Arc Spitter and Planeswalkers: Unique Interactions Unveiled

In TCG ·

Arc Spitter card art by Matt Forsyth from Streets of New Capenna, a gleaming green gadget perched on an artifact weapon.

Image courtesy of Scryfall.com

Arc Spitter: Planeswalkers on the Edge of Combat

In the wild mosaic of Streets of New Capenna, Arc Spitter stands out not with flashy color or blazing exclamations, but with a quiet, mischievous efficiency. This colorless artifact—an equipment with a one-mana price tag and a one-mana equip cost—speaks to a very MTG truth: sometimes the smallest tools tilt the battlefield. Designed by Matt Forsyth and printed as an uncommon in SNC, Arc Spitter slides onto a creature and grants it a precise, recurring nudge toward victory: {1}: This creature deals 1 damage to target creature that's blocking it. Then you can attach it to another creature (Equip {1}) on a future main phase. A tiny spark can turn a stoic blocker into a chipped reaction waiting to happen. 🧙‍♂️

What makes Arc Spitter especially compelling when you’re eyeing planeswalkers as the primary prize is the timing and the targeting it enables. Planeswalkers aren’t creatures; they don’t block, nor do they “trade” in the usual sense. But they’re very much in the path of your creatures when you’re pressing for damage. Arc Spitter doesn’t directly hit Planeswalkers. Instead, it accelerates a plan: remove a blocking creature by spending a little mana, then unleash the merchant-scale face punch that your equipped creature can deliver to the Planeswalker’s loyalty. It’s the kind of tactical edge that feels like a Sidisi-level slow burn—deliberate, economical, and a bit cheeky. ⚔️

“I’m fresh out of mercy today. Why don’t you ask Sparky here for forgiveness?”

That flavor text on Arc Spitter isn’t just flavor; it captures the ember-grin of a gadget-wielding operator who is happy to light a fuse and watch the explosion. The card’s flavor ties into the broader Capenna vibe—the idea that streetwise ingenuity and edgy artifacts can cut through bigger threats with precise, surgical burns. The empty mana curve is a feature, not a flaw: you pay 1 mana to deal 1 damage, which can be the difference between trading and pushing through to a Planeswalker for lethal equality or a direct burn the moment the blocker falls. 🔥💎

Practical play: turning blockers into stepping stones

Arc Spitter shines in tempo and aggro shells that want to punch through resistances and clear a path to a pivotal Planeswalker or to the opponent’s life total. The equipment’s Equip {1} cost is intentionally light—but remember, you can only attach Arc Spitter as a sorcery. That means you’ll often want to set it up on your main phase, then keep a plan for next turns. In the heat of combat, you’ll be weighing whether you can squeeze through with your unblocked attacker or whether you should hang back and wait for the right moment to reattach to a different creature later in the game. The ability to pick a blocking creature and deal 1 damage to it means you can force trades that would otherwise end unfavorably, especially when facing a pair of stout blockers. 🧙‍♂️

Consider a scenario: you attack with a 2/2 creature equipped by Arc Spitter, and the opponent blocks with a 2/3. You pay {1} to Arc Spitter to ping the 2/3 for 1 damage, likely killing it or at least shrinking its survivability. The blocked creature then trades, or continues through if the blocker dies, and your attacker can deal combat damage to the Planeswalker on the defense side if the path opens. The interaction hinges on the timing of your sorcery-speed equip—using Arc Spitter to clear a literal obstacle at the precise moment when combat damage would tip the loyalty balance on a Planeswalker is a satisfying, punishing tactic. ⚔️

The card’s colorless identity keeps it incredibly flexible. It slots into any color combination that values efficient equipment and can enable archetypes that want to pressure Planeswalkers without overcommitting to big bomb spells. Its rarity, uncommon, sits nicely within budget-minded builds, with a foil option that can pop in a pinch for special occasions. If you’re building a deck that loves to push through the middle game while threatening Planeswalker-based wins, Arc Spitter is the quiet engine you’ll keep reaching for. In fact, its current market position is delightfully approachable—often hovering around a few cents to a few dimes, depending on set and print run—making it a charming "buy-list" addition for players assembling a nimble Capenna toolbox. 💎

Art, design, and the collectible moment

Matt Forsyth’s illustration brings the gadget’s gleam into focus: a compact, almost gleefully efficient piece of engineering. The Streets of New Capenna frame—a world where elegance and danger mingle—gives Arc Spitter a vibe that sits well on the table as a strategic ally and a collectible in its own right. The card’s textless and art_crop variations all highlight the same core idea: a small device in a larger crime-world tapestry, ready to pivot the fight with a well-timed tap of mana. If you’re chasing the “feel” of Capenna in your cube or commander game nights, Arc Spitter delivers both the mechanical utility and the thematic flavor that fans adore. 🎨

As a nod to accessibility and practical play, the card’s cost structure keeps it within reach for many players, with interactions that feel bespoke without demanding a high entry price. The equipment’s presence on the battlefield makes players think more about sequencing: when to attach, when to move, and how to maximize a single activated ability to convert blocked trades into direct damage to a Planeswalker’s loyalty. In the end, Arc Spitter embodies a specific MTG joy: a small tool with outsized impact, especially when you’re leaning into the Planeswalker-versus-creature dynamic. 🧙‍♂️🔥

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