Giant SpiderGiant Spider | Illustrated by Randy Gallegos

In real life, the humble yet adept spider is a predatory hunter, ensnaring its prey before drinking its victim's blood. Some spiders are venomous; some of their venoms can incapacitate things much larger than us. Many of them hide within the darkness to keep their ghastly vigil.

All this to say, no pretense determines that spiders aren't inherently scary animals. And yet, over the years, humankind has learned to coexist (or at least try to ignore) our arachnid neighbors. This is partly made manifest via a revamped association and fascination with them, thanks to corporate properties like Marvel's Spider-Man franchise.

In the context of Magic: The Gathering, Spiders are some of the most true-to-reality creatures in the game. Typically, they have reach and occasionally deathtouch. However, if you've been paying much attention to the previews for Marvel's Spider-Man, Magic's newest upcoming set, you may see that reach and deathtouch don't come standard with Spider-People. In this way, they're not exactly the truest to form anymore, statistically.

For this reason, today I'm going to look at the top 10 non-Marvel Spiders in Magic: The Gathering. This is obviously an article based on personal preference. Feel free to agree or disagree with my choices in the comments!

Let's begin.

10) Silklash SpiderSilklash Spider

Call me old-fashioned, but I find that Silklash SpiderSilklash Spider is still an extremely relevant threat to flying creatures in formats where it's still legal.

It came out originally back in 2002 with the Onslaught expansion. Its ability to pump mana into damaging flyers is nothing short of deadly for the average Angel or Dragon players in formats like Commander. This is especially true when you realize that Silklash Spider can also block before dealing that damage, then potentially kill an attacking flyer that's been weakened enough by the activated ability.

As for why Silklash Spider can't be higher on this list, it costs a hefty . And then, you have to pump into its ability whenever you want to use it. Such a large investment of mana means it's a prime target for removal. I'm not saying it "dies to removal" as an argument. I'm saying it draws more removal towards it than I'd like.

However, it can't be overstated how cool this older Spider creature is. Therefore, it deserves its 10th-place spot on this list.

9) Obelisk SpiderObelisk Spider

A dark horse pick from 2017's Hour of Devastation, Obelisk SpiderObelisk Spider is a cool piece of interactive support. With its ability to act as though it's got wither in addition to normal damage, Obelisk Spider is a powerful 3-drop in decks like Hapatra, Vizier of PoisonsHapatra, Vizier of Poisons or Volrath, the ShapestealerVolrath, the Shapestealer.

Beyond this strong ability, it also acts as an Aristocrat effect for these decks, something that may be a bit harder to find space for otherwise. However, the idea that it takes that role primarily in decks that care about counter placement means Obelisk Spider is overall a bit of a niche card.

While it's a bit more specialized than Silklash Spider, the cost and its novel effect are enough to elevate it to 9th place.

8) Doom WeaverDoom Weaver

Emerging from the set-booster exclusives of Innistrad: Crimson Vow, Doom WeaverDoom Weaver is a worthy Spider for 8th place within this Top 10 list. The creature is a formidably tough creature with a posterior-heavy toughness of eight. This base toughness and its reach ability are both nice for being able to block a wide range of opposing creatures, even at a mana value of six.

But what puts Doom Weaver on the list at all is its soulbond ability. When it's paired with another creature, both of them can potentially let a player draw many cards when they die.

However, the Weaver wants to be played in a Spider-typal deck, and doesn't have the power to draw a ton of cards on its own. Given that Spiders typically don't have a lot of power to them natively, it's not a very reliable source of card advantage, sadly. However, the draw is enough to put Doom Weaver at #8 on this list.

7) Dragonlair SpiderDragonlair Spider

A card originally printed in Primordial Hunger, Thromok the InsatiableThromok the Insatiable's precon for Planechase 2012, Dragonlair SpiderDragonlair Spider is a large, mana-intensive Spider that makes a ton of Insect tokens if allowed to stick around for long enough.

A mighty 5/6 for a hefty , Dragonlair Spider is a great deterrent for opponents who like to sling spells with abandon.

The catch to this creature is probably the fact that it's got a really, really specific mana cost. That, and the tokens it makes, which feel like they should have flying, don't. But beyond that, there's not a lot of ill to speak of for this one. It's worth #7, which is where it belongs.

And who wants to argue with a Spider living in a dragon's lair?

6) Thantis, the WarweaverThantis, the Warweaver

Our first legendary Spider on this Top 10 list, Thantis, the WarweaverThantis, the Warweaver is a creature that doesn't do a lot of the things that Spiders want to do in Magic. Sure, it has reach, but despite also having vigilance, most other Spiders don't. Pairing this unfortunate fact with its mandate to force each creature to attack means Thantis is a bit of a trap for the discerning Commander player.

Nevertheless, there are obviously ways to mitigate this issue within deckbuilding for a deck with Thantis at the head. Plenty of cards can grant a Thantis-run battlefield vigilance, so that's always a plus.

However, that Thantis isn't in colors that usually have creatures with vigilance is a blow against its ranking here. Therefore, Thantis makes the list, but at a below-average rank of 6th place.

5) Spinner of SoulsSpinner of Souls

Debuting in Foundations, Spinner of SoulsSpinner of Souls is a creature that's all upside. With an above-rate stat line of 4/3 for only , it's already doing great, even in monogreen where big creatures are the norm. However, it's got reach (par for the course for Spiders, as mentioned previously) and a strong effect.

Spinner of Souls will never leave your board bereft of creatures!

My argument for why Spinner of Souls is only worth 5th place could be seen as a bit controversial, however. I think it's a very strong creature, to be sure. But my issue with it is that, like Thantis and several other Spiders not on this list, Spinner is not quite Spider-like. Its power is higher than its toughness, which is extremely uncharacteristic of Spiders in Magic. Even if it's a 4/3, which is a minuscule difference overall, that feels like it shouldn't be the case.

So, while Spinner of Souls is a fantastic card, it's a suboptimal Spider from this perspective, and that puts it at #5 on this list.

4) Twitching DollTwitching Doll

An interesting mana-producing artifact creature from Duskmourn: House of Horror, Twitching DollTwitching Doll gets my pick for #4 on this Top 10 list. It's not a bad creature, and it's sufficiently as creepy as it truly should be in the setting of Duskmourn.

What's more, upon dying it has the propensity to spawn a ton of Spider tokens. These tokens have reach, which is why I am more than willing to overlook the lack thereof on Twitching Doll.

As far as flavor goes, this card makes my skin crawl. I'm often looking for that in multiversal horror settings like Innistrad or Duskmourn. In this way, Twitching Doll is more than satisfactory for me, and the Spider aspect has no small part in that. To that effect, Twitching Doll deserves its 4th-place spot. It's not higher, if only because a few others are just better Spiders.

3) Nyx WeaverNyx Weaver

At #3 is Nyx WeaverNyx Weaver. This enchantment creature is one that I'm sure many of my readers have seen before in plenty of preconstructed Commander decks. Nyx Weaver came out initially in Journey Into Nyx, the third set of the original Theros block. Since then, it's been a mainstay in various green-black precons across the board.

There's clearly a very good reason for that, because it's been printed so often since then.

To its credit, Nyx Weaver supplants so many self-mill decks to this date. Right now, it's in 68,519 decks out of a possible 1,401,221 decks that could use it, a veritable 4.89% of decks, percentage-wise. With nearly 5% of decks that could run Nyx Weaver doing so, it speaks volumes to the helpful versatility of the enchantment Spider's ability suite.

However, there are two more Spiders on this list that are far more useful for a Spider deck than Nyx Weaver, so Nyx Weaver gets 3rd place here.

2) Shelob, Child of UngoliantShelob, Child of Ungoliant

At our penultimate (ascending) rank of #2 is Shelob, Child of UngoliantShelob, Child of Ungoliant, our only Spider from Universes Beyond on the list. Shelob is a wonderfully scary Spider. She does everything one would expect from a Spider, from having deathtouch to eating her prey alive.

She's also an 8/8 for only . That's an excellent rate for a creature with no downsides. Shelob also gives her keywords to all other Spiders you control, essentially making all of her Spiders into her children in turn.

The only real issue I find with Shelob, Child of Ungoliant is that she's not really a Magic: The Gathering Spider outside of the fact that she's a Magic card now. Lord of the Rings was a fantastic set and felt like the way Magic should handle Universes Beyond, but beyond that, Shelob isn't a Magic character, memetics aside.

Plus, the one thing that Shelob, as a Spider, lacks is arguably the most important for a Spider to have: the ability to block flying creatures. So, Shelob is beaten out at #2 on this list.

With Shelob at 2nd place, what could the #1 non-Marvel Spider in Magic be? The answer... Probably won't surprise you!

The Top Non-Marvel Spider in Magic Is...

Ishkanah, GrafwidowIshkanah, Grafwidow is the top non-Marvel Spider in this Top 10 list. While she costs a relatively hefty for a 3/5 creature with reach, Ishkanah does a ton for Spider decks. She creates a lot of Spider creature tokens at a given time, crafting a cluttered stalemate for creatures. What's more, she can turn those stalemates into a race against time with her activated ability.

Ishkanah is a pure stone-cold killer, and it shows.

With that, I'd like to open the floor to you, dear readers. Which non-Marvel Spiders are your favorite picks for your Spider typal Commander decks? Do you have a favorite that isn't on this list? Sound off in the comments below!