Rip a page off the calendar, because we are well and truly into a new month. That means we’ve got a new season of Marvel Snap (Free) incoming, and a new guide to building some decks that can hold their own in the latest meta. Since Bounce got bounced via a mid-month update a few weeks ago, all kinds of changes in the pecking order have happened. We’ve got a lot to review. Let’s have a look and see what’s what right now in the world of Marvel Snap decks, and do remember: today’s winning deck could be tomorrow’s stale potato chips. 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 new cards from the Rise of the Phoenix season had some effect on the Marvel Snap meta, the really big change in the last month came from the massive nerf on Bounce decks partway through July. This was certainly warranted given how powerful and prolific the deck was, and the effective dismantling it has completely shifted the board. We’ll have to see how the Big in Japan season affects things, but for now the meta is surprisingly lively and varied. That means the list of decks this time are but five of a fairly large number of highly viable choices at the moment. Let’s have a look at this month’s picks!

Control Sera

Included Cards: Sera, Nova, Angela, Hit Monkey, Bishop, Killmonger, Shang-Chi, Enchantress, Kitty Pryde, Scarlet Witch, Mysterio, Sentinel

Control Sera is finally at risk of falling out of the top decks, but for now it’s still a solid option. The ‘Control’ in this deck’s title refers to how you need to manipulate the turn order to make sure your cards are revealed last all the way up until the end. That means you have to make sure you’re losing until the last turn. Do what you will for the first few turns but make sure you hang on to Killmonger for the last turn. Play Sera on the fifth turn, and deploy various combinations of Enchantress, Killmonger, and Shang-Chi to completely ruin your opponent’s party. There’s one minor change this month, swapping out Invisible Woman for Sentinel to give more options for that final turn punch.

Control Thanos

Included Cards: Thanos, Psylocke, Luke Cage, Jeff the Baby Land Shark, Cosmo, Shang-Chi, Iron Lad, Blue Marvel, Devil Dinosaur, Professor X, Klaw, Spider-Man

You’ll need Thanos for this one, but his recent inclusion in a Spotlight Cache has put him into a lot more hands. Maybe yours! This is another Control deck, which means managing things so that your cards are revealed after your opponent’s. Get those Infinity Gems out there, buff everything as much as you can, use Cosmo and Shang-Chi as defensive cards, and Professor X and Spider-Man to lock down locations where you can. and use Thanos or Devil Dinosaur as knock-out punches depending on your final turn circumstances.

Knull & Death

Included Cards: Knull, Death, Nova, Yondu, Bucky Barnes, Carnage, Wolverine, Killmonger, Venom, Deathlok, Shang-Chi, Arnim Zola

Knull is the final piece of a great Destroyer deck, and that’s what we’ve got here. Nothing too fancy on the whole. Lay out your cards, beef up Carnage and Venom, and rack up those kills to bring down Death’s Cost and pump Knull’s Power. If you’re really lucky, you’ve got one heck of a nasty final turn with either Death + Arnim Zola or Death + Knull. Just watch out for Cosmo and Armor, the eternal banes of any Destroyer deck. Shang-Chi can also ruin your party if you’re not spreading your points right. A deck with some clear weaknesses, but it’s popular for a reason.

High Evolutionary Lockdown

Included Cards: High Evolutionary, Wasp, Storm, Cyclops, Spider-Man, Thing, Professor X, Doctor Doom, Hulk, Sunspot, Misty Knight, Abomination

Despite the adjustments to some Evolved cards, this deck has maintained its extreme popularity in the meta. As a Lockdown-type deck, the idea here is to block the opponent from as many locations as possible. There are three major changes to this deck this month. Spider-Ham’s nerf has seen him benched from many decks, and this is one of them. Nebula and Jeff the Baby Land Shark have also been cut, though you can still use them if you want. In their place are the very reliable Sunspot, and two more Evolved cards in the form of Misty Knight and Abomination. The idea remains the same here, though. Lock out your opponent from locations, preferably leaving some of your growers or debuffers there to whittle down whatever they placed before you locked it up. A flexible and powerful deck, no question.

Moon Girl & Devil Dinosaur

Included Cards: Moon Girl, Devil Dinosaur, Agent 13, Quinjet, Cable, The Collector, Zabu, Sentinel, Agent Coulson, Enchantress, Nick Fury, White Queen

Here’s another classic making a comeback in recent days. Your reliable buddies here are The Collector, who gains power as you add cards to your hand, and Devil Dinosaur, who gets stronger the more cards you have in your hand. Depending on your luck, Nick Fury might give you some spicy 6-Cost cards to play on your final turn. Keep your hand full and you’ll be able to cause all kinds of Tyrannosaurus-sized havoc! Strictly speaking, this is a deck you can probably build even if you’re not very far along on your collection, though you may have to make a couple of substitutes. Devil is the star of this one, just give him lots of cards to beef up with and you’ll do fine.

And now, a couple of fun decks for those still climbing up the collection ladder or who simply want to try something different.

Defense is the Best Offense

Included Cards: Nova, Goose, Invisible Woman, Brood, Silver Surfer, Storm, Cosmo, Juggernaut, Killmonger, Shadow King, Polaris, Spider-Man

You know that scene in The Matrix after Neo embraces his One-ness and is smacking away all of Agent Smith’s strikes like they’re nothing? Master this deck and that could be you. Neo, that is. Not Agent Smith. Basically you have a bunch of cards here designed to deal with just about any major spoiler your opponent can throw at you, and most of them are 3-Cost cards. And Silver Surfer fans know what that means! Play Surfer on your last turn along with your defensive card of choice. Dealing with a buffed monster? Shadow King. Seems like your opponent is going for a big On Reveal move? Cosmo time. Need to take out a bunch of 1-Cost cards? Killmonger time. If you see a chance to use your Storm + Juggernaut combo to lock down a location, go for it. A fun deck that takes a bit of thinking to work well.

Spectrum Ongoing

Included Cards: Spectrum, Ant-Man, Armor, Colossus, Mister Fantastic, Captain America, Cosmo, Namor, Iron Man, Professor X, Klaw, Onslaught

If you don’t have any super fancy cards, you usually have to resign yourself to a certain disadvantage when it comes to building competitive decks. Well, here’s a deck that doesn’t use anything too special but is absolutely kicking butt right now in the meta. It’s pretty simple, relying on a bunch of cards with Ongoing abilities that you can buff up with Spectrum or make it double with Onslaught. You’ll have to watch out for Echo, but otherwise you have a lot of options here for how to win. Use Armor and Cosmo to defend yourself, and if you see a good chance to deploy Professor X then go for it.

And that’s it for this month’s deck guide. We’ll return with another one of these in September to see where things stand after the Big in Japan event has fully played out and a month’s worth of balance changes do their thing. The incoming cards seem rather unique, so I’m interested to see whether we see any new contenders for those top spots. Happy Snapping!