Magic: The Gathering Finally Lets One Spider-Man Break Out…

Magic: The Gathering continues 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 entire Final Fantasy franchise, Avatar: The Last Airbender, and now, Spider-Man enters Magic: The Gathering on September 26. Just like the Final Fantasy set, the Spider-Man cards feature kinds of heroes and villains, including other Spider-People from other universes.

These Universes Beyond sets have split Magic: The Gathering players over the years. In terms of the game itself, its story, and what players have come to expect from Magic for 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 like Avatar's new bending mechanics. On the other hand, one Spider-Man breaks rules, but only on Magic: The Gathering's own terms.

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By Matt Karoglou

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 the Spider-Verse movies. 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 strong combos with the Spider-Man cards in 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 playing Spider-Man 2099 can'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

Tidal Barracuda
Leyline of Anticipation
Borne Upon a Wind
Final-Word Phantom

Magic: The Gathering has 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 make sure that the cards they think work well with Spider-Man 2099 are legal in the Magic format they 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 of all the Spider-Man characters being introduced to Magic: The Gathering, it's very interesting that Spider-Man 2099 is the one with a card that encourages breaking the rules. In Across 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 his Magic: The Gathering card comes off like breaking his predicted chain of events, but hopefully, by sticking to MTG's own rules to do so avoids the danger he's so afraid of.