Spider SpawningSpider Spawning | Art by Daniel Ljunggren

Creepy Crawlies Galore!

Hello, and welcome back to Singleton Shmingleton, where I bend the singleton rules of Commander by building decks with as many functional reprints of a certain card as possible.

This week's card is a Hall of Fame build-around in Limited, a casual favorite, and a powerful game-ender in Commander. It's the creepy crawly army-in-a-can: Spider SpawningSpider Spawning.

This card has never seen competitive play, but it has become a legendary card for any graveyard strategy, and defined an archetype in Innistrad draft all by itself.

Alongside self-mill cards like Forbidden AlchemyForbidden Alchemy and the card Memory's JourneyMemory's Journey to re-use Spider SpawningSpider Spawning after it was flashed back, you could conceivably play the card every turn out of an otherwise empty library.

It was brought back in both Shadows Over Innistrad Remastered on Arena and in Innistrad Remastered, so that more players could experience the Spider SpawningSpider Spawning archetype.

Because of this card's popularity, we have gotten several cards that call back to it, but none of them has had the power of the original.

The trick is the sizing of the tokens. It is surprisingly difficult to get rid of a pile of 1/2s with reach.

If your opponent attacks with a 5/5 (even a 5/5 flyer), you can block with five of the tokens, and only lose two of them while killing a sizeable threat.

Even Rise of the VarmintsRise of the Varmints, which creates 2/1s at a cheaper rate, cannot compete with the stabilizing power of Spider SpawningSpider Spawning.

There are eleven cards that create creature tokens equal to the number of creatures on your graveyard. Most are in green and/or black, but one dips into each other color. Here they are:

The most played of these cards is Izoni, Thousand-EyedIzoni, Thousand-Eyed, which sees play in 23,439 decks. Having this ability on a creature that can be ReanimateReanimated is huge, and the ability to gain card advantage is a plus.

The next most played is Bladewing, Deathless TyrantBladewing, Deathless Tyrant in 18,011 decks, followed by Spider SpawningSpider Spawning itself in 14,172 decks. Bladewing, Deathless TyrantBladewing, Deathless Tyrant having the ability to create tokens every turn is absolutely crazy, and it's a beefy threat in itself.

The least played of these cards (besides the not-yet-printed Aatchik, Emerald RadianAatchik, Emerald Radian) is Rise of the VarmintsRise of the Varmints, in 1,243 decks.

I'm not quite sure why this card is so low. It's one of the cheaper versions of this effect, and 2/1 tokens are quite a bit larger than the 1/1s produced by most of these cards. Revenge of the RatsRevenge of the Rats is the next least played card, in 3,211 decks.

It's still fairly new, but I'm excited about it as another version that can be flashed back. In a heavy self-mill strategy, that's a huge advantage.

One exciting aspect of this list is that it contains not one, not two, but three possible commanders. Given the color distribution of the rest of the list, we'll surely have to choose one of the black and green ones, unfortunately for Bladewing, Deathless TyrantBladewing, Deathless Tyrant.

And of the two remaining, I find Aatchik, Emerald RadianAatchik, Emerald Radian's pseudo-Blood ArtistBlood Artist ability that also grows it to fit better with a plan of creating a bunch of tokens (many of which will be Insects) than Izoni, Thousand-EyedIzoni, Thousand-Eyed's incremental advantage option.

So the newbie takes the cake, presumably so that she can leave it out in the woods for a week and infest it with Insects.

Laying Our Spider Eggs

The first step of this strategy is to fill the graveyard. Cards like Ripples of UndeathRipples of Undeath and Out of the TombsOut of the Tombs are consistent ways to dump cards into our graveyard every turn.

Altar of DementiaAltar of Dementia is also an incredible way to dump our deck into the graveyard, and works very well with our masses of tokens.

Finally, Hermit DruidHermit Druid is one of the most powerful self-mill cards of all time.

I'm not going to turn it into a one-turn mill everything engine by building the deck with zero basic lands, but even as a little guy that dumps about eight cards per turn in the bin and draws a land every turn, that's an incredible rate.

Given that we want our deck to include a ton of creatures, there are a few more that simply must make the cut. Satyr WayfinderSatyr Wayfinder and Circle of the Land DruidCircle of the Land Druid mill us while replacing themselves, Stitcher's SupplierStitcher's Supplier mills with unparalleled efficiency, and Overlord of the BalemurkOverlord of the Balemurk can help us early before turning into a huge threat late.

Creatures with Dredge are notorious for a good reason, and so Golgari Grave-TrollGolgari Grave-Troll, Stinkweed ImpStinkweed Imp, and Golgari ThugGolgari Thug get the nod.

And finally, Shigeki, Jukai VisionaryShigeki, Jukai Visionary still feels underrated to me. It gives you repeatable ramp, tons of cards in the bin, and even a mana sink for later in the game.

How Far Can We Go?

Looking at many of these self-mill cards, a surprisingly large number of them also help us find extra lands. Hermit DruidHermit Druid, Satyr WayfinderSatyr Wayfinder, and Shigeki, Jukai VisionaryShigeki, Jukai Visionary double as first-rate ways to hit land drops turn after turn.

This got me thinking: if we want to have as many creatures as possible in our graveyard every game, how far can we go to use creatures as part of our mana base?

Given the other part of our plan is to resolve an expensive token-maker, we can't skimp too much, but there must be a balance, right?

The first step in this trimming is to include lands that count as creatures in the graveyard. Dryad ArborDryad Arbor is the only one that's both on one side, but cards like Disciple of FreyaliseDisciple of Freyalise and Boggart TrawlerBoggart Trawler also fit the bill.

There are now five of these cards in black and green, and in this deck we can use them as one-to-one replacements for lands, since we never care if we cast them (though we might if we do get flooded), but only care about the creature card type if they end up in our graveyard.

Of course we're going to want to include every one-mana mana dork we can, from the humble Boreal DruidBoreal Druid to the all-star Birds of ParadiseBirds of Paradise.

Two of them that stand out especially in this deck are Deathrite ShamanDeathrite Shaman, because the number of lands that will end up in our yard give it a consistency it lacks in some decks, and the new Molt TenderMolt Tender, which can double as a mill engine if we're set on mana.

Now, the next group of cards is less universally praised. Sylvan RangerSylvan Ranger and Gatecreeper VineGatecreeper Vine are two-mana ways to search for lands on a creature, which is a better rate than it may appear, especially in a strategy designed around using lots of small creatures to good effect.

And Borderland ExplorerBorderland Explorer, while its failure to actually replace itself and the fact that our opponents can also profit from it may dissuade many, can actually help in this deck, where cards like Golgari ThugGolgari Thug do so much more in our graveyard than in our hand.

None of these cards are exciting, but including all of them, alongside classics like Sakura-Tribe ElderSakura-Tribe Elder, let us trim down to a measly twenty-six lands! That opens up room for more than half of the deck to be creatures, at fifty-four cards.

Spawning for Profit

So the first two steps of our plan are set: mill a ton of cards, most of which will be creatures; and cast a card that gives you that many tokens. Now we need to turn that plan into something that will win a game.

Our commander gives us a hint of one way to bring that about. Aatchik, Emerald RadianAatchik, Emerald Radian makes each opponent lose life whenever one of her own Insects die, calling to mind Aristocrats strategies that try to combine Blood ArtistBlood Artist effects with free sacrifice outlets like Carrion FeederCarrion Feeder.

Both of the above mentioned cards make the cut in this deck, but we're going to keep this package fairly trim, adding only Viscera SeerViscera Seer and Zulaport CutthroatZulaport Cutthroat for redundancy.

But we're also including a couple cards that can bring this whole combo together in one fell swoop. Call of the Death-DwellerCall of the Death-Dweller and VictimizeVictimize can bring any two of these creatures that we've milled back into play using only a single card, and Lively DirgeLively Dirge can even search up a missing piece if we haven't naturally milled both.

This gives us more space in our deck to focus solely on milling as fast as possible.

That win condition takes advantage of small reanimation spells, but we've also got lines involving bigger ones.

Dread ReturnDread Return can be cast from our graveyard for free so long as we happen to have three creatures (such as, perhaps, 1/1 Insects or 1/2 Spiders).

Our primary targets are the infamous Craterhoof BehemothCraterhoof Behemoth, capable of ending the game on the spot, and Butcher of MalakirButcher of Malakir, if we need to control the board.

But even if we don't have either target in the bin, we can get quite a bit of value.

I've used creature cards for almost all of our interaction, from Foundation BreakerFoundation Breaker and ShriekmawShriekmaw to Boggart TrawlerBoggart Trawler, and these cards can pull above their weight in a pinch as well.

But the dream with this deck is to have ReanimateReanimate spells become almost like tutors that put cards directly into play because our whole deck is in the graveyard.

Notable Overperformers

Grist, the Hunger TideGrist, the Hunger Tide: Not only does she count as a creature in the graveyard, she works very well with the tokens theme of the deck, and her Insect tokens synergize with Aatchik, Emerald RadianAatchik, Emerald Radian.

FilthFilth: If we ever mill this card, our token army will be able to get through unhindered to anyone playing SwampSwamps.

While sometimes that won't mean anything, other times it will give us the ability to kill an opponent or two without us even having to spend a card on it!

Wight of the ReliquaryWight of the Reliquary: Not only is this a massive beater, it also works with our low land count and high number of expendable creatures to ramp us. This card is simply too efficient to pass up.

The Decklist

This deck is a blast to play, both because Spider SpawningSpider Spawning is awesome and because it feels so clever.

The mana base works well; though it leads to a few more mulligans than a forty-ish land deck because some hands will have two mana dorks and a Hermit DruidHermit Druid but no lands, almost any hand that can cast a single spell will be just fine in terms of mana.

The high creature count makes our Spider SpawningSpider Spawnings scale up incredibly fast, and the fact that all our utility spells are creatures combines nicely with our ReanimateReanimates.

I worried that the plan would end up feeling the same every game, but one of the best parts of graveyard toolbox decks is that, because we never do have our whole deck in our graveyard, Call of the Death-DwellerCall of the Death-Dweller isn't a tutor, and it plays out differently every game.

Sometimes we beat down with our tokens over a few turns, sometimes we can make them huge and end the game all at once, sometimes we can assemble our Aristocrats package, and sometimes we need to get scrappy with a mix of all the different plans.

Spider SpawningSpider Spawning is the star of the show, and this deck really captures the excitement of casting that spell and counting how many tokens we get to make.

Until Next Time

This genre of creature has a cult following, and there are now fifteen different cards that will deal damage equal to the amount they receive.

How can we turn this from a deterrent into a gameplan? Find out next time on Singleton Shmingleton!

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Jesse Barker Plotkin

Jesse Barker Plotkin started playing Magic with Innistrad. He was disqualified from his first Commander game after he played his second copy of Goblins of the Flarg, and it's all been uphill from there. Outside of Magic, he enjoys writing and running.