Best Marvel Snap Cards: Series 4 & 5 Meta Tier List – November 14, 2023

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, there is no indication that there will be one in the foreseeable future.

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

For this first report, we will take a moment to explain 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.

Each week, we theorycraft with the new cards and then review their performance going into the Weekend Challenge, providing decks and gameplay-based insight along the way. However, the Tier List was consistently being left behind since it was supposed to indicate a card’s long term potential as well as its current strength.

Normally, I don’t like to mention myself in articles, but it has to happen in order to give some background on how the cards are being ranked. Currently, I would be considered a high Infinite player; I’ve spent the majority of the past two seasons in the top 100 and won multiple Infinity Avatars in Conquest. All of my gameplay is in this range and is informed by playing these cards against the best players.

Additionally, without ever buying Boosters I have split every single card (except Black Knight at the time of writing because it seems to be dodging Boosters somehow) at least once and most of them twice. This gives me a solid understanding of how each card is played and means these reports will not just be based just on statistics, but also in game experience.

Each fortnight (or after major changes to the meta such as balance updates), the Tier List will be updated a few days later. This approach aims to focus on the gameplay experience as well as some statistics, such as Win Rate and Cube Rate, to support it that experience. But it will no longer be a deep dive on each card and the long term potential of owning them.

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!

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 metagame 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 metagame due to new card releases or balance changes and will be evaluated again on release.

Alioth

Variants

Alioth

On Reveal: Remove the text from all unrevealed enemy cards here.

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

view card details Start a deck Decks with Alioth

Alioth has moved up to Tier 1 this week. The main reason for this is just how important the Turn 6 Alioth play is in the current environment. The rise of Lockdown decks makes this one of two premium 6-drops to play alongside Doctor Doom, and the Turn 6 gameplay has become a dance around Alioth in most matchups.

Right now, having Priority and playing Alioth on Turn 6 is the real name of the game (or figuring out how you’re going to play around this one card). The best versions of Lockdown decks run Alioth, and these decks are rising fast and only get better the more you’re able to predict your opponent’s plays based on meta knowledge.

Lockdown

Created by SafetyBlade

, updated 6 months ago

0

1x Collection Level 1-14

2x Collection Level 18-214 (Pool 1)

1x Collection Level 222-474 (Pool 2)

1x Collection Level 486+ (Pool 3)

1x Series 4 Rare – Collection Level 486+ (Pool 4)

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

1x Starter Card

3.3

Cost

0-
1
2
3
4
5+

3.6

Power

0-
1
2
3
4
5+

This one focuses heavily on the next card we care going to discuss, Ms. Marvel, in order to compete with the opposing lanes. Movement cards like Jeff the Baby Land Shark and Nightcrawler help you keep priority and reallocate power on later turns to support the lane you’re targeting with Alioth. The lanes you lock down limit where your opponent can play on that final turn.

Ms. Marvel

Variants

Ms. Marvel

Ongoing: Your adjacent locations with 2+ cards and no repeated Costs have +5 Power.

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

view card details Start a deck Decks with Ms. Marvel

We knew Ms. Marvel was likely to be good, but there were concerns that the effect might be too difficult to activate in some decks. While the second statement is still true and limits the homes it is successful in, the pure power Ms. Marvel outputs is just too high. This has immediately made it a clear meta staple. It has increased the performance of every single deck it can fit into and allowed these decks to compete.

It can be a replacement for the 6-Cost Doctor Doom, and it provides more flexibility than a 5-Cost card like Klaw. And all the while it usually allows you to maintain priority for cards like Alioth. It has hit the game harder than it may seem on the surface by opening up a few archetypes and providing enough power to allow them to compete where they could not last week.

SafetyHawk v2.0

Created by SafetyBlade

, updated 6 months ago

0

1x Collection Level 1-14

1x Collection Level 18-214 (Pool 1)

3x Collection Level 486+ (Pool 3)

2x Series 4 Rare – Collection Level 486+ (Pool 4)

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

3.3

Cost

0-
1
2
3
4
5+

3.7

Power

0-
1
2
3
4
5+

SafetyHawk v1.0

Created by SafetyBlade

, updated 6 months ago

0

1x Collection Level 1-14

3x Collection Level 18-214 (Pool 1)

3x Collection Level 486+ (Pool 3)

2x 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+

3.3

Power

0-
1
2
3
4
5+

These two Darkhawk and Ms. Marvel decks performed throughout the first week and play to the latter’s strengths. They can also either defend the card or set up for Alioth to take checkmate the game on Turn 6. Both play a very similar early game, but it really is a matter of preference if you like having the answer or presenting the threat.

Loki

Variants

Loki

On Reveal: Transform your hand into cards from your opponent’s starting deck and give them -1 Cost.

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

view card details Start a deck Decks with Loki

Loki maintains its Tier 1 status, but it felt appropriate to address the placement this week. This one card supports what is still one of the more flexible options in Marvel Snap, and one that now clearly improves with the player. With the arrival of Ms. Marvel, there are now more decks that can compete with the card by simply putting more power down than the random selection you draw from Loki can, but Loki remains a key player.

It remains a card that you must consider how you play against if they match into you, as well as a card that can pull out near-impossible wins and result in some big cube gains. Loki remains at the top, but the power level of other decks has risen to the point that it is no longer the only one in the competition. This has resulted in expanding Tier 1 this week, as the number of decks you can go after has increased. Which one will actually come out on time is still settling.

LokiSafety

Created by SafetyBlade

, updated 6 months ago

0

1x Collection Level 18-214 (Pool 1)

1x Collection Level 222-474 (Pool 2)

3x Collection Level 486+ (Pool 3)

2x Series 4 Rare – Collection Level 486+ (Pool 4)

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

2.2

Cost

0-
1
2
3
4
5+

2.7

Power

0-
1
2
3
4
5+

Loki looks likely to remain in a good spot for the rest of this month, and two clear directions exist: Elsa Bloodstone and Werewolf By Night. The conventional approach has been one or the other, but I have recently been experimenting with combining the two approaches. So, this week, here is a version that can include all of your favorite Series 5 and past Season Pass cards while remaining flexible (and have game into most opponents).

Rogue is in the deck over Shang-Chi right now, but as Shuri and Red Skull continue to rise in popularity it may be more worthwhile to hold the counter card for them over Ms. Marvel.

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!