Ghost Theorycraft, Strategies and Decklists

Series 5 cards have not received the warmest welcome lately. Most people seem to have stopped caring about new ones being added to the game since they know they will not be able to collect those cards anytime soon. For some reason, Ghost doesn’t follow that same pattern, and the card seems to have players excited about her release. I believe it is one of the first cards I have seen people asking about whether she could see play in current decks or discussing the potential impact she could have on the performance of some archetypes.

Why is that, you might ask? Well, it’s because Ghost brings with her a new ability, one that touches a very specific part of Marvel Snap, a focal game mechanic: Priority.

Variants

Ghost

Ongoing: Your cards are always revealed last. (Their On Reveal abilities happen last.)

Collection Level 486+ (Pool 3)

view card details Start a deck Decks with Ghost

Marvel Snap has seen an archetype (labelled the “Good Cards” archetype) do wonderfully for several months now. The deck relies on playing solid standalone cards in the first four turns, seizing priority, and then abusing some of the strongest abilities in the game without the giving the opponent the option to interact because they do no have priority. In this deck, we have seen Aero, Leech, and Leader (before his nerfs) shine and become some of the most feared cards in the game.

On the other end, reactive decks who rely on cards flipping after the opponent’s, have done much worse in the same time frame. Through purposefully playing from behind, those decks are playing with fire by opening themselves up to the opponent playing around their reactive cards or countering them with a card of their own. How many times has Cosmo ruined a Shang-Chi or and Enchantress? How many times did Aero move your cards before they revealed, ruining their ability in the process?

Giving priority to your opponent is a dangerous game, and the fact that one needs to be behind on two lanes in order to do so feels like too much of a risk. With Ghost joining the game, we can purposefully give priority to our opponent. We might see those Cosmos or Aeros ruin our plans from time to time, but now we don’t have to create that losing situation for it to happen. And that changes everything.

Now our opponents will already be busy catching up in the points department which makes it much more difficult to play a cards with a great abilities and lower point averages for their cost. As such, if the opponent is forced to commit for points in order to take a lane back, it should make our counter cards all the more effective.

Thanks Ghost.

Synergies and Gameplay

Ghost does not require any set up: just slam the card on turn one and profit from its ability. Similar to what Quinjet does for Thanos, Ghost should just make your deck function better while not being a premium enough target for the opponent to commit a Rogue or an Enchantress to remove it.
As a result, the card is extremely easy to grasp from a gameplay standpoint. No precise or complicated set up is required, just play the card when you get the chance.

Now, the synergies are much more interesting as there are A TON of cards in Marvel Snap that function better when they reveal second. Basically, just ask yourself whether your card is a reactive or a proactive tool. Most reactive cards will do a better job revealing second, as they could just snipe one of your opponent’s cards that just revealed.

The three best examples are the cards at the core of the control archetype: Shang-Chi, Enchantress, and Killmonger.

Variants

Shang-Chi

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

Collection Level 222-474 (Pool 2)

view card details Start a deck Decks with Shang-Chi

Variants

Enchantress

On Reveal: Remove the abilities from all Ongoing cards here.

Collection Level 18-214 (Pool 1)

view card details Start a deck Decks with Enchantress

Variants

Killmonger

On Reveal: Destroy ALL 1-Cost cards.

Collection Level 222-474 (Pool 2)

view card details Start a deck Decks with Killmonger

All three of these cards have a similar role in the control archetype: deny the opponent some cards they had in play. What is the harm in trying to get a little more out of each card through revealing your cards after your opponent? Maybe they play another ongoing ability behind the one you were already looking to cancel with Enchantress. Possibly, they play even more 1-cost cards before Killmonger triggers, or more big cards before Shang-Chi reveals.

It isn’t a necessity to do so, as these cards tend to do enough when they have a valuable target to remove, but what is the harm in getting a little more value as well?

Amusingly enough, the targets of these cards might also want to reveal second now as a way to dodge their effects and still fulfill their role. I can think of Sera, for example, as a card some decks are looking to snipe with a timely Rogue or Enchantress. I could mention Knull as well, a card that is nearly impossible to stop if it reveals second on turn six.

Let’s also toss Ka-Zar in this mix, not for the card itself but for how good it is to have your 1-costs reveal after Killmonger on the last turn of play. You’ve probably figured out, if On Reveal is a synergy looking to go first to avoid a potential Cosmo play, Ongoing is completely fine with playing second because it makes Enchantress and Rogue harder to use against it.

Variants

Sera

Ongoing: Cards in your hand cost 1 less. (minimum 1)

Collection Level 486+ (Pool 3)

view card details Start a deck Decks with Sera

Variants

Knull

Ongoing: Has the combined Power of all cards destroyed this game.

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

view card details Start a deck Decks with Knull

Variants

Ka-Zar

Ongoing: Your 1-Cost cards have +1 Power.

Collection Level 1-14

view card details Start a deck Decks with Ka-Zar

This back and forth could make Ghost a staple in a lot of decks, or at least those that do not care whether they have priority or not.

Although On Reveal generally wants to go first (for the simple “please don’t Cosmo me” reason), there are some cards that are more effective once the opponent has revealed theirs. Usually, these are cards with an AoE kind of effect like Killmonger‘s. These cards want to reveal second because they will affect more cards doing so, making their abilities more valuable.

Variants

Valkyrie

On Reveal: Set ALL cards here to 3 Power.

Collection Level 486+ (Pool 3)

view card details Start a deck Decks with Valkyrie

Variants

Hazmat

On Reveal: Afflict all other cards with -1 Power.

Collection Level 486+ (Pool 3)

view card details Start a deck Decks with Hazmat

Variants

Shadow King

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

Collection Level 486+ (Pool 3)

view card details Start a deck Decks with Shadow King

Variants

Spider-Woman

On Reveal: Afflict all enemy cards here with -1 Power.

Collection Level 18-214 (Pool 1)

view card details Start a deck Decks with Spider-Woman

Last on our list are cards with abilities that are worse to play with priority. In this case, it is simply in order to make sure we can’t be punished by the card’s ability. Looking at you, Titania.

Variants

Titania

After ANY card is played here, this card switches sides.

Collection Level 486+ (Pool 3)

view card details Start a deck Decks with Titania

The Risks

This part usually isn’t included in card highlights, but Ghost brings a new way to approach a key gameplay component of Marvel Snap so it felt necessary.

Up until now, playing from behind has been extremely difficult in Marvel Snap, and most of the strongest (or, at least, most frustrating) cards have been played in the context of gaining priority. As such, Ghost can feel extremely weak against cards like Aero and Galactus, especially in the current meta.

The big grey area around Ghost is figuring out how good it will be to yield priority while not being forced to purposefully get behind on the board. There are decks that seem to have a lot to gain from this idea and should definitely test Ghost at some point. However, Ghost is far from being an auto include in synergies that don’t have a strong reason to give the opponent the initiative. As such, even if Ghost is making a lot of noise compared to other recently released Series 5 cards, I doubt it will become a metagame staple over just a great inclusion in some specific builds.

Archetypes to Try With Ghost

Kazoo on the comeback trail

Ghost Kazoo

Created by den

, updated 1 year ago

0

1x Collection Level 1-14

5x Collection Level 18-214 (Pool 1)

1x Collection Level 222-474 (Pool 2)

3x Collection Level 486+ (Pool 3)

2x Recruit Season

2.2

Cost

0-
1
2
3
4
5+

2.6

Power

0-
1
2
3
4
5+

Although Zerocula gained some deserved attention during the last meta, Kazoo has never made it past the “nice budget deck bro” status. The current situation isn’t helping either, as DeathWave is one of the most popular decks since the season start and Killmonger is the counter to the Kazoo archetype. Ghost could help the archetype a lot by giving the deck the ability to hold its 1-cost cards until the last turn and set up the perfect board in the first five turns.

I made a build that specifically plays to Ghost‘s strengths, but the point is just to show the card’s utility in these kinds of builds to give them a much better shot at pulling some miracle turns later in the game.

Here is how this deck wants to play out a game:

• Ghost or Sunspot
• Angela on turn two, or Armor to protect Sunspot
• Bishop on turn three
• Ka-Zar on turn four
• Blue Marvel on turn five
• Play all the 1-cost cards and profit

Another way to use Ghost for proactive purposes, similar to the Kazoo archetype, is to include her in an Ongoing build since the deck has been craving more 1-cost cards for a very long time:

Ongoing Ghost

Created by den

, updated 1 year ago

1

2x Collection Level 1-14

4x Collection Level 18-214 (Pool 1)

3x Collection Level 486+ (Pool 3)

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

2x Recruit Season

3.3

Cost

0-
1
2
3
4
5+

3.8

Power

0-
1
2
3
4
5+

Zabu should love Ghost

Ghost Control

Created by den

, updated 1 year ago

1

3x Collection Level 18-214 (Pool 1)

1x Collection Level 222-474 (Pool 2)

6x Collection Level 486+ (Pool 3)

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

2.9

Cost

0-
1
2
3
4
5+

4.2

Power

0-
1
2
3
4
5+

As both Shang-Chi and Enchantress, two of the easiest card to imagine alongside Ghost, are 4-costs cards, I could see an early pairing of the new card and the recently nerfed Zabu. Also, because Ghost takes care of the priority aspect, there is no longer a need to play purposefully low points cards; this opens the gates for cards like Polaris and Maximus to be included.

The simple fact that reactive archetypes should be able to include cards we generally see in the Good Cards archetype might be a revolution for those decks. It could make the threat of Shang-Chi and Enchantress much more concerning for the opponent since the points on lanes would be much closer. Also, Titania just seems incredible alongside Ghost because five points for only one energy is a big deal for reactive archetypes.

Here is another way to use a disruptive shell around Ghost that includes Valkyrie and Thanos as win conditions over Darkhawk and Sera.

Valkyrie Ghost

Created by den

, updated 1 year ago

0

1x Collection Level 1-14

2x Collection Level 18-214 (Pool 1)

1x Collection Level 222-474 (Pool 2)

6x Collection Level 486+ (Pool 3)

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

1x Recruit Season

3

Cost

0-
1
2
3
4
5+

3.6

Power

0-
1
2
3
4
5+

Is Hazmat a real thing now?

Hazmat Ghost

Created by den

, updated 1 year ago

0

2x Collection Level 18-214 (Pool 1)

10x Collection Level 486+ (Pool 3)

2.8

Cost

0-
1
2
3
4
5+

2.8

Power

0-
1
2
3
4
5+

In order to honor Ghost completely, I had to try to make a gimmicky combo using her talents. Here, the idea is that with Sera in play (or Quinjet if we played Moon Girl), we can use Wong, Hazmat, and Luke Cage all at once on the last turn. Executing our combo right before game’s end should help us be unpredictable and keep our opponents on their toes.

I have my doubts about this one to be honest, but it was the best example of how to leverage Ghost to protect a combo and increase our chances of pulling it off.

Closing Words

As is customary with all Series 5 cards, its full impact will take some time to measure, but the hype around the card is a very already a very positive thing. I am a big fan of Titania, and I fully believe she might be the most improved card once Ghost joins Marvel Snap. I will be looking forward to testing that duo if I’m lucky enough to pull Ghost from a cache! One can dream…

Outside of Titania, the reactive cards seem to have the most to gain. Considering Shang-Chi is already very strong with Shuri Zero in a dominant position, and Zabu Control having an impressive first week in the Quantum Realm Season, I would expect the trendy reactive build to get even more popular. The other ideas featured, like including Ghost in Ongoing archetypes or using it for combo purposes, will likely be tested eventually but probably aren’t the most pressing questions surrounding the card.

I hope this piece was informative in some way. As usual, find the whole Marvel Snap Zone crew on Discord, and myself directly on Twitter.