Locations
Welcome back!
This is part four of me going over some of the best Spider-Man cards, so if you happened to miss the first three parts, be sure and go back to check those out. You can find all the details of what's going on there, but essentially, I love Spider-Man as a character, and I wanted to talk about some of the gems in the set, especially since it's had something of a less-than-stellar reception.
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!
Jackal, Genius Geneticist
Jackal is actually a card that has been seeing a ton of competitive play, and for good reason. He's a very strong engine of a card that, when built correctly, can really take over the game as he makes copies of all your creatures. The deck in question is basically full of one- and two-mana creatures to ensure you can get those first two copies off of Jackal, while much of the deck also synergizes with +1/+1 counters in cards like Ouroboroid and Innkeeper's Talent.
Kraven the Hunter
I actually think Kraven is awesome, and I'm not sure why he hasn't shown up in more decks. A 4/3 for three mana is a solid rate. Kraven also has trample, which is nice because he gets larger whenever you kill your opponent's best creature, which is often what you're going to want to do anyway. If that was all Kraven did, I'm not sure that would cut it, but he also draws you a card every time an opponent's best creature dies as well.
That seems pretty crazy to me. If you're able to untap with Kraven, then Infernal Grasp the opponent's best creature, you have a 5/4 trampler that drew you a card. I want to live in a world where that's just a really solid threat.
Mister Negative
While Mister Negative costs seven mana, his ability is pretty nuts. You can basically leave your opponent at a high life total while taking a ton of damage yourself, then swap life totals. Or, you can deal a ton of damage, then draw cards equal to the life total difference. Either one seems like kind of a win, especially since Mister Negative has lifelink, so you can just gain the life back that you lost. This kind of reminds me a lot of Sorin's Vengeance, since you could easily engineer a 20 point life swing, where they lose 10 and you gain 10, only with Mister Negative you also get a 5/5 out of the deal for the same mana cost.
Rhino's Rampage
Rhino's Rampage is another card that has seen a good deal of play already in Standard. It's a great deal at one mana, that can be played in either Red decks or Green decks thanks to hybrid mana. A one-mana fight card is often good by itself, but being able to destroy an artifact that costs three or less if you deal excess damage is a pretty spectacular bonus.
Silk, Web Weaver
A 3/5 for four mana that makes a creature every time you cast any creature spell is already pretty decent, but Silk doesn't stop there. She can also have her cost reduced by one if you use her web-slinging ability, and she can pump your entire team as well. I don't know what kind of competitive chops she may have, but it seems like an amazing card to build around in a format like Commander. The main problem I keep having is that so many cards in this set are legendary, which is a real constraint on deckbuilding in competitive formats.
Spider-Woman, Stunning Savior
Spider-Woman strikes me as one of the most competitive cards in the set. Not only does she have huge Authority of the Consuls energy, which is an extremely playable $4-$7 card, but she's also a really aggressive 2/2 flyer for two mana that can fit into any Blue or White deck. She also causes all your opponent's artifacts to enter tapped as well, which is really strong, especially in older formats. This card seems great, and I have to assume it will see some amount of play in the next three years that the Spider-Man set is legal in Standard.
The Spot, Living Portal
The Spot, Living Portal is a card that seems very good to me. It strikes me as a smaller Angel of Serenity, which is a card that has seen a ton of play over the years. For five mana, you're getting a 4/4 that can get rid of any of your opponent's permanents while also grabbing any permanent from your graveyard that can later be returned to your hand. Being an Oblivion Ring on a stick that returns the exiled card to the opponent's hand rather than to play, forcing them to cast it again, while also drawing you a delayed permanent from your graveyard seems like a great deal for five mana.
We'll continue with the last of the cards from the set in part five! Thanks for reading and I'll catch ya next time!
Frank Lepore
