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Shelob, Child of Ungoliant

Legendary Creature — Spider Demon

Deathtouch, ward {2}
Other Spiders you control have deathtouch and ward {2}.
Whenever another creature dealt damage this turn by a Spider you controlled dies, create a token that's a copy of that creature, except it's a Food artifact with "{2}, {T}, Sacrifice this token: You gain 3 life," and it loses all other card types.

CMC
6
Mana cost
{4}{B}{G}
Color identity
BG
Rarity
rare
Set
Tales of Middle-earth Promos
Price
—
EDHREC rank
#5036
Buy on TCGplayer
Shelob, Child of Ungoliant card art
Shelob, Child of Ungoliant turns every deathtouch kill into a free 2/2 Spider token that copies the dead creature's non-Aura, non-Equipment abilities — a repeatable, board-warping engine that punishes any opponent who attacks or blocks into it. The cost is a six-mana legendary with no immediate protection and no built-in evasion, so it needs support fast; pair it with Thornbite Staff and it becomes a one-card wrecking crew, but naked it's a removal magnet with a delayed payoff.

Best Commanders

Commanders with the highest synergy

01
Thantis, the Warweaver

Thantis, the Warweaver

41.7% of decks · synergy 0.41

Thantis, the Warweaver forces every creature on the board to attack each combat, which feeds Shelob, Child of Ungoliant a constant stream of creatures to kill and convert into Spider tokens — the two cards form a self-sustaining combat loop that snowballs out of control within a few turns.

Format Analysis

Where it lives, where it can’t

FormatVerdict
commander legal
legacy legal
modern legal
pioneer not legal
standard not legal
vintage legal
pauper not legal
oathbreaker legal

Commander is where Shelob, Child of Ungoliant genuinely thrives — the multiplayer table's wide boards, frequent combat, and slow clocks give it time to generate a growing army of ability-copying Spider tokens. In Legacy and Vintage it's technically legal but competes against formats where six-mana creatures without an immediate impact get ignored for faster, more disruptive options. Oathbreaker is a reasonable fit for similar reasons to Commander, though the lower life totals compress the game enough that you may not get the full engine running. Shelob sees zero play in Pioneer, Standard, and Pauper, where it's either banned or too slow relative to what the format demands.

Key Combos

Combo lines featuring this card

Price Context

Current price

unknown tier

Current pricing data for Shelob, Child of Ungoliant isn't available in this context, so check Scryfall or TCGPlayer for the most accurate number before buying. Given its profile as a mythic legendary from a high-demand set with a strong Commander following, expect it to carry a noticeable price tag — worth confirming current stock before pulling the trigger.

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Sources

Mentioned

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Updated . Data from Scryfall, EDHREC, and Commander Spellbook.