The Ultimate Guide to Marvel’s Spider-Man Sealed

Last updated on September 30, 2025

Web-Warriors | Illustration by Thanh Tuan

Greetings planeswalkers! Your Friendly Neighborhood Spider-Man is swinging in for Prerelease this weekend. This punchy guide will teach you everything you need for Spidey success, including the set’s mechanics, archetypes, themes, and top cards.

Marvel’s Spider-Man vs. Through the Omenpaths

Desecrex, Gift of Servitude | Illustration by Diana Franco

One odd thing about Marvel’s Spider-Man that we must acknowledge is that it’s actually two sets at the same time! The first set is Spider-Man, which is what you’ll open at Prereleases this weekend. The second set is Through the Omenpaths, which is what you’ll play online on MTG Arena and MTGO. Through the Omenpaths is mechanically identical to Spider-Man, but it’s flavorfully distinct (i.e., Friendly Neighborhood to Remarkable Readings).

For the purposes of this guide (and its sequel Draft Guide), I’ll use card names from Spider-Man rather than Through the Omenpaths. Everything written here applies to both sets, though you may occasionally need to look up card names. I recommend using Scryfall to do so, as each individual card has the Through the Omenpaths version as one of its printings.

I apologize in advance if this causes any confusion, but that can’t really be avoided!

Mechanics

Spider-Man features two new mechanics that are directly inspired by this iconic franchise. It also includes a couple of returning mechanics like connive and modified.

Web-Slinging/Enweb

The first new mechanic is web-slinging (which is called “enweb” in Through the Omenpaths). Web-slinging is an alternative cost that you can pay by returning a tapped creature to your hand. Most web-slinging costs are cheaper than the original, though there’s one exception (Spiders-Man, Heroic Horde).

Web-Slinging Example

1. You have a City Pigeon in play.
2. You attack your opponent with it, which taps it.
3. After combat, you cast Spider-Man, Web-Slinger for its web-slinging cost and return City Pigeon to your hand.
4. This triggers its “leaves the battlefield” ability, which creates a Food token.
5. You then play City Pigeon again.

Web-Slinging Gameplay

Web-slinging is an interesting mechanic that you can approach in a couple of different ways:

• The easiest way to successfully web-sling is to safely attack with something.
• Cheap evasive creatures like City Pigeon are well fit for this.
• Web-slinging can also be a source of card advantage with Gallant Citizen if you can tap it somehow.
• If you can’t safely attack, cards like Subway Train and Supportive Parents enable you to tap your creatures without combat.
• You may also occasionally web-sling with creatures that tap themselves, like Guy in the Chair (yes, that’s a real card name).

Web-slinging is the official archetype for GW in Marvel’s Spider-Man. There aren’t actually that many cards with the mechanic, though; it's limited to just two commons, three uncommons, and a handful of rares and mythics. Either way, it looks fun to pull off, and it’s clearly intended to play with cards like City Pigeon and Gallant Citizen.

Mayhem

Mayhem is the other new mechanic in Spider-Man, and it’s essentially an interesting new take on madness. If you’ve discarded a card with mayhem this turn, you may cast it for its mayhem cost from your graveyard. Unlike madness (which forces you to cast the card immediately), there’s a turn-long window for you to play the card when you feel like it. Timing restrictions still apply, though (so no instant speed Electro's Bolt).

Mayhem Example

1. You cast Pumpkin Bombardment to deal 3 damage to Spider-Man, Web-Slinger and discard Spider-Islanders.
2. Afterwards, you cast Spider-Islanders from your graveyard by paying its mayhem cost.

Mayhem Gameplay

Mayhem is the official archetype for BR in Marvel’s Spider-Man. It feels slightly better supported than web-slinging, as many blue, black, and red cards let you discard to enable it. Cards with mayhem appear in all three colors, though primarily in red and black.

Connive

Connive is a returning mechanic introduced in Streets of New Capenna. When a creature you control connives, you’ll draw a card, then discard a card. If you discard a nonland card this way, put a +1/+1 counter on the creature that connived. If you discard a land card, the creature doesn't get a +1/+1 counter.

Connive Example

1. You cast Mob Lookout.
2. It enters and you choose itself to connive.
3. You draw a card and then discard Swarm, Being of Bees to put a +1/+1 counter on Mob Lookout.
4. You then cast Swarm, Being of Bees from your graveyard for its mayhem cost.

Connive Gameplay

Connive (and villains) is the official archetype of UB in Marvel’s Spider-Man. There aren’t actually that many cards with connive overall, but you’ll still see plenty as four commons feature the mechanic. It’s a broadly useful game action that has obvious synergy with mayhem. Every card with connive is some combination of blue, black, or colorless.

Modified

Modified is another returning mechanic, introduced in Kamigawa: Neon Dynasty. A creature is considered modified when it’s equipped, has an aura on it, and/or has a counter on it. This is relevant for a handful of cards that care about modified specifically.

Modified Example

1. You have a Skyward Spider in play.
2. You play Silver Sable, Mercenary Leader.
3. When Silver Sable enters, you target Skyward Spider to receive a +1/+1 counter.
4. Since Skyward Spider has a +1/+1 counter, it’s now considered modified, so it has flying.

Modified Gameplay

Modified is the official archetype for WU in Marvel’s Spider-Man. There are even fewer modified cards than other mechanics, though it’ll still matter specifically for that color pair. Most modified cards are indeed white or blue, though there’s one powerful exception in Araña, Heart of the Spider. It’s also worth noting that connive can also function as a modified enabler due to the +1/+1 counter it creates.

Transforming MDFCs

Spider-Man features a mythic cycle of transforming MDFCs. These are rare, powerful cards that feature iconic Spider-Man characters, which you can cast as either the front or back side. The front side is always a cheap mono-colored creature, while the backside is a stronger 3-color option. Each of these cards also has the ability to transform from front to back by paying their mana cost as an activated ability at sorcery speed.

I’ll review each one individually later, as they all seem pretty bomby in Limited! You’ll have to splash for them (as they are all three colors), but they should generally be worth the trouble.

The Soul Stone

Spider-Man also features a flashy mythic rare with a unique type line and mechanic: The Soul Stone, which introduces the new “harness” mechanic. Once you pay the harness cost (in this case, plus exiling a creature you control), The Soul Stone’s infinity ability will be active. This is a one-off mechanic tied to the infinity stone, and it's a mythic rare, so don't worry too much about corner-cases.

Legendary

Spider-Man is also similar to Final Fantasy in that it features an obscene number of legendary creatures. There are 80 total in the set, including 10 legendary common creatures! This has implications for Limited alongside the set’s smaller card pool, as you may want to avoid drafting too many copies of the same legend. Two copies will rarely be too many, but be careful about playing 3+ copies of any legend that isn’t amazing.

Archetypes

One interesting wrinkle to Spider-Man is that it’s a smaller set than your average Magic outing. With only 193 draftable cards (compared to Edge of Eternities and Aetherdrift, which have 276 and 291 respectively), this is a Limited environment that’s positively spider-sized. Expect to see the same cards more often than normal, especially the commons.

The smaller set size has also led the developers to only support five official archetypes rather than the usual 10. Each has a pair of signpost uncommons to encourage players to draft it. There are also two hybrid cost cards for each color pair that play well in their respective archetypes.

Source: Wizards of the Coast

WU Modified

Signpost Uncommons: SP//dr, Piloted by Peni and Wraith, Vicious Vigilante

Hybrid Cards: Sun-Spider, Nimble Webber and Skyward Spider

WU has a fairly narrow theme that’s carried by two rather powerful uncommons, SP//dr, Piloted by Peni and Wraith, Vicious Vigilante. Wraith is the ultimate creature to dump modifications onto, while Peni is highly reminiscent of Haliya, Ascendant Cadet. Spider-Man No More is the only common target available for Sun-Spider, Nimble Webber to grab, so be sure to prioritize it here. Skyward Spider should also be a workhorse common here due to its ward and evasion once modified.

UB Villains/Connive

Signpost Uncommons: Morbius the Living Vampire and Prowler, Clawed Thief

Hybrid Cards: Vulture, Scheming Scavenger and Mob Lookout

UB has two themes: villains and connive. Morbius may have been a terrible movie, but Morbius the Living Vampire is much better when you discard it with connive. Prowler, Clawed Thief and Vulture, Scheming Scavenger showcase the archetype’s focus on villains: Both provide reasonable bonuses for your villainous schemes. To maximize this theme, look for cards like Venom's Hunger, The Spot's Portal, and Tombstone, Career Criminal. UB overlaps well with the BR Mayhem archetype, as connive is perfect to set up mayhem plays.

BR Mayhem

Signpost Uncommon: Green Goblin, Revenant and Scarlet Spider, Kaine

Hybrid Cards: Shriek, Treblemaker and Pumpkin Bombardment

BR is all about discarding cards for fun and profit. All three of its signposts offer convenient ways to set up mayhem. Given the sheer quantity of playable discard in Marvel’s Spider-Man, I’d prioritize good mayhem cards first and foremost. Look for cards like Electro's Bolt, Raging Goblinoids, and Swarm, Being of Bees to maximize your synergies. And don’t forget that UB’s overlap with BR works both ways!

RG Large Spells

Signpost Uncommon: Kraven, Proud Predator and Rhino, Barreling Brute

Hybrid Cards: Rhino's Rampage and Spider Manifestation

RG is mostly content to do its own thing in Spider-Man. RG’s theme reminds of UR in Final Fantasy, though the focus this time is on big permanents rather than big spells. Kraven, Proud Predator scales to match your biggest thing, and Rhino, Barreling Brute is sure to be the chonkiest boy on the table. Early-game plays like Spider Manifestation and Lurking Lizards provide an essential backbone for this strategy.

GW Web-Slinging

Signpost Uncommon: Spider-Girl, Legacy Hero and Spider-Man India

Hybrid Cards: Web-Warriors and Gallant Citizen

SPM’s last archetype is arguably the most iconic one, as it focuses on the web-slinging mechanic. Spider-Girl, Legacy Hero is the perfect accomplice for another Spider-Man, like Spider-Man India. The heavy creature focus of this archetype also plays well with Web-Warriors. I mentioned City Pigeon and Gallant Citizen earlier as examples, and they should be staple commons for this archetype.

Set Overview

Spider-Man, Spider-Man, does whatever a Spider…er, never mind, let’s get back to Limited. We have a set that’s smaller than average, with only five archetypes. These archetypes also seem to have different levels of support; mayhem/connive feels very flush throughout Marvel’s Spider-Man, while modified and big costs are rather sparse. I wouldn’t be surprised if UB/BR decks are slightly more common in Sealed than other pairings.

Color Identities

Here I’ll analyze each of the colors at common to see what that teaches us about this Spider-Man set.

White seems scrappy and focused on small creatures. It has one of the set’s best removal spells (Web Up), and creatures to curve out with on turns 1 to 4. Natural +1/+1 counter creatures like Selfless Police Captain and Daily Bugle Reporters give white a leg up on being modified.

Blue has a clear focus on connive at common. Beetle, Legacy Criminal is a Phantom Monster that you can discard with upside. Every single one of its creatures is a villain, too. Amazing Acrobatics is also notable for substantially power creeping Cancel, as you can choose “one or both” with it.

Black has even more villains than blue does. Scorpion's Sting is just Last Gasp by another name, but that rate is still excellent even by 2025 Limited standards. Venom, Evil Unleashed is notable for both its connive upside and huge stat line, at least by Spider-Man standards. There are only two commons creatures that can trade with it in combat: Spider-Rex, Daring Dino and Stegron the Dinosaur Man.

Red is better at discarding cards than any other color. Masked Meower, Romantic Rendezvous, and Spider-Gwen, Free Spirit provide a great base to use cards like Electro's Bolt and Swarm, Being of Bees. If you aren’t doing anything with mayhem, red looks more like a support color. It’ll also struggle to deal with creatures that have 5 or more toughness.

Green feels kind of divorced from any inherent theme. It has some big dudes, a decent mana dork, and a mediocre fight spell in Kapow!. One of green’s greatest strengths is its ability to splash cards with Guy in the Chair, Professional Wrestler, and Spider-Man, Brooklyn Visionary. It also has the single largest common creature (Spider-Rex, Daring Dino, which looks surprisingly difficult to deal with in this set.

Archetype Overlap

UB connive and BR mayhem have substantial overlap since connive provides an easy way to discard for mayhem. Most creatures with mayhem are also villains, though there are exceptions (Scarlet Spider, Kaine and Spider-Islanders).

Evasive creatures that are good for web-slinging (i.e., City Pigeon) also tend to wear pants well for WU Modified. Returning creatures to your hand rids them of counters though, so you’ll use the same tools towards different ends.

And that’s about it! The synergies in Marvel’s Spider-Man appear rather parasitic, at least on paper. RG notably has no obvious overlap with any other archetype.

Mana Fixing/Splashing

Spider-Man is a set with a reasonable amount of fixing. I wouldn’t expect to play five colors very often, but there are plenty of ways to splash a card or two.

Common Crook

You can trade off your Common Crook to get a Treasure, which can be good for one splashed card. Not the most reliable fixing, but better than nothing.

Guy in the Chair

Guy in the Chair acts as an expensive omni-dork with a passable stat line and some web-slinging synergy. It’s one of the more obvious ways to splash.

Professional Wrestler

Getting the Treasure when Professional Wrestler enters is substantially more convenient than Common Crook, and Wrestler is a beefy fellow, too.

Spider-Man, Brooklyn Visionary

Spider-Man, Brooklyn Visionary has an excellent rate if you can swing it in, though it's slightly over-costed otherwise. Either way, it’ll let you tutor up whatever basic you need to cast your splashed bomb.

Spider Manifestation

The hybrid cost of Spider Manifestation makes it rather flexible, as you can play it in 7/10 color pairs. It also fixes for red and green if you have an awkward draw (or are splashing a red or green card).

Subway Train

Subway Train provides nice fixing for a green deck, and it acts as a sort of vehicle Civic Wayfinder. It also offers a handy way to sling some webs.

Hot Dog Cart

Manalith plus a Food is about as underwhelming as a real life Hot Dog Cart. It’s not strictly unplayable, but you’ll usually have better options for splashing.

Spider-Bot

It’s Campus Guide but with reach and a relevant creature type. Spider-Bot is hardly a premium card, but I wouldn’t be embarrassed to play it if I wanted another 2-drop.

Supportive Parents

Supportive Parents may be the key to enabling greedy splashes. You’ve been a good son… now help me cast this Green Goblin.

Daily Bugle Building

Unknown Shores with upside is neat, especially given how many legendaries there are swinging around. I’d be happy to play Daily Bugle Building over a basic in just about any deck, including strictly 2-color ones.

Cards “Off the Beaten Path”

One reason why splashing seems important in Spider-Man is that the set isn’t quite as one-dimensional as advertised. There are some exciting rares in SPM that don’t fit into any of the five official archetypes. These include:

• The Spot, Living Portal
• Mister Negative
• Spider-Man 2099
• Kraven the Hunter
• Araña, Heart of the Spider
• Jackal, Genius Geneticist

There’s also the cycle of double-faced mythic rares, all of which are pushed 3-color cards. Four of the five occupy a 3-color combination, which means they overlap with two official archetypes. Gwen Stacy / Ghost-Spider is the sole exception, as it only directly overlaps with WU Modified.

Either way, there’s enough power there that I’d be willing to put in the work to make most of these cards work.

Top Commons

Here I’ll attempt to guess the top three commons for each color. Everyone is reading 17lands data these days anyways, so let’s check back here in a couple of weeks and see how I did!

White

1. Web Up

Don’t let the flavor fool you; its Banishing Light again! We’ve seen cards like Web Up over and over in Limited, but the design’s ubiquity doesn’t make it any less premium. For a fair rate, this gets rid of whatever you need gone, and it's even splashable to boot.

2. Selfless Police Captain 

Dockworker Drone has been very solid in Edge of Eternities, and Selfless Police Captain has less competition due to being in a smaller set. This brawls favorably with other 2-drops, plays well in multiples, and works great with other +1/+1 counter cards.

3. Spectacular Tactics

Spectacular Tactics is a decent pump/protection spell that also answers large creatures. Both modes are useful in very different situations, so flexibility is this card’s greatest selling point.

Blue

1. Whoosh!

Into the Roil has always been a great Limited card. You can play Whoosh! cheaply when you need to or go the extra mile to retain card parity. Either way, it’s great all-purpose interaction that every blue deck will want.

2. Doc Ock, Sinister Scientist

Finding a lackey for Doc Ock, Sinister Scientist is easy, and its base stats are also reasonable even without the boost. Its late game sizing is a big draw to the card though, as an 8/8 hexproof is an incredible win condition for a common. You can speed up its growth with self-mill cards like Eerie Gravestone and Venomized Cat.

3. Spider-Man No More

A 1/1 defender with no abilities may as well be dead. The defender ability that Spider-Man No More slaps onto an opposing creature should mostly keep you safe from web-slinging, though you may occasionally fall prey to Subway Train shenanigans. Still, blue doesn’t really get hard removal, so take what you can get!

Black

1. Scorpion’s Sting

Cheap, instant removal like Scorpion's Sting is premium in just about every format. This kills just about every creature below 4 cost, and it can even win combats vs larger ones.

2. Swarm, Being of Bees

Flash Wind Drake isn’t that bad of a fail case, and the mayhem cost on Swarm, Being of Bees is dirt cheap, too.

3. Venom’s Hunger

Black has villains aplenty, so you’ll usually be happy with the rate here. If you can’t keep a villain around, paying 5 for Venom's Hunger won’t feel great.

Red

1. Electro’s Bolt

Four damage kills the vast majority of common creatures, plus plenty of uncommons and rares, too. You don’t need mayhem to play this one, though mayhem potential is what takes Electro's Bolt from acceptable removal to red’s best common.

2. Shock

It’s no Lightning Bolt, but Shock is still a solid playable for just about any red deck. It’s best for killing cheap creatures, but it can also go face later as well. Bzzzttt.

3. Spider-Islanders

There’s a ton of ways to enable mayhem in red, which should make Spider-Islanders better than it looks. We’ve come a long way from Borderland Minotaur, though you could still do worse for a fail case.

Green

1. Professional Wrestler

A free Treasure is a nice bonus on such a beefy fellow. That small perk definitely puts Professional Wrestler above something like Icecave Crasher, so I doubt I’ll ever cut it from any green deck.

2. Spider-Rex, Daring Dino

Cringey flavor aside, Spider-Rex, Daring Dino is really big and has a bunch of relevant abilities. Your opponent will have to pay 5+ mana to deal with it or it’ll simply run over them.

3. Lurking Lizards

Lurking Lizards gives Sahagin vibes, which was a major overperformer in Final Fantasy. Trample isn’t quite as good as unblockable, but I like cards that scale and give you something to do early. Note that this triggers off web-slinging cards like Spider-Man, Brooklyn Visionary.

Other

1. Gallant Citizen

Pond Prophet was excellent in Bloomburrow, so Gallant Citizen should be a safe bet as well. This ranges from an essential web-slinging companion to great filler at worst. The cost is easiest in GW, but it’s accessible for any G or W deck (especially if that's your base color).

2. Spider Manifestation

Spider Manifestation also seems strong to me, even if the untap upside looks fairly minor. Don’t forget that this isn’t strictly a green card, so BR players should happily play it, too.

3. Subway Train

I’ve always loved Civic Wayfinder type cards in Limited, so I expect to play this happily even without web-slinging synergy. If you have the latter though, I’d expect Subway Train to be surprisingly impressive.

Top Uncommons

And now I’ll attempt to guess the top three uncommons for each color as well.

White

1. Sudden Strike     

Sudden Strike is almost unconditional removal, and remarkably efficient to boot. It works slightly better in controlling decks, but just about any deck should play it (or even splash it).

2. Spider-UK

This is an excellent build-around that wants cheap creatures like City Pigeon and Gallant Citizen. Spider-UK is a natural fit for the GW web-slinging archetype.

3. Silver Sable, Mercenary Leader

Silver Sable, Mercenary Leader brings its own modification, which makes the lifelink bonus a freeroll here. It also provides 3/4 worth of stats for just , so I’d happily play this in any white deck.

Blue

1. Spider-Byte, Web Warden

Man-o'-War is still a great rate to this day. You’ll mostly bounce your opponents’ stuff for tempo, but the flexibility to bounce Gallant Citizen is nice, too. Spider-Byte, Web Warden is also a dreamy card to web-sling with, though that won’t happen often in blue.

2. School Daze

It feels much better to hold up 5 mana for Jace's Ingenuity when it’s also Dismiss! School Daze is a scary card for ramp decks to play against, and it should be great in any game where you aren’t dramatically behind.

3. Flying Octobot

Spider-Man has quite the rogue’s gallery, so it shouldn’t be hard to grow Flying Octobot repeatedly. You won’t usually be able to justify playing this in WU Modified, though.

Black

1. The Spot’s Portal

Three mana to get rid of something is a great rate, even if you end up losing 2 life in the process. It’s not hard to have a villain handy for The Spot's Portal, either.

2. Tombstone, Career Criminal

Tombstone, Career Criminal is a cheaper Gravedigger with upside, provided you’re mostly playing villains. That’s easy enough to do in black, so I quite like Tombstone.

3. Spider-Man Noir

Spider-Man Noir is a bit slow to get going, but its incremental +1/+1 counters and its surveil are a nice combination of abilities. Keep in mind that it doesn’t need to be the one attacking alone either, so you can get immediate value.

Red

1. Wisecrack

Wisecrack acts as efficient removal that kills most things, including deathtouch creatures like Venom, Evil Unleashed that it otherwise wouldn’t.

2. Shocker, Unshakable

The joke is it Shocks, get it? Either way, 5/5 first strike plus two Shocks makes Shocker, Unshakable a powerful curve-topper in any red deck.

3. Superior Foes of Spider-Man

Here’s some decent curve filler that also provides easy card advantage for doing something you were probably going to do anyways. You can even trigger Superior Foes of Spider-Man and trade it off, since the exiled card remains accessible even if this leaves the battlefield.

Green

1. Terrific Team-Up

Terrific Team-Up is much safer to use than Kapow!, as it’s instant, potentially cheaper, and uses two targets. This is green’s only premium removal spell.

2. Ezekiel Sims, Spider-Totem

Ezekiel Sims, Spider-Totem has decent stats on its own, and it gives a massive combat bonus to one of your spiders every turn. There are plenty of those in Marvel’s Spider-Man, including this card itself, so Ezekiel looks quite threatening to me.

3. Spiders-Man, Heroic Horde

This is an exciting web-slinging payoff that’s also a 2/3 for at worst. Spiders-Man, Heroic Horde is good early and late, so it’s well worth playing.

Strong Rares

Here’s a list of strong rares for you to guffaw at when you open them this weekend. I’ll include a little review for each with some information as well. After curating this list, I think Marvel’s Spider-Man is bombier than average, as I ended up listing most of SPM’s rares!

Peter Parker / Amazing Spider-Man

The original Spider-Man makes for a pretty good Magic card. At worst, Peter Parker is decent 2-drop and a chump blocker. It gets substantially better once you actively have Bant mana (). You may also occasionally be able to web-sling with Peter Parker itself for value!

Normon Osborn / Green Goblin

Merfolk Looter is now played by Willem Dafoe. That’s a great start, but it’s the Green Goblin backside that’s truly bomby here. Norman Osborn is a dream card for mayhem decks, and well worth splashing.

Behold the Sinister Six!

Connive and self-mill cards like Eerie Gravestone and Venomized Cat may let you live the dream with this one. Behold the Sinister Six! is clunky and unwieldy, but the power level is undeniable.

Eddie Brock / Venom, Lethal Protector

There aren’t many 1-drops available to get back with Eddie Brock, but Venom, Lethal Protector is worth the splash. It’s a huge creature that lets you turn something else into tons of cards. I love the idea of sacrificing Spider-Man, Brooklyn Visionary to this after I tutor up the land I need to cast it.

Gwenom, Remorseless

Bolas's Citadel is much better when it comes on a well-statted creature like Gwenom, Remorseless. Lifelink removes so much risk from the usual Citadel equation. Gwenom is one of the very best reasons to be black in the entire set.

The Soul Stone

The Soul Stone is an efficient mana rock with a powerful late-game ability. That’s a clear recipe for success in Limited, especially if you have exciting 4+ cost cards to ramp to.

Gwen Stacy / Ghost-Spider

Gwen Stacy is in awkward colors, but it’s essentially a 2-for-1 creature that flips into a big dragon. It’s hard to get much better than that in Limited, so I’d happily play this even if I couldn’t flip it into Ghost-Spider.

Miles Morales / Ultimate Spider-Man

Miles Morales can target itself, so it’s not hard to get 3/4 worth of stats for . I’m assuming its Naya () mode becomes colorless because it's camouflage, but either way it’s a large creature with a bunch of abilities and free counters. Sign me up!

Web of Life and Destiny

This requires some setup, but Web of Life and Destiny seems quite bomby if you can pull it off. Cheap creatures like Gallant Citizen make it much easier to convoke this.

Doctor Octopus, Master Planner

Doctor Octopus, Master Planner is the one of the biggest bombs in the entire set. It’s a gigantic creature that draws an obscene number of cards, and the +2/+2 villains boost is also highly relevant. I’d go out of my way to splash it in any U or B deck. You should also consider holding lands in hand if this sticks around several turns, as overdrawing could lead to decking.

Friendly Neighborhood

There’s nothing friendly about this one, at least not for your opponent. Captain's Call baseline plus the powerful activated ability seems miserable to play against. You can (and should) also tutor Friendly Neighborhood with Sun-Spider, Nimble Webber to compound your opponent’s misery!

Origin of Spider-Man

Not quite as busted as Friendly Neighborhood, but it’s still hard to say no to simple value like Origin of Spider-Man. You get a 3/2 with reach plus one double strike attack at worst. There are also potential benefits to gain here by making something a spider.

Spectacular Spider-Man

A 3/2 with flash for just with abilities this good? Spectacular Spider-Man is spectacular indeed, and it provides both an evasive beater and an awesome combat trick/anti-sweeper card.

Hide on the Ceiling

Hide on the Ceiling is reminiscent of March of Swirling Mist, but it exiles rather than phases. This instant has substantial upside both as removal for tokens and a way to flicker your own stuff. You can also simply banish a bunch of blockers for a lethal strike or buy a turn by using this defensively.

Mysterio, Master of Illusion

Mysterio, Master of Illusion counts itself, so you either get a pair of Hill Giants or an immediate must-kill threat. Either one is definitely above rate for , so always play this (and try to include more villains if you can).

The Clone Saga

I’d love to copy Mysterio with The Clone Saga, but really just about any old creature should be fine. Surveil 3 makes this easier to set up, and the third chapter can make it a proper 2-for-1 as well. It’s not the most broken card in Marvel’s Spider-Man or anything, but it makes for a solid value play.

Agent Venom

It isn’t too hard to set up a 2-for-1 with Agent Venom because you just need to flash this symbiote in before a trade occurs. Agent Venom also has menace and decent base stats, so I’m never cutting it from any black deck.

Black Cat, Cunning Thief

What a truly disgusting rare. Black Cat, Cunning Thief is some Dante’s Inferno level Limited design, so it feels appropriate that it looks nine cards deep. Prepare to have your bombs mercilessly stolen, and don’t forget to audibly sigh when your opponent gets Black Cat back with Eerie Gravestone.

Morlun, Devourer of Spiders

Child of Night baseline plus an Exsanguinate kicker makes for a powerful and elegant design, which I’m frankly surprised we hadn’t seen yet. Morlun, Devourer of Spiders‘s only catch is that it requires you to be base black, but otherwise sign me up.

The Death of Gwen Stacy

Sorcery Murder is the real draw here, as Chapters II and III feel fairly lackluster. Still, removal is removal, and you might occasionally hose Doc Ock, Sinister Scientist with Chapter III of The Death of Gwen Stacy.

Villainous Wrath

Villainous Wrath is a great wrath effect that goes far beyond normal removal. The damage bonus varies from minor to devastating, depending on how wide your opponent goes.

Electro, Assaulting Battery

Electro, Assaulting Battery has decent base stats, evasion, and some cool abilities. These aren’t the easiest abilities to use in Limited or anything, but you may occasionally be able to float mana to great effect. I’d sing its praises if the X trigger could hit creatures, but Electro is a solid 3-drop either way.

J. Jonah Jameson

Speaking of solid-3 drops, J. Jonah Jameson is another clearly above-average creature. Curving a 2-drop into Jameson puts you immediately ahead, and it can even suspect itself (or a blocker) if desired.

Shadow of the Goblin

This is definitely a build-around, though there’s enough mayhem for me to be interested. I love the potential for card advantage that Shadow of the Goblin offers, and I’d also expect at least a couple points of damage from it in your average mayhem deck.

Spider-Punk

Spider-Punk isn’t a bad rate, even with zero other spiders. It’s not too hard to find those either, especially if your secondary color is green.

Kraven’s Last Hunt

It’s removal, a temporary pump spell, and card advantage all in one card. Kraven's Last Hunt’s removal mode isn’t perfect, but ultimately what more could you ask for in Limited?

Lizard, Connor’s Curse

I like the flavor that Lizard, Connors's Curse makes whatever you target smaller than itself, but this villain has plenty of power to offer, too. You’ll usually upsize a smaller creature like Gallant Citizen with this, though it can also shrink or remove abilities from your opponent’s stuff. Throw in a 5/5 trample baseline and you have one of green’s best rares.

Radioactive Spider

Dragon Sniper was pretty good, so it’s nice to see what a rare version looks like. You’ll mostly want to trade off with Radioactive Spider, though I’m not opposed to tutoring up a powerful spider if the situation calls for it.

Sandman, Shifting Scoundrel

Sandman, Shifting Scoundrel is efficient, evasive, and highly resilient, which is frankly a ridiculous combination for just . It gets even better if you can mill it to Scout the City or Eerie Gravestone, though I’m windmill slamming this either way. Don't get too excited though, you must target a land to use its activated ability.

Spider-Ham, Peter Porker

Getting this much stats plus a Food on your Grizzly Bears is a great deal. Spider-Ham, Peter Porker isn’t the bombiest card in Marvel’s Spider-Man or anything, but it’s efficient enough that I’d basically never cut it.

Strength of Will

I’m not usually the biggest fan of situational combat tricks, but the blowout potential with Strength of Will is nasty. I’d love to respond to a Kapow! with this at least once, and I think the risk/reward for playing it should generally be favorable.

Biorganic Carapace

Biorganic Carapace turns any creature into a huge Scroll Thief, sticks around when that creature dies, and isn’t even expensive to equip. It’s easily the single best reason to be WU in SPM.

Spider-Woman, Stunning Savior

Efficient, easy to cast, and very annoying for your opponent. These are all great qualities, so I won’t shy away from recommending Spider-Woman, Stunning Savior highly.

Superior Spider-Man

The fail case here (a vanilla 4/4) isn’t the worst, and it’s not too difficult to get Clone upside either. Try to set up Superior Spider-Man with connive or self-mill and good pairings like Mysterio's Phantasm and Merciless Enforcers.

Symbiote Spider-Man

Symbiote Spider-Man isn’t a bad creature to begin with, as it’s a fatter Scroll Thief on its own. Where this gets really exciting is when you can discard it to a connive ability, as the upside this offers from the graveyard is unmatched.

Ultimate Green Goblin

This is a huge creature for its cost that repeatedly generates Treasure tokens and enables mayhem. You’ll definitely want a ton of mayhem cards for Ultimate Green Goblin, but it’s among the very best payoffs for doing so in Spider-Man.

Scarlet Spider, Ben Reilly

Scarlet Spider, Ben Reilly is just gigantic when swung in, especially for its miniscule cost. The fail case is also a 4/3 trampler for , so you can’t really go wrong here.

Mary Jane Watson

Face it, drafter. You just hit the jackpot. (No seriously. Mary Jane Watson is a pretty awesome 2-drop if you have some spiders. Highly recommended!)

Silk, Web Weaver

Silk, Web Weaver looks like a completely egregious bomb in Limited. It’s under-costed, it provides you with free tokens, and then it goes the extra distance and wins the game for you later. Would you rather lose to this or Black Cat, Cunning Thief?

The Spot, Living Portal

The Spot, Living Portal is a big Fiend Hunter that can also secure a card for later if it dies (by exiling something from your own graveyard). That’s a pretty awesome combination of abilities, and this card looks well worth splashing.

Spider-Man 2099

Miguel O’Hara makes for a compelling splash in a UB or BR deck. Not only does Spider-Man 2099 have fantastic stats for its costs, but mayhem offers an easy way to trigger its second ability, as well.

Kraven the Hunter

Kraven the Hunter is another powerful card in an oddball color pair. This makes combat very threatening for your opponent, and it plays incredibly well with black removal spells like Scorpion's Sting and Venom's Hunger.

Araña, Heart of the Spider

Araña, Heart of the Spider offers an immediate 4/4 worth of stats for just , while it also threatens to run away with the game via card advantage on hit. That’s a pretty crazy rate, and well worth the effort to splash it (or perhaps even to be RW).

Interdimensional Web Watch

Lots of text on Interdimensional Web Watch, but when you break it down it’s a 4-mana Divination that can pay for the cards it draws. That’s a pretty solid inclusion in any deck, even if you can’t really use the mana for much else.

Iron Spider, Stark Upgrade

There aren’t too many other artifact creatures in Spider-Man, but Iron Spider, Stark Upgrade is still pretty good on its own. Vigilance is key here, since it lets Iron Spider attack while it has the ability to pump. The second ability could also come up with other +1/+1 counter cards, though it’s more of a bonus.

Rocket-Powered Goblin Glider

Mayhem is key to make this work, as you’d expect from a Green Goblin card. Rocket-Powered Goblin Glider is quite efficient when you discard it, and over-costed when you can’t. Try to put it on something like Merciless Enforcers to build your own Baneslayer Angel.

Oscorp Industries

Crumbling Necropolis with mayhem upside is a pretty sweet card design. I’d happily play Oscorp Industries in any deck in these colors, and I look forward to occasionally picking up a 2-for-1 with it.

Urban Retreat

Speaking of 2-for-1 lands, Urban Retreat is another one that works great with cards like Gallant Citizen. You’ll happily play this in any deck that’s two or more of these colors.

Multiversal Passage

Multiversal Passage will push new ground in Standard as a kind of basic shock land. It’s a fantastically flexible land that I’d play in every single Spider-Man deck, with no exceptions!

Other Rares

Anti-Venom, Horrifying Healer

Anti-Venom, Horrifying Healer is quite bomby… if you’re somehow mono-white (or mono-white with a splash). That may be possible in a small set like this, though I doubt that’ll apply to most Sealed pools (or drafts).

Impostor Syndrome

This meme mythic is really tough to evaluate, though I’m guessing it’s a win-more card rather than a true bomb. If you want to give Impostor Syndrome a try, focus on evasive creatures first and foremost.

Spider-Verse

I’d have been on board if not for the “anywhere other than your hand” line, which deprives Spider-Verse of any real use in Limited. Copying Spider-Islanders definitely isn’t worth the trouble to play this!

Mister Negative

Axis of Mortality was pretty bad in Limited, but it didn’t come attached to a 5/5 with lifelink either. I wasn’t confident enough to list Mister Negative as a strong rare, but it does have potential. I’d at least consider splashing it.

Cosmic Spider-Man

Playing five colors is quite the hurdle, though splashing other powerful rares may give you a head start. I wouldn’t always play Cosmic Spider-Man or anything, but feel free to rock it if you open enough cards like Guy in the Chair and Subway Train.

Arachne, Psionic Weaver

Arachne, Psionic Weaver is almost identical to Spider-Man, Web-Slinger in practice (a fine playable, but hardly a bomb). Be careful with what type of card you name, as it counts your cards, too.

Rent Is Due

There aren’t many ways to make Treasures, and tapping two creatures is quite the cost for a single card. The end step timing also makes Rent Is Due unable to support web-slinging, so I doubt it’ll be good in Limited.

With Great Power…

With Great Power… comes a terrible Limited rare! The risk of getting 2-for-1’d here is massive, and you might even just lose your creature to your opponent’s next attack. Straight to the bulk bin with you.

Hydro-Man, Fluid Felon

This is a passable 2-drop that plays well with instants like Amazing Acrobatics and Whoosh! Note that Hydro-Man, Fluid Felon effectively can’t block due to the land clause, so be careful!

Lady Octopus, Inspired Inventor

Lady Octopus, Inspired Inventor will never be passable in Limited. This is purely a Constructed card, so leave it in your sideboard where it belongs.

Spider-Sense

I could see some blowouts from Spider-Sense, as it’s fairly close to Negate / Stifle with upside. It’s not the most reliable Limited card or anything, but I’m not opposed to seeing how it plays before I write it off.

Parker Luck

Things aren’t going to go your way if you put Parker Luck in your deck. It’s entirely symmetrical, but you’ll be down a card and 3 mana in the first place when you play it!

Maximum Carnage

This makes much more sense in a format like Commander rather than Limited. Chapter I is just a big fat blank here, and nothing else Maximum Carnage does makes up for that.

Spinneret and Spiderling

Getting enough spiders for Spinneret and Spiderling in red seems quite tricky, so I doubt this makes the cut very often. 1/2 is just such a bad stat line, even for a 1-drop like this. It’s a shame, too, as the dream curve of this into Spider-Punk does seem pretty sweet (although that’s two rares).

Carnage, Crimson Chaos

Carnage, Crimson Chaos’s enters ability won’t usually do too much, but it still has passable stats and a cheap mayhem cost. It’s a good rare for a BR mayhem deck, but a notch below most other multicolored rares. Note that you can actually block with the creature you get back, at least for a turn.

Cheering Crowd

Your opponent gets the first use of extra mana, though they’ll have to grow Cheering Crowd to do so. I’d expect this to mostly work out in your favor, though it carries enough risk that I can’t say exactly how it will play out.

Jackal, Genius Geneticist

Jackal, Genius Geneticist reads powerfully, but suffers from SPM’s lack of 1-drop creatures. There isn’t a single non-rare 1-drop in either of its colors, which means you’ll need to put a counter on it first to get started. That may be possible for some decks, but the risk of this being stuck as a useless 1/1 seems quite real.

Doc Ock’s Tentacles

I don’t have the stomach to call Doc Ock's Tentacles outright “bad”, though it does look rather clunky to use manually. Doc Ock, Sinister Scientist is an obvious and worthwhile pairing if you have it, thanks to its hexproof ability.

Peter Parker’s Camera

Copying abilities is cool, but it’s hardly a reliable way to win games of Limited. I’d need a very specific deck to consider playing Peter Parker's Camera.

Cards Worth Splashing

I’ve mentioned a lot of these above, but here’s a recap with no descriptions for reference (sorted from most rare to least):

• Behold the Sinister Six!
• Doctor Octopus, Master Planner
• Friendly Neighborhood
• Mysterio, Master of Illusion
• Kraven's Last Hunt
• Biorganic Carapace
• Silk, Web Weaver
• The Spot, Living Portal
• Spider-Man 2099
• Kraven the Hunter
• Araña, Heart of the Spider
• Sudden Strike
• The Spot's Portal
• Wisecrack
• Terrific Team-Up
• Sp//dr, Piloted by Peni
• Web Up
• Doc Ock, Sinister Scientist
• Scorpion's Sting
• Electro's Bolt

Seven Steps for Sealed Success

Let’s go over how building your spidey Sealed pool might actually play out. Here are seven steps you can use as a check list after you open your Prerelease pool!

1. Open your boosters and sort your cards by rarity and color. Note any bombs or exceptional cards.
2. Set unplayable cards aside (Parker Luck, Spider-Verse, etc.), then assess which of your colors are deepest. I’m mostly looking for the best commons/uncommons here, with particular importance given to efficient removal, multicolor cards, premium uncommons, or anything else that’s clearly above average.
3. Start to lay out your best cards, with an eye towards available color combos that let you play most of your good stuff.
4. Consider whether splashing makes sense for your Sealed pool. Green decks have the easiest time of this, though UB and BR decks may occasionally want to splash each other’s cards, too.
5. Keep working on your deck and aim for a good balance of bombs, removal, card advantage, and mana curve. If you’re worried about build time (which is usually about 50 minutes), you can mitigate time anxieties by having a baseline done early (i.e., “I know I’m playing some kind of white deck for Silk, Web Weaver and Biorganic Carapace, but is base WU or GW better?”).
6. Settle on a final product, then battle it out! Feel free to change your deck between rounds to fix errors and/or try new things. Prereleases are a great place to learn a new set in a relaxed environment, so don’t feel like you need to do everything perfectly immediately.
7. Don’t forget that you can use Draftsim's Sealed pool generator to practice the set before you attend your prerelease!

Wrap Up (in Webs)

Web Up | Illustration by David Palumbo

And with that, we have spun our last web; at least for today! I hope you have a good time at Spider-Man Prerelease this weekend, and that you find this guide useful. I tried to be as thorough as I could, which made this longer than I expected for such a small set.

Which archetype are you hoping to find in your Sealed pool? Which cards do you hope you won’t see across the table from you? Let me know in the comments below, or over on the Draftsim Discord.

Best of luck, and may your Black Cats always hit bombs!