Spider Man, as with most recent Magic: The Gathering sets, has a ton to offer for Commander players. There are plenty of great new options for both the command zone and the 99 in here. While we’ve already broken down the cards that will see the most play in a wide range of decks, it’s worth noting that Spider Man includes some serious upgrades for specific Commander archetypes, too.
In particular, this set is great for players who enjoy Token or Equipment decks. According to EDHRec data these are two of the 10 most popular Commander archetypes overall, so there’s a good chance you play at least one of them. If you do, there are some fantastic new tools to pick up here, including a terrifying mana producer and a sweet draw engine. Even if you’re not big on the Marvel license, it’s hard to say no to new tech like this.
A New Token All-Star
Discard decks aside, Token decks might be the biggest beneficiaries of Spider Man overall. There are a ton of great Token support cards in here. Silk, Web Weaver ranks as one of the best.
Even for the full four mana cost, this is a very solid card. The goal is to get continuous value out of Silk’s passive, which creates a 1/1 each time you cast a creature spell. Token decks tend to run a lot of cheap creatures alongside their token generators, and this lets you get more mileage out of all of them.
Silk doesn’t just let you set up a token board, however: it also lets you turn it into a win condition. She packs a built-in Overrun effect that also grants Vigilance, which allows for some great value turns when you’re not just pushing for lethal. Deckbuilding in Commander is all about maximizing the value in each slot, and Silk neatly fills two roles in one.
We haven’t even mentioned what may be the best part of Silk yet, that being her Web-slinging ability. Bouncing a cheap creature or disposable token to cast her for three is fantastic in a normal game, but what’s really interesting is how this plays as a Commander. While you will still have to pay commander tax on the Web-slinging cost, having access to a self-bounce spell in the command zone is a big deal. You can regularly recycle your big token generators like Farmer Cotton, or your removal creatures like Druid of Purification. This extra utility takes an already great token card to dizzying new heights.
More Spider Man Token Commander Upgrades
Outside of Silk, Spider Man offers several other big upgrades for Commander Token decks. Supportive Parents has to be the standout here. It was largely glossed over last week due to being a late uncommon from the set, but it packs a text box that puts most of the set’s rares to shame.
Initially this just looks like a worse version of the Cryptolith Rite/Enduring Vitality effect we’ve seen before. In some ways it is, since you need two creatures per mana here. What sets it apart, however, is that this lets you tap creatures with summoning sickness. If you build a big token board in a single turn, you can immediately tap it down for a big mana boost. You can also generate mana at instant speed to interact on your opponents’ turns. Similar plays are possible with Baylen, but Supportive Parents can tap itself and fits into more decks.
Friendly Neighborhood is another great token pickup. Land enchantments in Magic are pretty rare, and this is a particularly interesting example of one. Three 1/1 tokens for four mana is a pretty poor rate, but it’s also an investment in the card’s future potential. Once it’s set up, you can convert your huge board presence into a formidable buff for a single creature each turn.
The sorcery speed here definitely stings, since Cranial Plating-style plays where you buff an unblocked creature would’ve been nice. The fact that the ability ends up on a land lets you abuse it in other ways, mind you. With cards like Arbor Elf and Deserted Temple, you can stack up multiple buffs on a single creature. This goes particularly hard with Earthcraft and an evasive Commander. While it has “Friendly” in the name, this card is really anything but.
Get Your Gear!
If you prefer swinging with Equipment to going wide with tokens in Commander, then Spider Man has some solid upgrades for you too. While most of the actual Equipment in the set is underwhelming, there are some great Equipment support cards in here.
Araña, Heart of the Spider is perhaps the best of these. Each time one of your modified creatures deals damage with this Hero in play, you get to Impulse draw a card. Creatures packing Equipment count as modified, so an Equipment deck should be able to get plenty of value out of this effect. This isn’t the best effect in the world, even in an equipment deck. That archetype traditionally doesn’t have a ton of card draw options, mind you, making this a bit more valuable. Even if you haven’t managed to equip a creature, Araña can apply counters whenever you attack to turn it on.
What’s most striking about this ability is its lack of restrictions. Usually, effects like this only trigger once per turn, or once per damaged player. Clearly, the modified restriction was enough for Wizards to remove the safety valves here. This card is particularly good with ‘self-equipping’ mechanics like Job Select and Living Weapon. That said, any Equipment deck should find a use for it.
The same can be said for Sun-Spider, a new Aura/Equipment tutor on a body. While it’s no Cloud or Stoneforge Mystic, this is the best rate/body we’ve seen for this effect outside of those classics. Deadeye Quartermaster is close, but it can’t attack in the air or fetch up Auras.
Tutor effects like this are always great in Commander, and the added utility of being a solid host for the Equipment you search up makes Sun-Spider worthy of consideration. Like Supportive Parents, this is an under-the-radar uncommon with a ton of Commander potential.
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