Locations
Welcome back! As I mentioned last time, I looked over all of the Spider-Man cards that have been previewed as of 7/31, and I wanted to go over some of the ones that piqued my interest the most. If you missed the first part, be sure to check it out by clicking on my byline above.
Considering Spider-Man (and Marvel in general) is one of my favorite properties, I've been having a blast seeing these and evaluating where they may fit into the game. Let's begin!
Ghost-Spider, Gwen Stacy
Ghost-Spider is basically just Hellrider for one more mana, but she has +1/+1, costs one more mana, and has menace instead of haste. All things considered, that's not terrible. Playing a five-mana Red creature without haste is a bit rough, but in terms of designs, we've seen this before and it's always pretty good.
Gwen Stacy // Ghost-Spider
I remember talking about Abbot of Keral Keep back when discussing Possibility Technician in Edge of Eternities. Gwen Stacy has a similar "get a free card that you can play until she leaves play" ability, and I think that's a great update to the "you can play that card until the end of the turn" ability.
This is another card where the front side, as a 2/1 with a great ability for two, is good, and the back side, as a 4/4 with a lot of good abilities for five, is also good. A Red card synergizing with both the cards red decks like to exile, as well as all the warp cards that were introduced in Edge of Eternities is a cool bit of design.
Spider-Punk
Another solid red card with solid red stats. I think a lot of the abilities that refer to other Heroes, Villains, or Spiders aren't going to be very relevant most of the time, but thankfully Spider-Punk has three other abilities that make that fact irrelevant. Giving this guy riot, preventing the countering of spells and abilities, and disallowing the prevention of damage is a lot of disruption in a very small package.
Miles Morales // Ultimate Spider-Man
I think the best part about all the flip Spider-People so far is that they're all good on both sides. Miles is great as a 2/3 that also puts a counter on another creature. My only issue with Ultimate Spider-Man is that six mana is a bit high, especially when his activation cost is an additional two. In a counter-focused deck with Spiders and legendary creatures, however, that doubling ability is pretty good. Worth noting USM also says "whenever you attack," so it triggers no matter which creature you attack with.
Scout the City
The two-mana Green cards that have multiple modes are always some of my favorites. I think both modes here are pretty decent. Killing a flier (which is great Spider-Man flavor) or drawing a permanent and gaining three life are both solid options. The only thing I wish is that this was an instant.
Spider-Ham, Peter Porker
Man, I love this set. Spider-Ham is basically best friends with the entire Bloomburrow set. This is a great lord. Not only does he buff an insane eighteen different creature types, but he's also making a food for you the turn he enters. That's a great deal for two mana, and this can slot into so many different decks.
Spider-Man, Miles Morales
Okay, Miles Morales might be the best of the bunch here when it comes to the Welcome Deck mythics. Adding +1/+1 counters to your entire team, as well as giving them trample, not only when this enters, but also every time it attacks is great. This is basically an Overrun every turn, and lesser effects have certainly dominated Limited formats before.
Doctor Octopus, Master Planner
Oh man, do I love this card. This is such a cool design. While I will admit, I don't think the +2/+2 to other Villains part will come into play that frequently, it seems a lot of cards that address Heroes and Villains have enough other abilities to where you're able to ignore them if needed.
Otto Octavius is a simple man. He sees you with fewer than eight cards in your hand, he lets you draw the difference. This could be a great finisher in Standard control decks where he just draws you something like five cards in your end step. And if you are able to take advantage of the +2/+2, man, that's quite the buff!
Symbiote Spider-Man
Boy, Ophidian has come a long way. Here we have a three-mana 2/4 that fits easily into any Blue deck or any Black deck thanks to hybrid mana. If he just had the first ability that lets you draw the best of the top two cards of your deck, I think that would actually be good enough. But when he's in the graveyard, you can also put the symbiote onto another creature, giving it the card draw ability. What great flavor. And you might even be able to look at more than two cards, thanks to the new creature's base power and the +1/+1 counter. This is another very cool design.
Anyway, thanks for reading and I'll catch ya next time!
Frank Lepore
