Starting this Friday, players will get the opportunity to play with the new MTG Spider Man cards for the first time. Prerelease events are right around the corner, and as always, it pays to be prepared. With additional packs typically on the line for those who perform well, it’s well worth being aware of the set’s strengths and weaknesses.
Thanks to Wizards of the Coast, I was invited to the MTG Arena Early Access Event, and got to Draft some Through The Omenpaths ahead of time. After playing a series of games, here are a few things to keep in mind when playing your Spider Man prereleases.
Fixing is Surprisingly Strong
Despite this being a set that only supports five two-color combinations, the fixing for MTG Spider Man/Through the Omenpaths is very impressive. Spider-Man, Brooklyn Visionary stood out as a major outlier here, especially considering that this card is a common.
More often than not, getting this creature out on turn three is pretty easy. In focused strategies, you can open with an evasive creature like City Pigeon to make sure you can consistently Web-Sling on turn three. That said, a majority of the two drops that MTG Spider Man offers will generally get the job done. Getting Spider-Man, Brooklyn Visionary down on turn three not only puts an above-average statted creature into play, but also fixes whatever color you’re missing.
While this is the best piece of fixing, players won’t always be in green to take advantage of this card. The dual lands in this set end up going a long way, branching multiple supported archetypes together. You also have access to a decent amount of Treasure generation, a new Evolving Wilds lookalike, and multiple other mana dorks and rocks that can tap for all colors.
Notably, Early Access Drafts did not include Traditional 8-player pods, but Pick 2 instead. It was very easy to consistently build a deck that included a themed color pairing with Pick 2, but in Traditional Draft, the five supported archetypes may be stretched out a lot more. In this case, fixing is going to matter a lot. We haven’t played traditional Spider Man Draft yet, but I would prioritize fixing a lot higher there, unless there’s a very obvious open lane.
Connive Your Way to Victory
Conniving is very good in Spider Man. Between enabling Mayhem, scaling your creatures, and offering card selection, this mechanic kind of does everything. Mayhem is generally spread around the colors that synergize with Blue as well, meaning that Connive’s biggest downsides are taken away.
We made a big deal about Unstable Experiment when it was first announced, and after playing with it in Draft, I stand by our initial assessment. Unstable Experiment acts as a card filter machine and a Madness enabler that doubles as a combat trick. It’s eerily similar to Combat Tutorial from Final Fantasy, which went on to be one of the best blue commons in the set.
Other creatures in the set that constantly Connive, like Doc Ock’s Henchman, are likely high picks in blue. They’re both growing threats that enable a main set mechanic. If you’re looking to enable Mayhem or are just playing in Blue, both of these Conniving commons should perform well. Early impressions from a lot of other Early Access players have suggested the same: Connive is the best mechanic in MTG Spider Man Limited.
Look for Recursion Loops
There are a lot of cards in MTG Spider Man that bring other cards from the graveyard back to the hand. Tombstone, Career Criminal represents a powerful recursion piece for the Villains archetype, and Damage Control Crew is an incredibly versatile option for the Gruul Mana Value 4 matters archetype.
Since these cards can recur one another, you can essentially get an infinite number of chump blockers. In both cards’ cases, you can repetitively trigger other cards within the archetype. Angry Rabble will deal a damage each time you cast a Damage Control Crew, while Prowler, Clawed Thief can continually Connive in Villains. Tombstone is the better of the two looping cards. It will only cost two to cast Tombstone because the other will reduce its casting cost. Tombstone is also Legendary, allowing you to continually loop the cards. These seem like easy ways to add a lot of power to your decks, so long as you have the tools to support them.
Other Standout Cards
Outside of the more specific notes, there are certainly some cards that feel a lot more powerful than others. While there are certainly some bomb Mythics that are very hard to beat, like Behold the Sinister Six! and Doctor Octopus, Master Planner, you’ll get more value out of being able to identify the standout commons and uncommons in this set.
The Spot’s Portal is probably the best piece of removal in the set, and is even worth splashing in a Villain-less deck. There is a surprisingly small amount of conditionless removal in the set, and many signpost cards get huge really fast. Web Up, the Banishing Light of the set, is similarly very well positioned for the same reason. These cards are constantly strong in any Limited format, but they stick out even more when all of the other removal options have various conditions attached.
Pictures of Spider-Man has also consistently been impressive. Card advantage is scarce in green, and Pictures both acts as raw card advantage most of the time, and can turn into a Treasure rather easily. This can find, ramp, and mana fix into your endgame threats, making it a top-tier choice in Sealed play.
Lastly, I’m pretty certain that Deathtouch creatures are better than usual. Games seem to stall pretty easily, so creatures that can trade up into much larger bodies can prevent an opponent from trying to push an early advantage. Flying is combatted by a ton of Reach, which makes sense in a Spider-focused set, but Spider-Man India has proven to be extremely effective regardless. Most of Green’s common and uncommon removal is also bite and fight spells, which synergize incredibly well with Deathtouch creatures.
Unlike Edge of Eternities, I’ve performed pretty well at the Through the Omenpaths Early Access event. I’ve gone 10-3 between three Pick 2 Draft decks, and 7-0 in Sealed. There isn’t a ton of depth in the MTG Spider Man draft format, which means that Draft veterans should eat well.
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