Cosmic Spider-ManCosmic Spider-Man | Art by Zoltan Boros

With a full reveal of Marvel's Spider-Man set, we now have a five-color Spider-Man that is perfect to helm every Spider-Man in one deck with Cosmic Spider-ManCosmic Spider-Man.

An all-powerful Spider-Man with the ability to grant five keywords to each other Spider that you control. A huge anthem effect in the command zone. But just because we could throw all Spider-Men into one deck, should we?

The All-Powerful Cosmic Spider-Man

For five mana, Cosmic Spider-ManCosmic Spider-Man is a 5/5 with five keyword abilities, seemingly one from each color. His ability to give other Spiders those same keywords can be a finisher with the right setup. Granting Spiders flying and trample guarantees that any Spider can get through blockers. First strike makes blocking out Spiders difficult for our opponents if they don't want to lose blockers.

Haste ensures we come down fast with all our Spider-Men. And lifelink may seem like an added bonus, but with just one swing, our life total will be far out of reach for any remaining opponents.

Different paths to build Cosmic Spider-Man may include Spider typal, which can include every Spider worth running. Or we can go down the changeling path, with Cosmic Spider-Man as our finisher.

One thing to consider is that there's not much to go off of with just an anthem effect. It's a good finisher, but what synergies are we building? What's going to make the deck tick? I knew I wanted to make a Spider-Man-themed deck, but what's going to be the core of this deck?

For that, we'll need to look at the 99 to figure that out.

Key Cards for Cosmic Spider-ManCosmic Spider-Man

+1/+1 Counters

+1/+1 Counters appears to be a running theme among many of these Spider-Men, with some granting counters or having payoffs for modified creatures. This was a strong enough thread that I realized a +1/+1 counter deck would be a good way to showcase all of these Spider-Men in a single deck.

Miles MoralesMiles Morales distributes two +1/+1 counters to two creatures when he enters. On the back side, Ultimate Spider-Man doubles the number of counters on each Spider and legendary creatures we control, which has the potential to pump up our creatures enough to close out games.

Araña, Heart of the SpiderAraña, Heart of the Spider gives a counter to a target attacking creature. And SP//dr, Piloted by PeniSP//dr, Piloted by Peni also gives a counter on ETB. The latter two both provide card advantage for modified creatures dealing combat damage. Having a commander that grants evasion to our creatures really comes in clutch with either one of these on the board.

The non-Spider-Man cards provide further support for this strategy by adding more +1/+1 counters to our creatures. Aunt MayAunt May may seem innocent, but having a turn one play that adds counters to every Spider that enters is perfect for enabling any payoffs that require a creature to be modified.

Lyla, Holographic AssistantLyla, Holographic Assistant is a bit high-costed, but she gives out counters with each draw, and she gets better with draw spells like Sensational Spider-ManSensational Spider-Man. Passive effects like Lyla will carry more weight than you'd think, since we need multiple ways to give counters to our creatures. Other Spider-Men only give out counters on ETB, so having a repeatable way to do so will go a long way.

Costume ClosetCostume Closet lets us move counters onto our creatures while also generating more counters when we web-sling a modified creature or face a board wipe. Being able to stack counters on the Costume Closet after a board wipe is nice insurance for when we need to rebuild.

To beef up the counters theme, I added stronger, albeit less thematic, counter enablers.Communal BrewingCommunal Brewing can add up to three counters to each creature that we cast. Giving our opponents each a card is hardly a downside compared to how big our board will be. Cosmic Spider-Man coming in as an 8/8 with flying and haste is just terrifying.

Metallic MimicMetallic Mimic that helps round out both our counter theme and Spider theme. Similar to Aunt May, our Spiders will enter with an additional +1/+1 counter on it for the low cost of two mana.

Roaring EarthRoaring Earth turns each of our land drops into an opportunity to put counters on any of our Spiders. And it works well with our suite of fetchlands. I chose Roaring Earth over Bristly Bill, Spine SowerBristly Bill, Spine Sower, because I believe Roaring Earth will go unchecked in most games, whereas Bristly Bill will definitely eat removal or be caught in a board wipe.

Having this effect on an enchantment ensures that we always have a way to boost our team.

Other Spiders

Moving on to some non-Spider-Man Spiders, among the most notable Spider producers is Arasta of the Endless WebArasta of the Endless Web. The more our opponents cast instant or sorceries, the more we can flood the board with little creepy crawlers.

I've also included ArachnogenesisArachnogenesis, a FogFog and a potential win-con in one card, if we make enough Spiders. Great on its own, but this, in combination with any of our permanents that care about Spiders entering, like Kindred DiscoveryKindred Discovery, will make a crazy comeback.

Similar to Metallic MimicMetallic Mimic, Twitching DollTwitching Doll adds to our Spider theme and our counter theme by creating a Spider token for each counter on it, including our +1/+1 counters.

Rotwidow PackRotwidow Pack makes Spider tokens in addition to being graveyard hate, but the real tech is using it to drain out our opponents by having a large board of Spiders. It's an expensive activation cost, but well worth it, especially since it's repeatable.

The web-slinging mechanic appears on many of our Spider-Men. Spider-Man, Brooklyn VisionarySpider-Man, Brooklyn Visionary and Spider-SenseSpider-Sense are both flavorful inclusions that add to necessary parts of our deck, while Scarlet Spider, Ben ReillyScarlet Spider, Ben Reilly can be a large beater when he comes down.

At first, I only thought that this mechanic would offer incidental value by making our Spider-Men cheaper to cast, but there are a handful of value pieces we can trigger when we play a Spider-Man.

Mary Jane WatsonMary Jane Watson draws a card each turn a Spider enters the battlefield. She has great synergies with Arasta of the Endless WebArasta of the Endless Web, possibly drawing us up to four cards a turn cycle. Spider-UKSpider-UK draws a card so long as two or more creatures entered the battlefield under our control, which is feasible when we can cast the creature we web-slinged back.

And of course Kindred DiscoveryKindred Discovery turns up this deck's power level and ensures our hand will always be full of Spiders.

How Does Cosmic Spider-ManCosmic Spider-Man Win?

We'll wrap up this list with how we plan to close out games. Patriarch's BiddingPatriarch's Bidding gives everyone the chance to bring back the creature type of their choice. Usually, this means amassing a board of creatures with the same type, but with Cosmic Spider-Man, this will almost always be enough to close out games.

Of the few changelings that made it into this deck, Mirror EntityMirror Entity is by far the most potent. With a little mana investment, we have a repeatable way to make each of our Spiders huge. This, combined with our commander, makes it easy to fly over our opponents for the win.

Finally, we have Uncivil UnrestUncivil Unrest, which is another way to give counters to our creatures, but also a way to deal double damage with our Spiders. In combination with our commander's evasive anthems, we have a clear line to victory.

Cosmic Spider-Man Commander Deck List

A Thread Throughout the Multiverse

Are you excited for the release of Marvel's Spider-Man? Are there any Spider-Men you're looking forward to building? Not every Spider-Man appears to be strong enough to lead their own deck, but having one deck full of the different versions of Spider-Man teaming up with one another to fight on the battlefield just feels right.

Let me know how you'd build Cosmic Spider-ManCosmic Spider-Man or any other Spider-Man from this set in the comments below and I'll see you next time!

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