The weekend is over, and now Magic: The Gathering Spider-Man spoilers are in full flow. This will be a shorter preview season than we’re used to, ending in just a few days on September 4th. As a result, the new cards are coming in thick and fast. Today, for example, we’ve seen a bunch of interesting new MTG Spider-Man spoilers, including the hilariously real Rent is Due.
In addition to bringing the crushing real-world landlord system into Magic, this is also a spicy new enchantment for token decks. It’s joined today by a range of other newcomers, all of which have potential in one format or another. While Spider-Man got off to a rough start with players back in July, these new reveals should help repair its reputation.
Rent Is Due
- Mana Value: W
- Type: Enchantment
- Rarity: Rare
- Card Text: At the beginning of your end step, you may tap two untapped creatures and/or Treasures you control. If you do, draw a card. Otherwise, sacrifice this enchantment.
Incredible card name aside, Rent is Due is also one of the most interesting new MTG Spider-Man spoilers from today. It’s a continuous draw engine for just one mana, which makes it worth considering right out of the gate. It also offers synergy with themes that Magic has explored a lot in recent years. Treasures are pretty trivial to create nowadays, and we’ve also seen a lot of creatures that benefit from being tapped.
The card may have applications in Mono-White Tokens in Standard. That deck can easily produce two 1/1 tokens to fuel this each turn, and it very much appreciates the card draw. Elsewhere, the card could well perform better in Boros Energy Modern decks than anywhere else.
That said, the downside here is severe. One well-placed removal spell or board wipe is all it takes to leave you unable to pay your rent, then you’ll be down a card. Even in cases where you can pay it, sometimes you’d rather hold up blockers or Treasure mana instead. Rent is Due puts a lot of restrictions on you once it hits play, and in many cases I don’t see the juice here being worth the squeeze. It will almost certainly claim the title of ‘funniest card in the set,’ mind you.
Peter Parker’s Camera
- Mana Value: 1
- Type: Artifact
- Rarity: Rare
- Card Text: This artifact enters with three film counters on it.
2, Tap, Remove a film counter from this artifact: Copy target activated or triggered ability you control. You may choose new targets for the copy.
From Peter Parker’s rent to the way he pays it, let’s take a look at another of today’s MTG spoilers: the famous camera that snaps pictures of Spider-Man.
This is a card with a ton of potential. Cards that copy your activated or triggered abilities repeatedly like this are very rare, and most are far less efficient than this one. The ability to drop this for one and start using it as early as turn two is huge.
The drawback here is that you only get three uses of the effect, unless you’re able to give the Camera extra film counters somehow. This isn’t too much of a big deal, however, since you often only need to use an effect like this a few times to close out a game in constructed. In Commander, it’ll come into play more often, but you also have tools like Proliferate that can restock your film to keep the engine running.
In terms of what you can copy with this card, the sky’s the limit. Any enters or dies ability on one of your creatures, any activated ability from any source: it’s all fair game. You can use it alongside Fetchlands for non-green ramp, or you can double up on a crucial ability from your Commander. Since it’s a valid tutor target for Urza’s Saga and Tezzeret, Cruel Captain, Peter Parker’s Camera could have combo potential even outside of Commander. That said, the two mana activation cost is rather steep in formats like Modern.
Web Of Life And Destiny
- Mana Value: 6GG
- Type: Enchantment
- Rarity: Mythic Rare
- Card Text: Convoke.
At the beginning of combat on your turn, look at the top five cards of your library. You may put a creature card from among them onto the battlefield. Put the rest on the bottom of your library in a random order.
Web of Life and Destiny is a tricky card to judge. On one hand, it provides an incredibly powerful effect once it gets going. Getting to cheat out any creature from your top five each turn is going to feel like having an Omniscience that draws cards out a lot of the time. The fact that it triggers at the start of combat is big too, since it means you get value the turn it comes down. If you have a Haste granter like The Fire Crystal in play, you can even use your free creature in combat.
The obvious problem here is that chunky eight-mana cost. Even in Commander, where I think this card will do its best work, that’s not an easy hurdle to overcome. Convoke certainly helps here, and there are plenty of Commander decks where it’ll be trivial to cast. Elves and any kind of Baylen tokens deck spring to mind. The problem is that those kinds of decks tend to be populated mainly with cheap creatures, which lessens the impact of Web’s effect.
To make the most of this card, you’ll need to nail down the balance of going wide while still playing high-value cards. Token generators like Siege-Gang Commander and Avenger of Zendikar are likely a good place to start. While it’s definitely powerful, I think this card is specific enough that it won’t end up as a new green Commander staple.
Interdimensional Web Watch
- Mana Value: 4
- Type: Artifact
- Rarity: Rare
- Card Text: When this artifact enters, exile the top two cards of your library. Until the end of your next turn, you may play those cards.
Tap: Add two mana in any combination of colors. Spend this mana only to cast spells from exile.
Interdimensional Web Watch, in addition to sounding like an excellent TV show, is also a very interesting Magic card. It combines the Impulse draw effect that we’re seeing more and more these days with a very powerful and specific mana rock. Ramp and draw are the cornerstones of most Commander decks, so a card like this, that mixes both, has prospects right out of the gate.
Even in lower Commander brackets, four mana to ‘draw’ two cards isn’t a great rate these days. In decks that cast things from exile regularly, however, Web Watch is one of the best mana rocks we’ve ever seen. Getting two mana in any combination of colors is unheard of, and makes it possible to cast all manner of pip-dense spells. There are quite a few mechanics that work with the card, too. Madness, Plot, Warp, and Adventure: the list of ways to cast spells from exile goes on. There are also plenty of Commanders that let you do so, like Prosper and Ob Nixilis, Captive Kingpin.
If you’re running those mechanics or Commanders in any kind of number, Web Watch is probably worth including. This goes double in non-green decks, since it’s a great ramp source in those. While it is specific, Web Watch seems like it’ll be a shoo-in for a good number of decks in Commander. One to watch, to be sure.
Radioactive Spider
- Mana Value: G
- Type: Creature – Spider
- Rarity: Rare
- Card Text: Reach, Deathtouch.
Fateful Bite – 2, Sacrifice this creature: Search your library for a Spider Hero card, reveal it, put it into your hand, then shuffle. Activate only as a sorcery.
Much like Rent is Due, the last of the new MTG Spider-Man spoilers we’ll be looking at today is a massive flavor win. It really wouldn’t be a Spider-Man set without the spider that brought him into existence, after all. As a card, however, this one is a bit of a mixed bag.
The ability to tutor up any Spider Hero card immediately seems a bit too narrow. Unless you’re building an all-in Spider-Man theme deck, you’re unlikely to have a good number of targets for this. If you could just nab a generic Spider instead, we might’ve been cooking, but Spider Hero is a type line we’re unlikely to see outside of this set. This also means it lives or dies on the quality of the Spider Heroes we see in the next few days.
Even if we do get some good ones, only being able to use the ability at sorcery speed is a bit disappointing. You can’t block an attack and then trade the Spider in for value, so you’re stuck playing it fairly, which is unimpressive. To its credit, a 1/1 with Deathtouch and Reach is nice for one mana, but not nice enough to see play without more relevant text beyond that. Ultimately, this seems like a card for low-bracket Commander decks and nowhere else. Unless a Spider Hero with combo applications comes along, of course.
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