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Why is Spider-Man so good at witty comebacks? Because with great power... comes response ability.
Universes Beyond: Marvel’s Spider-Man is the latest set to swing into Magic, and with spoiler season wrapped up, it’s time to dive headfirst into the Spideyverse. Whether you're into webs, wall-crawling, or witty banter, this set has something for you — and it’s not just Peter Parker under the mask anymore.
What do you get when you cross Spider-Man with a T-Rex? Jurassic Parker. Wizards missed a trick there — but at least we got [[Spider-Rex, Daring Dino]]. RIP [[Colossal Dreadmaw]], but Spider-Rex might just lead my Bracket 1 “Oops, All Dreadmaws” deck into glory.
This set is crawling with flavour wins. Magic loves naming abilities after iconic cards — like how [[Shock]] defined “deal 2 damage.” So naturally, [[Shocker, Unshakable]] hits for 2… twice. Once to a creature, once to its controller. He’s got two fists — makes sense, right?
Whether you’re team Hero or team Villain, it's time to sling some spells and dive into my Top 10 picks from Marvel’s Spider-Man set.
1: J. Jonah Jameson
https://scryfall.com/card/spm/81/j-jonah-jameson
Speaking of flavour — if J. Jonah Jameson had any more of it, he’d be a Food token.
In the lore, J. Jonah Jameson is the grumpy editor-in-chief of the Daily Bugle, constantly running smear campaigns against Spider-Man. So of course, when he enters the battlefield, he suspects a creature. It’s literally on brand.
The Treasure tokens? That’s his newspaper profits. And the fact they trigger when your creatures attack? That’s because Peter Parker — aka Spider-Man — works for him. Peak flavour.
As a Commander, you can lean into Menace tribal. Crucially, Jameson triggers for each creature with Menace that attacks, letting you generate multiple Treasure tokens per combat. These Treasures don’t even enter tapped — meaning you can easily pair him with [[Aggravated Assault]] for some spicy infinite combat combos.
2: Mysterio, Master Illusion
https://scryfall.com/card/spm/37/mysterio-master-of-illusion
Let’s talk about value — because Mysterio, Master Illusion delivers it in spades. Whether he’s in the 99 or leading the deck, Mysterio can double up on powerful enter-the-battlefield triggers or simply clone your board.
There’s a small catch: he only copies Villains. But that’s not really a restriction in Magic, is it? After all, it’s not like we have cards that casually give all your creatures every creature type…
Oh wait — we do: [[Maskwood Nexus]], [[Conspiracy]], [[Arcane Adaptation]] — just to name a few.
So go ahead, turn your whole board into “Villains” and let Mysterio do his thing. Just try not to hallucinate any value while you're at it.
3: Web of Life and Destiny
https://scryfall.com/card/spm/122/web-of-life-and-destiny
8 mana is a lot to ask. At that cost, most cards need to threaten a win — and Web of Life and Destiny doesn’t quite do that. What it does do, though, is cheat creatures into play. And it does it for potentially zero mana, thanks to Convoke.
With enough creatures (especially two green ones), you can cast this for free. And who doesn’t love a free spell that spits out value every turn?
If left unchecked, Web of Life and Destiny can snowball fast — digging five deep and putting a creature straight onto the battlefield each combat. Not your upkeep. Not cast. No counterspells allowed.
You even get that creature the turn this hits the board. If you can protect the Web, it’ll spin you a win in no time.
4: Spider-Sense
https://scryfall.com/card/spm/46/spider-sense
If [[Swan Song]] and [[Stifle]] had a baby, you’d get Spider-Sense. It’s not quite as powerful — costing 2 mana instead of 1 — but I still rate it as a flexible, limited counterspell. It won’t hit everything, but it covers a good chunk of spells on the stack. And the added bonus of countering activated abilities? That’s just gravy.
But the real reason this makes the list? Web-slinging. It might look like a fun little flavour mechanic, but it’s the secret sauce here. If you’re playing at higher brackets — especially B5 or cEDH — you’ll know how important stack wars can be. Countering the counter to your counter. Having more ways to interact at just 1 mana is crucial.
Plus, here’s a sneaky bonus: the Web-slinging cost requires you to return a tapped creature as an additional cost. That means it can’t be responded to — making it a potential save for a key creature or a clever untap trick.
5: Electro, Assaulting Battery
https://scryfall.com/card/spm/76/electro-assaulting-battery
If you like [[Birgi, God of Storytelling]], you’re going to like this one too. Electro, Assaulting Battery isn’t quite as strong as Birgi — but let’s be real, most decks that want one will happily run both.
Electro lets you float red mana between phases and turns — a surprisingly rare effect. The closest comparison is [[Leyline Tyrant]], but Electro does it better. And just like Birgi, Electro rewards you for casting spells by generating mana, turning every spell into a stepping stone toward something bigger.
And when Electro dies? He explodes — letting you convert that stockpiled mana into damage. If you’ve ever stared down a Storm deck with a free-mana engine, you know exactly how dangerous this kind of effect can be.
6: Peter Parker’s Camera
https://scryfall.com/card/spm/171/peter-parkers-camera
When I first saw Peter Parker’s Camera, I dismissed it as a worse [[Strionic Resonator]] — same idea, but limited to three uses. Sure, it’s 1 mana cheaper, but it looked like a throwaway card at first glance.
Then I read it again. And noticed something important.
This Camera doesn’t just copy triggered abilities — it can copy activated abilities too.
Got a big payoff lined up? Snap another copy with the Camera. It’s especially juicy if you somehow pull off a Planeswalker ultimate — yes, those are activated abilities! Remember: anything that has a cost followed by a colon — whether it’s {T} mana, or loyalty counters — counts as activated.
So the next time you’re building around value engines or combo pieces, maybe don’t leave this Camera on the shelf.
7: Mister Negative
https://scryfall.com/card/spm/135/mr-negative
I had to include Mister Negative for the spice alone. This is very much a build-around Commander. Sure, effects like this have existed before — see [[Axis of Mortality]] — but this is the first time we get it on a Legendary Creature. That means you always have access to it in the command zone.
Not only can you swap life totals, but Mister Negative rewards you for doing so by drawing cards equal to the life you lose. It’s classic black magic: Greatness, at any cost.
There are two main ways I’d build around this:
- The Blink Combo: Cast [[Mister Negative]], then blink him with something like [[Ephemerate]] to trigger his ETB again. If an opponent has less life than you, swap — then draw cards equal to the life you lost. Then swap back. Congrats, you’ve gained a grip of cards without losing any real life.
- The Life Total Weapon: Go full Black-mana greed. Use cards like [[Ad Nauseam]], [[Peer into the Abyss]], or [[Tainted Sigil]] to pay your life down to the single digits — all for value. Then play Mister Negative and gift that dangerously low life total to someone else. Blink him to spread the misery around.
This isn’t a precon-level commander. This is a chaos engine in creature form. Use with caution. Or don’t. That’s kind of the point.
8: Friendly Neighbourhood
https://scryfall.com/card/spm/8/friendly-neighborhood
With all the token doublers running around these days, a card like Friendly Neighbourhood deserves some attention. Sure, three 1/1 tokens for four mana isn’t an amazing rate — but that’s not why we’re here.
It’s the activated ability that really makes this card shine. Sacrificing a bunch of tokens to give a huge power boost to a single creature opens up a new axis of attack — especially in token decks. Suddenly, your swarm of 1/1s turns into one massive threat.
Even outside of tokens, this can serve as a sneaky finisher. Got an evasive commander? Turn those extra bodies into raw power and swing for lethal commander damage.
It’s sorcery-speed for a reason — at instant speed, it’d be way too strong. But timed right, this ability can end games. Just don’t forget to yell "thwip" when you do it.
9: Spider-Man 2099
https://scryfall.com/card/spm/150/spider-man-2099
There’s a hilarious magical Christmas land where you can cast Spider-Man 2099 on turn one. How? Well, thanks to the From the Future keyword, you can’t cast him during your first, second, or third turns — but that doesn’t mean you can’t cast him on someone else’s turn.
Enter [[Leyline of Anticipation]], giving him flash. Then, using two pieces of fast mana like [[Gemstone Caverns]], [[Simian Spirit Guide]], [[Lotus Petal]], or [[Mox Diamond]], you can flash him in on your opponent’s turn before your first one even starts. It’s janky, it’s inconsistent — but it’s also hilarious. Even just casting him on an opponent’s second turn with Leyline is perfectly reasonable.
But setting aside the gimmicks — what does Spider-Man 2099 actually bring to the table?
This is a Voltron-style commander with a twist. He has an end step trigger that deals damage equal to his power if you played a land or cast a spell from anywhere other than your hand. That means you can be swinging in with commander damage and pinging down another opponent each turn — a nice two-pronged attack.
Just keep in mind: the ability damage doesn’t count as commander damage — only combat damage does that. Still, a powerful and flavorful card that rewards clever sequencing and sneaky plays.
10: Gwenom, Remorseless
https://scryfall.com/card/spm/286/gwenom-remorseless
My final pick is another big one — Gwenom, Remorseless is basically [[Bolas’s Citadel]] in the command zone. Sure, you need to attack first to unlock the ability, so it’s not quite as immediate. But let’s be honest — Bolas’s Citadel is a game-warping card. Having a similar effect available every game from the command zone? Gulp.
Gwenom opens the door to some dirty plays. While black isn’t the king of topdeck manipulation, it does have a few nasty tricks. [[Necropotence]] and its newer cousin [[Necrodominance]] are top-tier examples — and both are probably going in the deck anyway.
Normally, you pay a bunch of life into them and get the cards at your end step. But with Gwenom out, the plan shifts: you pay a single life to exile the top card and immediately unlock a new top card to cast. Rinse and repeat. It’s not hard to see how that snowballs quickly.
Final Thoughts
While you might not be a fan of the Universes Beyond aesthetic, the good news is we already have in-universe versions of these cards on Arena. Due to licensing restrictions, none of the digital versions can actually reference Spider-Man by name — so if the Marvel branding isn’t for you, you’ve got a built-in alternative.
One notable omission from this list is [[The Soul Stone]] — black’s best mana rock. Move aside, [[Charcoal Diamond]]. While it’s undeniably powerful, I found it a bit… boring. The activated ability is costly, and if I’m sinking 7 mana into something, I’d rather it be a game-ender, not just a value engine.
Just like the Final Fantasy set, Marvel’s Spider-Man brings a wave of new legendary creatures. So whether you’re a new player looking to build your first deck, or a seasoned veteran on the hunt for fresh brews, there’s a new commander here for you.
If you’re planning to swing into the Spider-Verse with any Universes Beyond: Marvel's Spider-Man products—boosters, Commander decks, or anything MTG—we’ve got you covered at Gathering Games.
As always, good luck — and remember to have fun!
