Spider-Byte, Web WardenSpider-Byte, Web Warden | Art by Thanh Tuấn

Welcome to Too-Specific Top 10, where if there isn’t a category to rank our pet card at the top of, we’ll just make one up! (Did you know that Gogo, Master of MimicryGogo, Master of Mimicry is the only card that can make multiple copies of a triggered ability?)

So uhhhh... You can now play Man-o'-WarMan-o'-War in the command zone? Except it's even better? That seems good, no?

And for once, it's not even hyperbole. Spider-Byte, Web WardenSpider-Byte, Web Warden really is strictly better Man-o'-WarMan-o'-War, which is already a known broken card.

Okay, so maybe the years haven't been that kind to Man-o'-WarMan-o'-War, and it's only considered a powerful card by middle-aged folks who've been playing for decades like me, and it's not like there's even an existing combo that can be utilized in mono-blue, which would be the colors you'd be in with Spider-Byte in the command zone, right?

Still, that's just a single three-card combo, hardly anything to worry about, right? It's not like all of those combos have a single thing in common that is an effect that has recently had multiple versions of it made, right?

Top 10 Mono-Blue Panharmonicons That Can Copy Spider-Byte, Web WardenSpider-Byte, Web Warden's ETB

Criteria: Cards within the blue color identity that can cause Spider-Byte's enter trigger to happen more than once if Spider-Byte is your commander (get outta here, The Peregrine DynamoThe Peregrine Dynamo!), or that can make a copy of Spider-Byte on the stack. As is tradition, all results are ordered by EDHREC score.

10. Adric, Mathematical GeniusAdric, Mathematical Genius

(Partners 639 Decks; 13,346 Inclusions, 0.44% of 3,049,289 Decks)

I'd like to act like I'm all depressed that we can't partner companion up with AdricAdric in the command zone, but the fact of the matter is, Adric just isn't very good with what we're trying to do. We're already paying three mana to bounce something, and to copy it for another three mana is now us paying six to bounce two things, or paying six to bounce one thing and then return Spider-Byte to our hand to use again next turn. In either case, we're way overpaying and not doing anything really worth doing.

9. Tomb of Horrors AdventurerTomb of Horrors Adventurer

(20,646 Inclusions, 0.64% of 3,206,220 Decks)

Tomb of Horrors AdventurerTomb of Horrors Adventurer is a little bit closer, even though it's not really a PanharmoniconPanharmonicon. Six mana is a bit steep, but given that it's a creature with an ETB we can abuse and is also capable of copying our other Panharmonicons, this is exactly the kind of thing that will have us going infinite on accident. On its face, this isn't what we were looking for, but the fact of the matter is Tomb of Horrors AdventurerTomb of Horrors Adventurer will be one of our best late-game pulls and will absolutely win us games that have gone on too long.

8. Mirror Room // Fractured RealmMirror Room // Fractured Realm

(30,463 Inclusions, 1.48% of 2,053,102 Decks)

Another one that's a bit too pricey for our tastes, Fractured RealmFractured Realm is going to be the most expensive PanharmoniconPanharmonicon on our list today at seven mana. With that said, it can be cast a lot earlier in the game to do something we're also interested in doing: create a copy of a creature. That can mean an extra bounce with our commander, which is fine. More impressively, however, it can be a second copy of a creature-based "Panharmonicon", like Tomb of Horrors AdventurerTomb of Horrors Adventurer or the brand new option that will soon be near the top of this list, Starfield VocalistStarfield Vocalist. Throw in a deck full of other ETBs that we want to abuse with our commander, and Mirror Room is going to be one of our favorite cards to see, at any stage of the game.

7. Storm of SarumanStorm of Saruman

(36,387 Inclusions, 1.13% of 3,206,220 Decks)

All in all, we prefer Tomb of Horrors AdventurerTomb of Horrors Adventurer over Storm of SarumanStorm of Saruman, simply because it has an abusable ETB. With that said, Storm does have the same upside as Adventurer with its copy ability, namely that we can copy our Panharmonicon effects as our second spell of the turn, and that's where Storm outshines Adventurer, as we don't have to wait to complete a Dungeon to get going. We can simply play a Cloud of FaeriesCloud of Faeries into a Mirror RoomMirror Room and reap the benefits.

6. Virtue of KnowledgeVirtue of Knowledge

(65,310 Inclusions, 2.06% of 3,172,906 Decks)

At one mana more than Panharmonicon, Virtue of KnowledgeVirtue of Knowledge gives you the same effect, only for your extra mana, it doubles the triggers of all your other permanent types, too. This is very relevant for Spider-Byte, Web WardenSpider-Byte, Web Warden specifically, because unlike Man-o'-WarMan-o'-War, she can bounce more than just creatures. This means that there are tons of ETBs attached to artifacts, enchantments, and battles that we could be abusing.

Top 10 Mono-Blue Non-Creature, Non-Land ETBs (That Are Relevant and Beneficial When Copied)

1. Isochron ScepterIsochron Scepter
2. Ichor WellspringIchor Wellspring
3. Portal to PhyrexiaPortal to Phyrexia
4. Soul-Guide LanternSoul-Guide Lantern
5. Coveted JewelCoveted Jewel
6. Altar of the BroodAltar of the Brood
7. Contagion ClaspContagion Clasp
8. Retreat to CoralhelmRetreat to Coralhelm
9. Horn of GondorHorn of Gondor
10. Intruder AlarmIntruder Alarm

While I don't think we're set up to start exiling two instants from our hand to abuse with Isochron ScepterIsochron Scepter, there are still some great options in this list. Ichor WellspringIchor Wellspring may only draw a card upon entering, but if we can get a critical mass of mana that's more than enough. If you are looking for a one-punch kind of thing, however, then it's hard to do better than Coveted JewelCoveted Jewel drawing you three and then tapping for another three. Finally, if we set up any kind of infinite loop with our commander and a PanharmoniconPanharmonicon, Altar of the BroodAltar of the Brood will always ensure that it mills out the entire table. As for how to get that loop? Well, there's Intruder AlarmIntruder Alarm, right there! If we can get a bunch of mana dorks or a creature that untaps our lands, then it is easy enough to have Spider-Byte target herself indefinitely, untapping creatures each time.

5. Lithoform EngineLithoform Engine

(76,725 Inclusions, 1.18% of 6,502,484 Decks)

I've become remarkably bullish on Lithoform EngineLithoform Engine, simply because I've tried to put it in so many decks, and ended up cutting it in almost every single one of them. While it's extremely flexible about what it can copy, giving you the feeling that the world is your oyster, it's also inordinately expensive at every step of the way. Four mana to play already has you into the mid-game before you are ever even considering activating it, no matter the option you choose to do so with.

Combine that with this not really being an option for loops, and I think I'm fairly comfortable saying that we're just not going to have room for Engine in our 99. While the prospect of using it to copy our other copiers is enticing, four mana to do so is just a lot. As for it copying our commander's ETB, that's great and all, but we're not going to find a way for that to do much more than have us pay five mana each turn to bounce a single thing. Woo hoo.

4. Reflections of LittjaraReflections of Littjara

(148,291 Inclusions, 4.63% of 3,206,220 Decks)

Reflections of LittjaraReflections of Littjara, on the other hand, is imminently abusable. While we do wish that Spider-Byte had a more universal creature type to choose (she's one of the only Spider-men who isn't a Human), being able to copy her each time we play her means we can instantly start doing the nonsense where we can bounce repeatedly for three mana. This might seem like it doesn't work due to the legend rule, but luckily, even if we let the copy die to state-based effects each time, the copy's trigger still happens. That means that you can have one of the Spider-Byte's target the original to bounce it back to our hand, while the other one bounces whatever else. As for what that whatever else is? Well, it can be your opponents' stuff, but that's kind of the worst version of what we're trying to do. What we really want is to set up some kind of loop by bouncing our own stuff. And inherent in that is going to be fast mana.

Bouncing something for three mana is all well and good, but if you can bounce a mana-positive rock instead, then suddenly your loop becomes a one- or two-mana loop instead of a three-mana one. This doesn't do much if you don't have another effect on the board that cares about you having a creature enter and leave repeatedly, but if you do have something that triggers upon Spider-Byte either entering or being cast, then what you have is a cheap way of triggering that effect, over and over again.

3. Strionic ResonatorStrionic Resonator

(181,919 Inclusions, 2.80% of 6,502,484 Decks)

Once again, however, those loops don't work with the likes of Strionic ResonatorStrionic Resonator, unless you have a cool seven mana available for each loop. With that said, a single-use copy for four mana total I can get behind, especially in a deck that will be full to the brim with ETB triggers.

2. PanharmoniconPanharmonicon

(254,651 Inclusions, 3.92% of 6,502,484 Decks)

And finally, we come to the namesake of the list. PanharmoniconPanharmonicon has had several imitators get printed in the last few years, but few of them have even proved a viable alternative to the original, much less gone so far as to possibly surpass it. That remains true in this instance, as well: a Spider-Byte deck wants the cheapest possible copy effect that can get you to looping for three, and will have other ETBs that it will want to copy as well. In that regard, Panharmonicon used to stand alone, before the very recent printing of Starfield VocalistStarfield Vocalist. The real question is whether that second, sometimes cheaper option will end up seeing as much play as the original.

1. Roaming ThroneRoaming Throne

(413,351 Inclusions, 6.80% of 6,075,009 Decks)

As for the option that's surpassed it? Roaming ThroneRoaming Throne is another great doubler for our commander, but for now at least, the ugly issue of Spider-Byte not being a common creature type has reared its head yet again. I've checked, and there's not really any Spiders, Avatars, or Heroes in blue with enters triggers that are worth doubling up on. With all that said, Roaming ThroneRoaming Throne is another doubler for our commander, at a reasonable price, stapled to a reasonable body. We take those.

Honorable Mentions

There is a couple of new additions we're much more enthusiastic about, however:

I couldn't help bringing up Starfield VocalistStarfield Vocalist a couple times throughout this article, and it was for good reason. If Vocalist isn't currently the best PanharmoniconPanharmonicon generally, which it's absolutely in the running for, then it is at the very least the best Panharmonicon for what we're trying to do with Spider-ByteSpider-Byte specifically. At four mana, it ties with Panharmonicon in mana cost, assuming you're already in blue. It goes a step further, however, doubling up on the enters triggers not only of artifacts and creatures, but any kind of permanent. It then goes even a step further, adding in an alternate casting cost in Warp that allows you to go nuts for a turn for just two mana, by far the cheapest Panharmonicon effect.

As for Gogo, Master of MimicryGogo, Master of Mimicry, he is in his own way impressive, although in a rather different way than Starfield Vocalist. Rather than copy each instance of a triggered or activated ability, you can instead copy a single trigger as many times as you have mana for. In our deck that can easily get ludicrous or infinite amounts of mana with the likes of Peregrine DrakePeregrine Drake and Cloud of FaeriesCloud of Faeries, that can translate into copying an enters trigger anywhere from dozens to infinite amount of times. Even if you can only manage to copy something once or twice, however, we are still trying to do silly things with Intruder AlarmIntruder Alarm, a card which can rather easily bring you from an extra trigger to a loop of infinite triggers with Gogo.

This is a lot of talk about how we're going to loop a lot of things, though. Isn't it time we backed all that up with an actual decklist?

While I don't know that you could build a Spider-Byte deck that would keep up in bracket four, this one being at the top echelon of what's allowed in bracket three is just fine, in my opinion. There's enough ramp available in cards that can do silly things when bounced with our commander that it would feel silly not to abuse them, while none of our combos are two-carders we'd expect to see in the early game. In goldfishing, turn five and six wins were possible, but more often what happens is a lot of bouncing opponents' permanents repeatedly on your way to a late-game win. It's not what your opponents would necessarily call fun, but I know I had a blast as the one playing it!

Nuts and Bolts

There always seems to be a bit of interest in how these lists are made (this seems like a good time to stress once again that they are based on EDHREC score, NOT my personal opinion…), and people are often surprised that I’m not using any special data or .json from EDHREC, but rather just muddling my way through with some Scryfall knowledge! For your enjoyment/research, here is this week’s Scryfall search.

What Do You Think?

While I know that I had a lot of fun building this deck, as I've stated several times, I'm not sure that I could build a version that would compete with most bracket four decks. With that said, combos are technically allowed in bracket three, so I aimed there. The question is, was that okay?

And finally, what is your favorite PanharmoniconPanharmonicon? Can you play it in blue? Does it go nuts with Spider-ByteSpider-Byte?

Let us know in the comments, and we'll see you at the tables that keep on appearing outside whenever we bring a table into the building.