The Ultimate Guide to Through the Omenpaths Draft

King of the Coldblood Curse | Illustration by Andrew Mar

Greetings, planeswalkers! Marvel’s Spider-Man has been out for a week now, though if you've been playing on MTG Arena, you know it as Through the Omenpaths. It’s no secret that the set has been one of the worst received sets in a very long time. There has been a ton of controversy surrounding its release, including:

• The digital licensing debacle, which led to the existence of Through the Omenpaths. Drafting Spider-Man in person vs online involves an entirely different set of card names and arts, even if the cards are mechanically the same.
• Universes Beyond fatigue is a controversial subject, but it does seem fairly high at the moment. While Final Fantasy was a colossal hit, Through the Omenpaths seems to have kicked off a real wave of resentment online.
• Through the Omenpaths is a small set, with 60+ fewer cards than a usual Standard release and only five official archetypes for Limited. To compensate for this, it introduced a new 4-player “Pick-Two Draft” format, which has also not been well-received.

All this pessimism seems backed by online statistics, which show less interest in Through the Omenpaths than any other set released in the last two years. Ouch!

With all that said, Through the Omenpaths is definitely one of the sets of all time. It’s going to be on Arena for at least a month though, and you might even be able to qualify for the next RC if you play it. The set’s smaller size and simple mechanics also make it easier to learn than something like Edge of Eternities.

My focus with this guide is to give you everything you need for success briefly and succinctly. I doubt anyone wants to read a whopper for a set like this, so I want to be respectful of your time!

One note: We have a version of this review modified for paper Spider-Man cards if you'd prefer. Note that the trophy deck images will be using Arena-only OM1 card images though.

Mechanics Revisited

Ademi of the Silkchutes (Spectacular Spider-Man) | Illustration by Filip Burburan

We’ll start with a quick recap of Through the Omenpath's mechanics.

Web-Slinging/Enweb

Enweb (Web-slinging in paper) has played out fairly well, and is (at least for me) the most fun thing you can do in OM1. Much of the finesse with web-slinging comes from using ETB value creatures like Gallant Citizen, a card I mentioned many times in the SPM Sealed guide. You’d also do well to consider alternative ways to tap creatures other than attacking, like:

• Vinewoven Chariot
• Supportive Parents
• Mana dorks like Leyline Weaver and Eccentric Arachnologist.

While I love the mechanic, enweb has a couple of problems worth being aware of:

1. There simply aren’t that many creatures with enweb in Through the Omenpaths.
2. In addition, every single enwebber that exists is legendary, so you can run into awkward draws with multiple copies of Darval, Whose Web Protects or Zan, Tunnelweb Explorer.
3. Your spiders can be stranded in your hand if you miss early creature drops or can’t attack successfully.

One last thing worth noting with enwebbers is that you can sometimes loop the same legend via enweb. Let’s say for instance you have two copies of Zan, Tunnelweb Explorer and a Vinewoven Chariot (for safe enwebs). You can use the first copy of Zan to swing in the second to dodge the legend rule, and it lets you spend to Rampant Growth over and over. You won’t usually have time to durdle like this, but it’s a cool technique regardless.

Mayhem

Mayhem has somewhat unperformed expectations in OM1. While there’s a ton of discard support, the main problem with mayhem is the cards themselves. Deathflame Burst, Sadistic String-Puller, and Wekhdu, Midnight Hunter are all solid at worst, so it’s mostly the higher rarity cards that aren’t performing.

Vazin, Two-Faced Trickster, Prison Break, and Miasmic Mist are a bit situational, while Kivni, Orb Weaver is just kind of underpowered. There are a couple of exciting rares though (Goben, Gene-Splice Savant / Fleem, Goben's Creation, Ruzic, Booed but Victorious, Stitcher's Wings) that can make up for this.

There are two primary ways to approach mayhem:

1. The first is just to dabble with the mechanic. This involves playing only cards that are at least okay without mayhem (i.e., Deathflame Burst, Vazin, Two-Faced Trickster) alongside a handful of enablers.
2. The second is to go all-in on the mechanic. You’ll want 7+ discard outlets and as many mayhem cards as you can get your hands on. This is how I draft BR, as red has little to offer beyond discard/mayhem cards.

Connive

Connive supports mayhem and is also generally useful. The rates for connive cards in this set are a bit lackluster compared to Streets of New Capenna though; you won’t find anything as efficient as Raffine's Informant, for instance. You’ll mostly want connive as a way to enable synergies, though there are enough of those that even something like Mob Lookout can be good.

Modified

The modified deck has felt pretty real, as Kumonosu, the Watchful and Biorganic Carapace are both excellent payoffs. Wonderweave Aerialist has also been a general overperformer. This mechanic is almost wholly irrelevant outside of WU, though.

Transforming MDFCs

All of these are strong, though Viggo, Enforcer of Ig's Crossing / Viggo, End of Ig's Crossing is probably the worst one. This is mostly just due to how underwhelming its front side is, due to the set’s lack of Jund () 1-drops. Skittering Kitten is the only non-rare option available, and it’s frankly just a pretty bad card (even with mayhem synergies).

Set Overview Revisited

Color Identities

Through the Omenpath’s color balance is good except for red.

White has some of the best removal in OM1, and Mothwing Shroud and Spectacular Tactics are both splash-level cards. Its creatures also do a good job of enabling enweb and modified synergies.

Blue can be a primary color for villains decks or a support color for WU modified. OM1 has been a rather clunky set in practice, which has made Drix Interception quite good if you’re blue enough.

Black’s removal spells are also great, and Merciless Enforcers has been an overperformer. Child of Night has always been a solid turn-2 play, so giving it something extra to do in board stalls made a huge difference.

Red… just kind of sucks, frankly. If you aren’t mayheming Deathflame Burst or Sadistic String-Puller, there’s very little reason to be in this color. Red lacks effective attackers, has removal that can’t kill large creatures, and can only generate card advantage via mayhem. Romantic Rendezvous, Knife Trick, and Wardens of Silverweb Summit are its best enablers for mayhem (at least at common).

Green has a lot of things going for it. Favored Fighter is one of the best common creatures available, and Perilous Lunge has been less risky than expected in practice (due to the set’s clunkiness). Chizak, Apex Arachnosaur is also huge, so huge in fact that none of red’s removal spells can touch it!

I must mention how the presence of the five hybrid commons changes the set. These are all seeded for the five official archetypes, though Leyline Weaver and Gallant Citizen are just overpowered. Leyline Weaver is particularly notable as red’s best common by a long shot, which should say something about how bad the rest of the color is!

Top Commons

Here I’ll revise the top commons I listed in my Spider-Man Sealed guide. I’ll also throw in a fourth common to make this list more useful. Let’s see how I did.

White

1. Mothwing Shroud
2. Spectacular Tactics
3. Principled Referee
4. City Pigeon

I had Crime Scene Instructor as 2nd, which was definitely too high. It’s a solid filler card that’s better in WU than average, but nothing too special. Prioritize white’s removal above all else, as both its commons are pretty cracked. Meanwhile Principled Referee and City Pigeon are both rather efficient and excel in enweb decks.

Blue

1. Phantasmal Vision
2. Drix Interception
3. Snatch Back
4. Ozor, Chronicler of Collapse

I got blue rather wrong, as I missed how good Drix Interception and Phantasmal Vision are. Vision’s self-mill is relevant with a couple of cards in this set (mostly Ozor, Chronicler of Collapse), and it has great base stats versus most other common 2-drops. It can hold off smaller creatures while it attacks and advances your gameplan, which is more than can be said for most commons.

Drix Interception could arguably be #1 if you’re base blue. Through the Omenpaths is simply not a fast format, so Cancel with considerable upside like this has been a major overperformer.

Black

1. Damning Caress
2. Scorpion's Sting
3. Wekhdu, Midnight Hunter
4. Merciless Enforcers

Damning Caress has outperformed Scorpion's Sting by a bit, mostly due to this format’s penchant for fat creatures. It’s also even easier than expected to have a villain on the table, so don’t be surprised if you almost never cast it for 5. The other two cards are some of black’s better common creatures, with Merciless Enforcers offering a Child of Night that does something later on.

Red

1. Deathflame Burst
2. Sadistic String-Puller
3. Romantic Rendezvous
4. Shock

One recurring theme of mine, at least in this set, is an ongoing tirade against red. All red really has to offer in OM1 is mayhem synergies; if you don’t have those, the color is just completely underpowered. Deathflame Burst is the best mayhem common available, and Sadistic String-Puller is also pretty respectable. Romantic Rendezvous is the best common discard enabler. Meanwhile, Shock is Shock, and it’s useful without being overly great (due to missing most 3+ mana value creatures).

Green

1. Favored Fighter
2. Zan, Tunnelweb Explorer
3. Chizak, Apex Arachnosaur
4. Perilous Lunger

I got green mostly right, though Lurking Lizards is more of a RG card than a green staple. Perilous Lunge has also played better than expected due to the set’s clunkiness. Note that Grow Extra Arms almost made the cut (would have been #5), and it’s one of the only pump spells in the set worth playing.

Other

Here’s how I’d rank the hybrid mana commons:

1. Spider Manifestation
2. Gallant Citizen
3. Wonderweave Aerialist
4. Mob Lookout
5. Knife Trick

Leyline Weaver and Gallant Citizen should go in every deck that can cast them, and they’re some of the best commons overall. If I were to count them as green or white cards, I’d have them above every common short of Mothwing Shroud.

Wonderweave Aerialist is more of an archetype card, specifically for WU (though it’s playable in GW too). Mob Lookout has overperformed a bit, as it blocks most early creatures and enables some decent value. I’ve played it in both BR and UB to decent effect. The same goes for Knife Trick, though 3 damage can feel a little flimsy sometimes.

Uncommons

I actually largely stand by the uncommons I posted in the SPM Sealed Guide. As a refresher, here’s how I ranked them there, adjusted for OM1:

The only exception I’d add is that I missed Damage Control Crew, which is one of the best uncommons in the entire set. It’s especially dirty when you can pair it with Terrific Team-Up; note that it says card and not permanent! You can even enable it early by using Scout the City, which I recommend playing alongside it.

Rares

The same goes for my evaluations of rares, which have basically held up to experience playing the set. Here were my picks for Spider-Man’s stronger rares:

Withar, Cocoon Keeper and Cheering Crowd were the only two rares I missed on, as both have been very good in practice. You should absolutely play Cheering Crowd in every R/G deck, as the risk/reward usually favors you. Same goes for Withar, Cocoon Keeper, which is worth splashing if you can.

Archetypes

Due to its small size, Through the Omenpaths has only five official Draft archetypes. If you need a recap, peep the Spider-Man image below.

Source: Marvel's Spider-Man Prerelease Guide

After playing the set some, I’d argue that Through the Omenpaths is on the whole not a very well-balanced set. I mentioned that red sucks earlier, but remember, this is a small set! Red’s awfulness burdens 2/5 of the set’s available archetypes. I wouldn’t go so far as to say any of these are unplayable, but I found myself that I actively had to make subpar picks to end up in anything besides GW or UB.

Archetype Tier List

Great (hope to draft)

• GW Enweb
• UB Villains Connive

Decent (fine with drafting)

• WU Modified

Lackluster (draft only if super open or with specific payoffs)

• BR Mayhem
• RG Large Spells

Weird Decks

• Unsupported 2c Pairs
• 5c Control

GW Enweb

GW is one of the set’s two better decks. The enweb mechanic has a lot of good support cards, though there are only so many enwebbers to go around.

Key Cards

Both of GW’s signposts are excellent. Red decks in particular have a tough time with Alessos and Pras, Acrobats, which can put itself out of range of all red removal with a single counter! Janai and Hoppy, Roofskippers is an incredible 2-drop that has obvious but effective synergy with enweb. GW also has two dream rares that are sure to put you into the deck: Demera, Soul of a Spider and Alenni, Brood Recruiter.

Compared to other color pairs, GW’s commons are among its greatest strengths. GW gets to play two premium removal spells (Spectacular Tactics and Mothwing Shroud), high quality creatures (Gallant Citizen and Favored Fighter), and more.

GW also has a handful of uncommons that work better in it than other color pairs. Sarn of the Silken Throne is excellent at leveraging enweb, while Basil, Cabaretti Loudmouth makes successfully webbing much easier. Supportive Parents can free you from having to engage in combat too, and Rouse the Swarm is perfect with GW’s high spider count.

Trophy Example

GW with a splash for U, thanks to two copies of Surris, Spidersilk Innovator / Surris, Silk-Tech Vanguard. Carriage of Dreams makes a rare appearance to help out with enweb.

UB Villains Connive

UB is the other deck that I’d actively try to draft. There are lots of good villain payoffs in OM1, and UB has great removal as well.

Key Cards

Damning Caress and Ozor, Chronicler of Collapse are surprisingly strong payoffs at common. I don’t know who at R&D decided that we need an 8/8 hexproof creature at common, but hey, I don’t know who decided we needed Spider-Man in Magic either!

Flying Octobot and Carlo, Suave Schemer are also great payoffs, to say nothing of the busted rare ones (The Watcher on the Road and Neach, Pinnacle Pariah).

UB also has the single best signpost uncommon in the entire set: Tearle, Entropic Hunger. The only thing that sucks more than the film is to stare at a “Morbius” across the table, as it’s basically a 4-mana Baneslayer Angel that draws a Strategic Planning when it dies! You can even mill or loot Tearle straight to your graveyard for an easy two-for-one.

UB is overall quite straightforward to play and build. You want lots of villains, some discard synergies (mayhem and/or stuff like Venom, Evil Unleashed), some removal, and a decent curve. It helps that there are plenty of solid 2-drop villains available, so curving out isn’t a problem for UB.

Trophy Example

The creature quality here was quite high, though this list had an unfortunate lack of removal. Most of my wins came from Tearle, Entropic Hunger and Egrix the Bile Bulwark.

WU Modified

WU Modified is a respectable choice to draft. I’d mostly draft it if I were passed certain uncommons, as otherwise GW tends to outclass it.

Key Cards

WU has some pretty solid signposts; Margot, On the Case wins games when boosted (and unanswered), while Kumonosu, the Watchful is a reliable value card. Most of the modifying you do in practice comes from +1/+1 counters; there aren’t actually many auras or equipment cards in this set (let alone good ones).

One card to look out for is Cirina, Bargainspinner. Other white players may try to poach it, but it can be incredibly good here if you’re lucky enough to open something like Biorganic Carapace or Remarkable Readings. Hide in Mundanity is also worth playing as a backup tutor target, and it’s the only common you can grab with Sun-Spider.

Costume Closet, Generous Betty Wray, and Robotics Mastery are a couple of cards that work better in WU than other shells. None of them is at the level of the multicolor signposts though, so I’d want those first and foremost.

Trophy Example

This deck felt great. I had spider payoffs with lots of spiders, a good mana curve, good removal, and a broken bomb rare (Remarkable Readings). Wonderweave Aerialist played out as well as expected, too.

BR Mayhem

BR Mayhem looked good during previews, but it hasn’t impressed in practice. Red just mostly sucks in this set, and it can be challenging to get enough good mayhem cards to make up for that.

Key Cards

If you’re going to bother with BR, you should be doing the mayhem thing first and foremost. That means multiple copies of cards like Deathflame Burst and Sadistic String-Puller. You’ll also want access to as many good discard enablers as possible. I rank the common ones as follows:

1. Knife Trick
2. Romantic Rendezvous
3. Caldaia Brawlers
4. Wardens of Silverweb Summit
5. Skittering Kitten

Even Pumpkin Bombardment isn’t that great though, so you really hope instead to open or get passed one of these:

1. Goben, Gene-Splice Savant / Fleem, Goben's Creation (requires splashing)
2. Quint's Insight
3. Ruzic, Booed but Victorious
4. Nu and Sumi, Career Criminals
5. Crash, Reckless Endrider

If you can get a critical mass of discard enablers and scoop up 6+ mayhem cards, you may have a deck on your hands. I’d also try to get some black removal if possible, as Deathflame Burst unfortunately won’t answer everything.

Trophy Example

This was a decent mayhem deck that splashed for a busted rare. I had some trouble discarding cards in practice, as Wardens of Silverweb Summit often finds itself unable to attack on stalled boards.

RG Large Spells

If you thought red was bad in BR, well, you haven’t seen anything yet. RG is a decent archetype that barely feels like a 2-color deck. You’ll mostly go RG if you’re cut out of GW and see its signposts.

Key Cards

The good news about RG is that none of its failings are owed to its signposts. Dreadfang, Loathed by Fans and Xecau, Predation's Shadow are simply great cards, especially Xecau (it counts itself when you cast it, which lets you draw when it attacks). There are also a couple of decent “4 or greater” cards in the set like Lurking Lizards and Restless Razorkin, which shine in RG.

The bad news though is that red has little to offer you. RG doesn’t get to play nearly as much discard as BR, which makes cards like Deathflame Burst filler rather than desirable. With mayhem out of the equation, red frankly has basically nothing worth playing at common. You can play cards like Shock and Wardens of Silverweb Summit if you must, but they’re filler rather than good.

If you go to higher rarities, these are the red cards I’d happily play in RG:

• Kazuo, Ruthless Rival
• Restless Razorkin
• Wisecrack
• Bayo, Irritable Instructor
• Lazlo, Enthusiastic Accuser
• Kraza, the Swarm as One
• Nia, Skysail Storyteller

And that’s… literally it! I’m serious, red is so bad in Through the Omenpaths that I can’t think of anything beyond these seven cards that I’d ever want over green commons like Favored Fighter, Gallant Citizen, or even Eccentric Arachnologist.

Anti-red rant aside, it’s worth noting that RG is still quite draftable. If everyone is drafting the other color pairs, you’ll have free reign to take its powerful signposts. The key thing is for green itself to be decently open so you don’t have to lean on bad red cards.

Trophy Example

I like this example because it reinforces how terrible red is. If not for the golden RG cards and Wisecrack, I’d likely have just ended up GW! I even had a second copy of Chizak, Apex Arachnosaur to replace Kazuo, Ruthless Rival.

Other Stuff to Do

One neat thing about Draft is that things don’t always go the way you expect. While OM1 isn’t officially trying to support any of the other five color pairs, it’s not impossible for the odd deck to come together. These will usually include rares like:

• Nia, Fabled Skyclimber
• Withar, Cocoon Keeper
• Qoneus, Horizon Splicer
• Uharis, the Stormspinner
• Brako, Heartless Hunter
• Gloria, the Great Armorer
• Druneth, Reviver of the Hive

Because these rares are in unsupported color pairs (or wedges in Nia’s case), you’ll either need to splash them or play a weird deck to use them. Most of these are worth the effort, though Druneth, Reviver of the Hive suffers from a lack of good 1-drops in the format. Let’s look at each “odd” color pair a bit so you know what to expect.

BW doesn’t have much thematic cohesion, but it does have some of the format’s best removal. Both of its gold cards are also very powerful, so this is my second favorite of the unsupported color pairs.

Uharis, the Stormspinner is powerful, but actual going UR seems pretty ill-advised. If you want to try it out, consider drafting and splashing Uharis in UB or BR. Mayhem offers a consistent way to trigger this powerful end of turn ability, and its late cast restriction works well with splashing it anyways.

BG is probably the best of the unsupported decks. Green has some common villains to support Damning Caress, which is essential to leverage Brako, Heartless Hunter. It’s pretty standard Rock fare (play some big guys, play some removal spells…), but a decent fallback plan if you can’t go into GW or UB.

RW should basically never come together. R’s only real strength (mayhem) doesn’t play with white at all, so you’ll almost always just be WU/GW with a splash of R. Gloria, the Great Armorer is amazing and all, but trust me, just find a way to splash it.

I’m not a big fan of Druneth, Reviver of the Hive in Limited. I don’t hate the idea of GUx value pile in OM1 though, although GW arguably works better for that. One cool interaction you could try to build around is Scout the City plus Ozor, Chronicler of Collapse.

5-Color Control

The last deck worth mentioning involves Scions of the Ur-Spider and tons of mana fixing. This 5-color legend is frankly rather busted, as evidenced by how it crushed me the only time I’ve faced it. As such it’s not out of question to draft and build around it as a 5-color payoff. It’s not especially tough to build around either.

1. Lots of mana fixing, be it Eccentric Aracnologist, Vinewoven Chariot, Zan, Tunnelweb Explorer, or even Treat Trolley.
2. Lots of spiders to make the turn you slam Scions of the Ur-Spider a game over situation for your opponent.
3. A mix of card advantage, removal, and other bombs. Given that you’re 5-color anyways, you might be able to scoop up all kinds of unwanted goodies like Qoneus, Horizon Splicer
   and Brako, Heartless Hunter.

I don’t have an example for this one, but it’s basically the only thing left that I want to do in this format!

A Brief Guide to Pick-Two Draft

If you plan to draft Spider-Man Through the Omenpaths online, you’ll need to get used to the Pick-Two Draft Format. Both Premier and Traditional Drafts for the set on Arena currently use Pick-Two, as do Draft Leagues on Magic Online. Your local game store may also use Pick-Two for actual Spider-Man.

The rules for Pick-Two are pretty simple; you “pick two” cards per pack while you draft, usually in pods of four players. Though easy to understand, there are definitely some strategic implications to picking two cards at once. I’ll use some examples to expand on how to approach it.

Example #1

Since you’ll do pick one and two simultaneously, you should generally aiming to pick two compatible cards. Take this pack for example: I’ve selected Diligent Webkeepers and Mothwing Shroud, both of which can go in either GW or WU.

There were two viable follow ups here to my P1P1s; WU signpost plus Wonderweave Aerialist, or the two green cards. Either way, my P1 left me open to two different decks, which resulted in the trophy I used for WU’s example.

You can view the full draft here if you’d like.

Example #2

Of course, you won’t always have the luxury of straddling two lines every draft. Sometimes it pays to commit, especially when you can lock in a busted rare like The Watcher on the Road. Kavaero, Mind-Bitten isn’t quite as good, but it was a card I wanted to try. From these picks, there are a couple of ways to proceed:

• Draft UB
• Draft BR, splashing The Watcher on the Road
• Draft something else entirely if the next packs are terrible for UB

I drafted UB in the end, as the best card in the next pack was another villains payoff! From there it was just an easy, autopilot draft, which isn’t uncommon in Through the Omenpaths. Remember, there are only five archetypes to begin with, and two of them are less than great.

You can view the full draft here.

Example #3

So how do you get into RG or BR anyways? The answer is generally stubbornness, or simply forcing them based on certain cards. Here I should’ve definitely taken Sudden Strike and Mothwing Shroud, but I wanted a personal example of a trophy with RG.

You can view the full draft here.

Example #4

My last example starts auspiciously, with a busted rare and a great spider to go with it. However, the end deck looks nothing like this P1P1.

I started in GU of all things, as GW didn’t feel open at all. BG also isn’t a real archetype, and red is so bad that it practically offered nothing in these packs. By the end of P1, my deck looked like this:

While I struggled mightily to stay in GUx (thinking I could just be Bant ()), my table had other plans for me.

Combine all this with the pair of The Watcher on the Roads that I got P3P1 and P3P3, and it’s no wonder I ended up UB!

You can view the full draft here. I wouldn’t usually expect to waffle like this in Pick-Two, but it’s worth noting that you can still follow signals like any other Draft format.

Wrap Up (in Webs)

Radioactive Spider | Illustration by Gonzalo Kenny

And with that, you have everything you need to know for spidey success! I don’t plan on playing this format much more, but I made sure to get my reps in before I wrote about it. I’ll say that Pick-Two does have its perks; both the draft process and games are over pretty fast, which is great for getting in more drafts.

Which archetypes, supported or unsupported, do you like to draft in this format? Are there any good cards I haven’t mentioned? Let me know in the comments below or over on the Draftsim Discord. And if you plan to draft Through the Omenpaths on Arena, remember that Draftsim’s Arena Tutor is your best tool to supplement your drafting decisions, track your collection, and much more.

I wish you the best of luck with this format, and I hope you don’t get too bored until Avatar: The Last Airbender comes out. I have a feeling that set is going to be an all-timer!