Spider-Man might be an unlikely crossover for Magic: The Gathering's growing list of IPs, but at the end of the day, new cards are new cards - and that means new rules, abilities, and strategies. Spidey brings his iconic web-slinging to Magic, with a keyword of the same name.

True to the lore, web-slinging allows creatures to make dramatic, unexpected entrances and keep your momentum going over the course of your turn. Snappy one-liners to go with it, of course, are optional but encouraged. Here's everything you need to know about this exciting new ability.

What Does Web-Slinging Do In Magic: The Gathering?

If a card has web-slinging, then the ability will be printed alongside a cost. By paying this cost and returning a tapped creature you control to its owner's hand, you can play the web-slinging card without paying its normal mana cost. In most cases, the web-slinging cost is cheaper, so if you have a tapped creature on the battlefield that you're willing to bounce, it's the more economical option.

You can only play a card using its web-slinging ability at a time when you would be able to play it via its normal casting cost. Usually, that means it has to be in your hand or, if it's your commander, in your command zone.

Tips For Using Web-Slinging

  • Once the tapped creature has been returned to your hand, you can cast it again, re-triggering any entry abilities that it has. It also loses any counters or other attachments that it had when it leaves the battlefield.
  • Remember, if you don't own the creature that you bounce, it goes to its owner's hand, not yours. A card's owner is considered to be the player whose library the card started the game in.
  • This is tricky to make work, but if you can give a web-slinging card in your hand or command zone flash (for example, by having Teferi, Mage of Zhalfir in play), you can cast it for its web-slinging cost any time you could play an instant. That means you can remove a targeted creature from the battlefield, provided it's already tapped, before the stack resolves, since returning it to its owner's hand is a cost. Think of it as Spider-Man rescuing an ally at the last moment!

The Best Cards With Web-Slinging

Thus far, there aren't many cards revealed with web-slinging. The ones that do exist, though, offer some neat tempo in white and its ally colors, green and blue.

Spider-Man, Web-Slinger

With the ability right there in the name, it would be criminal for this card not to have web-slinging. Spider-Man, Web-Slinger is about the most basic use case for this ability as it gets, but being able to cast a 3/3 for one mana is nothing to sneeze at. Given white's proclivity for enhancing its creatures, this is a fun, efficient card for players who like to rely on strong fundamentals. Just remember that it's legendary!

Spider-Man, Brooklyn Visionary

Five mana is pretty steep for a 4/3, even with its ramp ability, so this is definitely a card that you want to cast exclusively for its web-slinging cost if at all possible. Curiously, since it lets you search for a land each time it enters, Spider-Man, Brooklyn Visionary is actually a great card to pull back to your handwith another web-slinger!

A white-green deck that yo-yos between Web-Slinger and Brooklyn Visionary can ramp up its curve quite nicely in the midgame - just watch out for Lightning Bolt and similar cards.

Amazing Spider-Man

Amazing Spider-Man transforms (predictably) from Peter Parker, and once he gets that fateful spider bite he adds some fun combo potential to your board. He doesn't have web-slinging himself, although vigilance and reach on a 4/4 make a respectable body; instead, he grants all legendary spells that you cast an option to web-sling for WUG, provided they are one or more colors.

That's one white mana, one blue mana, and one green mana.

The wording here is important; it says legendary spells, not creatures. That means that legendary planeswalkers and legendary artifacts are on the table, as long as they aren't colorless. You can use Amazing Spider-Man to drastically reduce the cost of some very expensive cards, even outside of your normal colors. Progenitus for three mana? Spidey can do it!