Back again, back again, to Marvel’s Spider-Man. And this time, we have our first (and only) flip card out of the whole set. Because of my rules about WUBRG order and alphabetical order, this chunk of five is a little chaotic, but there are some excellent—and I assume generally undervalued—cards mixed in. I always love seeing what weird new blue cards come out of a new set, and this is definitely a good example of that.
Mysterio’s Phantasm
Why this Marvel’s Spider-Man card out of so many? Yeah, I do need to explain a little more than usual. I think it’s because of a lot of minor aspects of it. This is not a powerhouse; it’s going to be filler in a standard deck—but it’s good enough to be filler. There are three main things that make it hum. It’s got good stats and keywords for defending and attacking. The mill ability is good in reanimation decks or any other combo deck that needs stuff in the graveyard. And finally, some cards do care about the creature type “villain,” and this is a low-cost villain for such decks.
Norman Osborn
This is a powerhouse of a card. It’s so good it makes me want to build a Commander deck around it. But this is an article about Marvel’s Spider-Man for standard—and this is a strong card there, too. Unflipped, Norman is a solid-enough creature. Every turn he’s uncontested, you can build up pressure while making sure you draw what you need. In a tempo deck utilizing counterspells, this would already be a good card. But when you flip to Green Goblin, my god. The engine you can set up with this card is absurd. Discarding is—obviously—often a cost for a more powerful spell, but now you can use those cards and get massive value anyway. Green Goblin by itself will likely see the rise of some kind of Grixis midrange build. It may also just be the best card in Marvel’s Spider-Man.
Spider-Sense
This is incredibly handy in a lot of ways. It wouldn’t be impressive as a counterspell if not for the Web-slinging caveat. Often big counter-wars—or even just early turn brawls—end up being a battle of mana as much as how many counterspells someone has. An opponent who doesn’t also have this spell is going to be at a massive disadvantage.
Agent Venom
This Marvel’s Spider-Man card isn’t a new concept in the slightest, but that doesn’t count it out. I don’t see the flash ability mattering very much, but the rest of this card is all upside. It’s a hero and a soldier—both types with some support. It can play aggro with its menace. And though I wish it also counted tokens, having a draw engine to keep up tempo is often useful in the sacrifice or swarm decks I most expect to see this card in.
Morlun, Devourer of Spiders
Late-game fireball of a card. If you top-deck him when your opponent is low on life, they’re going to be so annoyed. The abilities on this card are honestly all over the place, but I like how flexible it can be. Basically, it’s a midrange choice. If you’re running four, this Marvel’s Spider-Man option is good to deploy on turns four or five as a way to stabilize with lifelink. And as the game goes on, it just becomes a bigger and bigger threat. Morlun is also a vampire and a villain, and I’m sure there are ways to use that to your advantage.
And that’s five more down. We’re doing this a little less staggered than some of the set reviews I’ve done, since the set is so close to release. So, come Wednesday, we’ve got five more Marvel’s Spider-Man cards to look at. And you should absolutely be there. The next list is going to be some powerhouses.
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