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While She-Hulk was the card expected for the third beta season of Marvel Snap by many players, Dardevil ended up being the new card added to the game as the reward in the August 2022 Season Pass, Heroes for Hire! So let’s throw away the spicy decks I made with She-Hulk in preparation and let’s see what the blind superhero allows building around him.
Decks with Daredevil
I expect the card to be quite a game changer to be honest, and have a similar impact to Okoye back when she was a 2 cost card giving 2 power to our deck. As a 2 drop, Daredevil won’t impact the early game too much, indeed, the card will only add 2 power to a location and that’s about it. Despite that, the card could put its owner’s deck in a dominant position in the lategame, which is more than we could ask for a 2 drop in a lot of decks.
Currently, Marvel Snap is played with the intent to be as unpredictable as possible. Many decks try to hold as many resources as possible until the last turns, and play the biggest chunk of their power total in a way the opponent cannot answer it efficiently. With Daredevil entering the mix, some of that unpredictability could be gone now, as the new card will reveal the opponent’s plan before you have to make a decision. Obviously, turn 6 will keep being the most important turn in Marvel Snap, but turn 5 has a ton of very important interactions happening, and which could now be ruined.
I’m thinking about Sera, Magik, Professor X or Hobgoblin to name a few, that could be heavily impacted by the opponent knowing they are coming compared to capitalizing on the element of surprise. Let’s explore how impactful Daredevil can be, and see how the card could shake up the Marvel Snap metagame.
Gameplay and Synergies
While I’m sure Daredevil could be a good card in a ton of decks, as even for a proactive play, getting information on what the opponent is about to do allows to plan our investment as best as possible. I imagine Daredevil will be as its best in reactive decks, mainly those who focus on denying their opponent’s gameplan on turns 5 and 6.
Here’s how Daredevil works in game as confirmed in the official Marvel Snap Discord server:
- The player without Daredevil plays their cards and locks it in.
- The player with Daredevil can look at the unrevealed cards while they make their plays, then locks in their own turn.
- The game proceeds as normal. The turn timers are separate, delaying your turn does not do anything, and there are no reveal order tricks you can do because priority remains the same. You get the “bot experience” by knowing their plays in advance before you make yours.
Because we know exactly what the opponent does during their turn (cards and positioning), it would allow a reactive deck, likely revealing first, to answer the opposing turn perfectly. A lot of the time, reactive decks wait until turn 6 to commit their resources. Magik has become such a good card because of this, as it allows seeing what the opponent commits on 6, and then answer once they are out of resources on turn 7.
In that sense, Daredevil could allow for an answer on 5 and being able to focus on developing some points on turn 6 rather than playing passively for the whole game. Most tech cards, focused on answering what the opponent does, should be great alongside it:
Decks with Shang-Chi
Decks with Enchantress
Decks with Juggernaut
Another type of disruption card that should be very glad to see Daredevil being added to the game are the ones impacting the playability of a location. Especially, the Goblin duo should be much more reliable to play:
Decks with Professor X
Lastly, and this would be for decks looking to gain the reveal priority on turn 5, there are some cards that can deny incoming effects rather than cancel some already in play:
Considering the flexibility of the card, and the many synergies we can already imagine alongside it, several decks look very happy to include Daredevil in their 12 card lineup.
A Natural Fit in the Destroyer deck
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An example of a deck that was already competitive and can slot in Daredevil very easily, the Destroyer archetype plays two of the most profitable cards when you trigger Daredevil‘s effect: Hobgoblin and Professor X.
In addition to finding some nice synergies with core cards in the deck, Daredevil should also help the deck play around potential counter plays from the opponent. Filled with cards looking to disrupt the opposing game plan, and a deck that usually can only afford to play 2 locations, the Destroyer is looking to be the perfect fit to see how much of a difference can Daredevil make.
A Potential Comeback for Control Archetypes
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Largely removed from competitive play since the July 19, 2022 patch, the control archetype could welcome Daredevil with open arms. Once again, this is a deck that sees turn 5 as a pivotal turn for its gameplan. First, we have Professor X, Wave (which now should be added to Pool 3 in the next patch) and Magik, which can be very powerful plays with full information as to what our opponent plans to do. Wave is especially an interesting card with Daredevil. If we see the opponent is holding to a lot of cards to be explosive on 6, we can use wave to deny it. If they are dumping their hand, we can go Magik and punish them over the next 2 turns.
The Infinaut is another card that should benefit quite a bit from Daredevil in the deck. Indeed, being able to gauge how powerful the opposing turn 5 is should help a ton in deciding whether we can pass or not to access the 20 power of The Infinaut. Without the Lady Sif + Ghost Rider combo in the deck anymore, this should help the biggest point scorer in the game be much more reliable.
Just Play Tech Cards
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While I believe Daredevil probably has more merits in the previous two decks overall, it is looking like a fine addition to any deck with a lot of reactive cards. Obviously in this deck, we aim to play Sera on turn 5, which limits the impact of the knowledge we gain from Daredevil‘s effect. However, simply knowing where Sera is optimal to play could already be a big upside to the deck. Also, with this many reactive cards in the deck, Daredevil could open various play patterns where we do not draw into our go-to option.
Thanks to the new card, we can time Enchantress or Killmonger better, possibly know where to drop Red Skull safely, or just gather information on which location we should focus on for the final turns.
Closing Words
Ever since Okoye‘s multiple nerfs, reactive decks have been looking for a good 2 cost card to fill their early curve. If Scorpion looked like a good option at first, I have no doubt Daredevil should become the preferred option, and assert itself as a go-to 2 cost Marvel Snap card for the foreseeable future. We might even get to a point where decks without particular interest in the card might run it for the sake of cancelling the opponent’s Daredevil‘s effect.
I am obviously a bit disappointed to not get She-Hulk yet, as her combo potential looked fun to play with. We may have to wait until the next Nexus Event alternative to obtain her, along side Luke Cage. For now though, Daredevil still looks like an exciting addition in order to shake things up, and I can’t wait to see how it will impact the metagame in our next Tier List update.
Want to share your idea with Daredevil, or have a screenshot of how powerful the card has been so far? Feel free to join our community Discord and have fun with our members! As for myself, you can find me there or on Twitter.
Good Game Everyone.
