Spider-Man Set Confirmed To Have No Commander Decks

On Thursday, February 20th, Hasbro published their financial report for Q4, and the full year of, 2024. In the ensuing conference discussing the company's successes and failures of the year, Hasbro CEO Chris Cocks confirmed that there will be no Commander preconstructed decks for their Universes Beyond: Spider-Man release.

Hasbro CEO Chris Cocks' Statement

Instead, the set will feature cards solely for Standard-legal play. This most assuredly does not mean players can't use these cards in Commander. However, it does mean that we will not have precons for Spider-Man. Chris Cocks' quote is below:

"I think the important thing to note on Spider-Man is it's a little bit of a different complexion of a set in terms of what's incorporated in to it. Final Fantasy and Lord of the Rings had Commander decks which usually constitute a fairly big hunk of a set's total volume. Spider-Man will be Standard only cards, there won't be any kind of precon decks, so that will make it a bit smaller."

-Hasbro CEO Chris Cocks

Player Disapproval Regarding Spider-Man

As a result, many Magic: The Gathering players have taken to voicing their disdain online. On Reddit, one Redditor wrote about their personal disappointment with the development. "I was planning to buy the entire set of decks - a first for me - because it seemed obvious there would be at least 4 of them. This is a confusing choice. That set will likely be bringing a lot of new players in, and there won't be precons for them to buy."

Another Reddit user noted: "The only reason I could possibly think of would be that they want to see if new players stick around longer if they're driven toward Limited rather than Commander. But it still seems like shooting themselves in the foot."

It remains to be seen whether this set will be a large one or even if it will utilize Beyond Boosters (like Universes Beyond: Assassin's Creed). However, a notable lack of Commander decks has clearly left people wondering about the direction Wizards of the Coast is taking with Spider-Man.

What do you think about this news? Are you disappointed that Spider-Man preconstructed Commander decks won't happen? Alternatively, do you think the Commander format needed this breathing room? Sound off below!