I'm getting a little put off by this whole "can
block as though it had flying" thing. It gets
printed on a lot of cards that rarely ever see
play. Granted, in limited play, this guy might
be alright. But on the whole, I'm likely to pass
it up. The good news is that it at least comes
in as a 2/2 for two mana. That makes it a bit
easier to stomach.
Most Slivers have sub-par power and toughness to
compensate for their stronger-than-average
abilities. The fact that Spinneret is a 2/2 for
1G should set off a warning in your head
"ability isn't good enough to require
power/toughness hosing". And it isn't. This guy
has one home: monogreen Sliver decks. And who
builds those?
It's a bear! It's a spider! It's a sliver! Take
three classic creature types and mix them
together and you've got a solid little package.
Slivers have often had a problem with flying.
Winged Sliver is far removed from our time and
Pulmonic Sliver is a bit spendy for the early
game. Spinneret makes sure you don't get crushed
by a flying assault and it also is a great
baseline size for a sliver. Bears are reasonably
plays in limited. Bears that can potentially
gain a ton of cool abilities and get bigger are
called "Wild Mongrel" usually. This is a great
sliver.
As a sliver and a bear at the same time, it's
pretty good. Usually it's worth paying 2 for a
2/2 sliver, considering all the wacky abilities
you'll be able to give it over the course of the
game. His ability leaves something to be
desired, in my opinion. He's competing against
some decent slivers (mostly Gemhide) in the
2-slot in standard. If you go to older sets, he
has to compete against Muscle Sliver and (more
importantly) Winged Sliver (which reads exactly
the same as Spinneret Sliver except that it cuts
out the words "This creature can black as though
it had", which makes a pretty big difference).
It might be a necessary evil in a standard
slivers deck, but I'm not really sold on this
guy.
Constructed - 2
Casual - 2
Limited - 3+
Aethereal
The bear body
is cool for a sliver, but like yesterday's card,
this is almost strictly a limited card. The
ability will not typically be useful in
constructed, as all it will let your slivers do
is chump block their giant flyer. I'd pass.
In casual, I'd rather just straight up give my
slivers flying.
In limited, play it if you have green. It can
help stall your opponent's air force, and has
the nice 2/2 body thrown in for good measure.
