Table of Contents
Cassandra Nova is the first ever (and maybe only ever?) Deadpool’s Diner card. It is a 3-Cost, 1-Power card that reads: On Reveal: Steal 1 Power from each card in your opponent’s deck. Today, we will take a deeper look at the new card and, of course, the best decks to try it out in.
Decks with Cassandra Nova
Check out our guides on Deadpool’s Diner for rewards, strategy, and best decks!
Strengths and Weaknesses
Cassandra Nova is one of the most accessible new cards in some time. She enters Marvel Snap as a card that can be earned through playing the in-game event Deadpool’s Diner. For three energy, she steals power from every card left in your opponent’s deck. As the game goes on, her power will drop, but when played early she can be the biggest 3-Cost card available. So, is the risk of playing her late worth taking for the power she provides when played early?
Decks with Luke Cage
Decks with Shadow King
With cards like this one, it is best to start by analyzing the situation depending on when she is drawn and determining if she is worth the effort to play. If you draw her before Turn 3 and then play her on Turn 3, she starts at seven power (assuming no larger deck sizes), so her normal outcomes are:
- Turn 3: 6 In Deck, Cassandra is 7 power
- Turn 4: 5 In Deck, Cassandra is 6 power
- Turn 5: 4 In Deck, Cassandra is 5 power
- Turn 6: 3 In Deck, Cassandra is 4 power
This is boosted by cards like Arishem and Thanos to the point where she could simply be considered a counter to these decks similar to Darkhawk. However, for three energy she is not as strong as some other 3-drops on her own. For example, if you just want power you can play a card like Gladiator. Also, if you are relying on playing this on Turn 3, it is easily countered by Shadow King. As such, you should probably be looking for value from having stolen the power as well as the power on the card. The invisible point for the player is that she does this automatically as long as you play her before Turn 6. On Turn 3, she reduces the power of three draws for your opponent, and in some circumstances this will win you the game (or at least change the plays your opponent wants to make).
Decks with High Evolutionary
One direction to try is combining her with High Evolutionary cards to get benefits from the affliction cards, primarily Abomination. This will likely have to be part of the package along with cards like Scorpion to force your opponent into playing cards with reduced power whether they like it or not. However, I don’t think this is the potential best home for her.
Decks with Absorbing Man
Decks with Ravonna Renslayer
Decks with Silver Surfer
Hazmat and Silver Surfer have quietly been a solid performer for some time, and Cassandra Nova could be the piece that pushes this over the edge. What she does here is encourage you to build more into the Ravonna Renslayer synergies, so using her alongside cards like Sage and Ironheart can present combinations that can be played around the board. Activating her effect twice should work, and that could potentially make her ten power on Turn 5 or eight power on Turn 6. As an On Reveal card, Cassandra Nova also synergizes with cards like Absorbing Man, which is often featured in these decks alongside Silver Surfer. This deck was already a direction that was close to competing, and now it may be ready to take center stage.
The Verdict
On her own, Cassandra Nova isn’t a powerhouse. But as an On Reveal card the ways to use her expand and suddenly she could be a key card in a lot of strategies. She also synergizes with Ravonna Renslayer, which opens up the potential to play her as a part of strong shells with Sage, Iron Man, and Thena. In that scenario, she would just be another tool that can be played for cheap throughout the game.
Additionally, Cassandra Nova will be very strong into Arishem decks because she is yet another card you can include to counter them. This one is arguably easier to run than Darkhawk, so, given the current meta, she is likely to come in hot. At the very least, slotting in the 3-Cost card is significantly easier than slotting in Darkhawk.
However, the true archetypes where she may shine in the long term are those that want to use the On Reveal ability and re-activate it multiple times. This has been quietly successful for a little while, and another power card may be exactly what is needed to bring it into the limelight.
Pre-Release Score:
High Evolutionary
SafetyBlade
As a card that everyone has the chance to obtain, I’m starting out the highlights with a relatively budget option. This deck is focused on reducing Abomination using Scorpion on Turn 2 and Cassandra Nova on Turn 3 to force your opponent to play their reduced power cards. The rest of the plan revolves around the midrange High Evolutionary package. This deck requires only High Evolutionary and Cassandra Nova from Series 5, but as you progress you can swap out Armor and Shocker for preference cards that suit your own play style.
Silver Surfer
SafetyBlade
This is the highlight deck for this card. Here I have cut the Sera lines from the deck in favor of relying on Ravonna Renslayer. Wong comes out on Turn 4, so you then play Hazmat and a buff card on Turn 5 straight into Odin. Older version of this deck have tried to include Magik and Sera for the late game, but instead I aimed to simply put cards down on curve into an Odin or Absorbing Man for a double activation. You rely on fewer cards and you can still hit hard and thanks to Ravonna reducing both Sage and Cassandra Nova, either of which can be played alongside Absorbing Man on Turn 6.
SafetyBlade
SafetyBlade
Another direction with Silver Surfer leans heavily into Ravonna Renslayer, so here are two ways to build for that. This allows you to keep the power cards from Silver Surfer like Sebastian Shaw and Brood and weave in cards like Iron Man as ways to go tall on certain lanes.
Darkhawk
SafetyBlade
Long term synergy aside, Cassandra Nova will be entering a favorable meta, and she can slot right into Ravonna Renslayer and Darkhawk decks. This is a counter to Arishem that is arguably easier to control, and the rest of the deck is now a proven performer that is worth playing into any other deck in the game.
Variants
Closing Thoughts
Stealing power from your opponent while creating a massive threat of your own is pure upside. The risk you are really taking here is with the counter cards, and that can be supported by the deck or how you choose to play her out. While you may not always see the impact of the power steal on your opponents, a card that provides a significant threat while also hurting your opponent is likely to be a powerful standalone card, and it’s definitely one worth putting the time in to acquire.
Good Luck, Have Fun, and Stay Safe!
More Content