Wizards of the Coast just dropped the entire Image Gallery for its Through The Omenpaths set, featuring every single Spider-Man card reskinned with original Magic: The Gathering names and artwork, and it is a thing of beauty. I know they say limitation breeds creativity, but a little bit of me was scared this project would be treated as an afterthought and feature half-baked concepts with poor pictures.
I'm so happy that the reverse is true and my hype for this set was not misplaced. The reskinned MTG Spider-Man cards are fantastic. Wizards has outdone itself finding novel ways to interpret the strange creature types and effects of the Spider-Man cards, and this collection also gives us a tour across many different MTG planes.
In retrospect, the 'Through the Omenpaths' name was an obvious hint at this, but either way I love that we're getting new cards set on Bloomburrow, Duskmourn, New Capenna, and loads of other worlds I'm not expecting to see featured in a main set for years to come.
While the Spider-Man release feels strange and forced - with even superhero lovers not overly enamored with Wizards' choices, this Through the Omenpaths reimagining of it, though obviously born out of necessity, is a love letter to Magic's own universe. It feels like a classic MTG set, where Spider-Man certainly does not.
Sorry, WotC, but I hope you never get the digital rights to another IP ever again.
We've got to talk about the spiders, first of all. The number of spider-related cards and creatures that were simultaneously heroes, spiders, and most confoundingly, humans was what first made me perk up about this release. It was such a funny problem for Wizards of the Coast to have to tackle and a rod that, really, they'd made for their own back by picking an IP so disconnected from the general vibe of Magic: The Gathering.
But the designers and artists have done an admirable job coming up with novel ways that spiders and humans could be paired up in the MTG universe, while not skimping on nightmare-fuel monstrosities that blend the two species more literally.
So now Peter Parker is a scientist who creates a web-shooting gun powered by a spider, Spectacular Spider-Man has a hideous spider on his back operating as a parachute. Darval, Whose Web Protects is a sort of arachnid-human centaur combination, and Nia, Fabled Skyclimber rides an enormous spider with folds of skin stretched between its eight legs like a bat!
The fun extends to the other troublesome creature types. Just look at the horror that Spiderpig turned into. Although, remember, he's actually not a horror; he's a hero. And check out the dinosaur spider, or what Wizards of the Coast decided Magic's own symbiotes should look like.
I'm now desperate to know more about some of these characters. Who is Belion the Parched and what made him so thirsty? Does Zora, Spider Fancier find her affection for arachnids holds her back from pursuing the socialite lifestyle? Who is Cren, and how did he go from Ravnica's undercity to fighting on Kylem? (There's a lot of fun to be had trying to map each card to a particular plane.) Who the hell is Ig?
Some of these characters appear to be from brand new, original worlds, all of which are strangely spider-themed. Orris, Last of the Web Lords for instance, rides around weird, abandoned-looking eight-legged structures. Sarn of the Silken Throne uses a spider friend to zip around while wearing full plate armor. I expect we'll never see most of these people again, but I hope that I'm wrong.
It's not just the creatures that spark the imagination. The key 'story cards' from the Spider-Man set have all been mapped onto Magic's own worlds. Secret Identity for instance, features a heroic possum or rat from Bloomburrow wearing a mask to make themselves look like a racoon. Amazing! Adorable! With Great Power is now the far more ominous Chosen by Valgavoth, and Spider Man's Origin is now A Most Helpful Weaver, which is not only cute but actually fits the effects of the card way better.
There's some really cool sagas too, like Lost in Littjara featuring woodcut-style artwork and The House Grows Hungry, which shows Valgavoth eating the world.
Overall, I think this set of cards is going to give Arena players a better experience than paper players. It's just a shame there's no way to buy these as physical cards from WotC, but I imagine they'll be proxied like mad. If that happens and the Spider-Man set doesn't meet expectations, might the company shift its attitude towards UB, and perhaps be a bit more selective about what properties it chooses to adapt? I can dream.
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