Marvel's Spider-Man (SPM) Limited Review — MAR

Note: This article was translated from Chinese by AI and may contain errors. Read the original Chinese version.

Marvel’s Spider-Man (SPM) has its prerelease events on September 19, 2025, and officially releases a week later on September 26, 2025. Want to know more about how each card rates in Limited, with recommendations? Then check out this series of SPM Limited reviews!

In addition, because of licensing issues, the physical paper cards and the digital cards online (MTGA, MO) for this set appear with different card names and different art, but with the same rules text (a few proper nouns on some cards still differ). Therefore, this Limited review shows both versions of the art side by side so readers can compare.

• For the mechanics, see this article: Marvel’s Spider-Man Mechanics Explained
• The physical card set is named Marvel Universe (MAR)
• The corresponding online set is named Through the Omenpaths Bonus Sheet (OMB)

That said, the MAR set code says Marvel Universe, and if there are other Marvel IP crossovers in the future, it may well continue to be used in a way similar to Special Guests (SPG). Let’s See.

Rating Scale

5.0: Always take it; gives you a near-winning advantage
4.5: Always take it if you’re in the right colors; gives you a huge advantage
4.0: First-pick quality; excellent synergy with the archetype’s theme, and can be the deciding card for splashing, switching colors, or entering a color pair
3.5: Top uncommons and commons of the set, plus other strong cards; good synergy with the archetype’s theme, and a key card for entering a color pair
3.0: Important cards for an archetype’s theme, plus other above-average cards; you’ll want them in your final deck
2.5: Average, usually a decent curve filler
2.0 to 1.0: Below average; you generally prefer not to play them, and can use them as filler if necessary, but not too many
0.5 to 0.0: Unplayable; basically never play it, it will only help you lose

Card Ratings

Rating: 4.0
Comment: White’s big damage prevention. It has a very high chance of letting you counter-kill a creature. Comeback wins through burn should be less likely, but it’s not impossible.

Rating: 3.0
Comment: The expected use in Limited is a 3-4 mana instant-speed press.

Rating: 1.0
Comment: Nine Lives adds one counter for each source, so it’s relatively hard to make work in Limited. Consider it only if the opponent is playing a single big creature.

Rating: 3.5
Comment: Quality removal, second to none.

Rating: 2.5
Comment: A bounce card that breaks tempo. If, late in the game, the opponent casts an expensive spell to turn things around and you successfully bounce that spell, you’ve made a killing.

Rating: 2.5
Comment: This set has the Mayhem theme, so any deck with white can probably maindeck it. If you find the opponent isn’t playing graveyard stuff, it’s not too late to take it out.

Rating: 1.5
Comment: A situational card. If the opponent likes drawing cards on their own turn, slamming it down means you needn’t fear falling behind on resources, and the same goes against life-gain decks.

Rating: 2.5
Comment: It’s just a 4-mana Clone.

Rating: 3.0
Comment: The strongest hard counter in Magic.

Rating: 2.5
Comment: A bit expensive and with no self-protection. Remember it taps a permanent, so you can tap down the opponent’s land so they just pass the next turn. Once it succeeds, there’s a high chance they never get back on their feet.

Rating: 1.5
Comment: It’s hard to run into situations in Limited where you can use it for free.

Rating: 3.0
Comment: Choose up to three modes, so it’s quite flexible to use.

Rating: 3.0
Comment: A decent 1-mana filter that also keeps you from drawing useless cards for the rest of the game, though a shuffle could still cause that to happen.

Rating: 2.5
Comment: Remember the opponent’s creatures can be copied too. If you can cast it for nine mana you’ve probably won.

Rating: 2.5
Comment: A dimension-shifting attack on the library, but it usually needs board support, otherwise just passing the turn with five mana is a bit dangerous.

Rating: 2.5
Comment: A bit risky to use as removal, and it can also deal with enchantments.

Rating: 4.5
Comment: Almost an optional one-sided sweeper. Note that it can’t be used if there aren’t six creatures in total on both sides’ battlefields.

Rating: 2.5
Comment: Cheap removal that costs only a little life, but not great against aggro.

Rating: 2.5
Comment: Most of the time it’s a 3-mana 3/2 flash creature, and it feels even better if you earn some resources.

A supplementary note: when you control the opponent, you can look at the opponent’s hand, but not their sideboard; and since you only control them while they search their library, you don’t have priority at that moment, so you also can’t do things like tap lands for mana or activate abilities.

Rating: 3.0
Comment: Paired with discard, digging up something big early gives quite high value.

Rating: 3.5
Comment: Used on your own creatures, it can both dodge removal and earn two more enters abilities, both quite nice.

Rating: 4.5
Comment: A very powerful creature. Take three hits from it and you’re dead, and it’s very hard to kill.

Rating: 2.5
Comment: This set has no sacrifice theme, so it’s usually just a source of scattered extra damage.

Rating: 3.0
Comment: The main set has three Warriors. If the opponent’s defense is thin they’ll slowly be drowned in a sea of creatures.

Rating: 2.0
Comment: Used in the second main phase, it untaps all the creatures that just attacked and gives you an extra combat phase. You can let a big creature lead the way in the first wave to force blocks, then push in everything at once in the second.

Rating: 2.5
Comment: Another extra-combat card, but more flexible to use. If you can give your whole team double strike at instant speed for a favorable trade and then get an extra combat phase, there’s a high chance the game is about to end.

Rating: 2.0
Comment: Plain, simple deal 2 to any target.

Rating: 3.0
Comment: Although it can pair with the main set’s Mayhem, Mayhem still depends on when it’s cast, so instant speed doesn’t bring much of an advantage.

Rating: 3.0
Comment: Like the previous card it’s instant-speed discard, but it gives an extra Treasure that lets you slam a high-cost creature early next turn to dominate the board.

Rating: 1.0
Comment: Everyone redraws together. Remember it doesn’t actually gain cards, so it’s not a way to dump your whole hand and reset your hand size.

Rating: 2.5
Comment: Since it makes Spiders, this damage prevention is worth more in the main set. Remember it prevents damage from non-Spider creatures, so after making them you can use the Spiders to trade off the opponent’s creatures, but also note that damage from the opponent’s Spider creatures still goes through.

Rating: 3.5
Comment: A creature you have to kill once it lands, otherwise it earns more and more.

Rating: 2.5
Comment: A card that can answer anything, as long as you can afford that 3/3 creature. If you’re short on creatures you can even tear down your own permanents.

Rating: 3.0
Comment: Quite good protection: all permanents get hexproof and indestructible.

Rating: 3.0
Comment: A source that lets green refill a large number of cards in hand at once, but beware of getting 2-for-1’d.

Rating: 2.0
Comment: More of a win-more card, and the main set has no token theme.

Rating: 3.0
Comment: A very good protection spell. Even with only a little green you can use it to protect a creature that has already been modified.

Rating: 3.0
Comment: Prevent damage, then create an opportunity to hit back next turn. A rather sneaky spell for turning defense into offense.

Rating: 3.0
Comment: Red-white in the main set doesn’t focus on artifacts, so think of it as a single-target spell: cast it to deal 1 and scry 1.

Rating: 3.0
Comment: Quality removal for red-black. In Limited, preventing regeneration only matters against Skithiryx, the Blight Dragon.

Conclusion

This time MAR has many efficient removal spells and very powerful minions. If you open them in Limited and they match your color pair, they will surely give you a big advantage.

The first time I saw Spider-Man was more than twenty years ago. I didn’t even know Spider-Man now has so many parallel-universe branches and characters. Having this chance to collaborate, I also saw many homages and memorable scene recreations in MAR’s card art, which brought back quite a few memories. I hope both Magic players and Spider-Man fans can enjoy this collaboration.