The debut for the Spider-Man MTG crossover is finally here, and fans of the franchise should be overjoyed. This upcoming set looks filled with iconic characters receiving their own flavorful designs in the Magic world.
Accompanying the main set is also a bonus sheet featuring potent reprints with beautiful new artwork. Today, we have seven bonus sheet cards to share with you, multiple of which are Commander staples. So, if you’re looking to add some flair to your EDH decks, look no further.
Heroic Intervention
Kicking things off, we have an efficient instant that sees play in a wide variety of Commander decks. In a format ruled by board wipes, having access to a cheap effect that protects your whole board is very valuable.
Heroic Intervention is also incredibly versatile, since it can save any of your permanents from getting destroyed. As such, Enchantress decks without many creatures won’t want to leave home without this effect. You can even use Heroic Intervention proactively. Casting it before using a board wipe of your own (or Armageddon, if you’re feeling devious) can put you way ahead.
The card has maintained a high level of demand for quite some time. So, despite its many reprints in various Commander products, it still holds a price tag just below $10 in its cheapest form, according to TCGplayer.
Skithiryx, the Blight Dragon
Next, we have Skithiryx, the Blight Dragon. Reskinned as an iconic Spider-Man villain, Skithiryx is one of the scariest cards to see on the other side of the board in Commander. Keeping your life total high won’t protect you from potentially dying via poison counters, and thanks to its ability to gain Haste, Skithiryx threatens to deal a bunch of damage out of nowhere.
As a Commander, Skithiryx is a nuisance. As a piece of filler in Proliferate shells with Atraxa, Praetor’s Voice at the helm, this Dragon is a top-tier support element.
Skythiryx’s price tag has decreased since its appearance on the Multiverse Legends bonus sheet years ago, but that doesn’t mean it isn’t a welcome reprint. Skithiryx is also worth between $9 and $10.
Reanimate
Moving away from cards that strictly see play in Commander, Reanimate is a multi-format staple that’s always in high demand. Reanimate is a simple card, and its sheer efficiency has led to it getting banned in formats like Historic and Duel Commander.
In Legacy, the combination of Reanimate and Entomb has helped Reanimator maintain its top-tier status, even following the loss of Psychic Frog and Troll of Khazad-dum to the ban hammer. Of course, the powerful sorcery is an EDH all-star in its own right. The life loss in Commander is much less of a downside, too. If you’re playing black and playing creatures, you’ll probably want this card in your deck regardless of whether you’re a dedicated Reanimator shell or not.
From a reprint value perspective, though, this rare isn’t all that impressive. Following recent reprints in the Breaking News bonus sheet, as well as Duskmourn and Final Fantasy Precons, Reanimate hovers around $5.
Arachnogenesis
This brings us to the most flavorful card of the bunch. What better set than Spider-Man to reprint a Spider-themed Fog variant! Just like Heroic Intervention and Skithiryx, Arachnogenesis doesn’t really see any play outside of Commander. Nonetheless, it can serve as a real blowout in the right scenario.
Any deck that thrives on attacking with small tokens will have to think twice about attacking you if they suspect you have this card at the ready. Not only will you take no combat damage and get a bunch of Spider tokens for your troubles, but you can then block down any attacking creatures you see fit. Any deck with a Spider focus, such as those built around Shelob, Child of Ungoliant, will obviously want Arachnogenesis, no questions asked.
This rare was recently reprinted in Duskmourn Commander, and barely cracks $2 in its cheapest form.
Path to Exile
Path to Exile is an interesting reprint. It’s extremely cheap mana cost used to make it an appealing option in Modern. However, in the age of power creep, where Solitude and Prismatic Ending are both legal for Azorius control decks, Path to Exile’s stock has dropped considerably.
As for Legacy, competing with the likes of Swords to Plowshares is tough. In Commander, Path to Exile still sees a ton of play despite being worse than Swords because decks will always want multiple copies of cheap removal like this.
As an uncommon with an absurd number of reprints at this point, it isn’t too surprising that players can pick up copies for under $1. For just $1, this card will do a lot of work in your white casual Commander decks.
Lorthos, the Tidemaker
Unfortunately, our last two cards aren’t all that valuable as reprints. It makes perfect sense to reskin Lorthos, a legendary Octopus, as Doc Ock. Lorthos also has its spots in Commander decks that focus on the creature type. For example, Kiora, Sovereign of the Deep heavily rewards you for casting big Krakens, Leviathans, Serpents, and Octopi, and there isn’t an overabundance of great options.
On its own, though, Lorthos is quite expensive and vulnerable to removal, making it far from an auto-include in most decks. Its 20-cent price tag is indicative of its shortcomings.
Shock
Our last bonus sheet card is Shock, which is definitely the least exciting of the bunch. There have been numerous upgrades to Shock printed over the years. Even in a Standard setting where Lightning Bolt isn’t legal, there are strictly better options to Shock, including Burst Lightning from MTG Foundations. All of that said, the flavor of this Shock alone completely forgives any of that.
Shock has been reprinted a surprising number of times since debuting in Stronghold. As a common, it’s worth 5 cents.
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