Spider-Man is the superhero, icon for millions, and star of dozens of different games. Marvel Tokon: Fighting Souls is another all-star entry for the friendly neighborhood hero, with his early tournament presence telling the whole story. Taking the time to learn how to play Spider-Man will pay dividends, no matter which position you play him.
Spider-Man is one of the top characters available in Tokon, with full-screen pressure, insane speed, and great damage across the board. He can do it all, so make sure to get your time in before ArcSys inevitably hits him with the nerf hammer. Time for your education, boys and girls; welcome to Spidey-School!
Spider-Man’s Kit
As expected from New York’s favorite wall crawler, much of Spider-Man’s kit revolves around mobility and hit-and-run tactics, minimizing the enemy’s chances to respond while maximizing his opportunities.
Learning how to play Spider-Man is all about learning solid rushdown fundamentals, as well as how to manipulate his unique movement tools. By simply pressing Unique, Spider-Man will Web-Zip across the screen. Holding different directions will alter the angle of the Web-Zip, allowing for very flexible mobility.
Spidey can further modify his Web-Zips into either Swings or Kicks. This way, Spider-Man always has the chance to mix up his approach, converting into a knockdown on hit or a harder-to-punish movement on block.
Spider-Man can even force enemies to come to him instead, and all of this utility is baked into his Unique button! With all these options in one button, the rest of Spider-Man’s game plan gets to revolve around forcing blocks and minimizing chances of escape.
Spidey’s high/low mixup game is also notably solid, with a unique version of his Heavy that hits overhead and an enhanced version of a special for a low. Add on his speedy crouching buttons and his great aerial game, and Spider-Man is just as overwhelming as every goon he’s fought makes him seem.
Unique Button + Direction – Web Zip
Spider-Man launches a web forward, following it once it connects to an enemy or the environment. Holding a direction while pressing Unique can change the direction of the Web-Zip. Holding Unique during Web-Zip will turn it into a Web Kick on hit that knocks the opponent down.
Holding up while pressing Unique will have Spider-Man hang upside down, allowing him to hop off the webbing in any direction. Holding up during an in-progress Web-Zip will cause Spider-Man to swing with his web instead.
Best Used When: You want to close the gap or punish an enemy’s movement. Generally great for fast movement on demand.
Unique + Back Unique On Hit – Web Slam
Pressing back and Unique when Web Zip connects to an enemy causes Spider-Man to fire a second line of webbing before attempting to pull the enemy in. This works on block, but will drag the enemy a shorter distance.
Best Used When: The enemy is in a comfortable position, and you want to drag them in.
Quartercircle Forward + Light/Medium/Heavy – Web Shot
Spider-Man fires a series of Web Shots, with the number corresponding to the strength of the button used in the input. Grounded Light is a single shot, while aerial Light, Medium, and Heavy are bursts of multiple shots. These projectiles are fast, deal solid damage, and their nature as multi-shots make them very good for projectile wars.
Best Used When: You want to keep a lock on enemies or find some decent poke damage.
Forward, Down, Down Forward + Light/Medium/Heavy – Spidey-Sense
Spider-Man straightens up, allowing his Spider-Sense to warn him of incoming attacks. If an attack hits Spider-Man during this period, he will dodge the attack and, if it is a physical attack from the enemy’s point character, counterattack. The strength of the button pressed alters the direction and damage of the counterattack.
Best Used When: You see a telegraphed attack coming, or you’ve sufficiently read the enemy’s intent and anticipate an attack.
Quartercircle Back + Light/Medium/Heavy – Arachnid Assault
Spider-Man tenses up before leaping forward and performing a flipping kick once he reaches an enemy. The Heavy version opens with a low attack. The aerial version of Arachnid Assault works as an anti-air, gaining air-attack invulnerability early in the animation. Holding forward will have Spider-Man flip close to the enemy after the attack. The Light version can launch enemies for stage transitions.
Best Used When: You want to meet an enemy in the air, mix them up with a long-reaching low, or start some tricky air mix off of the flip.
Down, Down + Light/Medium/Heavy – Web Bomb
Spider-Man tosses a Web Bomb a set distance. The Web Bombs then stick themselves in the air, lingering until they decay or are hit by an enemy attack. These Web Bombs effectively attack as deterance, locking off sections of the screen from the enemy.
The Heavy variant of Web Bomb stuns when it goes off and can withstand a few enemy attacks before breaking.
Best Used When: You’ve knocked down the enemy and want to set up solid Oki situations.
Spider-Man’s Assists
Spider-Man’s assists are super strong, thanks to the overall power of each of his special moves. His Assault assist especially sets up beautiful pressure strings and combo extensions. Before you slot him in anywhere other than point, you need to understand what they all do.
- Assemble Assist Shooter: In position 2, Spider-Man performs the medium version of his Web Shot straight ahead.
- Assemble Assist Vertical: In position 3, Spider-Man performs the grounded version of Arachnid Assault, quickly launching enemies.
- Assemble Assist Assault: Spider-Man performs Web Slam, pulling the enemy in and slamming them if it connects.
- Assemble Assist Aerial: Spider-Man performs the aerial version of Web Shot, firing a barrage of webbing.
These assists are solid, and his Assault is a huge enabler for heroes both weak and strong. He’s an amazing pressure demon who has plenty of value on and off the field. Don’t be afraid to shuffle him in and out as the situation changes.
Spider-Man’s Supers
Spider-Man’s supers are all about arachnid acrobatics, overwhelming the enemy with a barrage of webs and whacks. His supers are very naturally fit into the end of his strings, with is Ultimate even buffing his Web-Zip for the rest of the round it’s used.
Quartercircle Forward + Medium + Heavy – Super Skill – Web Warrior
Spidery lashes out with a roundhouse kick, swirling around any enemy hit and pelting them with a tidal wave of webbing. After the barrage, they’re tossed away, dealing solid damage. Web Warrior costs 50 Skill Gauge to activate. The super is automatically used at the end of a Medium auto-combo if Spider-Man has the bar.
Halfcircle Back, Forward + Medium + Heavy – Ultimate Skill – Radioactive Spider
Spider-Man performs a web-slingshot dropkick, trapping any enemy hit with a climbing series of kicks. At the apex, he slams them with debris collected from the stage, dealing solid damage. For the rest of the current round, Spidey’s Web-Zip has increased hitstun, allowing for new combo opportunities.
If a Heavy auto-combo is performed with 100 Skill Gauge, Spider-Man will cast Radioactive Spider right after.
Quartercircle Forward + Light + Assist – Tokon Assemble
Spider-Man man takes a swing at the opponent, summoning his team to beat them down before he wraps them in a cocoon of webbing. Once they’re good and caught, Spider-Man spins them around before slamming them into the ground, dealing massive damage.
To use his Tokon Assemble, the entire team must be assembled, and Spider-Man must have the maximum Skill Gauge of 150. If all the conditions are met when a Light auto-combo connects, Spider-Man will perform his Tokon Assemble right after.
How to Play Spider-Man
As I’ve gone over, Spider-Man is a rushdown powerhouse, overwhelming his enemies with unpredictable movement and sheer volume of fire. With his high/low mix, easy access to the air from most situations, and ability to lock down certain chunks of the screen, Spider-Man is a menace.
When the round starts, use Web-Zip and Web Shot to force enemies to block, rapidly approaching and getting them pushed back into the corner as fast as possible. Once there, use your assists and Web Bombs to turn whole chunks of the screen into danger zones.
Once you’ve got the opening, use your powerful high/low pressure to secure openings and tear right through the enemy. Escape tools pale in comparison to Spidey’s overwhelming mobility, allowing him to be anywhere and threaten a hit from anywhere.
This overwhelming, constant pressure is what makes learning how to play Spider-Man so worthwhile. He’s been dominating high-level play, the few tournaments we have to look at, and even my personal lobbies! He’s so strong, so fast, and so generally powerful that there’s no reason to ever not run him.
Spider-Man’s Best Teams
Spider-Man is stellar at any point on the team, but I’ll be focusing on teams with him at point. These teams are based on both personal play and tournament performance to ensure both fun and effectiveness. The two teams I’ve put together are the Neighborhood Spider-Verse and the Neighborhood Geniuses.
Neighborhood Spider-Verse
This first lineup is all about super powerful backup for Spider-Man, while giving him the backup plan to switch to the all-around monster that is Magik if need be. Carnage and Magneto are here to provide amazing cover, extensions, and general pressure.
| Role | Character | Reason for Running |
| Starter/Position 1 | Spider-Man | Our pressure princess, the mix-up machine himself, Spider-Man, is our point thanks to his hyper mobility, great assist use, and amazing damage. |
| Assemble Shooter/Position 2 | Carnage | Carnage is here for his amazing Shooter assist, covering so much of the screen, allowing very flexible extensions and great punishes. |
| Assemble Vertical/Position 3 | Magik | Magik is easily one of the strongest characters on offer in Tokon, backed by solid assists in multiple positions and a great mix of her own if you need to tag her in. Don’t forget her amazing normal range thanks to the Soulsword. |
| Assemble Assault/Position 4 | Magneto | Magneto is a solid zoner if need be, but his Assault assist is a great tool to have, basically spawning a hitbox directly on top of the enemy, no matter where they are. |
Neighborhood Geniuses
Our second team is ripped straight from Paragon FGC’s early Tokon tournament, utilized by Bleed to win the entire event. Spider-Man may not have been the point character, but the team is highly modular and incredibly effective.
| Role | Character | Reason for Running |
| Starter/Position 1 | Spider-Man | Our pressure princess, the mix-up machine himself, Spider-Man, is our point thanks to his hyper mobility, great assist use, and amazing damage. |
| Assemble Shooter/Position 2 | Black Panther | Black Panther is another hyper-mobile monster who backs Spidey up beautifully. |
| Assemble Vertical/Position 3 | Storm | Storm’s anti-air is great, and her ability to manipulate enemy trajectory and drag the enemy wherever she wants is perfect. |
| Assemble Assault/Position 4 | Magik | Magik is easily one of the strongest characters on offer in Tokon, backed by solid assists in multiple positions and a great mix of her own if you need to tag her in. Don’t forget her amazing normal range thanks to the Soulsword. |
