Better late than never, right? It’s been some kind of a month for me so far, but it’s time once again to check in on Marvel Snap (Free) and see what kind of cool new decks we can put together. Things have massively changed since our last deck guide, with a number of major balance changes swinging the meta like a hyper-active Spider-Man. With the new season well underway, let’s have a look and see what’s what right now in the world of Marvel Snap decks. Remember as ever: today’s winning deck could be tomorrow’s moldy turkey. These guides are one way to keep your finger on the pulse of the scene, but they aren’t the only method you should be using.
Note that most of these decks are the best of the best at this point in time. They assume you have access to a full range of cards. I’ll once again be including the five strongest Marvel Snap decks of the moment, and I’ll throw in a couple more decks that don’t need anything too hard to get and are just sort of fun to play with. You know, a little variety and all of that.
While the Bloodstone season brought in its own share of handy new cards, it felt like much of the season was centered around trying to clean up the mess created by Loki For All Time. Alioth, Loki, and Mobius in particular were still stomping all over the meta throughout October, and it’s hard to say if the current measures are going to be enough to keep them settled down. On top of that, we have the new Higher, Further, Faster season’s cards to contend with. It will take a little time for those new additions to find their place, but I’m sure we’ll be dealing with them in due time. For now, let’s have a look at this month’s picks!
Shuri Sauron
Included Cards: Zero, Ebony Maw, Armor, Lizard, Sauron, Shuri, Enchantress, Typhoid Mary, Taskmaster, Vision, Red Skull, America Chavez
Shuri Sauron is holding over with no changes from last month. If anything, it’s stronger now thanks to some of its foils being nerfed. Nothing has really changed with how it should be played, either. Obviously the end goal is to roll out Shuri on the fourth turn, either Typhoid Mary or Red Skull on the fifth turn, and then Taskmaster on the sixth turn. This gives you a ton of points on your last turns and that will usually win the game for you. On the first few turns, you can play things like Armor (to block Shang-Chi), Zero plus Maw or Lizard for some extra points, and of course Sauron to negate the Ongoing abilities of Mary and/or Skull. The idea is the same no matter how things work out: get your big cards out and play whatever you can to mitigate their downsides and buff them up.
Loki Collector
Included Cards: Kitty Pryde, Quinjet, Snowguard, Angela, The Collector, Sentinel, Cosmo, Mobius M. Mobius, Agent Coulson, Loki, Legion, America Chavez
Despite attempts to rein the deck in, Loki Collector remains a mighty force to be reckoned with. There are two big plays going on here. First of all, The Collector. He gets more powerful the more cards you add to your hand, and most of the cards in this deck will do just that. Second, Loki. In addition to feeding The Collector, he on his own gives you all the cards your opponent has, but at a lower Cost. Mobius is here to keep your opponent from negating that advantage, and cards like Angela, Kitty Pryde, and Legion help you build some other strategies should your main ones fall through. This is a difficult deck to counter unless you know you’re going up against it, and even then it can be tricky.
Alioth Lockdown
Included Cards: Nightcrawler, Nebula, Daredevil, Medusa, Jeff, Storm, Ms. Marvel, Iron Lad, Professor X, Gamora, Alioth, Doctor Doom
A classic Lockdown deck with a few extra twists, and one of the places where Alioth has settled in after a couple of nerfs. It works like any other Lockdown deck. Your goal is to control a location and then shut it down so that the opponent can’t do anything about it. Professor X and Storm are the key tools here, and manipulating where your opponent can place their cards makes the likes of Gamora and Alioth particularly strong. Medusa can manipulate your opponent into putting cards in certain locations, and Daredevil will give you the peek you might need to set up your final moves.
Cerebro 5
Included Cards: Luke Cage, Medusa, Lizard, Silk, Cerebro, Polaris, Spider-Man, Wave, Enchantress, Miles Morales, Ms. Marvel, Doctor Doom
Cerebro decks have always been decent performers, but this one has been creeping up the rankings of late. Ms. Marvel certainly adds a bit of punch if you play this one right. The deck of course centers around Cerebro, which will grant +2 Power to your highest Power cards, which in this deck happens to be a whole lot of 5-Power ones. Luke Cage ensures your plans won’t be foiled, and you have a few tools in your drawer for further strengthening and opponent counters. Remember: Medusa in the middle. Beyond that, just mess with your opponent while watching your points climb.
Dracula Discard
Included Cards: Blade, Morbius, The Collector, Wolverine, Swarm, Colleen Wing, Lady Sif, Dracula, Hell Cow, MODOK, Apocalypse, America Chavez
Another slight variation on an old classic has cropped up again this month. This is a fairly standard discard-type deck. The idea is to chop up your own cards as much as possible for a few reasons. First, discards pump Morbius’s Power. Next, they might slice Apocalypse, making his Power go up. They might also chop Swarm, which will feed Collector. Ideally, you want Morbius, Collector, and Dracula out in the field safe from being discarded. MODOK is your ideal fifth turn play, dumping out the rest of your hand to give everyone some final boosts. If you’ve done things right, you can play America on your final turn and let Dracula boost Apocalypse one more time and absorb his Power.
And now, a couple of fun decks for those still climbing up the collection ladder or who simply want to try something different.
Big Cards
Included Cards: Sunspot, Agent 13, The Collector, Armor, Sentinel, Cosmo, Jubilee, Moon Girl, White Queen, Devil Dinosaur, America Chavez, The Infinaut
There’s nothing too fancy about this deck. It has some of the best cards that you’ll have as you’re climbing up the collection ladder. It gives you a few different roads to success. You’ve got the classic Moon Girl into Devil Dinosaur play, feeding The Collector with Agent 13/Sentinel/Moon Girl, the America Chavez/Infinaut Hail Mary plays, and a few other goodies. It won’t take you to the top of the ranks, but it will serve you well while you’re building out your collection a bit.
Shuri & Phoenix Force
Included Cards: Forge, Human Torch, Nico Minoru, Carnage, Multiple Man, Venom, Hulk Buster, Shuri, Phoenix Force, Taskmaster, Red Skull, America Chavez
Shuri, Shuri never changes. This is another deck I’ve been playing around with a bit lately, but it’s also one that requires a few newer cards that you might not have. The idea here is to get your Human Torch or Multiple Man out quickly, buff them as you can, destroy them with Venom or Carnage, and Phoenix Force on the fourth turn. After that, you can play Hulk Buster, Taskmaster, or do that fun Shuri plus Red Skull/America move that hits like a bus. A tricky deck to play, but a fun one.
And that’s it for this month’s deck guide. We’ll return with another one of these in December to see where things stand after the Marvels event has fully played out and a month’s worth of balance changes do their thing. The remaining cards for this season are some potentially dangerous ones, and it will be interesting to see what happens once they’re in the mix. Happy Snapping!
