Gwen StacyGwen Stacy | Art by Victor Adame Minguez

We may be over a month out from the full release of Magic's next Universes Beyond crossover, Spider-Man, but that doesn't mean the cEDH community isn't already frantically parsing threw previews looking for competitive Commander's next splashy deck.

So, let's get started with Gwen Stacy, Jeskai's newest contender in the competitive arena.

What Does Gwen StacyGwen Stacy Do?

First off, a breakdown of an important development showcased on Gwen StacyGwen Stacy: the the blending of modal double-faced cards (MDFCs) with the transform mechanic.

Normally, MDFCS are restricted in that you choose one face of the card to play when you play it (or cast it), and then it's stuck that way as long as it's in play. Casting Birgi, God of StorytellingBirgi, God of Storytelling? Well, you won't be able to see the backside - Harnfel, Horn of BountyHarnfel, Horn of Bounty - any time soon, even if an effect instructed you to "transform target permanent."

With Magic's Spider-Man crossover, a new slate of cards (Gwen Stacy included) are being revealed which are both MDFCs and traditionally-transformable permanents. Choose one side to cast when you cast it, and - if you choose the front face - you can transform it later on, given some cost (or if an effect instructs you to do so). Alrighty, on to Gwen.

For , Gwen Stacy is a legendary 2/1 Human Performer Hero creature that causes you to exile the top card of your library when it enters. For as long as you control this creature, you may play that card. Additionally, for , you may transform Gwen Stacy into Ghost-Spider. Do this only at sorcery speed.

On the backside, Ghost-Spider is a legendary 4/4 Spider Human Hero with a mana cost of . It has flying, vigilance, haste, and "Whenever you play a land from exile or cast a spell from exile, put a +1/+1 counter on Ghost-Spider."

Additionally, Ghost-Spider has the activated ability "Remove two counters from Ghost Spider: Exile the top card of your library. You may play that card this turn."

At first glance, Gwen Stacy is somewhere in between Ragavan, Nimble PilfererRagavan, Nimble Pilferer and Rograkh, Son of RohgahhRograkh, Son of Rohgahh in terms of the value-add for your deck. That is, a cheap creature that provides a small bonus on its own (that being the card exiled thanks to the enters trigger), but really it just exists to provide colors to your color identity and to enable early-game spells like Deflecting SwatDeflecting Swat and Springleaf DrumSpringleaf Drum.

Truth be told, for most of the game that is the case; Ghost-Spider is a pretty ineffective engine (cEDH isn't known for casting spells from exile). However, there are just enough cards that red already wants to be running, plus a select few which the deck cranks up to eleven, that make things more interesting.

Let's dig deeper.

Key Cards for Gwen StacyGwen Stacy

By and large, the key cards for this deck break down into two primary categories:

1. Cards you want to look for to survive the early turns - those which will seed the front side of your commander on the battlefield.
2. Cards you want to look for to propel you through the midgame - those which bolster Ghost-Spider's role as an extra source of card advantage.

Early Support

With the rate at which cEDH players can deploy early mana these days, casting Gwen Stacy turn one is a pretty feasible goal, one which will reward you immensely if properly capitalized on.

Fierce Guardianship and Deflecting SwatDeflecting Swat are two of the strongest interaction pieces in cEDH, both being free when you control your commander. By playing Gwen on the first turn reliably, this deck does a decent job of impersonating Rograkh in its Izzet-plus strategies (RogSi, RogThras, etc.) - setting you up with consistent interaction while the rest of the table gears up for their own game plans.

Similarly, a specialty suite of creature-dependent mana rocks, such as Mox Amber and Springleaf Drum, can be considered eternally active in this deck. Using Mox Amber as a Mox RubyMox Ruby game after game is the exact kind of marginal boon which can take a deck from Bracket 4 to Bracket 5, and from cEDH obscurity to relevance.

Exile Support

Moving to the mid-to-late game, when Gwen Stacy has become Ghost-SpiderGhost-Spider, several premier cards in red gain a new life, while other mid-tier engines become potent threats.

Ragavan, Nimble PilfererRagavan, Nimble Pilferer doubles as an opportunity to reliably put a counter on Ghost-Spider each turn, just like Party ThrasherParty Thrasher, a card which will also give you card selection and ramp for the from-exile noncreature spells you cast. Grenzo, Havoc RaiserGrenzo, Havoc Raiser can put a theoretically unlimited number of counters on Ghost-Spider each turn, limited only by your mana and the number of creatures which you can successfully connect with each turn.

Continuing the list of already-potent picks, I can't help but mention Jeska's WillJeska's Will and, once again, Harnfel, Horn of Bounty. Both of these produce mass-instances of exiling cards, simultaneously serving as opportunities to place a massive number of counters on Ghost-Spider. Combining these with our aforementioned three, and this deck's red contingent shapes up as a full roster of both repeatable and en masse exile opportunities.

How Does Gwen StacyGwen Stacy Win?

Like all Jeskai decks out there, Gwen Stacy can pull off the tried-and-true Underworld BreachUnderworld Breach combo, backed up by Sevinne's ReclamationSevinne's Reclamation so as to make the package singularly tutorable off of both Gifts UngivenGifts Ungiven and IntuitionIntuition.

Similarly, this deck also runs the classic package of Dualcaster MageDualcaster Mage plus Molten DuplicationMolten Duplication (and/or any functional replacements, e.g., TwinflameTwinflame). That all being said, these combos are the standard.

Where Gwen Stacy really shines - and what makes this deck unique - is Ghost-Spider's interaction with the classic Isochron ScepterIsochron Scepter combo package.

Don't forget to throw in enough nonland permanents to tap for at least three mana in total.

First off, combo review. By imprinting Dramatic ReversalDramatic Reversal on Isochron Scepter, the Scepter functionally gains the ability to infinitely tap and untap all nonland permanents you control, provided nonland permanents you control can collectively add at least two mana.

Once your nonland permanents add three or more mana, you start netting additional mana at each iteration of the loop, effectively making this an infinite mana combo. This is because the imprinted copy of Dramatic Reversal which Isochron Scepter allows you to cast will untap the newly-tapped Isochron Scepter itself.

Ghost-Spider enters the equation here because of a little-known, but very important, part of how Isochron Scepter's ability works. When you cast a copy of the imprinted spell, that spell is cast from exile, as the copy which Isochron Scepter makes is copied in exile (the zone where the imprinted card exists).

As such, each iteration of the infinite combo will also put a +1/+1 counter on Ghost-Spider, leaving you with infinite mana and infinite counters on Ghost-Spider.

From here, you can remove counters in two-counter increments to exile through your deck, at which point either an arbitrarily large stack of Brain FreezeBrain Freeze copies (since the storm count will be arbitrarily large) or an assembled Dualcaster combo will point you to victory.

Gwen StacyGwen Stacy cEDH Deck List

Wrap Up

Well folks, that's a wrap on Gwen Stacy's Magic debut. My honest take? While Ghost-Spider is far from the strongest engine in a command zone right now, the flexibility provided by the Gwen Stacy herself is potent enough to more than make this deck a worthy contender in the halls of cEDH-Jeskai.

At the very least, an early enabler for mana and protection as you jam through an Underworld Breach combo is nothing to scoff at.

Couple that with midgame resiliency and the potential to make plenty of red staples into more-busted versions of their already stellar selves, and I think that Ghost-Spider has what it takes to put up results.

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