Arachnogenesis
Instant
Create X 1/2 green Spider creature tokens with reach, where X is the number of creatures attacking you. Prevent all combat damage that would be dealt this turn by non-Spider creatures.
- CMC
- 3
- Mana cost
- Color identity
- G
- Rarity
- uncommon
- Set
- Legendary Cube Prize Pack
- Price
- —
- EDHREC rank
- #1268
Arachnogenesis blanks an entire combat step and floods the board with 1/2 Spider tokens with reach — all at instant speed for three mana. In Shelob, Child of Ungoliant decks especially, this does double duty as a fog and a token engine that feeds the commander's deathtouch-copy trigger.
Best Commanders
Commanders with the highest synergy
Shelob, Child of Ungoliant
Shelob, Child of Ungoliant turns every Spider into a potential deathtouch attacker, and Arachnogenesis can generate enough of them mid-combat to make a lethal swing the following turn. The 85% inclusion rate is deserved — this is one of the cleanest role-players in the deck.
Tadeas, Juniper Ascendant
Tadeas, Juniper Ascendant rewards attacking with creatures that have no maximum toughness, and Arachnogenesis dumps a pile of reach bodies onto the battlefield that slot right into that plan. The flash timing means you can generate attackers at the end of an opponent's turn and swing with them immediately.
Thantis, the Warweaver
Thantis, the Warweaver forces every player to attack every turn, which means your opponents' combat steps are perpetual threats — Arachnogenesis converts the worst of those swings into a board full of blockers. The reach clause is incidentally relevant in a format where tokens and flyers are everywhere.
Winter, Cynical Opportunist
Winter, Cynical Opportunist profits whenever opponents attack each other, and Arachnogenesis can redirect attacks that would otherwise land on you into a token windfall. That combination of protection and payoff is why it shows up in nearly two-thirds of Winter decks.
Thromok the Insatiable
Thromok the Insatiable needs fodder to devour, and Arachnogenesis can produce a critical mass of tokens off a single combat step. The more attackers an opponent swings with, the bigger the pile of Spiders — and the bigger the Thromok that follows.
Format Analysis
Where it lives, where it can’t
| Format | Verdict |
|---|---|
| commander | legal |
| legacy | legal |
| modern | not legal |
| pioneer | not legal |
| standard | not legal |
| vintage | legal |
| pauper | not legal |
| oathbreaker | legal |
Arachnogenesis is legal in Commander, Legacy, Vintage, and Oathbreaker, but Commander is essentially the only home that matters. In Legacy and Vintage, flash fogs that produce tokens aren't what those formats want — the card is too slow and too situational against the turn-1 and turn-2 kills those formats execute. Commander is where Arachnogenesis earns its keep: multiplayer combat is messier, attacks are larger, and a single activation can completely neutralize a player swinging for lethal while leaving you with a board presence. Oathbreaker is a functional home as well, particularly in green planeswalker shells that want to protect a low-loyalty walker from a wide alpha strike.
Key Combos
Combo lines featuring this card
Price Context
Current price
unknown tier
Pricing data isn't available in the current feed for Arachnogenesis, so check Scryfall or your preferred retailer for a live number. Historically it has carried a modest premium as a Commander staple with a narrow tribal home, so it's worth picking up before a reprint in a Spider or spider-adjacent precon pushes the price down.
Explore
Sources
Updated . Data from Scryfall, EDHREC, and Commander Spellbook.