Infinite Decks of the Week – Days of Future Past Week 4: Where Are the New Decks?!

Something I look forward to a lot when a new balance update is announced, is to see which are the new archetypes joining the metagame staples.

Of course, balancing the best decks is amongst the top priority for any card game. In the internet era we live in, a good deck isn’t kept secret very long, a week of surprising your opponents – already is quite an accomplishment. We are to blame for this as well, we do share a lot of decks, and rank them, and explain them… Anyway, my point was, because decks travel so fast nowadays, I usually look for balance updates as a way to include new archetypes in the competitive landscape, as it is where the real fresh feeling comes from in my opinion.

Unfortunately, the last balance patch didn’t really provide in that regard, with barely any new synergies rising against the dominant Shuri Zero. Indeed, with the deck barely touched, Shuri and Red Skull have felt unstoppable for the past two weeks, largely limiting the discovery of any deck without Shang-Chi or Valkyrie, two of the deck popular counter cards.

In that context, what decks can we expect to see rise to the top rank in Marvel Snap?

Mostly familiar faces, I’m afraid. However, in a context where everyone plays with a lot of known information, where it is difficult to surprise with your archetype. Maybe we could find a few twists in how the decks are builds, with a couple of spicy cards to catch your opponent’s off guard. They thought they knew the entire story by turn three, and you just get that unexpected twelfth card from your sleeve, and steal their cube as they confidently stayed in a game they didn’t know was lost already.

Are those cards amongst this week’s Infinite ranked decks? Let’s find out.

Lockjaw and Leech are not gone from this metagame

Rob

Created by den

, updated 1 year ago

0

1x Collection Level 18-214 (Pool 1)

4x Collection Level 222-474 (Pool 2)

7x Collection Level 486+ (Pool 3)

3.8

Cost

0-
1
2
3
4
5+

5.2

Power

0-
1
2
3
4
5+

When it comes to Lockjaw, the card has been on a bit of a rollercoaster since the balance patch happened. First, the alliance with Thanos took a bit of a dive in the rankings, as what was the best deck in the deck lost a lost of its explosive power. A week later, the Death variant has restored the reputation of the archetype, and looks to be a metagame contender once again.

In the shadow of the Thanos build is the pure Lockjaw reveal deck, the one Rob used to get to the infinite rank. A solid deck, but which never really gained much momentum ever since the Thanos list came out. Even without the spotlight, the deck is still going strong, and getting players to the highest rank of the game. While it doesn’t pack as many high rolls as the Serie 5 build, we can still see many cards worth of being called a win condition. Leech, Dracula, Jubilee and of course Lockjaw, the now “budget” variant for the archetype is far from being a deck to forget about.

In these times of reconsidering what is the best build around Lockjaw, and even if Death, Killmonger and Wave are building a very strong case, maybe going back to the basic is the way to look at it.

Does diversity mean sanity?

CantStopSnap

Created by den

, updated 1 year ago

2

3x Collection Level 18-214 (Pool 1)

7x Collection Level 486+ (Pool 3)

1x Recruit Season

1x Starter Card

2.6

Cost

0-
1
2
3
4
5+

1.3

Power

0-
1
2
3
4
5+

First, it only feels appropriate to showcase our very own BlueSpruce from the Can’t Stop Snapping Podcast on this series for their first ever claim at the Infinite rank. Then, it isn’t so often that one shares several decks when reaching the Infinite rank. Apart from the Patriot list featured above, the tweet also contains a Mister Negative and a Silver Surfer build.

Most of the time, changing or using several decks can hurt a person’s climb, as we aren’t developing comfort as we go. Comfort can be a very important point to rack up cubes when grinding. It leads to recognizing situations earlier in a match, making faster connections, two critical traits in order to snap before the opponent is able to understand our deck. Similarly, as we get more comfortable on our deck, we can devote more of our time to the locations and recognizing our opponent’s gameplan.

As a coach, I rarely recommend changing deck often for those and more reasons. However, there also are a few benefits to changing deck and having some kind of rotation in between a few comfort pick. First, playing the same thing over and over can quickly be annoying. For some players, instead of building needed experience, they mostly work towards being bored, and play worse as a result. Then, if you rotate through decks with a similar gameplan, you could retain most of the benefits of keeping the same deck, while more situations arise in the process. This way, you are fighting boredom without hurting your capacity to develop your understanding of specific mechanics in Marvel Snap.

With three decks relying on similar synergies, all looking to develop their game plan in the mid to late part of the match while mixing disruptive tools, this is looking like a fine lineup of decks to tackle the ladder.

Finally Electro Ramp’s time to shine?

RavelordNitto

Created by den

, updated 1 year ago

1

1x Collection Level 1-14

2x Collection Level 18-214 (Pool 1)

4x Collection Level 222-474 (Pool 2)

5x Collection Level 486+ (Pool 3)

3.6

Cost

0-
1
2
3
4
5+

5.4

Power

0-
1
2
3
4
5+

Shuri Zero stills stands in the way as a deck barely shook when allowed to play only one card a turn. Otherwise, most other archetypes in the metagame have followed the recipe of staying flexible as long as possible, and trying to explode on the last two turn, as a way to keep as much information as possible from the opponent.

Already featured last week, Electro Sandman seems to have picked up in the popularity poll when it comes to reaching the infinite rank. Yet, just like RavelordNitto explained in the tweet, the safer, less combo oriented build might be more suited as Cosmo and Armor still are too popular to rely on destroy or On Reveal based combos.

Shuri and Red Skull can go in many decks

Adam Heart

Created by den

, updated 1 year ago

3

2x Collection Level 18-214 (Pool 1)

1x Collection Level 222-474 (Pool 2)

8x Collection Level 486+ (Pool 3)

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

4.2

Cost

0-
1
2
3
4
5+

5.2

Power

0-
1
2
3
4
5+

Last on this list is a hybrid Galactus deck, featuring Shuri, Red Skull and Taskmaster in the deck. As Adam Heart explains in the tweet, the reason seems to be they were missing Knull, the usual points machine in the Galactus archetype.

If you think about it, apart from Taskmaster, who really feels included because Shuri and Red Skull are in there, the other two make sense in a Galactus deck. Here are a few play patterns where both cards could shine:

• Shuri into Doctor Octopus could empty the opponent’s hand while still giving a shot at winning said lane. This would open the way for a turn six Taskmaster or Red Skull to win another lane, and not need Galactus every single game.
• After we played Galactus, Red Skull plus Death feel like a difficult duo to beat apart from Shang-Chi without priority. Ever since its nerf to only giving +1 power to opposing cards, Red Skull has felt quite strong, even against full lanes for the opponent. Similarly, Death plus Taskmaster feels equally powerful.
• With a turn four Galactus thanks to Wave, Shuri allows a great turn six without taking priority back. It means potentially slamming a 24 power Death alongside a Shang-Chi without priority.

Closing Words

I hate being the bearer of bad news, and this series was created to celebrate the accomplishment of those reaching their goal in Marvel Snap. Still, we are barely two weeks into this supposedly “new” metagame and the two most discussed decks are Shuri Zero and which Lockjaw build is the most optimal one.

Through a bit of digging, there are other decks to talk about in the current metagame. Unfortunately, those do not have the status of “safe to climb”, immediately making them more limited towards the end of the season. Electro Ramp feels kind of an exception in this context, and could be considered the gatekeeper in this metagame. With its ability to shut down many gameplans with Sandman, the deck might work in favor of Shuri Zero. Indeed, highly synergistic decks around cheap cards, who have an easier time incorporating cards like Shang-Chi or Valkyrie in their energy usage, fear facing Electro Ramp.

Hit Monkey is the next Season Pass card, and should largely favor those synergistic decks, pushing them towards holding resources in order to explode on turn six. This will be the perfect environment for Sandman to shine, and keep Shuri very strong in the process. I have to admit, I am curious to see how the start of next season will pan out, as we could see thing balance out on their own, or quickly feel another wave of balancing is due in Marvel Snap.

Obviously, we will keep reporting everything happening in that regard, starting with the TierList coming early next week. To keep in touch, join us on Discord, or find me on my Twitter page.

Good Game Everyone.