Magic: The Gatheringcontinues to expand the Universes Beyond sets by adding Marvel properties to the lineup. 2025 marks the release of three prominent sets under this label that feature the entireFinal Fantasyfranchise,Avatar: The Last Airbender, and now,Spider-ManentersMagic: The Gatheringon September 26. Just like theFinal Fantasyset, theSpider-Mancards feature kinds of heroes and villains, including other Spider-People from other universes.
TheseUniverses Beyond sets have splitMagic: The Gatheringplayersover the years. In terms of the game itself, its story, and what players have come to expect fromMagicfor decades, these crossovers are completely out of place to many. Others feel like it serves to introduce the game to people who wouldn’t check it out otherwise. It’s understandable why players would be split when these IPs intrude with new mechanics likeAvatar’s new bending mechanics. On the other hand, one Spider-Man breaks rules, but only onMagic: The Gathering’s own terms.
Spider-Man 2099’s Magic: The Gathering Restrictions Encourage Players to Cast Him on an Opponent’s Turn
Miguel O’Hara, aka Spider-Man 2099, is one of many Spider-People shoved into the limelight lately thanks to theSpider-Versemovies. In the main expansion set, Spider-Man 2099 has a color identity of blue and red, and only costs two mana to cast. However, he also comes with a stipulation tied to his backstory called “From the Future,” where players can’t use him until their fourth turn to limit his strongcombos with theSpider-Mancardsin the expansion.
At first glance, From the Future might cause Spider-Man 2099 fans significant early-game delays. However, there is an interesting use of pronouns on Miguel’s card. It specifies that the player playingSpider-Man 2099can’t cast him on their first, second, or third turns, which means that an opponent’s early turn is fair game. Cards like Leyline of Anticipation can give Miguel flash to make this possible long-term, while others like Borne Upon a Wind can serve as extra back-up cards with a similar effect.
With plenty of support to work around Spider-Man 2099’s limitations, fans can easily make him a surprising force to be reckoned with at the start of a match. With double-strike, vigilance, and an extra effect that allows him to deal damage during the end-step, Spider-Man 2099 can literally tear through life with ease. This only gets worse when Lyna, Holographic Assistant, is thrown into the mix as his canonical AI companion can increase the damage he does with every card drawn.
What Cards Can Bypass Spider-Man 2099’s From the Future
Magic: The Gatheringhas thousands of cards players can choose from, so fans will likely find combos that work well across many sets, past, present, and even future. Of course, players should verify that the cards they think work well with Spider-Man 2099 arelegal in theMagicformatthey wish to play him in. On top of that, this exclusively applies to the “Spider-Man 2099” card and not “Spider-Man 2099, Miguel O’Hara” from the welcome decks.
Out ofall theSpider-Mancharactersbeing introduced toMagic: The Gathering, it’s very interesting that Spider-Man 2099 is the one with a card that encourages breaking the rules. InAcross the Spiderverse, he broke the rules of the multiverse to take care of another version of his daughter when his alternate self died, only to lead that universe to ruin by doing so. After that, Miguel sought to keep all worlds along their fated events to avoid the destruction of other universes. Breaking the timeline for hisMagic: The Gatheringcard comes off like breaking his predicted chain of events, but hopefully, by sticking toMTG’s own rules to do so avoids the danger he’s so afraid of.
