Parker LuckParker Luck | Art by Raoul Vitale

Hello and welcome. Today was going to be a deck tech on another Spider-Man commander option, but a video from the Tolarian Community College got my attention, and I'd like to take this opportunity to respond to it.

The one I'm referring to is "How I Feel About Magic: The Gathering's Marvel's Spider-Man The Expansion Set," where The Professor (whom I have much respect for) discusses the soon-to-be released Spider-Man set, and its shortcomings.

I'd like to offer my views on it. However, I'll take this chance to say that, if you enjoy the set and the cards, continue to do so. I'm not going to ruin that for you, and neither should anyone else. But, it's important to stress that it could be so much more.

What Is This? I Can’t Even

I admit it; I was lukewarm about the Spider-Man set when it was first previewed. That said, I had a tab on it for a reason. Last year, I assembled two decks over the winter holidays, The Fourteenth DoctorThe Fourteenth Doctor and Ezio Auditore da FirenzeEzio Auditore da Firenze. One was assembled from an advent calendar (with some singles outside of it), and the other because I enjoyed the deck.

I saw both the Doctor Who and Assassin's Creed sets as "Commander Kits" to assemble a certain (often) five-color option. In this light, I had one eye out for our headliner Spider-Man card to assemble a new five-color deck from the set (Final Fantasy is its own beast. You can see why in this article with a large batch of decks I assembled).

With the full spoiler now out, I can say that my suspicions were confirmed: The set was not to my liking, putting it lightly. Sure, there were a few cool cards in there, but the rest didn't resonate with me.

I tried to assemble the list, but the set needed outside help before it could stand on its legs, especially with the lands and ramp. This was an issue I had with my Ezio list...WAIT A MINUTE. Do I see a pattern? Eh, it's probably nothing.

All right, fine. I'll make another concession. A while ago, I listed the top five Universes Beyond releases. In that article, I placed Assassin's Creed ahead of the 40K precons. If I were writing that today, I'd switch the two around. But I still maintain that the lackluster mana bases (compared to the other UB precons) are what keep 40K back. It's only now, with the Spider-Man set, that I see my folly.

Anyway, to make things worse, I wasn't really awestruck by Cosmic Spider-ManCosmic Spider-Man. Keyword soup, and giving other Spiders said soup, is nice, but it's not exactly flashy.

At this point, I suppose you're asking a question I'm about to get to: What does The Professor's latest video have to do with this?

My Response

In the video, The Professor stresses that this isn't a video about Universes Beyond. While I do agree, the comments told another story. And because of those comments, I found myself at such a low point that I wrote this article early like it was a therapy session (don't worry; I'm fine now).

His comparisons to the Assassin's Creed set were especially striking: Even though one was straight to Modern, they both followed an identical formula (Though, Assassin's Creed did it better). A part of the video that soured my views on the set, and now looking to take apart my Ezio deck soon.

As many viewers know, he isn't a fan of Universes Beyond, and I accept that (and not everyone liking it for that matter). My main gripe with the product line more has to do with recent decisions since Foundations released, but I digress.

A reason for The Professor's dislike of the Spider-Man set is that it fails to translate well from the original IP to the cards themselves. One thing I loved about UB sets is that each card tells a story, and tells me about a character. I research it online, and poof, there it is. Spider-Man did not have that. Thus, I frankly agree with The Professor here.

Another big reason for the dislike of the Spider-Man set is something we both agree on: the immersion breaking. Sure, we've had detectives and race cards, but this set went extreme. Hot dogs, taxis, cell phones, etc.

Oh, and by the way, your Rent Is DueRent Is Due. Gotta pay up!

Not to mention this all takes place in a fantasy land known as New York City *cue dinosaur screeching overhead* (My favorite part of the video).

Further Points

In that same vein, The Professor pointed out that it wasn't a big leap to reach this point. In recent years, we've had everyone dress up as Sherlock Holmes in Murders at Markov (I mean Karlov) Manor. Cowboys in Outlaws of Thunder Junction, and '80s horror with Duskmourn. And don't get me started on Aetherdrift.

It took these baby steps to reach what we see here with the Spider-Man set. And that has been spilling over into in-universe sets, which does torture my boomer heart a bit.

The Professor also touches on the small set size, especially when a considerable portion of it are all Spider-Men (-Women, and -Everything else). Considering the decades worth of content, plus a small set size, it's easy to conclude that the set was trying to do too much with so little space.

I'm also not seeing the flavor on the cards, like I implied above. It's just not there like it was with other UB releases. I'm not a comic book person, so take this with a grain of salt.

What Could Be Improved?

Like I said in the introduction, the set could've been so much more. Its rushed production certainly didn't help it. As Mark Rosewater confirmed, the Spider-Man set was to be a small release, akin to Assassin's Creed, but the initial reactions to that release gave off the red flags necessary for the change.

Secondly, speaking of rushing, it would've been great for the releases for be more spread out, so each one can breathe. This also would have the result of the set being better handled, and the set would be bigger to accommodate more stuff, too. This point has been uttered to death, so I won't feed it beyond that.

There's also the massive wrinkle with the digital rights, but again, this point is outspoken, but also irrelevant to the Commander side of things.

We know there's going to be future Marvel set releases, so the best way to salvage this situation is to not rush the set. Let it sit and breathe, so it can be better enjoyed by everyone. And, of course, make the sets bigger.

Moving Forward

I maintain that, for a lot of the reasons The Professor has said, the newly minted Spider-Man set does not shine brightly. However, if someone enjoys the set and wants to play with the cards, I won't stop them. One person's trash is another's treasure.

In addition, I also take a stand, and say that Universes Beyond doesn't deserve all the hate it does. Both The Lord of the Rings and Final Fantasy sets (the latter I wrote a love letter for a few weeks back, the same letter with all those decks) stand among the best sets released in the product line. Those two, among others, show UB at its best.

A recent poll rating the worst sets in all of Magic listed as "All UB Sets" being second only to Aetherdrift. A poll I can't take seriously (largely because the Spider-Man set had only a few cards to its name at the time, among other reasons). Like I said, the contempt is unwarranted, though I make a few concessions.

All of this stuff had been in my mind since I began writing here. It was only now that I made the call to write this piece. Come back next time when we visit Spider-Man...from a different part of the Spider-verse.

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