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Agony is the newest Series 4 card joining Marvel Snap for the October season We Are Venom. It is a 1-Cost, 2-Power card that reads: After you play a card here, merge this with it. You can get this card for free in the limited time mode High Voltage between October 16th, 2024 and October 24th, 2024.
Today, we will take a deeper look at the new card and, of course, the best decks to try it out in.
Strengths and Weaknesses
From the various reactions I saw around the community, there isn’t much hype for Agony. Indeed, many believe the card was chosen as the reward for High Voltage because it isn’t special and people wouldn’t spend their Spotlight Keys or Collector’s Tokens to get Agony.
I have to admit, I’m not particularly excited either. There is already a similar card in the game, Hulkbuster, except Agony has to be played first and is more precise as to which card it will merge with. These two differences might be upsides when compared to Hulkbuster, in addition to a [1/2] having a better power-to-cost ratio than a [2/3]. Still, in a season that brought us Scream, Agent Venom, and Toxin (well not yet, but boy am I excited about this one!), Agony feels a bit bland.
Today, I’m going to try to change the community’s negative perception of Agony, as there are a few interesting synergies to explore.
Decks with Agent Venom
There we go, Agony is playable all of a sudden (that was easy)! Indeed, the cheaper a card is, the more effective buffs to it will be. Alongside Agent Venom, Agony becomes a bonus four power to any card, and it pairs really well with some of Agent Venom‘s current friends, too.
Bast is a mini Agent Venom for your hand. It only represents one bonus power with Agony, but the card has been popular in Agent Venom decks and it’s important that Agony works with both.
Angela (as well as Hope Summers and any other card that entices you to play behind it) just got another card that triggers her ability without taking a spot on the board. In that sense, Agony is basically a different Nightcrawler that gives extra power to the next card you play rather than having the ability to move somewhere else.
Iron Man once again leads the category of cards that are nearly game-breaking when they receive a buff. Plus, Agony will be much better than Hulkbuster with expensive cards since you can play her earlier in the match. With Hulkbuster, you needed to spend the two energy AFTER you play the card you want to buff, and you would ideally have an empty lane. Agony limits you in a different way; you can’t play on its lane until you play the card you want to buff. Still, the symbiote pretty much beats Hulkbuster in every other aspect.
Decks with Scarlet Spider
Decks with Namora
Decks with Ms. Marvel
Decks with Lockjaw
Decks with Skaar
Let’s explore Marvel Snap outside of Agent Venom for a bit. These are some of the cards that I think will synergize with Agony best:
- Scarlet Spider: Buffs to this card are never bad.
- Namora: It’s easier to get only one card on your other lanes when they merge with each other.
- Namor: A bonus two power, and he still remains alone on his lane.
- Ms. Marvel: Agony can be played with another 1-Cost and still keep Ms. Marvel‘s buff.
- Man-Thing: Agony can merge with any card that costs four or more and there will be no power lost.
- Killmonger: You typically can’t play 1-Costs with Killmonger (except in Destroy), but Agony gives you a Turn 1 play that won’t be destroyed later on.
- Lockjaw: Isn’t it annoying when your 1-Costs show up behind Lockjaw? Well, if Agony gets pulled from your deck it will merge with your next card and free up some board space.
- Skaar: Any eight or nine power card would become big enough to discount Skaar.
I’ll admit, there aren’t a ton of super powerful synergies in there. Also, I have to discuss the elephant in the room—Agony has a few big weaknesses, several of which are already present in the current meta.
Decks with Shadow King
Decks with Alioth
Decks with Negasonic Teenage Warhead
Shadow King basically eliminates Agony. The 2-Cost already sees plenty of play with both Agent Venom and Pure Move being super popular, so Agony has to get through some hostile territory.
There are also a few cards in Marvel Snap that are looking to snipe your next play. I used Alioth and Negasonic Teenage Warhead to highlight this category of card, but telling your opponent where you intend to play can lead to things like Cosmo or Echo ruining your game on the spot.
The Verdict
Honestly, I think the synergy with Agent Venom is enough for Agony to see play. However, this would be entirely due to the strength of the Season Pass card, not because Agony is that great.
The card might see play in a couple of decks, but it doesn’t feel mandatory in any archetype when cards like Hulkbuster and Nightcrawler already exist in everyone’s collection.
If Agony was not a free reward from the new High Voltage game mode, it probably wouldn’t be worth your resources.
Pre-Release Score:
Decks to Play
den
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Looking at the decks I built with Agony (and the ones I found online as well), my main problem with the new 1-Cost is that I don’t see why I would ever need the card. It fits multiple archetypes, but it doesn’t specifically improve any of them, except for maybe Skaarmora. In that deck, Agony can make Jeff the Baby Land Shark or Nocturne into ten power cards if they get hit by Namora and discount your Skaar. But you can accomplish the same goal with with Forge or Araña to be honest. The only upside Agony has is the synergy with Namora.
Apart from this specific application—which could be enough when it is all said and done; a card only requires one good deck to see play after all—I could play any of the other decks above without Agony.
Destroy already has Nico Minoru, Hulkbuster, and sometimes Araña. Agony might be better than Hulkbuster, but that would be a minor change to the archetype and not really necessary. The same could be said about Phoenix Force since Ghost-Spider had to be cut to include Agony. The Agent Venom deck can play Killmonger with Agony for the occasional early priority, but it doesn’t need the card to function at all.
Closing Thoughts
Overall, I think that getting Agony for free in High Voltage is apt; it likely would have been the easiest skip of the season if we were required to spend resources for the card. It isn’t so much about the card’s strength, though. I highlighted a few synergies, and Hulkbuster—arguable a worse Agony—does see play in a couple of archetypes. Rather, it is due to Agony not feeling particularly mandatory or even important in any of the decks in the current environment.
Namora is probably its best chance to feel like an impactful contribution to a deck, and that would certainly be enough for a card that you can get just for playing the new game mode.
I hope this review of the new card was helpful. Feel free to share your opinions and excitement about the card in the comments. You can find everyone on the Marvel Snap Zone team in our community discord to have a chat or ask any questions.
Good Game Everyone!
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