The Marvel’s Spider-Man set introduces a wide variety of flavorful cards, but some stand out as particularly strong options for control players in Magic: the Gathering Standard. Control decks thrive on delaying the opponent, generating card advantage, and eventually taking over the game with powerful win conditions.

This article highlights six cards from the set that offer disruption, removal, and flexibility, making them strong contenders for any Magic: The Gathering control build.

Spider-Sense
This instant is a flexible counterspell that fits neatly into a control shell. Costing just two mana, it can counter an instant, sorcery, or even a triggered ability. Its web-slinging alternate cost allows you to return a tapped creature you control instead of paying mana, giving you an option to both interact with the stack and reuse enter-the-battlefield abilities. While it doesn’t counter creatures directly, it provides the kind of efficient disruption control decks need to buy time and protect their game plan.

Arachne, Psionic Weaver
Arachne is a taxing creature that reveals an opponent’s hand on entry and makes spells of a chosen type cost one more to cast. This slows down opposing strategies, especially spell-heavy decks that rely on instants, sorceries, or artifacts. With web-slinging, you also gain flexible casting options. For control players, this means a disruptive tool that doubles as a blocker and applies light pressure while you stabilize the board.

Hide on the Ceiling
This instant offers a temporary exile effect, removing multiple creatures or artifacts until the end step. It’s a strong stalling tool that can prevent lethal damage or give you breathing room to find answers. Control decks thrive on delaying tactics, and this card plays into that strategy perfectly. Although the opponent gets their permanents back, the tempo swing often buys the exact time you need to stabilize or reach your win condition.

Spectacular Tactics
Versatility is the main strength of Spectacular Tactics. At instant speed, it either protects your own key creature with hexproof or removes an opposing threat with power four or greater. Control decks often struggle against large creatures that slip past early counters, making this card a valuable tool. Its dual modes ensure it’s never a dead draw, whether you need defense or offense.

School Daze
This instant is the perfect example of card advantage paired with interaction. You can either draw three cards to reload your hand or counter a spell while still drawing a card. Both modes are highly valuable for a control strategy, ensuring you never run out of resources while keeping the opponent in check. School Daze provides the flexibility to play either proactive or reactive, depending on the state of the game.

The Spot’s Portal
This removal spell sends a creature to the bottom of its owner’s library, cleanly bypassing graveyard recursion and death triggers. Although you lose two life unless you control a Villain, the tradeoff is worthwhile for permanent removal of even the largest threats. For control players, this type of effect helps keep the battlefield clear and prevents opponents from recovering their best creatures. It’s efficient, reliable, and a great addition to the control toolkit.

The Marvel’s Spider-Man set brings fresh tools for Standard control decks, each offering unique ways to interact with opponents and maintain stability. Whether through counterspells, card advantage, or versatile removal, these six cards show how flavorful design can also support competitive strategies. Control players looking to innovate in Standard should definitely experiment with these options when building their next deck.

Thanks for reading, and until the next blog post.