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Welcome back!
This is part two of me going over some of the best Spider-Man cards, so if you happened to miss part one, be sure and go back to check that guy out. You can find all the details of what's going on there. Basically I love Spider-Man as a character, and I wanted to talk about some of the gems in the set.
As usual, these are going to be a combination of cards that could be competitive all-stars or just cards that I like a lot, with great flavor, so nothing is really off-limits.
Let's begin!
Mysterio, Master of Illusion
On the one hand, it's really cool seeing these Spider-Man cards that kind of feel like older Magic cards that I have a soft spot for. Mysterio, for example, reminds me of Precursor Golem, as a 3/3 that makes more 3/3s. Even if you have no other Villains in play, this is two 3/3s for six mana, which isn't the worst. If you can manage to hit two or three tokens though, this seems like it could really shine. I think one of the biggest flaws of a lot of these cards is that they're all legendary, which is a huge hindrance in terms of deck-building.
Norman Osborn // Green Goblin
Norma Osborn feels like a cross between Ledger Shredder and Nicol Bolas, The Ravager. One thing I really like about the double-faced cards in the set is that you can cast both sides whenever you want. I think this card has a lot going on, and it's pretty good, but it's also a little confusing.
It seems like it wants you to discard a card with connive, then flip it, then cast the card you discarded. That seems to be like what the design is encouraging, but that's quite a bit of mana. At least five, assuming you're casting a discarded three-mana card with two colorless mana in the casting cost. You could also just play the back side by itself and have alternative ways to discard.
No matter how you're using Normie, it's a pretty versatile card.
School Daze
I love this card. I really love simple cards like Jace's Ingenuity, that are just "draw three" cards that you jam into your control decks to cast at instant speed. The fact that this is that, but also has a mode that's basically Cryptic Command for one more mana really puts this over the top for me.
Spider-Sense
Spell Pierce that's a hard counter for one more mana, that can also counter triggered abilities is just great. Then it has web-slinging, letting you cast it for the same price as Stifle. While this can't counter activated abilities, and might be a little worse than something like Negate, this seems like a great addition to the suite of "restricted" counterspells that counter numerous things.
Agent Venom
This basically seems like an upgrade to Midnight Reaper. In addition to the same card drawing ability whenever a creature dies, you get flash, menace, and an additional toughness, which feels like an upgrade on a creature you're more concerned with sticking around. Also, having flash when Agent Venom is Flash Thompson is another chef's kiss design. A little on the nose, but still chef's kiss.
Behold the Sinister Six!
I love reanimation spells, especially "larger" reanimation spells that can end the game, like Rise of the Dark Realms. Behold the Sinister Six! has a similar feel to one of those. While the creatures have to all come from your own graveyard, that's not a huge ask, especially if you're able to somehow mill yourself. The "up to six" clause on this is also nice, as it means you can still cast it to great effect when you only have four or five creatures in your graveyard. All in all, this seems like a lot of power for seven mana.
Black Cat, Cunning Thief
If you liked Gonti, Lord of Luxury, you should love Black Cat, Cunning Thief. She's basically an upgraded Gonti. For one more mana, you get a creature that looks at the top nine cards, instead of the top four cards, and you get to choose two of them to play. Just like Gonti, you'll still be able to play those cards even if Black Cat is no longer in play. One huge distinction is that Gonti says cast, while Black Cat says play, so you can actually choose lands to play off of her ability.
Electro, Assaulting Battery
I think if I had to criticize one thing about Electro, it would be that he has flying, while many of the spider characters don't. Sure, Electro can essentially use his control of electricity to "propel" himself, but he's never had flying as a character.
That aside, Electro has a lot going on. Not losing mana as steps and phases end makes him similar to a Red Omnath, Locus of Mana, but I do think this ability is often stronger in Red decks, as Red is more closely connected to combos and storm. Electro can also generate mana by himself, ala Birgi, God of Storytelling // Harnfel, Horn of Bounty. Magic loves providing us with three-mana legendary Red creatures that have three-power and generate mana.
Finally, if Electro leaves the battlefield for any reason, you can just pay X mana to Fireball your opponent. I could see tis being very strong, especially if you're building around it and able to amass a ton of mana.
We'll continue with the rest of the Red cards in part three! Thanks for reading and I'll catch ya next time!
Frank Lepore
