Double Up! Combo (InSheNaut) Detailed Deck Guide: A Tournament Selection Comes to Break the Meta

A few days ago I was talking with den (our Tier List master) about the Double Up! “InSheNaut” deck. Suddenly and without warning, three players (of the seven Double Up! pilots) entered the Top 8 of a tournament with almost 200 people playing this archetype.

Coincidence? I don’t think so. When Legion came to the game, I started hearing comments that it was a good idea to play him in Double Up! This archetype, already a few months old, focuses on playing Moon Girl on Turn 4 to enable a powerful last turn with two She-Hulks + The Infinaut.

So I wondered, “Why Legion?” Seeing the results of this tournament began to make things a little clearer.

Decklist

Whybona piloted this iteration of the archetype to 2nd place in the competition.

Double Up!

Created by Bohe

, updated 2 months ago

1

3x Collection Level 18-214 (Pool 1)

3x Collection Level 222-474 (Pool 2)

3x Collection Level 486+ (Pool 3)

1x Series 4 Rare – Collection Level 486+ (Pool 4)

2x Series 5 Ultra Rare – Collection Level 486+ (Pool 5)

3.3

Cost

0-
1
2
3
4
5+

4.7

Power

0-
1
2
3
4
5+

Concept and Strategy

As I just mentioned, the general idea of the deck is to be able to play Moon Girl on Turn 4 or Turn 5 with She-Hulk in a position in our hand that enables you to create a copy. This develops the idea of skipping Turn 5 or 6, depending on the case, to play an extremely powerful double She-Hulk + The Infinaut on the last turn.

This play is certainly very explosive, and the deck is built in a way that the rest of the cards are in sync with the plan:

• Sunspot and Nebula can get points during turns where we don’t play cards.
• Armor protects our high-powered cards from Shang-Chi.
• Magik gives us an extra turn, a situation that benefits the general concept of the deck.
• Legion will allow us, among many other things, to ensure that Limbo stays on the field.

Our remaining four cards are, in my opinion, flexible slots that allow us to optimize the performance of the deck according to the current state of the meta.

Let’s take a closer look at the reason behind each of the choices that make up this iteration of the archetype.

1-Cost Core Cards

Variants

Sunspot

At the end of each turn, gain +1 Power for each unspent Energy.

Collection Level 222-474 (Pool 2)

view card details Start a deck Decks with Sunspot

Variants

Nebula

Each turn your opponent doesn’t play a card here, +2 Power. (except the turn you play this)

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

view card details Start a deck Decks with Nebula

Sunspot plays an incredibly important role in this deck. I believe that only a few archetypes can take as much advantage of it as this one is capable of.

Since our main plan includes going through a full turn (either the fifth or sixth) without playing a card, this causes Sunspot to virtually become a [1/6] or [1/7] in almost every game.

As for Nebula, her function is similar to Sunspot‘s. Even though she doesn’t gain power in the same way, her effect allows us to develop points in a lane without having to invest resources. This makes it a very valuable and efficient tool that conditions the opponent’s plays. In the long run, this allows us to know from early on where we are going to want to play our final combo.

Combo Support Core Cards

Variants

Armor

Ongoing: Cards at this location can’t be destroyed.

Collection Level 18-214 (Pool 1)

view card details Start a deck Decks with Armor

Variants

Magik

On Reveal: Replace this location with ‘Limbo’. Doesn’t work after turn 5.

Collection Level 486+ (Pool 3)

view card details Start a deck Decks with Magik

Variants

Legion

On Reveal: Replace each other location with this one.

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

view card details Start a deck Decks with Legion

Having ways to protect a combo is a key part of any deck of this style.

Armor can keep the countless Shang-Chis at bay. This allows the massive amounts of power that we can generate with She-Hulk, The Infinaut, and even Sunspot to stay on the field.

The change to Magik in the July 20th OTA Balance Update seems to be one of the main reasons for the resurgence of this deck. With Magik‘s previous energy cost, it was difficult to be able to execute the sequence comfortably. Now, being able to play it as soon as Turn 3 changes the situation completely. Having a Turn 7 makes the whole idea consistent and more powerful in multiple ways.

Legion is a card that I could elaborate on at length, but let’s try to condense.

At first, people dedicated themselves to forcing the Legion + Storm combo. While it’s certainly functional (which is why we used one flex slot for Storm), I think forcing such a combo as the only win condition makes the overall idea of Legion a bit complicated.

Time has shown that this card is good per se. That’s why there’s now an iteration of Good Cards Stature called Good Cards Legion that appears on our latest Tier List. It’s easy to explain:

• [5/8] is a good cost-to-power ratio for a card with a good effect. It dodges Shang-Chi.
• If you get a location that favors you, Legion lets you triplicate that.
• If the game throws a location that makes your opponent uncomfortable, you can triplicate that.

Easy as that. In this particular case, Legion works mainly as our safe Limbo ticket. Losing Limbo to Scarlet Witch, Reality Stone, or similar effects feels very bad. With triple Limbo courtesy of this mutant, this is something we don’t have to worry about.

The Combo Core Cards

Variants

Moon Girl

On Reveal: Duplicate your hand.

Collection Level 18-214 (Pool 1)

view card details Start a deck Decks with Moon Girl

Variants

She-Hulk

Costs 1 less for each unspent Energy last turn.

Collection Level 486+ (Pool 3)

view card details Start a deck Decks with She-Hulk

Variants

The Infinaut

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

Collection Level 222-474 (Pool 2)

view card details Start a deck Decks with The Infinaut

We could say that the combo basically involves Moon Girl and She-Hulk. Having two of The Infinaut in hand isn’t very useful. However, I think it’s fair to mention all three cards together since, in the ideal scenario, it’s the combination of all three that will make us have one of the most explosive last turns in the meta.

Thanks to the already-mentioned change to Magik, we can do the combo on Turn 4 or 5. The idea is to play Moon Girl and make sure we get an extra copy of She-Hulk. This will let us play double She-Hulk + other cards on Turn 6, or double She-Hulk + The Infinaut on Turn 7.

Remember how this works: Moon Girl will copy the cards in your hand from left to right. She will do so until they are all copied or your hand reaches seven cards. For example, if you play Moon Girl with four other cards in your hand and She-Hulk is in the rightmost position, you won’t get a copy of it.

This is the reason why the deck has a relatively low curve. We want to play one card per turn for the first three turns, preferably all the time, so She-Hulk can always be in a favorable position in our hand.

Flex Core Cards

Variants

Jeff the Baby Land Shark

You can move this once. Nothing can stop you from moving or playing this to any location.

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

view card details Start a deck Decks with Jeff the Baby Land Shark

Variants

Storm

On Reveal: Flood this location. Next turn is the last turn cards can be played here.

Collection Level 222-474 (Pool 2)

view card details Start a deck Decks with Storm

Variants

Cosmo

Ongoing: On Reveal abilities won’t happen at this location.

Collection Level 18-214 (Pool 1)

view card details Start a deck Decks with Cosmo

Variants

Super-Skrull

Ongoing: Has the Ongoing effects of all enemy cards.

Collection Level 486+ (Pool 3)

view card details Start a deck Decks with Super-Skrull

While some of these cards work wonderfully in our game plan, I think after playing this deck quite a bit that none of them are vital.

Jeff the Baby Land Shark is one of the best cards in the game. Considering it in a meta where Professor X is present is essential. However, we have to keep an eye on the development of the meta, as the recent changes to Spider-Man may see the popularity of Lockdown decks diminish.

Having Jeff the Baby Land Shark in the same deck as Storm is always a good choice, too. Storm allows us to lock a lane where Sunspot and Nebula can continue to gain power while the opponent can’t do much about them. This is one way to secure the first lane.

On top of this, having the chance to generate the triple Flooded combo with Legion can give us some victories. You have to save Storm for Turn 4, then play Legion in Flooding on Turn 5. Then no one can play on Turn 6. With Sunspot and Nebula, we can win a game virtually one turn earlier than normal.

Cosmo and Super-Skrull respond to a specific expected meta. It doesn’t matter if you are playing a tournament or not, Daken has just been released, so having Cosmo and Armor to stop On Reveal and Destroy effects is almost mandatory.

Super-Skrull is a response to the current popularity of Darkhawk, which is closely followed by Devil Dinosaur. Added to other threats like Professor X, this card works great when you know what you’re up against.

These slots are our room to maneuver.

Card Substitutions

Variants

Echo

After your opponent plays an Ongoing card here, remove its abilities.

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

view card details Start a deck Decks with Echo

Variants

Spider-Ham

On Reveal: Transform the leftmost card in your opponent’s hand into a Pig, keeping its Power and Cost.

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

view card details Start a deck Decks with Spider-Ham

Variants

Kang

On Reveal: Look at what your opponent did, then restart the turn. (without Kang)

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

view card details Start a deck Decks with Kang

Echo is a card that, in the most competitive environments, starts to stand out as an excellent answer to many problematic cards like Professor X, Darkhawk, and Devil Dinosaur.

For its part, Spider-Ham slowly returns to the ring despite seeing a nerf not too long ago. There’s one simple answer for this: hitting Sera certainly wins games.

The last card can be controversial. Many believe that Kang is the weakest of the Big Bads, but, in my opinion, he is simply the least popular. In a meta where Turns 5 and 6 are extremely relevant, having this tool to gain information can be quite valuable.

Variants

High Evolutionary

At the start of the game, unlock the potential of your cards with no abilities.

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

view card details Start a deck Decks with High Evolutionary

Variants

Evolved Misty Knight

When you end a turn with unspent Energy, give another friendly card +1 Power.

None

view card details Start a deck Decks with Evolved Misty Knight

Variants

Evolved Cyclops

When you end a turn with unspent Energy, afflict 2 random enemies here with -1 Power.

None

view card details Start a deck Decks with Evolved Cyclops

Variants

Evolved Hulk

When you end a turn with unspent Energy, +2 Power. (if in hand or in play)

None

view card details Start a deck Decks with Evolved Hulk

We can easily explain these cards together.

This Evolved package benefits from playing turns where we don’t use all our resources. If our plan is to spend a full turn without playing cards, all of these cards are going to give us some benefit.

It’s equally useful if we play the Storm + Legion combo. This means playing Storm on Turn 4 leaves one energy free, and not playing any cards on the last turn is also beneficial for this group of cards.

The discussion between one version and another, in my opinion, is won by the iteration with The Infinaut. Although it asks us to spend a full turn without playing cards, it will be something that we will want to do in our best-case scenario (double free She-Hulks on Turn 7). This causes The Infinaut‘s 20 power to be more relevant than a less powerful Evolved Hulk that doesn’t require us to skip a turn.

Other Ways to Build the Archetype

Jeeeeet Double Up! – 1st place July Open

Created by Bohe

, updated 2 months ago

0

3x None

3x Collection Level 18-214 (Pool 1)

1x Collection Level 222-474 (Pool 2)

2x Collection Level 486+ (Pool 3)

3x 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+

Curiously, the winner of the aforementioned tournament played a version of the deck with the High Evolutionary core.

I just explained why I think the iteration of The Infinaut is better; nevertheless, this idea is just as powerful and could certainly become the archetype’s main list.

AniOmalY – 5th place July Open

Created by Bohe

, updated 2 months ago

1

3x None

3x Collection Level 18-214 (Pool 1)

1x Collection Level 222-474 (Pool 2)

2x Collection Level 486+ (Pool 3)

1x Series 4 Rare – Collection Level 486+ (Pool 4)

2x Series 5 Ultra Rare – Collection Level 486+ (Pool 5)

3.3

Cost

0-
1
2
3
4
5+

4.4

Power

0-
1
2
3
4
5+

Fifth place in the tournament was taken by AniOmalY with another version using High Evolutionary.

I’m putting it out here despite its similarity to Jeeeeet’s list because I think it’s important to note two things:

1. The handling of flexible slots, even in this iteration with High Evolutionary.
2. How important Legion can be even without playing Storm in the deck.

InShenaut 1

Created by den

, updated 2 months ago

3

3x Collection Level 18-214 (Pool 1)

2x Collection Level 222-474 (Pool 2)

2x Collection Level 486+ (Pool 3)

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

3x Series 5 Ultra Rare – Collection Level 486+ (Pool 5)

3.3

Cost

0-
1
2
3
4
5+

4.4

Power

0-
1
2
3
4
5+

This is the list that den shared with us in our latest Tier List. As he mentioned, Kang is a very important tool in a meta where everyone wants to play reactive cards.

It’s important to note that in most of the lists of this archetype Kang is not present, but the list with the best cube average plays Kang. Just hard and raw data.

On top of that, this is a version without High Evolutionary and with Spider-Ham in one of the flex spots. This should make us realize that the deck is extremely capable of getting ahead, whether it’s with or without High Evolutionary. Plus, having four flex slots gives it some adaptability that few decks can access.

Snap and Retreat

• Snapping on Turn 1 is something you can go for if you are going to play Sunspot and you have Moon Girl + She-Hulk in your hand. It could be a perfect hand if you add Magik.

• If you have the cards I just mentioned thanks to the Turn 2 draw and the second location revealed isn’t detrimental, you can Snap. Confidence increases if we have Legion, Storm, or The Infinaut.

• With this deck, an early Snap is important. Doing it when the opponent realizes we’re skipping a turn is something that usually makes them Retreat. If you already have your main combo cards in hand, it’s time to Snap. If it’s not yet possible, you can choose to see if you have the possibility of winning with the Storm + Legion combo. If you already have Sunspot or Nebula, you have played some other card (preferably Jeff the Baby Land Shark), and you can play Storm with Legion in your hand, Snap if transforming the three locations into Flooded gives you a favorable scenario on Turn 6 (yes, we are trying to predict two – three turns).

• Turn 4 is probably the last proper moment to Snap. Try to do it before playing Moon Girl or Storm. I mention this because skipping Turn 5 (if you don’t have Magik) is almost a declaration of having double She-Hulk or The Infinaut. And, in the case of having Limbo, playing Legion (or any other card) during Turn 5 and skipping Turn 6 produces the same effect.
  
• You might Snap on Turn 5 if any of the combos are late and you still haven’t revealed a key piece. Some examples would be: You played Magik early, She-Hulk is in proper hand position, and you draw Moon Girl on Turn 5. In a similar case, you have Sunspot and Nebula, you played Storm on Turn 4, and your draw on Turn 5 gives you Legion.

Consider Retreating if your opponent Snaps and you’re not in any of the scenarios above. You can stay in the game if you are one piece way from getting all the combo pieces. You can counter Snap if you played conservatively and you are in any of the cases I mentioned before.

Locations

Thanks to Armor, Magik, Storm, and Legion, navigating through bad locations is not a problem. Most of the time we can change bad locations or multiply the good ones.

Good Locations

• Atlantis, Baxter Building, Monster Metropolis, The Space Throne: Locations where it’s beneficial to play with a single card or powerful cards favor us.
• Cloning Vats: Cloning Sunspot is a game changer.
• Hell's Kitchen: Drawing Sunspot or Nebula is always appreciated.
• Negative Zone, Necrosha, Sewer System: Fight for these locations with She-Hulk or The Infinaut.
• Onslaught's Citadel: Depending on the situation, Super-Skrull can make a mess here.
• Quantum Realm: Sunspot and Nebula are very good here.
• Shuri's Lab: Good for She-Hulk and The Infinaut.
• Sinister London: Double double She-Hulk + The Infinaut. Save room in your other lanes if this location appears.

Bad Locations

• Asgard, Hala: As a combo deck, we use our first turns to assemble and develop our plan. Fighting for these on Turn 4 is not our specialty.
• Mojoworld, The Raft, The Sacred Timeline, White Hot Room: We’re not especially good at filling a lane with four cards.

Match Ups

Versus Good Cards

Good Cards

Created by den

, updated 2 months ago

0

2x Collection Level 18-214 (Pool 1)

2x Collection Level 222-474 (Pool 2)

2x Collection Level 486+ (Pool 3)

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

2x Series 5 Ultra Rare – Collection Level 486+ (Pool 5)

3.2

Cost

0-
1
2
3
4
5+

3.4

Power

0-
1
2
3
4
5+

Despite being a combo deck, i think that the way we develop our plan translates into a powerful and very flexible last turn.

Good Cards is an archetype rightfully known for being the king of flexibility. They can adapt to any situation and decide their game on the last turn.

Our advantage is that with our combo setup, we can play two She-Hulks and The Infinaut all together during the last turn. These 38 points split between the lanes makes us as flexible as them in the late-game.

However, it is very important to mention that Armor plays a crucial role. They play Killmonger, forcing us to use Armor to protect Sunspot and/or Nebula. Doing so makes us compromise space as we also want to use Armor to protect She-Hulk and The Infinaut from Shang-Chi. Think carefully about space management before playing Armor in this match up.

Super-Skrull is ready to copy Darkhawk. Nevertheless, this is not something definitive since they also play Enchantress. It’s a match up where both decks have tools to fight, but whoever manages them better will be the one who wins.

Don’t forget that they also carry Jeff the Baby Land Shark, which can allow them to enter Flooded. Keep in mind that it’s important to reduce the cost of She-Hulk – even if you are not going to play her yet. This helps The Infinaut remain the most expensive card in your hand, so Spider-Ham will always target it.

Versus Sera Control

Sera Control

Created by den

, updated 2 months ago

2

5x Collection Level 18-214 (Pool 1)

2x Collection Level 222-474 (Pool 2)

2x Collection Level 486+ (Pool 3)

2x Series 5 Ultra Rare – Collection Level 486+ (Pool 5)

1x Starter Card

2.5

Cost

0-
1
2
3
4
5+

2.3

Power

0-
1
2
3
4
5+

Sera Control isn’t as flexible as Good Cards, but it’s close.

The statements we made for Armor in the last match up apply equally here, as this archetype also plays Killmonger and Shang-Chi.

It’s worth mentioning that Cosmo can be very helpful in both cases. We can play She-Hulk or The Infinaut in the same lane and leave Armor in the Sunspot or Nebula lane, for example.

This is where Legion plays his big game. Sera Control started playing Scarlet Witch again, which can “turn off” Limbo unexpectedly. Always try to generate Limbo before Turn 5 so that Legion can triple it and you ensure Turn 7.

Outside of that, you just have to take care of Jeff the Baby Land Shark since it can always dance around the board even if everything is Flooded. The points we can generate during the late game make Lizard, Bishop, and Kitty Pryde less of a problem.

Turn by Turn Breakdown

Turn 1

Playing Sunspot will always be preferred. If Sunspot is not available, Nebula works fine.

Remember that having Storm allows us to decide to go “tempo” and play in the rightmost lane. We can make locations Flooded in case an unfavorable location is revealed during Turn 3.

Turn 2

I always prefer to save Jeff the Baby Land Shark for the final turns in case some lane is Flooded or blocked, or some hard-to-reach location was revealed. Jeff will always be more dangerous when the opponent hasn’t seen it yet.

That’s why I prefer to play Armor during this turn.

Turn 3

If we have the perfect curve, choosing between Magik, Storm, and Cosmo would be the question. Normally, I would prefer to play Magik. This is because Storm is better on Turn 4 if we have Legion .

Now, if we don’t have Legion, playing Storm on Turn 3 is also fine if we already played Sunspot or Nebula.

Cosmo would be something I would play on Turn 3 only if I had priority so I could try to snipe an opponent’s important card.

Turn 4

We should play Moon Girl and get our second copy of She-Hulk whenever it’s possible. If this is not something we could do, we still have some options:

1. Set up the Storm + Legion combo by playing Storm.
2. Play Super-Skrull if we expect the opponent’s deck to have effects we can copy.
3. In some cases, we will have Moon Girl and She-Hulk in hand but in an unfavorable position. If we already played Magik and we have time, we can use this turn to accommodate our hand by playing our leftmost cards to enable the combo on Turn 5.

Turn 5

This is usually the flexible turn. If everything has gone in order, this is the best moment to play our reactive cards and surprise the opponent by securing our game plan with Cosmo, Armor, Super-Skrull, and Legion.

We can assemble the Moon Girl + She-Hulk combo if it has not been possible to do so before, or end the game with the Legion + Storm combo if the board state favors us.

You must consider that, if we have been able to generate a copy of She-Hulk and we don’t have Magik, skipping this turn is also an option to enable double She-Hulk or The Infinaut for Turn 6.

Turn 6

If all goes according to plan, this is the turn we’re going to skip. If not, the options are to play double She-Hulk + some other card, or The Infinaut.

If you ran the Storm + Legion combo, remember that even with three Flooded locations you can still play Jeff the Baby Land Shark.

Turn 7

Analyze the situation. Although it may seem simple, dividing 38 points correctly is not as easy as it seems. Sometimes playing The Infinaut in the location with the greatest difference in favor of the opponent is logical.

However, sometimes you will want to increase your advantage in the most even lane. Occasionally it will be okay to fight for two locations, and sometimes it will be okay to fight for all three. Take your time when deciding.

Closing Words

After a brief hiatus, I’m glad to be back with my guides and articles! Sometimes there are moments when things are not so simple, but it’s persistence and discipline that keeps the boat afloat.

Double Up! is a classic archetype, and thanks to the recent changes to Magik and the release of Legion I now strongly believe that it’s positioned as a solid competitive pick. Its main strength lies in the fact that, despite being a combo deck, its flexibility during the last turn puts it on par with the king and queen in this sector (Good Cards and Sera Control).

I hope that this guide has been to your liking, dear readers, and that it will help you quickly reach Infinite this season so you can achieve your goals in the game. Let us know your thoughts on this and any other Marvel Snap related topics in the Marvel Snap Community Discord, on my Twitter, and in the comments section of this article.

I would also like to use this space (thanks, Boss!) to announce that I have started providing personal coaching services for Marvel Snap. If you want to contact me, you can look for me on Discord as bohettv or on my already mentioned Twitter.

Thanks for reading this far, dear readers, and as I always say, smile! I assure you that it makes a difference.