Locations
Welcome back! I'm not sure when this article will be going up, but last weekend I found myself at SDCC, scrambling to pick up the Spider-Man Welcome Decks that were being given out at various booths. Each deck seemed to have about 15 cards from the new Spider-Man set, give or take, four of which were exclusively found in the Welcome Decks.
Well, considering Spider-Man (and Marvel in general) is one of my favorite properties, today I wanted to take a look at all of the spoiled Spider-Man cards, and give my initial impressions on the ones that excite me the most.
Let's begin!
Amazing Alliance
While three mana for an anthem might be a bit much these days, the life gain from attacking with legends could be consequential sometimes. There have been a handful of legend-based decks that show up in Constructed formats from time to time, and gaining three to four life a turn from attacking while also buffing your team isn't the worst.
Anti-Venom, Horrifying Healer
I like everything about this. I love the five-White casting cost, despite how restrictive it is. I love how this is basically just a 5/5 that reanimates a creature. And I love that all damage dealt to Anti-Venom is prevented, while buffing him at the same time. If you can swing the five White mana needed here, this is a lot of value.
Aunt May
While Aunt May isn't a super exciting card, she's a Soul Warden variant with an upside, and sometimes that's all you need. At one mana, she can also be searched out with all of the creatures that search out one-mana creatures.
Peter Parker // Amazing Spider-Man
Years ago, when I was doing the Freshly Brewed Podcast, we mocked up some Marvel cards for an episode. I mocked up a custom Spider-Man that was Bant, with the same exact casting cost, he was a 4/3 instead of a 4/4, and he had flash and reach rather than vigilance and reach.
The one new thing I love about these double-faced cards is that you can either transform into Spider-Man or you can just cast the Spider-Man side on its own.
Spider-Man, Peter Parker
While I get it, giving Spider-Man flying just doesn't feel right. Sure, he interacts as if he has flying...but he doesn't fly. Also, you gave a different Spider-Man reach and not flying. So does he fly, or does he reach?
That aside, Peter Parker here is doing his best Archangel of Thune impression, only he can't enable himself (no lifelink), and instead of buffing your entire team, he buffs one creature that he also grants indestructible to. Not too bad, but definitely feels like a Welcome Deck card.
Web Up
Another card that isn't a super exciting addition, but this effect always sees play, and it's cool that there's now a Spider-Man version of it. So long, Banishing Light! Hello, Web Up!
Spider-Man 2099, Miguel O'Hara
I love Spider-Man 2099, but it's hard to gauge a lot of these cards since they're designed specifically for the Welcome Decks, and as such, have a lower power level. Bouncing a creature for five mana is what a common does in a lot of Standard draft sets. I would love to see this drawing you a card for each creature that dealt combat damage.
Whoosh!
The Blue Web Up! This can easily take the place of cards like Blink of an Eye and Into the Roil, or you can have a third option for your Commander decks that may want that. Personally, I just like having a Spider-Man option for these core cards.
Lethal Protection
Returning a creature to your hand is a very nice addition to this type of card. Unfortunately, as a sorcery and without also hitting planeswalkers, I don't think it's good enough. It is possible that simply having Venom on the card, and being a reference to the popular Lethal Protector series will be enough, however.
Scorpion's Sting
The Black Web...ah, you get it. This is basically just your typical Last Gasp effect, but the art is really good. The flavor text is fantastic as well...er, I guess I should say Amazing? Spectacular?
Venom, Eddie Brock
Eddie Brock is similar to a lot of the other legends that feel like Draft all-stars that have been buffed a bit. And I totally get that! These are meant for intro players, to introduce them to the game. By that metric, Venom is pretty cool. He can end up being a huge creature that draws you a good deal of cards, especially since most of the creatures in these decks are villains.
Iron Spider, Stark Upgrade
Thanks to Iron Spider, you can now play eight Steel Overseers in your deck! This one is kind of an upgrade, however, allowing you to attack, then activate the +1/+1 ability during combat. This means you're first attacking with the Iron Spider as a 3/4. That's a great deal for three mana. Another bonus is that the ability also adds counters to your Vehicles!
Additionally, you know, you can also draw cards for two mana and two counters. This is another really cool design that feels like it has just enough going on to make it very appealing, but not broken.
Anyway, thanks for reading and I'll catch ya next time!
Frank Lepore
