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Welcome to our new series, where we take a step back from the meta and explore some different brews players are cooking up. Criteria to qualify as an Off-Meta deck include:
- Decks can’t be used in the current meta
- This includes decks that only have 1 or 2 cards different from a meta list
- Unique twists on an existing archetype
- Well known decks that fly under the radar or classic lists (like Cerebro)
- Completely fresh idea
These decks are meant to be good enough to compete with, but may still struggle against the top meta performers. If you are looking to mix up the decks you are playing and want to try something new, you’ve come to the right place! Without further ado, let’s get into it!
Modernizing Mill
Since the release of Arishem, the mill archetype has all but died. This deck by IrvingForbush takes a crack at bringing it back with some new tools! Instead of being focused specifically on milling your opponent, you mix in some disruption to be better prepared for those tricky matchups. The deck also utilizes the new season pass card Symbiote Spider-Man, as well as the featured Spotlight card U.S. Agent!
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The deck contains your usual suspects of the mill archetype: Yondu, Cable, Baron Zemo, Gladiator, and Doctor Octopus. For your disruption options, you have Magneto, Spider-Ham, and U.S. Agent. You also utilize Spider-Ham to not only disrupt, but gather early game information alongside Mirage. This can help you better know when to snap and when to retreat.
Your real surprises in this deck are Symbiote Spider-Man and Sersi. These cards give you some new options. Symbiote Spider-Man can reactivate cards like Gladiator, Cable, Mirage, or even Doctor Octopus, giving you some late-game mix-ups. Sersi allows you a surprise option to re-roll unhelpful cards. It also gives you some tech against clog decks you may face. Combining these 2 cards can lead to some big surprise wins.
If you’re in the mood for Mill, but keep facing Arishem, this is a fun list to try! It isn’t always the most consistent, but it can really pop off and provide a unique experience. And if you recently unlocked U.S. Agent and Symbiote Spider-Man, this also gives you a great way to use them both in some different ways!
You Can’t Shang-Chi Every Location!
This deck has been an incredible amount of fun for me lately. You get to drop lots of 10 Power cards, often late game, to overwhelm your opponent with big cards! You have several play lines to victory, and get to use some underutilized cards with it!
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The overall idea is to discount Skaar to as close to zero Cost as possible, then play him with another 10+ Power card on turn 6. To enable him, you have Mockingbird, Sasquatch, Death, Cull Obsidian, and Attuma. Many of these cards have deck building requirements to give value, but this deck manages to service them all effectively!
For Cull Obsidian, you have The Hood, Nico Minoru, and Squirrel Girl. Sasquatch has several options to reduce in cost, but he works best with Mysterio on turn 2, which allows him to be played on turn 3! Mockingbird gets the benefit of Squirrel Girl, Mysterio, and Hood’s Demon. Death is enabled through Carnage, Killmonger, and Attuma destroying the early cards. Attuma can effectively remove The Hood or Mysterio Illusions, as well as protect against the junk archetype.
These different options give you plenty of play lines and options to discount your Skaar. Some matchups give big advantages like against Zoo or Clog. Your biggest counters are Mobius (can’t discount your cards), Hazmat (10-Power cards dip below Skaar‘s range), and Shang-Chi. Despite these counters, I have had a ton of success and fun piloting this deck.
Reviving Ronan
This deck comes from Cobran53! It brings back some forgotten cards in an exciting new way! It mixes some great tech options with an effective strategy that sets you up for a successful Ronan. It has some answers to popular meta decks as well! Cobran53 had a solid explanation on how to use the deck, so below is their guide!
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You have the Ronan package, with Master Mold, Maximus and Ronan. Because Maximus benefits from being played last, you can add Super Giant to that. With Supergiant, tech cards such as Shadow King and Killmonger get a new dimension for a end-of-game twist. Supergiant works really well with Daredevil, as you can see the hidden cards of your opponents and you have 2 turns to react. This is perfect for the tech cards mentioned above, but also Rogue and Cosmo!
Since you’re adding Cosmo, and you want some extra power, so Gladiator is a very good choice. Another thing you can do with Supergiant is hide a Mystique to copy Ronan and have some pretty big power on T6. You can Klaw to the mix to get around locations, and provide another target for Mystique!
A Hela Deck… Without Hela?!
This fun twist on discard comes from Elecler! If you are looking for a big card discard deck that doesn’t rely on Hela, this is a fun option! It gives use to some underutilized cards, while retaining the explosive nature of discard decks.
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To begin with, you have some early game options. Black Knight, Blade, and Lady Sif can net you a big Ebony Blade. Ghost Rider can revive the big target you managed to discard. Grand Master or Blink allow Ghost Rider to double up on his value! Jubilee allows you to pull big cards to the board, and can also be followed up with Blink.
For your discard targets, Black Cat offers a way to guarantee your Ghost Rider gets value. Magneto, Giganto, and The Infinaut provide big stats to your board. If you manage to get stats on the board early, Skaar can get a discount, allowing you some fun play lines like a turn 6 Skaar + Blade + Grand Master onto a Ghost Rider.
This is the definition of a greedy deck that can definitely have its bad draws. The key is knowing when to retreat on a bad hand, and when to snap early then the stars align. Despite that, it still can offer a unique, fun experience and give cards like Black Knight and Grand Master a chance to shine!
How Can You Sumbit a Deck?
If you are a fan of the series and want to share your favorite off Meta Deck, share it with us! In the comments below, tell us your favorite deck and a brief description on how to play it. We will pick decks from your comments and feature them in the next edition! Just make sure your deck follows the off-meta criteria listed at the top of this article.
Wrap Up
That’s all for this week’s edition! What do you think about this new Series? Do you have an off-meta deck to share? Let us know in the comments!
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