Over the past couple days, a ton of information has been thrown our way. In the midst of all of these Secret Lairs and new sets getting revealed, though, it’s easy to turn our attention away from MTG Spider Man, which is fresh off its own release.
Despite being a small set, these new cards are proving to be very pushed. One particular combo deck featuring a variety of Spider Man cards even made it to the top four of a Pioneer Challenge! Thanks to the new Web-slinging mechanic, setting up a win with infinite damage is easier than it looks.
Arachne, Psionic Weaver and Relic of Legends
The main combo this deck is centered around revolves around two cards: Arachne, Psionic Weaver and Relic of Legends. Relic of Legends has been a prominent combo card since its printing, and now we have another legend that pairs perfectly with it.
The goal is to get Arachne and Relic both in play and to have a second copy of Arachne in hand. Because Arachne is legendary, you can tap it via Relic’s ability and float white mana. This mana can then be used to cast the other copy of Arachne via Web-slinging, returning the first to your hand. You may repeat this process as many times as you wish.
By itself, this combo doesn’t accomplish much. However, it doesn’t take much to convert this engine into a win. With Haliya, Guided by Light in play, putting Arachne into play over and over will gain you infinite life. Many decks will be unable to win from there.
Meanwhile, with Rona, Herald of Invasion in play, you can actually generate infinite mana and churn through your library. To produce infinite mana, tap Rona for mana via Relic’s ability. Then, because you’re still casting Arachne when you use its Web-slinging ability to get it into play, Rona will untap, allowing you to float more mana.
After you have a ton of mana in your mana pool, you’re free to use Rona’s activated ability. As long as you have at least one other card in hand, looting away cards until you find Silk, Web Weaver should be enough to set up a win. Just cast Silk, buff all your creatures with your excess mana, then transform Rona into a Trampling behemoth and attack with your infinitely large threat. Silk even allows you to produce infinite tokens by repeating the Arachne-casting process a bunch of times.
Other Legends
Your other support pieces in this deck are mostly assertive legends that pair nicely with your combo pieces and can keep the pressure on the opponent. In the one-drop slot, Cecil, Dark Knight is a solid attacker. It also shines in the mono-red matchup, as it can block down nearly any threat to buy you time. The other one-mana play, Zack Fair, works to protect your combo pieces from removal.
At two mana, Inti, Seneschal of the Sun is one of your strongest tools. It’s a fantastic beatdown card that simultaneously smooths out your draws and digs for your most important legends. Once you have Rona online, you’ll be able to generate a bunch of extra card advantage, too.
Norman Osborn also pairs nicely with Inti. If you have the mana to transform it to Green Goblin, you then can maximize Rona even further.
Notably, with access to Green Goblin and Rona, you have the luxury of essentially casting your whole deck as you continue to combo off. Green Goblin lets you cast any cards you discard with Rona, which can be useful while you’re looting through your deck.
Some other one-of Spider Man legends that make an appearance in the maindeck include Spectacular Spider-Man and Superior Spider-Man. Spectacular Spider-Man is strong on rate and does a good job protecting your squad from Supreme Verdict or Brotherhood’s End. Superior Spider-Man provides redundancy against decks with lots of removal by letting you copy any of your important creatures that may have died, including Silk.
Consistency
At first look, this deck may seem a bit inconsistent. After all, relying on multiple copies of Arachne, Relic, and other tools to combo off all at once means you won’t always be able to set things up early.
That being said, thanks to Rona and Inti, you’ll be able to see a lot of cards over the course of a game. Your backup plan of simply attacking your opponent is also a realistic path to victory. Curving Cecil into Inti already puts your opponent on the backfoot.
Then, cards like Honest Rutstein generate value against decks with lots of removal. Add in Surrak, Elusive Hunter out of the sideboard, and you’ve got a chance to win grindy games.
Despite playing all five colors, because every creature in your deck is a Human, Cavern of Souls, Secluded Courtyard, and Unclaimed Territory all work as five-color lands. As a deck focused on legends, you also unlock Plaza of Heroes as another five-color land. Throwing in Starting Town means you have a reliable manabase that isn’t forced to play tons of painful Shocklands.
The only downside is that this manabase prevents you from utilizing cheap removal spells of your own. Racing fast Monstrous Rage draws backed up by Reckless Rage out of mono-red won’t always be easy as a result. Luckily, Arachne, Haliya and Rona all outsize an unkicked Burst Lightning, so you may be able to win quickly with a combo finish. It’s awesome seeing such an innovative strategy have immediate success. These Spider Man cards are no joke.
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