Table of Contents
Welcome to our Marvel Snap Meta Meta Tier List! Each week, we review the best decks in the ever-changing Marvel Snap ladder meta.
This report is dedicated to the Ranked mode and lists the current best decks heading into and once in the Infinite Rank. We also provide a Conquest report, available every weekend, that highlights the best archetypes for that mode. Looking to figure out the impact of the newly released card or the latest balance changes? This is the place to be!
If you are looking for more information about a deck in particular, check out our Archetypes pages, with detailed information about each of the household names in Marvel Snap.
Marvel Snap Meta Overview
I don’t mind Arishem as a synergy, but boy am I happy to see an OTA finally impact it enough to shake things up, especially with the new season around the corner. I really want the new “Activate” keyword to give a breath of fresh air to Marvel Snap.
Don’t worry if you are an Arishem afficionado, though; the deck isn’t gone, it’s just a Tier 2 deck that faces a lot of Cassandra Nova (one of its counters). Arishem Loki is far from being a bad archetype in Marvel Snap. Instead, it is now playing the same game as everyone else, and you can’t simply jam games with the same list and expect to post the best Win Rate and Cube Average in the game. It is time for that archetype to adapt, which might be a little difficult with 15 random cards.
You can also relax if you were afraid the game would look completely different after the OTA.
Overall, the same archetypes are still around, they’re just ranked a bit differently. Silver Surfer took the top spot, followed by KaZoo, which is fairly normal considering both have been great archetypes all season long (and they’re both easy to pick up and play after a balance update). There are a few troublemakers like Discard Dracula, which posted its best performance in a while for some reason, and Destroy, which is a more logical performer with the reinforcement of a new Attuma.
I don’t expect the meta to stay the same, as proactive decks always have a slight advantage right after a balance update. As such, things could change even before The Amazing Spider-Season kicks off, and they will definitely change when Activate joins Marvel Snap.
Happy Tier List, everyone!
Marvel Snap Meta Tier List
| Tier | Deck |
|---|---|
| Silent Performer | Ongoing |
| Tier 1 | Silver Surfer |
| Tier 1 | KaZoo |
| Tier 2 | Discard Dracula |
| Tier 2 | Good Cards Wiccan |
| Tier 2 | Destroy |
| Tier 2 | Arishem Loki |
| Tier 2 | Mister Negative |
| Tier 2 | Stature Darkhawk |
| Tier 2 | Toxic Bounce |
| Tier 3 | Sandman Midrange |
| Tier 3 | Pixie Ramp |
| Budget | Ongoing Kazoo |
| Budget | Devil Dinosaur Destroy |
| Budget | Swarm Discard Aggro |
Disclaimer and Tier Explanations
In order to be featured here, a deck needs to represent at least 1% of the current environment and have a positive cube average in the Ranked mode. Win Rate is also taken into consideration, and it can greatly impact the ranking of a deck, particularly when several archetypes (or different builds of the same deck) have a similar Cube Average but big Win Rate discrepancies. The Marvel Snap mechanics do, however, push players to maximize cubes gained rather than win every single game.
In order to create this chart, den is using data from our Marvel Snap Tracker, as well as other available data online and his own expertise and opinion of respected players. If a deck showed great performances with a very limited presence in the meta, you can find it in the Silent Performers section. That section highlights decks with an excellent Cube Average but too little of a sample size to be representative of their real strength.
Decks not good enough to be considered contenders but with a good representation will be ranked in Tier 3 in our chart. They won’t have their own dedicated write up here, but they may be transferred to the main Tier List section. See those builds as decks that are good to know about, as you should face them when playing Marvel Snap. However, unless the meta changes or a new variation of the build emerges, these decks are a notch below the dominant ones in Tiers 1 and 2.
Silent Performer: Decks with a very little presence in the meta that still showcase a Cube Average and Win Rate worthy of a Tier 2 deck (or better). Oftentimes, these can be archetypes with some nice game play that have been left unchecked in the current environment, or decks on the rise that found a few good match ups to abuse.
Tier 1: Tier 1 represents decks with all the upsides we would be looking for to rack up Cubes. They have good match ups in the current meta, offer different play patterns during a match, and often have the ability for explosive or surprising turns. These should be decks worth investing into in order to climb for the coming week.
Cube Average > 0.5
Tier 2: Tier 2 are very good decks but with a weakness holding them back – either not being as reliable in its draws as Tier 1 decks, countered by another popular deck, or still being a work in progress as you read this. A good pilot could probably take these and have the same results as with a Tier 1 deck, but their play patterns are more difficult to enact compared to the tier above.
Cube Average > 0.30
Tier 3: This tier is made of decks that have a pervasive issue compared to Tier 1 or Tier 2 decks. Usually, Tier 3 will be a mix of decks on the rise that don’t have much data, old archetypes on the decline, decks that require substantial experience and/or knowledge to pilot properly, powerful decks that aren’t well positioned, or niche decks.
Cube Average > 0.20
Budget: Decks that consist only of cards in Pool 1 and 2 that are still capable of competing with an experienced pilot in a similar Collection Level, Rank, and MMR range. See our matchmaking guide for more details.
Meta stats and analytics directly from our Marvel Snap Tracker can also be found here.
Silent Performers
den
With Destroy being the focal point of the previous patch after the Attuma change, a deck with Armor and Cosmo had a lot of upsides early after the OTA. There were not a lot of games for this deck to back up its performance in the current meta, and it will naturally lose some momentum if Destroy loses popularity going forward. As such, there is likely a timing element with this deck’s performance this week. Keep that in mind if you decide to give it a try and can’t find any good match ups to leverage.
Tier 1
Silver Surfer
den
With the fall of Arishem Loki, Silver Surfer—routinely in second place throughout the season—had a boulevard to become the best in the game. And it didn’t only achieve that, Silver Surfer also claimed the best Win Rate in the game (60.5%) to go with its top tier Cube Average of 0.55.
Considering the deck is well known (and changed a staggering zero cards following the OTA), the performance is naturally helped by being a comfort pick that is easy to play immediately after an update.
With a new season on the horizon, Silver Surfer will not only have to go against some new cards, it might also have to expect a couple of counter decks to emerge.
Potential Additions
With less of Arishem, Cassandra Nova could be changed. Rogue, Red Guardian, and Juggernaut have all been played in the past with great success.
KaZoo
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If I was strictly following my own rules, KaZoo would be at the top of Tier 2 with a 0.45 Cube Average. However, due to a stellar 60% Win Rate that was far above the other decks in Tier 2 (which are all closer to 55%), I figured it wouldn’t be shocking to have KaZoo alongside Silver Surfer in Tier 1.
In addition to the Win Rate that was far above the average in this report, the environment also isn’t ideal for KaZoo; several of the most popular decks, including Silver Surfer and Destroy, are running Killmonger. Sure, Caiera is included to help with that problem, but it stills changes the way KaZoo has to play and develop its synergies. That makes the archetype’s performance all the more impressive this week, and that’s why I think KaZoo a great contender heading into the coming season.
Potential Additions
Alioth could replace Gilgamesh for more disruption. The rest of the list is pretty set in stone.
Tier 2
Discard Dracula
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At a 0.4 Cube Average and 54.5% Win Rate, Discard Dracula has put up its best performance of the season. This week was even better than after the balance updates that buffed Moon Knight and Apocalypse!
Honestly, this great showing feels more due to the meta being super proactive because that plays into Discard’s strength. The deck has never shined when it comes to flexibility. If you are able to figure out your points total early on and reliably guess what your opponent is capable of, even the average Win Rate of 54.5% can score the great Cube Average that this archetype had this week.
Potential Additions
Gambit and Miek have seen play in the archetype in the past, and Helicarrier synergizes with the Collector.
Good Cards Wiccan
Wiccan is a really strong card, and it’s often worth Snapping when you know it will give you extra energy. Unfortunately, building your deck around the card also limits your ability to play when you don’t get the bonus energy, and your opponents will regularly leave if they don’t have a great hand after you Snap them.
In particular, Alioth is difficult to leverage without the bonus energy because gaining priority isn’t a simple task. Indeed, since the deck decided to cut Angela and only kept Thena as a lane Anchor, Good Cards doesn’t have a very high ceiling when it comes to points.
Potential Additions
Destroy
den
As the biggest winner from the changes in the OTA, you might have expected Destroy to rank higher in the list. But don’t let the rank distract you from how much better Destroy got since Thursday. Not only is the 0.35 Cube Average a season best for the archetype, the 57.5% Win Rate is tied for third in this report, which shows that Destroy is able to compete with the best of the best right now.
In the Silent Performers section there’s an Ongoing deck that was tailored to beat Destroy with Armor and Cosmo. This is kind of the main weakness that Destroy has to overcome: we all know exactly how to beat it once it becomes popular enough for a counter to be worthwhile.
Potential Additions
Nimrod joined Attuma in the deck, but it could be Shang-Chi or Arnim Zola.
If you fancy a different approach to Destroy, here’s another deck with Attuma that would have deserved a Tier 2 placement:
den
Arishem Loki
den
Many in the community, myself included, feared that Loki on Turn 1 would make this deck even more annoying than it already was already. Yet, with a 0.35 Cube Average and 55% Win Rate over a few hundred games with its best list, Arishem Loki is just a shadow of its pre-OTA self.
For a lot of other archetypes, this performance would be pretty good, but here it represents a loss of 0.2 Cube Average alongside a 5% to 6% loss in Win Rate category. Also, with Doctor Doom as the sole new inclusion in the deck, the worse performance can’t be due to anything but the OTA impacting the deck.
Potential Additions
Enchantress or another disruptive card looks appropriate to help Arishem Loki limit the opponent’s development now that its proactive development has been limited. Sera, Vision, and strong standalone cards have been solid in the past, too.
Mister Negative
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In August, Mister Negative posted one of its most stable seasons ever. It was able to routinely post a Win Rate above 50% alongside a Top 5 or Top 10 Cube Average. To close out the Young Avengers season, Mister Negative continued the trend with a 0.35 Cube Average alongside a 51.5% Win Rate.
Typically, the archetype does pretty well after an update. It benefits from a meta with few counter archetypes and very simple Snap patterns. Mister Negative could already position itself as a good pick against Destroy and Discard because both archetypes have little flexibility and only use points as their way to win matches.
There is one thing to keep in mind, however: Arishem made Mobius M. Mobius almost useless to play because the deck gained energy instead of reducing the cost of its cards. If energy cheating is back on the menu, we could see more of Mobius, and that would be terrible news for Mister Negative.
Potential Additions
Rogue could help if you start facing Mobius M. Mobius, and Destroy can’t do anything against the duo of Knull and Arnim Zola.
Stature Darkhawk
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Arishem still has been reasonably popular after the OTA, although you could expect its popularity to drop after looking at the early results since the update went live. If this happens, it will be interesting to see how it impacts the fortune of Stature Darkhawk.
Right now, the deck is at a 57.5% Win Rate and 0.3 Cube Average. Those are both solid numbers, and Stature Darkhawk has proven that it can win against decks other than Arishem. However, the Cube Average might not be good enough to stay in the competitive discussion if this deck’s best match up isn’t around as much. Indeed, the main problem that disruptive decks face is being Retreated against a lot.
Potential Additions
Swarm and Blade can made the deck even more discard focused, especially if you see less of Arishem and want to to replace Cassandra Nova.
Toxic Bounce
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Beast‘s change didn’t change the fortune of Bounce, which has had a difficult season overall. Bounce has constantly been changing lists to find a way to be competitive in the meta. After the OTA, it is a little odd to see the Toxic build be the strongest one with Destroy’s rising popularity.
The good news is that Beast is far from being unplayable after becoming a [3/5], which is enough for Bounce Enjoyers to feel good about the OTA. As for the best list, we’ll have to wait and see what the next season holds, as Bounce has some support coming its way.
Potential Additions
Cassandra Nova and Shang-Chi are the flexible cards that you could replace with other options. Look for On Reveal cards that synergize with Werewolf By Night.
Tier 3
Sandman Midrange
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A 57.5% Win Rate has no place in Tier 3 if you ask me. It’s tied with Destroy and Stature Darkhawk for the third best Win Rate in this week’s Tier List. This low ranking, then, can only be explained by the deck not Snapping aggressively enough and letting the opponent get away with a meager one cube Retreat when Sandman shuts them down. It might cost you some cubes at times, but Snapping early and often is the best way to play Sandman Midrange.
Pixie Ramp
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When I first saw this deck in the data, I expected it to end up in the Silent Performers section. But it actually had over 200 games played, which was more than enough to be ranked in the bulk of the report.
There isn’t anything special about the deck (hence why it is last in this week’s Tier List), but it did score a 53.5% Win Rate alongside a 0.2 Cube Average. If you fancy some War Machine gameplay, this build is good enough to win you a few games.
Closing Words
With a new season just days away, I don’t know if learning a new archetype is worth it. Fortunately, there are plenty of synergies that seem to be able to compete currently, and the best ones (Silver Surfer and KaZoo) are fairly simple to play.
I would recommend that you just play whatever attracts you at the moment and focus on both your and your opponent’s ability to develop first and foremost. Sure, counter cards will hurt you at times, but even though that is a painful way to learn about them it is better than Retreating indefinitely without ever gaining information.
To reach out, find me on the Marvel Snap Zone community Discord, or follow my Twitter page where I share decks and biased opinions about the game.
Good Game Everyone.
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