Black Knight Decks to Try on Day 1 and Strategy Guide: Is The Ebony Blade Worth the Cost?

Black Knight is the latest Series 5 card for the October 2023 Season Bloodstone. It is a 1-Cost, 2-Power card that reads: After you discard a card, add the Ebony Blade to your hand with that card’s Power. (once per game). Today, we will take a deeper look at the new card and, of course, the best decks to try it out in.

Variants

Black Knight

After you discard a card, add the Ebony Blade to your hand with that card’s Power. (once per game)

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

view card details Start a deck Decks with Black Knight

Variants

Ebony Blade

Ongoing: Can’t be destroyed and its Power can’t be reduced.

None

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Strengths and Weaknesses

Variants

The Infinaut

If you played a card last turn, you can’t play this.

Collection Level 222-474 (Pool 2)

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Variants

Giganto

You can only play this at the left location.

Collection Level 486+ (Pool 3)

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Variants

Death

Costs 1 less for each card destroyed this game.

Collection Level 486+ (Pool 3)

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Black Knight has the potential to create some new ways to play Discard while adding to the power of the current ways to play the archetype. We can use the effect to bank the power of big cards like The Infinaut into a 4-Cost card with no downsides! We can, as early as Turn 4, play a 20 Power card onto the board.

The effect is, in theory, very powerful. If you can hit cards like Death and Giganto and make them cost four energy, that’s incredible. We also have plenty of targeted discard in the game now to support this card and help us target the correct cards in your hand. It is worth considering this and seeing if we can get the card down consistently enough, as the Ebony Blade with a big enough card may win lanes early and often.

However, these strengths come with significant downsides, namely how the deck has to be built and how you have to play the card to get the pay off. It may surprise you looking at the upside, but the issues here start piling up the more you work through it.

Variants

Lady Sif

On Reveal: Discard the highest-cost card from your hand.

Collection Level 18-214 (Pool 1)

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Variants

Blade

On Reveal: Discard the rightmost card from your hand.

Collection Level 18-214 (Pool 1)

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Variants

Zabu

On Reveal: Until the end of next turn, your 4-Cost cards cost 1 less.

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

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First, it is not just one energy to get the full effect. The issue here is that the real cost is 1 + X + 4 to get the power onto the board, where X is the cost of the discard enabler you played to discard your power card. This is a significant investment over multiple turns, and that ignores the fact that it still only puts that power into one lane. Zabu can help you reduce this cost slightly, but there is no way you can play all these in one turn, as the Ebony Blade is added to your hand.

Which brings in the second issue: building the decks. You have to want to play the Ebony Blade on a future turn. Black Knight drawn on Turn 6 is awful, but he can also arrive on Turns 4 or 5 and be horrible, too. The exact curve of Black Knight into Lady Sif or Blade into a [4/12] or a [4/20] is great, but it has to be in that order and in the early game. Most Discard decks will want to use Turn 5 for setting up other combinations.

So, we have the combination, and now we need to draw the card we want to discard. We need this on time and, in the case of Blade, on the turn you’re ready and set up. This means you must have already played Black Knight, drawn the card you want to become the Ebony Blade, discarded that card, and then you can play the Ebony Blade on a future turn for four energy.

Variants

Shang-Chi

On Reveal: Destroy all enemy cards here that have 10 or more Power.

Collection Level 222-474 (Pool 2)

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Variants

Shadow King

On Reveal: Set all cards here to their base Power.

Collection Level 486+ (Pool 3)

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If we hit the perfect curve, then what? Based on how the Pig tokens work, we are now open to not only Shang-Chi but also Shadow King, both of which can negate the power of the Ebony Blade. As you will see with some of the deck builds, using tech cards like Luke Cage to defend the Ebony Blade are hard to fit in.

The Verdict

The card has theoretically high potential, but the concern is the amount of work it requires in your deck building and gameplay to get the card down. This is a boom or bust card, and it may turn out that dropping Black Knight from decks is simply correct in favor of more consistent options. When we objectively work through all the ways the card could be hard to play, the potential shrinks. We end up with a card that can be huge at times, but might often fall flat. It’s potentially the biggest gamble of the month, as it may turn out the decks are really good, but its just as likely to be a useless [1/2].

Potential Score:

Hela Discard

Ready To Die

Created by SafetyBlade

, updated 7 months ago

1

2x Collection Level 18-214 (Pool 1)

2x Collection Level 222-474 (Pool 2)

5x Collection Level 486+ (Pool 3)

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

1x Series 5 Ultra Rare – Collection Level 486+ (Pool 5)

4.1

Cost

0-
1
2
3
4
5+

6.1

Power

0-
1
2
3
4
5+

What may be the way to play Black Knight is part of a Hela Discard deck that relies on targeted discard effects. This deck has multiple ways to target the big cards with Blade and Lady Sif, and we can use Ghost Rider for early revives. Zabu in a Mobius metagame may feel ambitious, and I strongly considered Iron Lad for this slot. In testing, though, Zabu on Turn 2 usually resulted in a 4-drop on Turn 3 before an opposing Mobius M. Mobius came down. Zabu also synergizes with the Ebony Blade, and it may be required to ensure we get the value of getting the card down.

Hela acts as as our over arching back up plan; we should hopefully be able to navigate around discarding her and then use her on Turn 6 if we are unable to get the Ebony Blade and Ghost Rider to win the game for us. One point – don’t play Black Knight on Turn 1 if you don’t have a clear discard plan yet. He can be played on Turn 2 once you have more information, or on Turn 4 or Turn 5 alongside Lady Sif.

Pure Discard

Born Ready

Created by SafetyBlade

, updated 7 months ago

1

5x Collection Level 18-214 (Pool 1)

1x Collection Level 222-474 (Pool 2)

2x Collection Level 486+ (Pool 3)

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

1x Series 5 Ultra Rare – Collection Level 486+ (Pool 5)

2.8

Cost

0-
1
2
3
4
5+

3.5

Power

0-
1
2
3
4
5+

The next approach looks to adapt discard to respect Mobius M. Mobius. The only Black Knight target here is Apocalypse – which will either be at eight or twelve power after one discard (previous interactions would indicate the latter, but it’s not confirmed). We want to get the Ebony Blade down on either Turn 4 or Turn 5 here, alongside Dracula.

MODOK should be played on Turn 5 only when you have the pieces on board. The goal would be to play MODOK on Turn 6 to trigger Apocalypse again for Dracula. This way, you have the eight or twelve power from the Ebony Blade and the power from Dracula supporting your early game.

Professor X

Black Knight X

Created by SafetyBlade

, updated 7 months ago

0

4x Collection Level 18-214 (Pool 1)

3x Collection Level 222-474 (Pool 2)

2x Collection Level 486+ (Pool 3)

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

1x Series 5 Ultra Rare – Collection Level 486+ (Pool 5)

3

Cost

0-
1
2
3
4
5+

4

Power

0-
1
2
3
4
5+

Control decks in Marvel Snap that are based around Professor X really want ways to win one lane and restrict another for the tech cards to win. Black Knight may be able to be that card. We are aiming our discards at The Infinaut here, and we want to play the Ebony Blade on Turn 4. We can then follow up with Professor X and try to counter the other lane with strong tech cards.

Lockjaw

No Lockjaw, Not That One

Created by SafetyBlade

, updated 7 months ago

1

3x Collection Level 18-214 (Pool 1)

1x Collection Level 222-474 (Pool 2)

7x Collection Level 486+ (Pool 3)

1x Series 5 Ultra Rare – Collection Level 486+ (Pool 5)

3.7

Cost

0-
1
2
3
4
5+

6

Power

0-
1
2
3
4
5+

Lockjaw can also act as our draw engine in a targeted Hela deck. We try to ensure discarding Hela is unlikely here, so we want Black Knight down on Turn 1 or Turn 2. If we get one big discard, we can contest one lane with that and use Lockjaw to try cycling to win the other lane.

Closing Thoughts

Black Knight is flashy and should be fun to play, but it does not appear to be a major contender. The card requires a lot more than it seems to get the value, both in deck building and game play. Plus, it is not efficient power for the cost. Despite this, it may breathe new life into the discard archetype since it allows for the mechanic to be used in a new way.

Good Luck, Have Fun, and Stay Safe!