The MTG Spider Man set has really been through the thick of it. From the get-go, MTG players weren’t happy with this set’s unique theming and visuals. As time passed and more information was revealed, things worsened. Unfortunately, things haven’t exactly gotten better post-release.
With a lackluster competitive impact, Collector Booster price crashes, and now a widely condemned survey, MTG Spider-Man has gone from bad to worse. The recently released MTG Spider Man survey, in particular, has shown just how deep the hatred for this set goes. As if that wasn’t bad enough, Wizards of the Coast has even had to apologize for part of it, following a wave of backlash.
A Suspect Survey
For the most part, the MTG Spider Man survey was fairly normal. As always, it was a chance for MTG players to say how they really felt about the set. This may have been done time and time again on social media already, but now it’s all official. Unfortunately, while most questions were fairly expected, one stuck out like a sore thumb.
“To what degree did negative influencer commentary impact your perceptions of Magic: The Gathering | Marvel’s Spider-Man before the set released?”
MTG Spider Man Survey
Once MTG players saw this question, it didn’t take long for the outrage to spread. This question is so loaded that it’s hard to see it as anything other than blaming influencers for Spider Man’s poor reception. Immediately, this caused concerns that Wizards could stop being so friendly with influencers, which would be a worrying and dramatic shift.
For years, influencers have been a core part of MTG, both providing content and even previewing cards. To throw them under the bus like this is incendiary, even if the question is valid. It makes sense that Wizards wants to collect feedback on how players perceived a set, and what caused them to view things that way, after all.
Ultimately, the issue with this question is largely about semantics, as Wizards’ Blake Rasmussen plainly admitted on Bluesky. Addressing the dubious survey question, Rasmussen highlighted the unusual negative focus, which “sucks.” Beyond just making creators feel bad, Rasmussen noted this question doesn’t even make sense, given the possible answers to it.
Thankfully, despite the negative wording, Rasmussen assured players and creators alike that this wasn’t malicious. Instead, it was just a mistake, and not one that’s going to be used to attack the creator community in the future. This is good news, as the MTG Spider Man set certainly has problems, and it’s only right that creators get to talk about them.
It’s Too Easy
With all of the set’s problems, it’s so easy to hate MTG Spider Man that it feels like punching down. Complaints about the set have been repeated to death at this point, yet that doesn’t make them any less valid. For many players, this set was a massive misstep that laid bare the problems with Universes Beyond.
Even if you ignore how Spider Man doesn’t gel with MTG’s fantasy styling, the set’s creation is just so hateable. Originally, the set was designed to be much smaller, with Beyond Boosters rather than regular packs. Following the absolute disaster that was March of the Machine: The Aftermath, however, Wizards scrambled to beef it up.
Thankfully, this didn’t result in any broken powerhouses slipping through the cracks, but the alternative isn’t great either. Much of MTG Spider Man is totally forgettable, and the Pick-Two format doesn’t make it particularly engaging either. Factoring in the fact that Through the Omenpaths had to be created as well, the whole thing seems like a total mistake.
With all of these problems, it certainly looks like Wizards Universes Beyond push tried to do too much too fast. After getting one super successful release in The Lord of the Rings: Tales of Middle-earth, the future was set in stone. Rather than having a gradual ramp-up that made sure each set was perfect, Wizards went from 0 to 100 overnight.
Sadly, since MTG sets spend so long in the development oven, Wizards is now committed to making these sets. Even if Avatar: The Last Airbender and the TMNT set both flop, we’re still locked in for multiple years. That said, predicting these sets flopping is likely premature, as we don’t even know the reaction to MTG Spider Man yet.
No Results Found
For now, the information we have to go off really doesn’t paint MTG Spider Man in a positive light. The reaction online to the set has been widely negative, with its problems discussed en masse across social media. On the financial side of things, the set has caused surprisingly few spikes, making it seem even weaker.
As much as these are potentially telltale signs, these areas don’t account for the entire MTG playerbase. Outside of social media, there are millions of MTG players quietly enjoying the game. Many of these are on MTG Arena, and even more simply enjoy kitchen table MTG. While they don’t join in on Reddit threads and discussions, these players still buy packs and have a voice.
It’s only once the voice of these players is heard that we’ll know the true reaction to the Spider Man set. Thankfully, the MTG Spider Man survey is a key part of this, and information from it should be quite revealing. Or it should be, at least, if Wizards actually communicates its results to fans.
Ultimately, for now, we’re just going to have to wait and see what happens. Even if this poll and all player feedback is widely negative, Wizards can have a set that flops. Should this happen multiple times, however, then a course correction may be needed. Looking ahead, I suspect the TMNT MTG set will be more telling.
As another small set, although one that was designed as such, TMNT will prove whether this set model works or not. Sadly, this means we’ve got to wait until March of 2026 to find out more.
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