Outside, there was a chill in the Baltimore air as players gathered for Magic Spotlight: Spider-Man during the last weekend of October. Inside the Baltimore Convention Center, competitive Standard play, side events, and camaraderie kept the hall warm as the weekend wore on.

Over 500 players registered for the main event in Baltimore. The seventh Spotlight Series event of the year, this iteration of Magic Spotlight: Spider-Man awarded eight invitations to the Pro Tour as well as a $10,000 cash prize to the victor and a dazzling Infinity Gauntlet winner's trophy embedded with a Madeira Citrine to represent the Soul Stone.

At the end of Sunday, one player prevailed over the rest of the field. Alexandre MacIsaac, from Toronto, Canada, stood strong through fifteen rounds of Swiss and the Top 8 bracket. In a Standard format full of Izzet Cauldron, his aggressive Rakdos Aggro deck, sporting four copies of Leyline of Resonance (and a single Poison Dart Frog in the sideboard) took home the trophy.

Magic Is Better Together

The Spotlight Series celebrates seasoned competitors trying to test their skill against the field and casual players who are interested in dipping their toes into the competitive pool. In many cases, the Spotlight Series is a chance for friends, family, and partners to bridge the gap between their respective play styles, providing a place where experienced competitors can introduce casual players to the way they enjoy playing Magic.

Thomas Chillemi has been playing Magic for decades, even playing at the Pro Tour in San Diego 20 years ago. He was back at it in Baltimore, this time shuffling up alongside his son, Domiano, who was playing in his first-ever competitive event!

Twenty years ago, Thomas Chillemi was playing in Pro Tour London.

This weekend, he's playing in Magic Spotlight: Spider-Man with his son Domiano! pic.twitter.com/Q2xCl2lLvF

— PlayMTG (@PlayMTG) October 25, 2025

Tim and Brianda Pape were both attending their very first Spotlight Series event in Baltimore. They were particularly inspired by the recent announcement of next year's Pro Tour events. Brianda is a Limited enthusiast, and the addition of a Pro Tour Top 8 draft next year made her want to explore more competitive Magic.

Magic Spotlight: Spider-Man is the first Spotlight event for Tim and Brianda Pape!

They're excited to attend because they love Spider-Man, and as Limited enthusiasts they're thrilled that there will be a Pro Tour Top 8 draft next season! pic.twitter.com/cgjuAuNYqB

— PlayMTG (@PlayMTG) October 26, 2025

Jay Taubman has played in a Spotlight Series event before, but his brother Scott never had. Having a Spotlight Series event in Baltimore, right by Scott, was enough of a reason for Jay to fly out and play alongside his brother at his first competitive event!

Jay Taubman has been to a Spotlight Series event before, and Magic Spotlight: Spider-Man in Baltimore was the perfect opportunity to convince his brother Scott to attend his first! pic.twitter.com/eh3oS3RCs8

— PlayMTG (@PlayMTG) October 26, 2025

The Spicy Decklists of Baltimore

"At its heart, Magic is still a deck-building game," said Magic Hall of Famer Reid Duke on coverage this weekend. That spirit is reflected in the players who brought their own unique take on Standard to the weekend's event.

Below is a selection of unexpected and spicy lists that made Day Two of Baltimore's Magic Spotlight: Spider-Man.

1 Bulk Up 4 Leyline of Resonance 4 Callous Sell-Sword 4 Emberheart Challenger 4 Might of the Meek 4 Stadium Headliner 18 Mountain 1 Blazemire Verge 4 Hired Claw 3 Dreadmaw's Ire 1 Kellan, Planar Trailblazer 4 Slickshot Show-Off 4 Full Bore 4 Turn Inside Out 4 Razorkin Needlehead 1 Sunspine Lynx 1 Poison Dart Frog 3 Fanatical Firebrand 1 Dreadmaw's Ire 1 Electro, Assaulting Battery 2 Screaming Nemesis 2 Ghost Vacuum 4 Cheeky House-Mouse 2 Valley Questcaller 4 Inspiring Vantage 4 Burst Lightning 3 Rockface Village 4 Sheltered by Ghosts 2 Mountain 2 Shardmage's Rescue 2 Restless Bivouac 4 Manifold Mouse 4 Lightning Helix 4 Emberheart Challenger 4 Sacred Foundry 3 Plains 4 Flowerfoot Swordmaster 2 Dreadmaw's Ire 4 Screaming Nemesis 4 Sunbillow Verge 2 Agatha's Soul Cauldron 2 Abrade 2 Get Lost 2 Boros Charm 2 Magebane Lizard 3 Case of the Crimson Pulse 2 Fire Magic 3 Lumbering Worldwagon 4 Sentinel of the Nameless City 2 Forest 3 Restless Cottage 4 Starting Town 2 Intimidation Tactics 2 Long Goodbye 4 Llanowar Elves 2 Lord Skitter, Sewer King 6 Swamp 2 Cruelclaw's Heist 4 Blooming Marsh 4 Wastewood Verge 2 Maelstrom Pulse 1 Bitter Triumph 3 Shoot the Sheriff 4 Mightform Harmonizer 2 Tragic Trajectory 2 Soulstone Sanctuary 4 Elegy Acolyte 2 Harvester of Misery 2 Cruelclaw's Heist 2 Nowhere to Run 3 Duress 2 Archenemy's Charm 2 The End 2 Heritage Reclamation 4 Voice of Victory 4 Beza, the Bounding Spring 1 Season of the Burrow 12 Plains 4 Carrot Cake 3 Overlord of the Mistmoors 2 Elspeth, Storm Slayer 2 Demolition Field 4 Fountainport 4 Seam Rip 4 Sunken Citadel 4 Caretaker's Talent 4 Get Lost 4 Sunbillow Verge 4 Enduring Innocence 2 Ultima 2 Imodane's Recruiter 2 High Noon 3 Disenchant 2 Rest in Peace 4 Crystal Barricade 2 Lush Portico 2 Sentinel of the Nameless City 1 Lightstall Inquisitor 2 Sheltered by Ghosts 3 Starting Town 7 Forest 2 Hemosymbic Mite 1 Get Lost 4 Llanowar Elves 1 Seam Rip 4 Innkeeper's Talent 2 Restless Prairie 4 Brightglass Gearhulk 2 Novice Inspector 1 Multiversal Passage 1 Meltstrider's Resolve 1 Dusk Rose Reliquary 4 Hushwood Verge 5 Plains 1 Pawpatch Recruit 1 Cosmogrand Zenith 1 Soul-Guide Lantern 1 Nurturing Pixie 4 Ouroboroid 1 Phoenix Down 2 Bulwark Ox 1 Sheltered by Ghosts 1 Surrak, Elusive Hunter 2 Aven Interrupter 2 Enduring Innocence 1 Ghost Vacuum 2 Split Up 1 Authority of the Consuls 1 Pawpatch Recruit 1 Insidious Fungus 1 Heritage Reclamation 1 Dusk Rose Reliquary 1 Elspeth, Storm Slayer 3 Origin of Spider-Man 2 Restless Anchorage 4 Inquisitive Glimmer 4 Optimistic Scavenger 4 Starting Town 4 Sheltered by Ghosts 3 Seam Rip 4 Floodfarm Verge 3 Ethereal Armor 3 Enduring Innocence 1 Island 3 Shardmage's Rescue 4 Multiversal Passage 1 Fae Flight 4 Entity Tracker 1 Meticulous Archive 7 Plains 4 Silent Hallcreeper 1 Proft's Eidetic Memory 1 Disdainful Stroke 1 Seam Rip 2 Tishana's Tidebinder 2 Get Lost 2 Split Up 2 No More Lies 1 Authority of the Consuls 2 Overlord of the Mistmoors 2 Rest in Peace

Day One Metagame

The Day One metagame in Baltimore didn't come as a surprise to anyone following Standard. Izzet Cauldron, headlined by Vivi Ornitier and Agatha's Soul Cauldron, made up almost a third of the field, followed by Mono-Red Aggro, which was the only other deck to make up more than ten percent of Day One decks.

Sultai Reanimator and Simic Aggro are more recent additions to the Standard field. The reanimator deck uses cards like Overlord of the Balemurk, Town Greeter, and Scout the City to fill up the graveyard, then hopes to have Superior Spider-Man enter as a copy of Bringer of the Last Gift, bringing everyone back to the battlefield for an overpowering board.

Simic Aggro, on the other hand, is built around cards like Ouroboroid and Jackal, Genius Geneticist. It pairs those with any number of ways to get counters onto creatures. You can see two examples of these lists here:

1 Swamp 4 Mob Lookout 4 Scout the City 4 Starting Town 2 Underground Mortuary 1 Hedge Maze 4 Town Greeter 4 Bringer of the Last Gift 4 Awaken the Honored Dead 4 Breeding Pool 3 Bitter Triumph 3 Ardyn, the Usurper 4 Superior Spider-Man 2 Cavern of Souls 4 Wastewood Verge 2 Blooming Marsh 1 Watery Grave 1 Disruptive Stormbrood 3 Terror of the Peaks 1 Botanical Sanctum 4 Overlord of the Balemurk 1 Marang River Regent 3 Intimidation Tactics 2 Duress 1 Cavern of Souls 2 Spider-Sense 3 Heritage Reclamation 2 Soul-Guide Lantern 1 Mister Negative 3 Floodpits Drowner 4 Botanical Sanctum 4 Willowrush Verge 2 Azure Beastbinder 3 Keen-Eyed Curator 5 Forest 3 Jackal, Genius Geneticist 4 Llanowar Elves 4 Innkeeper's Talent 4 Gene Pollinator 4 Breeding Pool 3 Multiversal Passage 1 Tishana's Tidebinder 4 Spyglass Siren 1 Soulstone Sanctuary 1 Quantum Riddler 3 Pawpatch Recruit 2 Tyvar, the Pummeler 1 Snakeskin Veil 4 Ouroboroid 1 Floodpits Drowner 2 Tishana's Tidebinder 4 Repulsive Mutation 2 Unable to Scream 3 Dragon Sniper 2 Insidious Fungus 1 Quantum Riddler

Only one competitor remained undefeated at the end of Day One: Oliver Tomajko. Tomajko is no stranger to high-stakes competitions. He has three Grand Prix Top 8 appearances to his name, the first of which was in 2016 and the most recent in 2020, and he was also the winner of the US National Championship in 2017.

Tomajko played Izzet Cauldron and defeated a gauntlet of Izzet Cauldron, Mono-Red Aggro, and Dimir Midrange to claim his spot at the top of the standings at the end of the first day of competition.

Day Two Metagame

The Day Two metagame reflected the strength of Izzet Cauldron, rose to a 51.9% share of the metagame. Mono-Red Aggro managed to marginally increase its presence on Day Two, while every other deck lost ground to the titan of the format.

Into the Top 8

After fifteen rounds of Swiss, the eight competitors at the top of the standings advanced to play for the trophy and the title of Spotlight Series champion. You can see their decklists here.

Those Top 8 players included Nam Dang from Richmond, Canada, who was winner of the 2024 Magic Online Champions Showcase Season 2, where he prevailed in Vintage Cube Draft and Modern. Dang is perhaps in the minority of players who relishes the Izzet Cauldron mirror and played the deck this weekend because he "wanted one last ride with it."

Ian Barber from Westhampton, Massachusetts, attended the Spotlight Series event in hopes of earning a Pro Tour invitation and spending time with friends. At the end of the weekend, he accomplished both. Etai Kurtzman, also on Izzet Cauldron, played Dimir Midrange for the RCQ season leading up to the Spotlight Series but switched because he felt that the deck was hard to win with. Jody Keith from New Orleans, Louisiana, was another Top 8 player on Izzet, and this marked his third Spotlight Series Top 8 this year.

Joseph Puglisi-Clark from Phoenix, Arizona, came to Magic Spotlight: Spider-Man because his little brother qualified for the Pro Tour after finishing in 2nd place at a Regional Championship the previous weekend. "I desperately wanted to play the same Pro Tour as my little brother, so I wanted to give myself a shot," he said. Now he will be!

Poison Dart Frog

Alexandre MacIsaac of Toronto, Canada, made the Top 8 playing Rakdos Aggro, capturing the hearts of the commentators and viewers with his single sideboard copy of Poison Dart Frog, which he included for "emotional support."

First-time Top 8 players Kellen Pastore and Benji Leaf also brought aggro decks that deviated from the top of the metagame, with Pastore playing Simic Aggro and Leaf on Boros Mice.

In the quarterfinals, MacIsaac's Rakdos Aggro deck was able to deal huge chunks of damage and defeat Pastore 2-0, while Kurtzman prevailed over Leaf and his Mice. Meanwhile, Puglisi won his Izzet Cauldron mirror, and in the last quarterfinal match, Dang prevailed over Keith after a nearly 80-minute match!

In the semifinals, the Poison Dart Frog once again (from the sideboard) rallied MacIsaac's creatures to victory over Nam Dang, while Kurtzman won his first mirror match of the Top 8 against Puglisi, setting up a finals match of Alexandre MacIsaac on Rakdos Aggro versus Etai Kurtzman on Izzet Cauldron.

Congratulations to Alexandre MacIsaac!

Etai Kurtzman was the top seed heading into the Top 8, but Alexandre MacIsaac had made his way into the bracket by outracing Izzet Cauldron all weekend. In the finals, MacIsaac proved he could do it yet again, racing to demolish Kurtzman's life total in two speedy games.

In the second game, despite an Unable to Scream enchanting his sole attacker, MacIsaac's Leyline of Resonance and a slew of combat tricks were able to help his little 0/2 Toy deal an incredible 18 damage to Kurtzman in a single turn, proving that you don't need to be a Slickshot Show-Off to become a champion!

Congratulations again to Alexandre MacIsaac, the winner of Baltimore's Magic Spotlight: Spider-Man!