The Spider-Man Universes Beyond set has been met with mixed reception, but hidden inside are some surprisingly strong commanders. Whether you’re chasing synergy within the set’s archetypes or looking for stand-alone power, there are plenty of cards here that could anchor a solid Commander deck.
This list breaks things down by archetype: an honorable mention five-color option, the best three-color commanders, standout two-color options, and finally some surprisingly strong mono-colored picks.
Is the WUBRG Creature in Spider-Man a Good Commander?
Cosmic Spiderman
While Cosmic Spider-Man isn’t necessarily a top-tier commander, it earns an honorable mention for being a five-color (WUBRG) option. Any time you have access to all colors, you open up the possibility to play every Spider-Man-themed card from the set while mixing in staples across Magic’s full card pool. That kind of flexibility alone means Cosmic Spider-Man deserves to be noted.
Best Three-Color Commanders in Spider-Man
The Spider-Man set leans heavily into archetypes that splash a third color, and some of these legendary characters are powerful enough to hold their own beyond the set itself.
Eddie Brock // Venom (Jund – BRG)
Eddie Brock is a perfect fit for both the Mayhem and Big Spells archetypes. On his front side, he plays nicely with discard strategies, letting you pitch cheap cards and later recur them. Once you pay his steep six-mana transform cost, Venom turns into a recursion engine — letting you sacrifice a creature to bring another back each time he attacks. That synergy makes him an excellent choice for sacrifice, graveyard recursion, or even combo decks.
Pairing Eddie Brock with cards like Alesha, Who Smiles at Death can create brutal loops, and he’s strong enough to stand toe-to-toe with established graveyard commanders outside of this Universes Beyond set.
Norman Osborn // Green Goblin (Grixis – UBR)
Norman Osborn starts as an unblockable connive engine, but once transformed into the Green Goblin, he becomes a true menace. Casting spells from the graveyard for two less is already strong, but granting Mayhem to every nonland card in your graveyard is absurd value. With the right support, your discard pile becomes a second hand.
In Grixis colors, this commander pairs beautifully with Villain-themed cards and established graveyard strategies like flashback, escape, or delve.
Miles Morales // Ultimate Spider-Man (Naya – WRG)
Miles brings +1/+1 counter synergy into Naya colors — already a natural fit for that strategy. On cast, he spreads counters across two creatures, but his transformed side, Ultimate Spider-Man, is where things get spicy. With haste, first strike, and the ability to pump himself while gaining hexproof, Miles quickly grows into a hard-to-answer threat.
More importantly, his attack trigger doubles counters on all Spiders and legendary creatures you control. That makes him a terrifying payoff for counter-focused decks, though you’ll want to pack your list with plenty of legends and spider creatures to maximize his upside.
Peter Parker // Amazing Spider-Man (Bant – WUG)
Peter Parker leans into the set’s Web-Slinging archetype. His ETB token-making ability is fine, but his transformed side really drives the deck: granting Web-Slinging to all your legendary multicolor creatures. That turns every creature with an ETB effect into repeatable value.
He requires a strong mana base and lots of ETB-focused multicolor creatures, but in the right shell, he can churn out relentless tempo and board advantage.
Gwen Stacy // Ghost-Spider (Jeskai – WUR)
Gwen Stacy may be the trickiest of the three-color commanders to pilot, but her potential is high. On entry, she exiles the top card of your deck and allows you to play it while she’s on the battlefield. Once transformed, Ghost-Spider rewards you with +1/+1 counters when you play lands from exile, while also letting you cash in counters to exile more cards.
The exile-based card advantage is reminiscent of red impulse-draw commanders, but stretched across Jeskai colors. Built like a Jeskai storm deck with extra protection for Gwen, this commander could easily snowball into huge value turns.
Best Dual-Color Commanders in Spider-Man
Not every archetype pairing hits the mark, but these four two-color commanders stand out as both fun and powerful.
Doctor Octopus, Master Planner (Dimir – UB)
Doc Ock is a natural fit for Villain tribal, granting all your Villains +2/+2. On top of that, he removes your maximum hand size and draws you up to eight cards at each end step if you’re below it. That kind of built-in draw engine is absurd, though his Villain synergies are limited to this set. Still, as a tribal payoff commander, he’s hard to beat.
Jackal, Genius Geneticist (Simic – UG)
Cheap at just two mana, Jackal rewards early tempo by copying spells when you curve out efficiently. Each copy grows him as well, turning him into both an engine and a threat. His weakness is a lack of protection, so you’ll want to pack hexproof or indestructible support. In the right shell, he snowballs value every turn.
Mister Negative (Orzhov – WB)
Mister Negative is one of the most political commanders in the set. A 5/5 with vigilance and lifelink, he can ETB to swap life totals with an opponent — and if you lose life in the process, you draw that many cards. That makes him a dangerous bargaining tool at the Commander table. Combined with life-gain or life-loss synergies, he can either stabilize or act as a game-ending threat.
Carnage, Crimson Chaos (Rakdos – BR)
Carnage is pure aggression. Every turn, he wants to attack, forcing blocks or punishing opponents with damage triggers. Pair him with cards that reward frequent combat like Alesha, Who Smiles at Death or Raid payoffs, and Carnage becomes a relentless Rakdos aggro commander. If you like raw damage, this is your pick.
Best Mono-Color Commanders in Spider-Man
Some of the mono-colored legends may look unassuming, but they actually open up some neat strategies.
Anti-Venom, Horrifying Healer (White)
A surprisingly strong mono-white graveyard commander. Anti-Venom can recur creatures from the graveyard and gains even more power if you load him up with lifelink equipment or auras. His design fits a white ETB lifegain deck that pressures opponents into awkward choices.
Gwenom, Remorseless (Black)
Gwenom is terrifying. She lets you pay life instead of mana to cast cards from the top of your deck. With a steady life gain engine, she becomes a card-advantage machine. Think of her as a hybrid between Bolas’s Citadel and classic black suicide strategies, easily headlining mono-black decks.
Mysterio, Master of Illusions (Blue)
Mysterio thrives by creating overwhelming board states. His Illusion tokens can flood the battlefield quickly, especially when paired with blink or copy effects. He’s fragile to board wipes, but with counterspell backup, he can pressure opponents by sheer numbers.
Spider-Punk (Red)
Spider-Punk embodies the Riot mechanic, one of the strongest in the set. Whether you’re going wide with haste or going tall with counters, he gives you the flexibility to push damage. He’s straightforward but explosive — exactly what you’d expect from a punk-rock Spider.
Sandman, Shifting Scoundrel (Green)
Sandman is a landfall-focused commander with plenty of potential. His abilities let you convert lands into board presence, scaling into the late game. He’s not as flashy as others, but for green landfall fans, he’s a solid, synergistic build-around.
Spider-Ham, Peter Porker (Green)
Finally, Spider-Ham is one of the most fun options in the set. As a Food-focused commander, he blends life gain with token synergies, offering a quirky but effective strategy. If you like janky but surprisingly strong synergy decks, Spider-Ham is your pick.
Final Thoughts
The Spider-Man Universes Beyond set may not have landed with every player, but when you look closer, it’s packed with unique and flavorful commanders. Some of them, like Cosmic Spider-Man or Spider-Ham, are pure fun and flavor picks that invite creative deckbuilding. Others — like Green Goblin, Eddie Brock, or Gwenom — have real competitive potential thanks to strong recursion, card advantage, or aggressive synergies.
Whether you’re a Spider-Man fan who wants to swing into Commander with your favorite character, or a seasoned player looking for fresh builds, this set has something worth experimenting with. It may not reshape the Commander landscape, but it proves that Universes Beyond can deliver both flavor and function in a way that feels right at home at the Commander table.
