Spider-Man Cards To Pick up for Commander
Welcome back for another History, Restapled, a Commander-focused column that attempts to validate a newer card’s status as a staple by looking at how cards that are similar, synergistic, or competing have fared in the past financially.
Everyone agrees that
Maximum Carnage - $0.50
Forget
Maximum Carnage, a new Saga from Spider-Man, doesn’t include Kardur’s damage-related text, but perfectly captures its goad++ language. For five mana, it comes down and keeps you safe for a turn cycle until it produces three red mana, fueling whatever shenanigans you require to keep yourself safe and endure until the Saga deals 15 damage (most likely), doled out among your opponents. Sagas in Commander often operate too slowly to make much of an impact, but Maximum Carnage is capable of maximizing its effects.
I’m not here to claim that Maximum Carnage is going to shoot up to a double digit price anytime soon; after all, Kardur is a bulk uncommon. But as it becomes more apparent that Spider-Man packs aren’t going to be opened en masse, Maximum Carnage will continue growing in appeal and exceed its current price. Any deck that wants Kardur will want this.
STATUS: Forced-combat staple
| Maximum Carnage | ||
| Maximum Carnage (Borderless) |
Peter Parker's Camera - $1
Much hay has been made of this card in Modern, where
By virtue of the format, the vast majority of commanders are going to have an activated or triggered ability worth copying — which is something
I’m not fully convinced that Peter Parker’s Camera belongs in every Commander deck. Artifact-based strategies will love the Camera, but aggro, creature-based ones will give it a pass. Still, the card scales effortlessly in Commander, and Wizards of the Coast won’t cease printing strong activated and triggered abilities.
STATUS: In the right deck, absolute staple
| Peter Parker's Camera | ||
| Peter Parker's Camera (Extended Art) |
Sandman, Shifting Scoundrel - $0.50
Every deck I build contains plenty of ways to use mana at the end of opponents’ turns. Keeping mana untapped is a threatening image to project and likely dissuades opponents from attacking you or messing with your stuff — or at least thinking twice before doing so. I find this especially important in non-blue decks; why should they have all the instant-speed fun?
Sandman, Shifting Scoundrel comes down as a threatening creature that can’t be easily chump-blocked while acting as a late-game source of ramp and self-recursion. In green, where mana acceleration is essentially required for entry, Sandman’s five mana ability isn’t going to be difficult to achieve, rendering obsolete (from a card advantage perspective) any removal spell that took it out.
This is an absolute stompy staple, though its pip requirements means it’ll be difficult to throw this into a deck with three or more colors. Although… if there was a way for green decks to get Forest cards directly onto the battlefield. Maybe one day.
STATUS: Stompy staple
| Sandman, Shifting Scoundrel | ||
| Sandman, Shifting Scoundrel (Extended Art) |
Parker Luck - $0.25
However, Parker Luck distinguishes itself from the others by triggering at your end step rather than your upkeep. This means it’ll trigger the turn you play it and can at least guarantee you get your card back. This isn’t a staple right now, but it’s certainly one to watch.
STATUS: Staple-maybe?
| Parker Luck | ||
| Parker Luck (Extended Art) |
Man, I Feel Like a Spider
Which Spider-Man cards are speaking to you? Any you think are staples, and cheap at the moment, that I missed? Let me know!
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Steve Heisler
Steve Heisler is a writer and pop culture journalist covering comedy, games, television, film and the tech industry. His work has been published in Rolling Stone, GQ, Variety, The AV Club, Fast Company and the Chicago Sun-Times. He began collecting Magic cards during Fourth Edition and plays Commander and Modern primarily. He also enjoys tennis, the Dark Souls family of video games and supporting live comedy. He lives in Chicago with his cat, Rosie.