GolgariLegendary Creature — Spider DemonShelob, Child of Ungoliant
Mana value6Rank#5,041
The Commander
Deathtouch, ward 
Other Spiders you control have deathtouch and ward .
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 ", 
, Sacrifice this token: You gain 3 life," and it loses all other card types.
Guide
Gameplan
Cast Shelob, then use her deathtouch-granting Spiders to trade with or directly kill enemy creatures, turning their best bodies into Food-artifact copies you can sacrifice for value or reanimate/clone again. You grind the board with deathtouch pingers and removal, stealing opponents' creatures as Food, then convert that engine into overwhelming token armies or a sacrifice payoff finish.
Strengths
- Every Spider becomes a deathtouch wall plus ward , making your board brutal to attack into and hard to remove
- Turns opponents' removal-worthy creatures into your own Food copies, generating two-for-one value off any combat or damage
- Built-in lifegain via the Food tokens stabilizes against aggro
- Strong synergy with deathtouch-pingers and 'fight'/damage effects to steal creatures at will
Weaknesses
- The ability needs a Spider you controlled to deal the damage, so you must commit to the tribal/damage shell
- Slow and grindy with little built-in protection beyond ward; she's a 6-drop that does nothing the turn she lands
- Vulnerable to exile-based and board-wipe removal that bypasses the Food upside
- Food copies are artifacts that lose creature types, so you need ways to reanimate or reuse them to maximize value
Key Cards
- Quietus Spike — Equip a deathtouch creature and connect to halve life totals while triggering Shelob's death-to-Food engine.
- Viridian Longbow — Cheap repeatable ping that, attached to a deathtouch Spider, kills any creature and makes a Food copy each turn.
- Arcbond — Combined with a deathtouch Spider, redirects lethal damage to wipe the board and converts dying creatures into Food.
- Meren of Clan Nel Toth — Recurs your dead Spiders and turns Food/sacrifice loops into a value engine in the same colors.
- Ulvenwald Tracker — Repeatable fight outlet lets your deathtouch Spiders snipe and copy enemy creatures on demand.
- Spider Spawning — Floods the board with deathtouch Spiders fueled by your graveyard for a token-army finish.
Upgrade Path
Tighten the deathtouch-ping package (Viridian Longbow, Thornbite Staff, Ulvenwald Tracker) so you can convert creatures into Food at will, and add fast mana and tutors like Demonic Tutor and Worldly Tutor to assemble it sooner. Layer in graveyard recursion (Meren, Phyrexian Reclamation, Eternal Witness) and sacrifice payoffs (Mayhem Devil, Blood Artist) to turn the Food engine into inevitability, and include protection like Heroic Intervention against board wipes.
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
- ▸Overwhelming wide deathtouch Spider army via mass-token producers like Spider Spawning
- ▸Quietus Spike or Quietus-style life loss connecting with an evasive deathtouch creature
- ▸Aristocrats drain with sacrifice outlets like Blood Artist feeding off Food and dying creatures
- ▸Grinding the table out of resources by stealing every relevant creature as Food, then beating down
Archetypes
- Spider Tribal — She buffs all your Spiders with deathtouch and ward and rewards Spider damage with copies.
- Aristocrats — The Food tokens and stolen creature copies feed sacrifice payoffs and recursion loops.
- Control/Stax-lite — Deathtouch walls plus ward make her a defensive pillar that deters attacks while you grind value.
- Reanimator — Black-green recursion turns the Food copies and dead Spiders into repeatable value and big threats.
Combos
- Shelob, Child of Ungoliant + Thornbite Staff + Viridian Longbow
→ Destroy each creature that enters the battlefield under an opponent's control, Destroy all creatures opponents control, Lock
- Shelob, Child of Ungoliant + Devoted Druid + Viridian Longbow
→ Infinite green mana
- Shelob, Child of Ungoliant + Devoted Druid + Ulvenwald Tracker
→ Infinite green mana
- Shelob, Child of Ungoliant + Devoted Druid + Setessan Tactics
→ Infinite green mana
- Shelob, Child of Ungoliant + Devoted Druid + Pathway Arrows
→ Infinite green mana
Combos via Commander Spellbook.
Related Commanders
Same color identity (BG), by popularity.
