Spider Food MTG Card


Offers plentiful creatures for one card, enhancing board presence and overwhelming opponents. Instant speed adds a strategic edge, offering surprise plays and flexible mana usage. Demands a discard, influencing resource management and deck strategy in MTG.
Spider Food - Wilds of Eldraine
Mana cost
Converted mana cost3
RarityCommon
TypeSorcery
Abilities Food
Released2023-09-08
Set symbol
Set nameWilds of Eldraine
Set codeWOE
Number186
Frame2015
LayoutNormal
BorderBlack
Illustred byMila Pesic

Text of card

Destroy up to one target artifact, enchantment, or creature with flying. Create a Food token. (It's an artifact with ", , Sacrifice this artifact: You gain 3 life.")

To the giant spiders of Dunbarrow, there's little difference between fly and faerie.


Cards like Spider Food

Exploring the depths of green’s creature removal options, Spider Food is an intriguing card offering both creature destruction and graveyard filling. This card has parallels with other green spells like Rabid Bite, which also permits a creature to deal damage equivalent to its power to another target creature. However, Spider Food adds a layer of graveyard strategy by putting the top three cards of your library into your graveyard, a synergy not found in Rabid Bite.

Comparatively, Prey Upon is another similar combat trick that costs one less mana but does not interact with the graveyard, focusing solely on the creature fight aspect. Meanwhile, Bone Splinters delivers creature removal at the cost of sacrificing one of your own creatures, a different angle of board manipulation which Spider Food avoids as it does not require a sacrificial payment.

When evaluating these cards alongside each other, Spider Food offers a unique blend of board impact and self-mill, providing utility for decks that capitalize on their graveyard while still performing an essential creature removal function. Its dual nature positions it competitively within the suite of green removal spells in Magic: The Gathering.

Rabid Bite - MTG Card versions
Prey Upon - MTG Card versions
Bone Splinters - MTG Card versions
Rabid Bite - MTG Card versions
Prey Upon - MTG Card versions
Bone Splinters - MTG Card versions

Cards similar to Spider Food by color, type and mana cost

Ice Storm - MTG Card versions
Tranquility - MTG Card versions
Renewal - MTG Card versions
Seeds of Innocence - MTG Card versions
Fallow Earth - MTG Card versions
Untamed Wilds - MTG Card versions
Wing Snare - MTG Card versions
Squall - MTG Card versions
Deep Reconnaissance - MTG Card versions
Far Wanderings - MTG Card versions
Long Rest - MTG Card versions
Rosethorn Acolyte // Seasonal Ritual - MTG Card versions
Cultivate - MTG Card versions
Lovestruck Beast // Heart's Desire - MTG Card versions
Nissa's Pilgrimage - MTG Card versions
Recollect - MTG Card versions
Deconstruct - MTG Card versions
Kodama's Reach - MTG Card versions
Stomp and Howl - MTG Card versions
Thermokarst - MTG Card versions
Ice Storm - MTG Card versions
Tranquility - MTG Card versions
Renewal - MTG Card versions
Seeds of Innocence - MTG Card versions
Fallow Earth - MTG Card versions
Untamed Wilds - MTG Card versions
Wing Snare - MTG Card versions
Squall - MTG Card versions
Deep Reconnaissance - MTG Card versions
Far Wanderings - MTG Card versions
Long Rest - MTG Card versions
Rosethorn Acolyte // Seasonal Ritual - MTG Card versions
Cultivate - MTG Card versions
Lovestruck Beast // Heart's Desire - MTG Card versions
Nissa's Pilgrimage - MTG Card versions
Recollect - MTG Card versions
Deconstruct - MTG Card versions
Kodama's Reach - MTG Card versions
Stomp and Howl - MTG Card versions
Thermokarst - MTG Card versions

Card Pros

Card Advantage: Spider Food offers the benefit of token generation, essentially providing you with multiple creatures for the price of one card. This can quickly overwhelm opponents and give you the upper hand in terms of board presence.

Resource Acceleration: By creating creature tokens, Spider Food can fuel various synergies within your deck. These tokens can be invaluable for strategies reliant on sacrificing creatures, effectively accelerating your resource management and setting up powerful plays.

Instant Speed: The ability to cast Spider Food at instant speed gives you the flexibility to react to your opponent’s actions. This strategic advantage allows you to make the best use of your mana each turn and surprise your opponent with unexpected blockers or by creating creatures right before your turn begins.


Card Cons

Discard Requirement: Engaging your strategy with Spider Food requires sacrificing valuable resources. To activate its abilities, players must discard a card, which can present a significant setback, especially when your hand is already dwindling.

Specific Mana Cost: Spider Food’s casting cost can be restrictive for multicolored decks. The necessity for black mana restricts its universality, potentially complicating its incorporation into diverse mana base strategies where flexibility is paramount.

Comparatively High Mana Cost: With the demanding requirement of four mana, players may find Spider Food’s cost-benefit balance leaning less in their favor compared to other cards within the same mana range. Alternatives providing similar or enhanced utility at lower investments might be more advantageous in a tightly contested game scenario.


Reasons to Include Spider Food in Your Collection

Versatility: Spider Food offers a flexible option for players running graveyard-based strategies, allowing manipulation of both your own and opponents’ graveyards. It complements decks focused on delve, reanimation, or those using death-triggered abilities.

Combo Potential: This card exhibits considerable combo potential within self-mill decks, as well as those looking to exploit synergies with death-triggered mechanics or threshold abilities. Pairing it with cards that benefit from creature cards entering the graveyard can set the stage for powerful plays.

Meta-Relevance: In a meta where graveyard interaction is prevalent, Spider Food can become an essential tool. It interferes with opponents’ graveyard strategies while bolstering your own, making it a relevant choice for decks that aim to stay a step ahead in the evolving game environment.


How to Beat Spider Food

Spider Food may appear daunting with its capacity to confer a spider creature token with reach to its controller. This can potentially block your formidable flyers. While it might disrupt your aerial strategies, the avenue to overcoming this card is to focus on creature removal. Board wipes such as Doomskar or targeted spells like Cast Down can effectively remove spider tokens from the battlefield. Additionally, spells that can bypass reach, such as trample-enabling effects, can prove invaluable.

Another approach involves using non-combat strategies. Drawing on enchantments that restrict creature abilities, like High Alert, or those that change the combat phase dynamics, like Reconnaissance Mission, can provide an edge. You can circumvent the obstructive spiders by shifting the flow of combat or pushing through with alternative win conditions.

In essence, to override the obstacle posed by Spider Food, adapting your playstyle is key. Whether that implies incorporating more removal in your deck, leveraging evasion tactics, or utilizing cards that alter the rules of engagement, these methods can enable you to maintain the upper hand and push to victory.


BurnMana Recommendations

Mastering MTG gameplay often involves the art of deck versatility and strategic anticipation. Spider Food is a card that embodies both, offering a dynamic approach to creature token generation and graveyard interaction. If you’re looking to refine your deck with cards that provide flexible responses and set the stage for intricate plays, exploring the potential of Spider Food is a worthwhile endeavor. Its ability to impact the board at instant speed and feed into graveyard strategies makes it a unique asset in many game settings. Dive deeper with us into the mechanics and tactics that Spider Food can unlock in your next game plan. Enhance your deck’s capabilities and stay ahead of the competition.


Where to buy

If you're looking to purchase Spider Food MTG card by a specific set like Wilds of Eldraine, there are several reliable options to consider. One of the primary sources is your local game store, where you can often find booster packs, individual cards, and preconstructed decks from current and some past sets. They often offer the added benefit of a community where you can trade with other players.

For a broader inventory, particularly of older sets, online marketplaces like TCGPlayer, Card Kingdom and Card Market offer extensive selections and allow you to search for cards from specific sets. Larger e-commerce platforms like eBay and Amazon also have listings from various sellers, which can be a good place to look for sealed product and rare finds.

Additionally, Magic’s official site often has a store locator and retailer lists for finding Wizards of the Coast licensed products. Remember to check for authenticity and the condition of the cards when purchasing, especially from individual sellers on larger marketplaces.

Below is a list of some store websites where you can buy the Spider Food and other MTG cards:

TCGPlayerBUY NOW
BurnMana is an official partner of TCGPlayer
Continue exploring other sealed products in Amazon
See MTG Products

Legalities

Magic the Gathering formats where Spider Food has restrictions

FormatLegality
StandardLegal
HistoricbrawlLegal
HistoricLegal
LegacyLegal
PaupercommanderLegal
OathbreakerLegal
GladiatorLegal
AlchemyLegal
PioneerLegal
CommanderLegal
ModernLegal
PauperLegal
FutureLegal
VintageLegal
DuelLegal
ExplorerLegal
BrawlLegal
PennyLegal
TimelessLegal

Rules and information

The reference guide for Magic: The Gathering Spider Food card rulings provides official rulings, any errata issued, as well as a record of all the functional modifications that have occurred.

Date Text
2023-09-01 Food is an artifact type. Even though it appears on some creatures, it’s never a creature type.
2023-09-01 If an effect refers to a Food, it means any Food artifact, not just a Food artifact token. For example, you can sacrifice Tough Cookie to activate the last ability of Sweettooth Witch.
2023-09-01 Some spells and abilities that create Food tokens may require targets. If each target chosen is an illegal target as that spell or ability tries to resolve, it won’t resolve. You won’t create any Food tokens.
2023-09-01 Whatever you do, don’t eat the delicious cards.
2023-09-01 You can cast Spider Food without a target just to create a Food token. However, if you do choose a target, and that target is illegal at the time Spider Food tries to resolve, the spell won't resolve and none of its effects will happen. You won't create a Food token.
2023-09-01 You can’t sacrifice a Food to pay multiple costs. For example, you can’t sacrifice a Food token to activate its own ability and also to activate the last ability of Sweettooth Witch.