Magic: The Gathering Swings Into San Diego Comic Con

We had a chance to party with Magic: The Gathering and Spider-Man out at SDCC, as well as check out the new Magic and Spider-Man crossover cards

Music was thumping, as Darryl “DMC” McDaniels rocked the Magic: The Gathering Spider-man prelease party at the Hard Rock Hotel Wednesday night of San Diego Comic Con 2025. With welcome deck giveaways as well as comic books and a Daily Bugle newspaper styled playmat, those in attendance had an inside look at the next set for Magic: The Gathering (MtG) for 2025.

 

This isn’t the first foray into Marvel comics for MtG. The 2024 Marvel Secret Lair set was a sellout hit, crashing the site and sending players into a frenzy for some of their favorite characters – Captain America, Iron Man, Wolverine, Storm, and Black Panther. Now, web slinging into action will be Spider-Man, Iron Spider, Venom, Anti-Venom, and other spider heroes, to take on the likes of Green Goblin, Doctor Octopus, and many more. Included in the set are also themed lands, with mana symbols woven in spider silk or images of Spider-Man sailing over a New York skyline.

The party also gave those in attendance an opportunity to sit down and play with the new cards or to meet some of their favorite MtG content creators – personally, I saw Brian Kibler and Olivia Gobert-Hicks from Commander At Home and The Professor (Brian Lewis) from Tolarian Community College.

 

Sets like Spider-man, the soon coming Avatar the Last Airbender, and already released sets such as Forgotten Realms (Dungeons & Dragons), Warhammer 40K, and others have been a means by which Wizards of the Coast (and Hasbro) has not only increased its fanbase by drawing in fans of alternate intellectual properties but also increased revenue. Wherein times past MtG fans could expect only three to four sets a year, now they have ramped releases to six with accompanying Secret Lair offerings, which reskin existing cards with imagery of known characters (perhaps in a way to gauge interest). Either way, Spider-Man is sure to be a hit with those who are fans of Marvel Comics.

Further thoughts –

There are a lot of creators that are providing commentary on the nature of Universes Beyond sets, costs, and the lost storylines of Magic: The Gathering. While I recognize that the multitude of releases can be daunting for the average or casual player, this isn’t a situation that is going away any time soon. Having six sets coming out a year is going to happen. We can either grow to accept that this is something that is just happening with the hobby or embody the “Old man yelling at cloud” meme (which I have often done about other hobbies).

 

Now, to play counterpoint to myself – hey, it’s my writing, I can do that – while I was out at Comic Con, my wife was at an Edge of Eternities prelease at our friendly local game store (FLGS). So, as I was scooping up Spider-Man decks at the Magic: The Gathering Spider-Man launch party, she was actively opening packs and playing with the newest set. While I was standing in line for a possibility of picking up a promo card for the Avatar: the Last Airbender set, she was battling it out with our fellow players, seeing what interesting combos and interactions were coming out of the cards. Was the San Diego sneaks a disservice for the Edge of Eternities set? In some ways, I do have to agree. While we have had a few weeks of build up for Edge of Eternities, having images on Wednesday night of the new Spider-man cards hitting social media while the party was still going really cut some of the thunder for what should have been an exciting weekend of Magic: The Gathering play.

But, as Run-DMC have sung, “it’s like that and that’s the way it is.”

Magic: The Gathering X Spider-Man At SDCC 2025