Best Marvel Snap Cards: Series 4 & 5 Meta Tier List – February 3, 2024

In Marvel Snap, new cards are released weekly into Series 4 or 5, and players need to carefully think about whether they should purchase the card or not. To help players make better decisions and build better decks based on their collections, we rate all the cards from Series 4 and 5 into a Meta Tier List and review the current meta.

• Each week on Tuesday, a new Series 4 or 5 card is introduced to the game. For more information on card release schedules, click here.
• Series 4 and 5 cards can be obtained from Spotlight Caches that appear every 120 Collection Levels after 500. They can be one of the three featured cards that rotate every week, or a random Series 4 or 5 card.
• Series 4 cards cost 3,000 Collector’s Tokens and Series 5 cards cost 6,000 from the Token Shop.
• Cards no longer have a scheduled Series Drop; it is now at the discretion of the developer. Currently, 14 cards are scheduled to drop with the patch on January 9, 2024.

Introduction to the New Series 4 & 5 Meta Tier List Report

This report is informed by our new approach to rating and reviewing all of the Series 4 and 5 cards. Over the past few months, it has become clear that Series Drops will not be occurring as often, and major changes can occur to cards that change their value. This changes the previously maintained Meta Tier Lists almost weekly, which was never the original intention of our old Tier List structure.

Instead, these reports will discuss the biggest movers and shakers and highlight at least one deck to try (although I will often aim for more), and the Tier List will be updated accordingly. Hopefully, this will help ensure this is a valuable resource for reviewing cards to consider investing in, as well as a better live snapshot of how the cards are playing! This report will be updated every 2 weeks or after significant changes occur.

Tier Explanation

This Tier List is heavily geared towards the current environment, and the report will be updated bi-weekly at a minimum. This is to adjust for the in-game balance changes and what is competitively viable.

• Tier 1: These are the cards that support a current top tier deck in the meta or are universally strong enough that not owning them is a disadvantage.
• Tier 2: These are strong cards that are core to playing the currently strong archetypes, or are strong enough that you can play them in several different deck types.
• Tier 3: These are strong supporting pieces of specific archetypes that can be replaced, part of archetypes that are currently not performing at a Tier 2 level, or are universal cards that are options but often replaceable.
• Tier 4: These cards are niche and can only be used within very specific archetypes or only support an archetype that is currently not performing well.
• Tier 5: These cards are very limited and easily eclipsed by other options.
• Kang: This tier is a special tier to represent just how much lower this card is than the cards above.
• * This card is provisionally ranked, and in-game performance may change the ranking as the changes are either not finalized or still too new.
• ** This card is ranked higher in anticipation of a changing meta due to new card releases or balance changes and will be evaluated again on release.

Beta Ray Bill & Darkhawk

Variants

Beta Ray Bill

On Reveal: Shuffle Stormbreaker into your deck.

Series 5 Ultra Rare – Collection Level 486+ (Pool 5)

view card details Start a deck Decks with Beta Ray Bill

Variants

Darkhawk

Ongoing: +2 Power for each card in your opponent’s deck.

Series 4 Rare – Collection Level 486+ (Pool 4)

view card details Start a deck Decks with Darkhawk

Beta Ray Bill was close to being immediately placed in Tier 1, but I wanted to wait for some more statistics and feedback first. This is based purely on how strong it is in two specific decks that are based around Zabu. Darkhawk and Ms. Marvel are still two incredible cards, and Beta Ray Bill provides another strong package alongside these cards (which just makes Zabu better). Darkhawk has taken the early lead with the drop in Blob‘s play rate, which raises it once again to the top of the rankings – just in time for it to be featured in Spotlight Caches next week.

Borehawk

Created by SafetyBlade

, updated 3 months ago

1

1x Collection Level 18-214 (Pool 1)

1x Collection Level 222-474 (Pool 2)

4x Collection Level 486+ (Pool 3)

3x Series 4 Rare – Collection Level 486+ (Pool 4)

3x Series 5 Ultra Rare – Collection Level 486+ (Pool 5)

3.3

Cost

0-
1
2
3
4
5+

3.9

Power

0-
1
2
3
4
5+

If you’re unsure at all, just try this deck from the Beta Ray Bill round up. It is relatively simple to play, often just requiring you to decide on the location to play into with whatever card is playable on the turn, but it is very effective. It can consistently compete across all three lanes and allows you to slot in tech cards like Shang-Chi. There is even room to drop Doctor Doom and simply play another tech card within the same shell of cards. Unless something changes drastically, this could be one of the go-to decks going into the new season.

Grand Master

Variants

Grand Master

On Reveal: Move one of your other On Reveal cards here to the middle location. Its ability happens again.

Series 5 Ultra Rare – Collection Level 486+ (Pool 5)

view card details Start a deck Decks with Grand Master

Grand Master has had some mixed reviews, and its first ranking into the Tier List is so low that it necessitates a discussion as to why this card is still bad. First, it is two energy for zero power development at it’s base. This means that, in order to become an on rate card, it needs to produce at least three power with its effect. The effect is entirely reliant on another card, though; it doesn’t do anything if it does not hit another card. It also doesn’t do anything if it cannot hit another card on a side lane AND move that card middle. While it can feel great to find the lines where you reactivate Black Widow to deny two draws and play Darkhawk, you spent five energy to do this. If you played Black Widow once and then played Jeff the Baby Land Shark for two energy, you still developed six power and denied one draw. Let’s add up the power impact of these lines:

• Grand Master + Black Widow = 5 energy for +3 power on your side, -2 on the opponent’s side, and a potential +4 power on Darkhawk = 9 power
• Jeff the Baby Land Shark + Black Widow = 5 energy for +6 power on your side, -1 power on your opponent’s side, and a potential +2 power on Darkhawk = 9 power

That is before you consider that you had to play the cards in specific locations for the first scenario. If you do this calculation across many of the scenarios, it starts to be come clear why adding Grand Master to decks lowers their Win Rates. It rarely does more than just playing a good card would do, and then you wouldn’t have to deal with jumping through hoops to reactivate the effects. It can feel incredible to play when it works, but it provides you no extra value and costs you more games than you realize compared to the same decks without Grand Master.

However, this state of play could shift with very slight changes, so it’s worthwhile to keep an eye on what people try with Grand Master.

Could It Be Ronan?

Created by SafetyBlade

, updated 3 months ago

0

1x Collection Level 18-214 (Pool 1)

5x Collection Level 486+ (Pool 3)

3x Series 4 Rare – Collection Level 486+ (Pool 4)

2x Series 5 Ultra Rare – Collection Level 486+ (Pool 5)

1x Starter Card

3

Cost

0-
1
2
3
4
5+

2.4

Power

0-
1
2
3
4
5+

…which is exactly what I did this week. I had to dig through stats on several decks to find this (if you’re reading this and know who to credit, please reach out!), but here is one deck that might make an argument that playing Grand Master produces more value than the alternative. Master Mold can block draws, which adds power to both Ronan the Accuser and Darkhawk. This dual utility of the play makes it more worthwhile than the previous example, and it still has the same impact when played on Black Widow or Korg.

Caiera

Variants

Caiera

Ongoing: Your 1 and 6-Cost cards can’t be destroyed.

Series 5 Ultra Rare – Collection Level 486+ (Pool 5)

view card details Start a deck Decks with Caiera

Caiera in Tier 1 for the whole month has been a topic of debate for this Tier List, so here comes an explanation. Caiera is the reason Thanos Lockjaw can remain in its position, and, if the card remains how it is, you’re liable to find it supporting plenty more decks. It provides your board with universal protection for your 1- and 6-Cost cards. This means your opponent needs to play two specific cards (Rogue or Enchantress + Shang-Chi or Killmonger) to counter you on Turn 6. It has a 2-for-1 effect of sorts; for three energy, the card requires a minimum of six energy from your opponent to counter your cards, which ignores the fact that the counter cards need to be drawn in the first place. On top of this, if you spread your threats with Caiera on the board, you can often be ahead by enough that even countering it results in too little power for your opponent to compete.

This is warping the meta in a similar way to how Mobius M. Mobius did, and the card is not often acknowledged for how much impact it is having. When it is played, your opponent either has to be playing both counter cards OR be able to go even bigger. Very few decks have been able to go bigger all month, so Caiera continues to enable one of the best decks in the game. Plus, the decks that can go bigger are easily countered with the usual counter cards because they can’t fit Caiera in.

Blobjaw

Created by SafetyBlade

, updated 3 months ago

0

1x Collection Level 18-214 (Pool 1)

2x Collection Level 222-474 (Pool 2)

4x Collection Level 486+ (Pool 3)

5x Series 5 Ultra Rare – Collection Level 486+ (Pool 5)

4.3

Cost

0-
1
2
3
4
5+

5.4

Power

0-
1
2
3
4
5+

Although it may not be as widely played, Blob has not gone anywhere and remains incredibly consistent and powerful. It can often go taller than midrange decks while having enough flexibility to beat the decks that are trying to go bigger. Caiera makes this deck much more resistant to tech cards, so, if you’re unsure of what to play (which may have been the case all month), Thanos Lockjaw remains the way to go.

Conclusion

That’s it! All Series 4 and 5 cards in Marvel Snap ranked in the current environment. Marvel Snap is a unique game, and these cards can lead to different scenarios and decks. At times, you may just like a certain character more than another. As a final disclaimer: chasing the card you want with your heart instead of your head is not wrong.

Have we missed any ideas that raise or lower the bar for these cards? Let us know below in our Discord server.

I’m looking forward to more of the community acquiring these cards and seeing how players will utilize them in new and interesting ways!

Good luck out there!