Grand Master and Skaar Decks: Bonus Challenge (Weekend Mission) Guide

During the weekend, there is now one more set of Missions for players to complete: The Bonus Challenge! These involve additional rewards for winning games related to the week’s new card and the Season Pass card. These missions provide extra Collector’s Tokens and Gold!

You need to win games with the card starting in your deck, and it does not count if the card was generated by cards such as Cable, Loki, and Maria Hill. Each of these reward amounts will vary depending on the difficulty of the mission.

There will be Bonus Challenge Missions available for each new card release to allow players to earn back Collector’s Tokens and subsidize their cost. Players can also expect the rewards to be stabilized at 200 Tokens to help them plan their token budget for the month.

Bonus Challenge: January 27, 2024

This week’s Bonus Challenge Missions are:

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

Variants

Skaar

Costs 2 less for each of your cards that has 10 or more Power.

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

view card details Start a deck Decks with Skaar

Most players will want to be efficient with these missions, so today we will give you three different decks that incorporate Skaar and Grand Master.

We’ll also give you a short guide on how to get the most out of the deck and finish the missions quickly, but first let’s take a quick look at the new card’s performance this week.

For more inspiration, make sure to check out our latest strategy guide on Miek as well:

Performance

Grand Master is the latest Series 5 card to release in the Planet Hulk season, and it was easily the hardest to evaluate before its release. For two energy, this zero power card moves one On Reveal from the left or right location and then reactivates its On Reveal effect. With the sheer number of On Reveal cards in the game, the possibilities for Grand Master appear endless. But is the cost of including this card in your deck just too high for these possibilities to pay off?

Variants

Iceman

On Reveal: Give a card in your opponent’s hand +1 Cost. (maximum 6)

Collection Level 222-474 (Pool 2)

view card details Start a deck Decks with Iceman

Variants

White Tiger

On Reveal: Add a 8-Power Tiger to another location.

Collection Level 1-14

view card details Start a deck Decks with White Tiger

The issues with Grand Master are the cost and how narrow the effect actually is, and it is a card evaluation trap that has existed for Marvel Snap since beta. When considering how you use a card in Marvel Snap, there are two resources you are using: energy and board space. Both of these resources are limited during the game. If you take up a board space with a card, it has to produce enough value to be worth the space. This limits what cards are actually good with Grand Master more than it seems on the surface. While triggering The Hood twice is neat, you have spent three energy to put -3 power onto the board across two bodies on two lanes, both of which need to be bounced or dealt with in some way. All this when you could play Falcon for two energy to pull The Hood back to hand for the option to replay it or leave it in hand.

The average player is not going to extract enough value from these plays for the resources being spent. Plus, this is all before we consider that, in addition to the two slots Grand Master needs on the lane you play it in, you also need a spot in the middle location and for that location to allow your On Reveal to trigger again. In the full evaluation prerelease, this is discussed more, but it is also important to note that if the On Reveal only adds power to the middle lane after this investment, your deck still needs to win another lane.

This leads to the more consistent way of playing Grand Master: combining it with a set of cards that can reactivate and spread power. The package worth exploring to play alongside Grand Master in general appears to be a value 1-drop (Iceman or Korg), Ravonna Renslayer, Ironheart, and White Tiger. We will discuss these more with some of the other examples below, but, in short, you want a card that makes Grand Master an OK Turn 2 play, cards that make it an OK mid game play, and cards that make it an OK late game play. The problem is that this package doesn’t line up well into a meta that is focused on big stat drop cards since they usually just go taller than you.

Ironheart was the card with the most success. This one allows you to put two 0-power bodies onto the board (two board spaces), but you can trigger Ironheart at least twice and spread 12 power. This is also easier to combine with cards like Odin and Wong since they synergize to spread even more power.

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

Variants

Korg

On Reveal: Shuffle a Rock into your opponent’s deck.

Collection Level 18-214 (Pool 1)

view card details Start a deck Decks with Korg

If slotting Grand Master into a deck that is already powerful to get some extra value is your preferred direction, here is my word of warning: it seems to be dropping the Win Rate of these decks, even if they can hold a positive Win Rate. Destroy, Discard, and Darkhawk have been some popular packages to experiment with. The one that holds some promise is Darkhawk since these On Reveals are annoying when triggered at any point of the game (which makes Grand Master playable on more turns). In Destroy and Discard, we see the second big card evaluation trap: every card has the opportunity cost of being replaceable by literally any other card. The card has to be better than playing something that just synergizes better in the deck. Dropping a destroy card to play a card that reactivates a destroy card is not an improvement on the deck.

Variants

Ravonna Renslayer

Ongoing: Your cards with 1 or less Power cost 1 less. (minimum 1)

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

view card details Start a deck Decks with Ravonna Renslayer

Variants

Mister Negative

On Reveal: Swap the Power and Cost of all cards in your deck.

Collection Level 486+ (Pool 3)

view card details Start a deck Decks with Mister Negative

The two cards that synergize with Grand Master to make it cost less are Ravonna Renslayer and Mister Negative. These can both reduce the impact of having to spend two energy for the effect. This is a big impact for this card since it amounts to a 50% or 100% reduction in the cost, and that allows for better combinations with cards like White Tiger and Arnim Zola. Ravonna Renslayer is the card that seems to be mandatory for Grand Master decks. Playing Grand Master for one alongside cards like White Tiger is a strong play, and you’re also able to reactivate cards and play cards like Darkhawk on the same turn. Mister Negative is still Mister Negative, though, so, while it can feel great when it works, the deck remains draw dependent and can lose to itself more than others.

So is Grand Master worth it? The answer to this one is complicated, but in its current state the answer is no. The resources being spent to get the effect are higher than they appear, and the decks it is being used in are often better off playing other synergistic cards instead. However, this problem could easily change. As I mentioned, there are many On Reveal cards in the game, and if this card is adjusted so the cost of playing it is lower, it could easily become an oppressive card.

So, how do you use Grand Master and Skaar to rack up wins and complete the Bonus Challenge Missions?

On Reveal

On-Reveal

Created by SafetyBlade

, updated 3 months ago

0

2x Collection Level 1-14

1x Collection Level 222-474 (Pool 2)

3x 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 Recruit Season

3.3

Cost

0-
1
2
3
4
5+

2.9

Power

0-
1
2
3
4
5+

The On Reveal deck is the one that creates the most flexibility for this card. This allows you to make Grand Master a playable card on almost every turn of the game, which lets you extract value. If you play it on Turn 2 with Iceman, you now have two bodies to receive buffs from Ironheart. If you play it later in the game, you can reactivate your big On Reveal effects (and do it again with Wong). This is the closest thing to a Grand Master deck, and even this deck is often better off avoiding the Grand Master lines and simply playing Wong to win the game.

Darkhawk

Darkhawk

Created by SafetyBlade

, updated 3 months ago

0

1x Collection Level 18-214 (Pool 1)

1x Collection Level 222-474 (Pool 2)

3x 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 Recruit Season

1x Starter Card

2.8

Cost

0-
1
2
3
4
5+

2.2

Power

0-
1
2
3
4
5+

The simplest plug in deck for Grand Master is Darkhawk. This deck synergizes with Ravonna Renslayer while also carrying a package of cards that make Grand Master a good play throughout the entire game. You get value that is high enough for every turn, but, as mentioned in the analysis, it still seems like this deck is the lesser Darkhawk deck. If you’re looking to play Grand Master in a consistent deck, this at least trumps Destroy and Discard because you don’t need to drop synergy cards to play it (and it synergizes enough with the core game plan).

Mister Negative

Mister Negative

Created by SafetyBlade

, updated 3 months ago

0

1x Collection Level 1-14

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 Recruit Season

4

Cost

0-
1
2
3
4
5+

2.3

Power

0-
1
2
3
4
5+

Lastly, for the high roll enjoyers, Mister Negative is where you want to go. This build is looking to remove the variables as much as it can with cards like Iron Lad. They ensure you always have plays throughout the game, and you can still do the flashy end game plays when the stars align. The only problem here is that this is still Mister Negative. While you can win without it, you can only ensure you get the win with the specific draws.

Skaar

Blobby Lashley

Created by SafetyBlade

, updated 4 months ago

1

3x Collection Level 222-474 (Pool 2)

4x Collection Level 486+ (Pool 3)

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

4.7

Cost

0-
1
2
3
4
5+

6.2

Power

0-
1
2
3
4
5+

For Skaar, you can look literally everywhere and find some version of Thanos Lockjaw with Skaar and Caiera. All these decks work, and the complexity levels are growing over time right now as players adjust the deck to their personal preferences. Even with the Blob nerf, this deck should remain the most effective way of completing the Skaar missions.

Closing Thoughts

Wins with the new card may seem a tall order some weeks depending what quality of card is released. Hopefully this guide helps you decide first if you want the card prior to the missions coming out, and what you can potentially play to complete the missions quickly!

Good Luck, Have Fun, and Stay Safe!