemesis Green Goblin instead. Everything we said above about the MDFC Peter Parker applies here, only this time both sides are much more powerful.
Norman Osborn isn’t just a fun bonus: it’s actually a legitimately powerful card in its own right. It’s one of the better looters we’ve seen in a while, and also a potential Voltron platform due to its unblockability. You could easily build a whole deck around just this card, and not even worry about the back side.
Of course, you’d be silly to ignore everything the Green Goblin has to offer. A two-mana discount on spells cast via Flashback, Harmonize etc. is tasty by itself, but giving all of your nonland cards Mayhem takes it to another level. The potential for ridiculous combo plays here is insane, to the point where many in the cEDH community are already eyeing it up.
You’re essentially getting two great Commanders in one, paired with one of the better color combinations for competitive Magic. It’s also flexible and flavorful enough that casual players are going to find plenty to love here too. Norman Osborn/Green Goblin is the best of the new MTG Commanders in Spider-Man, and I don’t think it’s particularly close.
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