The Soul StoneThe Soul Stone | Art by Volkan Baga

In the high-tech modern society of the Marvel universe, some of the things that stand out the most are its technological and architectural wonders. Marvel's Spider-Man, the tentpole debut for Marvel in the Magic: The Gathering brand, is no exception.

As such, we here at EDHREC can't go through a Marvel Universes Beyond review series without discussing the very best artifacts and lands from the upcoming set.

This being said, there are actually a surprisingly low number of artifacts and nonbasic lands to discuss in this review article. The set doesn't quite focus as much on this aspect of the setting as one might expect.

In any event, let's go ahead and look at some reasonably powerful cards from the set!

The Soul StoneThe Soul Stone

First off, we have The Soul StoneThe Soul Stone, the first of six Infinity Stones we get to see in Magic's collaboration with Marvel. As a monoblack mana rock with indestructible for a mere , The Soul Stone is almost definitely going to end up being highly ubiquitous. Players who are lucky enough to pull this card from a sealed product or fortunate enough to be able to shell out for this card will most assuredly put it in a black Commander deck almost immediately.

The biggest dilemma about this card might even be which deck to slot it into!

That in mind, the inclusion of the harness ability is interesting. For the extremely thematic cost of exiling a creature you control (and another besides), one harnessing The Soul Stone can resurrect a creature at each of their upkeeps.

As we've seen in cards like Debtors' KnellDebtors' Knell, that kind of ability is extremely powerful. Frankly, this ability, once realized, is a major breaker of parity. For this reason, The Soul Stone is assuredly one of the best artifacts in Marvel's Spider-Man.

Biorganic CarapaceBiorganic Carapace

By stark comparison to The Soul Stone (see what I did there? Stark?), Biorganic CarapaceBiorganic Carapace isn't quite as cracked. However, it's still a really strong Equipment for decks that care about modifications.

When looking at Biorganic Carapace for the first time, the first deck that came to mind was the Counter Blitz precon from among the Final Fantasy Commander decks. After all, +1/+1 counters are a form of modification.

As an Equipment with a mana value of four, it's really helpful that it auto-equips on entry and provides the power and toughness buff that it does. These days, though, that's practically par for the course, especially at that rate.

But its biggest asset is the ability to draw an absolute glut of cards on connection with an opponent. It becomes clearer and clearer that this sort of card supports a modification build-around in any format it's used in. This is especially true in Commander, where decks have room (and often also a need) for cards like Biorganic Carapace.

So, the card is another one of the best artifacts in the set.

Peter Parker's CameraPeter Parker's Camera

Next, we have Peter Parker's CameraPeter Parker's Camera, a powerful one-drop artifact in Marvel's Spider-Man. Don't let the limited film counter supply fool you; decks that want to run the Camera will ultimately have ways to mitigate that issue.

For Brago, King EternalBrago, King Eternal and other blink archetype commanders, Peter Parker's Camera is an extra Strionic ResonatorStrionic Resonator. For all we can gather, it might even replace Lithoform EngineLithoform Engine in its functionality!

This card can go absolutely berserk with how it's capable of copying abilities. Again, three charges is not a problem for decks that aim to run this artifact. Plus, as a sidebar that many people haven't pointed out yet, the lens says "Made in Marvel" on its rim. That's clever!

Cool art aside, the card is absolutely worthy of being considered one of the best artifacts in Marvel's Spider-Man.

Let's pivot over to the land suite of this new set. What lands made the cut? Let's explore!

Multiversal PassageMultiversal Passage

The first land on this list, Multiversal PassageMultiversal Passage is to multicolored decks what The Soul Stone is to monoblack decks. That is to say, (largely) ubiquitous in its overall utility.

Fellow EDHREC author Steve Heisler published a detailed analysis of Multiversal Passage quite recently. The article was slightly more critical of the land, but the criticism was fair. Still, overall, the card is useful in a great number of decks in a great many formats.

Naturally, Multiversal Passage isn't better than a Shockland in formats that have them readily available. However, as an alternative in a 60-card format, where shocks are either a) absent or b) not enough for one's mana base, the card is useful.

And that's to say nothing of Commander, where the singleton rules take so much away from what gives 60-card formats more overall consistency. Having an additional Pathway land that you can have enter tapped if you don't need it right away is not a bad thing, in actuality.

Its ubiquity and utility in Commander firmly cement its place as one of the better lands in Marvel's Spider-Man.

Oscorp IndustriesOscorp Industries

The spooky corporate science-lair of Norman OsbornNorman Osborn, Oscorp IndustriesOscorp Industries is another strong land in this set. Any blue-black-red deck that deals with any degree of self-discard is going to want to play this. That includes my Kefka, Court MageKefka, Court Mage deck, the deck tech of which you can find here, or that of Nekusar, the MindrazerNekusar, the Mindrazer.

This card is highly useful for decks like Kefka's or Nekusar's, namely due to its mayhem ability. To be able to pitch a land like Oscorp Industries and play it right afterwards is immensely strong, especially if the player is particularly struggling to draw a better land.

Granted, Oscorp Industries takes up a land drop, but in these instances, the mayhem ability is often going to be worth it. Therefore, Oscorp Industries deserves a spot on this list as one of the better lands in Marvel's Spider-Man.

Urban RetreatUrban Retreat

The final card to cover in this list is Urban RetreatUrban Retreat. It's kind of surprising that this card and Oscorp Industries weren't part of a fuller cycle (albeit, this may happen in the future, but that's unconfirmed as of the time of writing).

Nevertheless, unlike Oscorp, Urban Retreat can enact a pseudo-web-slinging ability to put itself onto the battlefield. This is different than simply playing the land, so Urban Retreat is arguably even better than Oscorp Industries for that reason.

Decks that care about tapping creatures down, such as Derevi, Empyrial TacticianDerevi, Empyrial Tactician, will make good use of Urban Retreat. This land won't push play over the edge for a deck like that, nor any deck running blink-style effects, but it'll certainly support the playstyle to a good, fair degree.

To that end, Urban Retreat is probably the best land in Marvel's Spider-Man overall and is more than worthy of its inclusion on this list.

Conclusion

This set had only a small handful of good artifacts and lands to choose from for this list. It was kind of hard to find good recommendations for the best of the best, only because there weren't a lot of cards to work with in the first place. Otherwise, it may have been easier to fit at least two more on the list in theory.

Finally, it was surprising to see so few good artifacts in such a technologically advanced setting. Nevertheless, these cards are sure to show up in a variety of decks across Magic formats gamewide.

And now, let's open the floor to you, dear readers! How do you feel about Marvel's Spider-Man? Do you think there are enough good artifacts or lands to merit any particular throughlines in Limited play? Are any of these six cards worth inclusion in your decks? Sound off in the comments below!

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