I found the perfect Spider-Man commander for Magic players who hate Universes Beyond

The latest Magic: The Gathering expansion doesn’t include any pre-made Commander decks, but there are still plenty of Spider-Man cards seemingly designed for the format. Spider-Man himself (the “Amazing” version) makes it possible to cheat out expensive cards thanks to Magic’s new web-slinging mechanic, while Norman Osborn/Green Goblin does some devilishly fun things with your graveyard. There’s even a pretty cool Spider-Ham card with some obvious synergies based on creature types. However, my favorite new commander out of the roughly 80 or so options is a Spider-Man character I’ve never heard of before — and that’s exactly why I like it.

Jackal, Genius Geneticist is a 1/1 blue-green (or Simic) creature with trample that costs two mana to play. That in itself is not particularly exciting (although a commander who’s cheap and comes out early is always a nice bonus), but it’s his second ability that makes him truly interesting:

Whenever you cast a creature spell with mana value equal to Jackal’s power, copy that spell, except the copy isn’t legendary. Then put a +1/+1 counter on Jackal. (The copy becomes a token.)

This unique ability got the gears in my brain turning. I’m always a fan of any commander that can create copies of other cards (one of my favorite decks is this artifact-doubling robot from Magic’s infamous Wacky Races-inspired set Aetherdrift), and the challenge of building a deck around Jackal was also intriguing. As his power grows, the creatures you copy get more expensive — and more powerful — leading to some explosive moments later in the game. So what’s the best way to take advantage of that very specific ability?

My first instinct was to design a 100-card deck with a pretty straightforward curve. I grabbed four creatures that cost one mana to play, four that cost two mana, etc. At the top end, I chose a bit more sparingly (I don’t think I’ll be playing 12-mana creatures like Ghalta, Primal Hunger very often).

However, after doing a bit of research online, I found this article on EDHREC that points out an obvious loophole: creatures with a “X” in their mana cost. Turns out, whatever you pay into that X counts as their mana value, which means as long as I have one of those in my hand, I can always take advantage of the Jackal’s ability. Thankfully, there are several dozen such creatures throughout Magic history, and most of them are green, so it’s easy enough to build a deck around this concept.

I filled out the rest of my deck with some defensive blue cards (Counterspell, etc), along with some green cards to potentially beef up Jackal if I need him to be a bit bigger before playing my next creature (Forgotten Ancient is a must here). I also threw in a few +1/+1 counter-focused cards like The Ozolith, Hardened Scales, and Loading Zone to really ramp things up. (I don’t have a copy of Doubling Season, but if you own one, or you’re willing to spend $30, I’d definitely include that card, too.)

Overall, my Jackal deck is pretty fun to play, and I’ve managed to pull off some wild tricks, including buffing my commander to 50 power and one-shotting an opponent. However, I think what I really like about this card is that, despite being from the Spider-Man set, it doesn’t feel like a Spider-Man card. Jackal is admittedly a very minor Marvel villain. He’s shown up briefly in a few animated shows and one PlayStation 2-era video game, but that’s it. So looking at him doesn’t instantly transport me to the Marvel Cinematic Universe. The card’s design and abilities also feel pretty at home with classic, in-universe Magic — unlike some other popular commanders from the set that rely on specially designed abilities like web-slinging.

As someone who’s not a huge fan of Magic’s lurch into brand crossovers with Universes Beyond, I’m less interested in building a deck where Spider-Man is my commander (although I don’t judge anyone who does, and I actually enjoyed drafting the Spider-Man set quite a bit). That’s why Jackal appeals to me so much, and why I’ve continued to enjoy playing and tinkering with this deck over the past few weeks.