Marvel's Spider-Man is swinging his way into Standard and it's time to take a look at what I think are the best cards in the set. I thought about this one longer than I usually do. There are a few stand out cards that I'm sure will see play, but beyond those 2-3 the set gets very deep, with a bunch that are good enough to see play, but not strong enough to outclass all the others. I had trouble narrowing this list down to ten, and I'm sure there are cards that aren't listed here that will make their way into Standard. There are a lot of "build around me" style cards that may excel once you figure out how to use them (cards like Lady Octopus, Inspired Inventor or Behold the Sinister Six).

Honorable Mention: Urban Retreat

I'm sticking this one here because I could see this card being either a top 3 card in the set or almost unplayable. The dream is playing this on turn 2 as a Rampant Growth effect, and that will come up occasionally, but as the Nurturing Pixie decks have shown us, just being able to bounce a creature back to your hand to reset an Enters ability can be good enough. I lean towards this seeing play.

10. Spider-Sense

One of the mot enduring abilities of any superhero, I'm excited to try out Spider-Sense. Blue shouldn't have much trouble enabling the Web Slinging ability, as Spyglass Siren has been a Standard role player since it was printed. For the low cost of 1U or U, being able to counter a spell, a triggered ability (which we see in a ton of Standard's top decks), and get reset value on creatures with Enters abilities, this card should definitely see sideboard play at the worst. Though, I think it makes its way into more than a few main decks.

9. Spider-Woman, Stunning Savior

This is going to annoy so many decks, across multiple formats. Cards that tax your opponent in some way almost always end up playable, if only in side boards, and this one is on a creature with a relevant enough stat line that it will see main deck play. This card may not look flashy, but it just hits all the data points to see consistent play.

8. Lizard, Connor's Curse

Lizard, Connor's Curse isn't quite the menace that Oko was, thankfully, but it does give Green something it has sorely missed for years. It's important to note that, like Oko, the ability does not end if they get rid of Lizard. Cards like Screaming Nemesis have been horrible for Green mages, because the color primarily removes its roadblocks by fighting or dealing damage. Being able to turn any problematic creature into a generic 4/4 will be enough in many games. In others, you can just turn that turn 1 Llanowar Elf into a beater.

7. Jackal, Genius Geneticist

This is my, "Possibly overrating a Simic card just because you want to play it" of the set. It worked with Genemorph Imago, as it is seeing play in the Simic decks seeing play right now, and I think this is another potentially explosive Simic card. You really need to focus on early drops to make this great, but playing this and following it up with something like Hemosymbic Mite, Spyglass Siren, or even just a kicked Pawpatch Recruit, can dominate the early game. Then, you can copy a Floodpits Drowner, Azure Beastbinder, or Genemorph Imago to take over. This may seem very "Magical Christmas Land" at first, but the investment is so low with this card that I can't wait to brew with it.

6. Shadow of the Goblin

If you build your deck in a way to take advantage of this card and/or the Mayhem ability, it ends up better than your own personal Howling Mine. This card has the potential to be ridiculous, plays exceptionally well with some of the best cards in the set, and also slots into the Izzet deck fairly well. This plays great with Proft's Eidetic Memory as well as cards like Marauding Mako. If Vivi Ornitier is banned, this could be the direction the Izzet deck moves in the aftermath.

5. Morlun, Devourer of Spiders

If you told me there'd be a vampire I the Spider-Man set that I'd be super excited to play, I would not have picked Morlun. In fact, I had never heard of Morlun until this card was previewed! This looks like a scale-able Siege Rhino, and that's something I definitely want to try out! In the mid game, that can be dropped on turn 2-3 if you really need the blocker/attacker, and that can win the game on its own in the late game.

4. Scarlet Spider, Ben Reilly

Even if this is just cast on turn 2, returning a Llanowar Elf and replaying it, it's ridiculous. A 5/4 trampler on turn 2 will end a game in a hurry. Then in later turns you can do dumb things like Warp in a Nova Hellkite, and return it using Ben to make him a 9/8. Evan at his default level, a 4/3 with trample for 3 mana is a card that can be played on curve to put pressure on your opponent if you're trying to kill them as fast as possible can put in work.

3. Multiversal Passage

This is one of the most versatile lands every printed, but it really shines in this specific Standard, because it's a way to enable 3+ color decks while still interacting positively with the Verges. Starting Town is great, but this can be better depending on how you build your deck. Get your playset of these as early as you can, you'll be playing them for the next three years.

2. Hide on the Ceiling

Let's get this out of the way. You WILL lose to this card in the coming weeks. Whether you get nailed by it in Limited, or you run into it in Constructed, or even just get smacked down around the Commander table, this card will get you at some point. This is an incredibly versatile card that will allow Blue decks to play the tempo game in a variety of ways. Maybe you want to kill a token creature? Maybe you want to blink a Vivi Ornitier or Agatha's Soul Cauldron to reset their counters? Maybe you want to exile your opponent's blockers so that you can alpha strike for the win? Maybe you need to save your team from a Day of Judgment? Maybe you just want to reset your cards with Enters abilities? This card has a ton of ways it could see play, and when you put them all together, you get one of the best cards in the set.

1. The Soul Stone

This card will be played in almost every Black deck until the end of time, which is kind of fitting for an Infinity Stone. This is so good, it's almost boring in a way. It's a two-mana accelerator in a time when Standard rarely sees those without some hard restrictions, and it turns into a late game wincon. An all-star in every format where you want to play Black cards. This will be the most expensive card in the set (and is trending to be the most expensive card in Standard) the moment it goes on sale.

You can find more of my Magic musings on Twitter/X @travishall456 and on Bluesky: https://bsky.app/profile/anakinsdad.bsky.social