WhiteLegendary Creature — Spider Human HeroArachne, Psionic Weaver
Mana value3Rank#12,069
The Commander
Web-slinging (You may cast this spell for if you also return a tapped creature you control to its owner's hand.)
As Arachne enters, look at an opponent's hand, then choose a card type other than creature.
Spells of the chosen type cost 
more to cast.
Guide
Gameplan
Arachne is a cheap, tempo-efficient mono-white commander that taxes a noncreature card type the moment she lands, slowing combo and control opponents while you develop a board. You curve out, use Web-slinging to bounce-and-recast her (or other ETB creatures) to re-pick the most painful card type, and grind out the game with creatures, equipment, or a tax-stax shell that punishes opponents for casting spells.
Strengths
- Three-mana legend with a relevant tax effect and built-in evasion/discount via Web-slinging.
- Hand-peek information plus a soft stax tax that hits combo, ramp, or removal-heavy decks.
- Mono-white access to the format's best tax pieces, anthems, and recursion.
- Web-slinging lets her dodge removal and re-enter to re-choose the optimal card type each turn.
Weaknesses
- The tax is only and only on one card type—rarely backbreaking by itself at higher tables.
- Mono-white lacks card advantage and ramp, so you can fall behind in a long grind.
- Bouncing a tapped creature to cheat her in costs board tempo and works best with token/expendable bodies.
- No inherent way to win without a separate offensive plan, making her a support piece more than an engine.
Key Cards
- Thalia, Guardian of Thraben — Stacks noncreature taxes with Arachne to seriously punish spell-heavy decks.
- Esper Sentinel — Turns opponents' noncreature spells into card draw, covering white's biggest weakness alongside the tax theme.
- Conqueror's Flail — Shuts off opponents' instants and triggers on their turns while Arachne taxes their sorcery-speed plays.
- Brimaz, King of Oreskos — Generates a steady stream of tokens that double as fodder to return for Web-slinging recasts.
- Eiganjo, Seat of the Empire — Mono-white wants utility lands, and this is removal stapled to a Plains.
- Smothering Tithe — Premier mono-white ramp/card engine that fuels paying around your own taxes and casting big threats.
Upgrade Path
Add more cumulative tax pieces (Thalia, Lodestone Golem, Archon of Emeria, Drannith Magistrate) so Arachne's compounds into real lock pressure, and pair them with mono-white ramp/draw (Smothering Tithe, Esper Sentinel, Land Tax) to offset white's card disadvantage. Lean into either a token engine for Web-slinging fodder or an efficient Voltron package so you have a fast clock, and include flicker effects (Flickerwisp, Restoration Angel) to keep re-choosing the best card type.
Core Cards
The most-played cards for this commander, built from aggregated deck data (the Mythic Graph). Build public decks to seed it.
Win Conditions
- ▸Beat down with a wide token board pumped by anthems like Intangible Virtue or Anointed Procession.
- ▸Voltron a single threat with equipment such as Maul of the Skyclaves or Shadowspear.
- ▸Grind opponents out under stacked tax effects until they can't keep up, then alpha strike.
- ▸Resolve a top-end finisher like Elesh Norn or a mass-pump effect after the tax slows the table.
Archetypes
- Stax / Taxes — Her per-card-type tax slots into a hatebears shell with Thalia, Sphere effects, and Winter Orb-style pressure.
- Tokens / Go-Wide — Token bodies are cheap fuel to bounce for Web-slinging while you build an overwhelming board.
- Blink / Flicker — Repeated ETBs let you re-peek hands and re-tax the most dangerous card type every turn.
- Aggro / Voltron — Cheap evasive curve plus equipment closes games while the tax buys time.
Combos
- Arachne, Psionic Weaver + Spider-Man, Web-Slinger + We Ride at Dawn
→ Infinite ETB, Infinite LTB, Infinite storm count
- Arachne, Psionic Weaver + Spider-Man, Web-Slinger + Eirdu, Carrier of Dawn // Isilu, Carrier of Twilight
→ Infinite ETB, Infinite LTB, Infinite storm count
Combos via Commander Spellbook.
Related Commanders
Same color identity (W), by popularity.
