Infinite Decks of the Week – December 17, 2022: The Problem Cards!

If you have followed the Marvel Snap community on social media recently, or just scrolled the website and read HowlingMines’s latest article about Galactus being on the feared watch list, you might have noticed that Marvel Snap is slowly becoming a mainstream game, with a lot of people playing it, and even more having opinions about what is good, and what isn’t.

Mainly, we are starting to see some words that only exist in the most popular card games on the market, such as “problem cards”. So what is that? A problem card simply is one that apparently is bad for the game, worsening the playing experience and leading to people spending less time on Marvel Snap. Logically, these cards are expected to be changed, as to reduce their impact on the game, and their popularity. Most of the time, a problem card will be amongst the most powerful in the game, either defining a deck, or being versatile enough to be included in many. As time passes, the card will become increasingly more popular, and with it, more frustrating as it will be in most games, and the snowball just keeps going until something is done.

In Marvel Snap’s short history, we already had some problem cards in the past, such as the [3/3] Moon Girl, Nova giving +2 to all your other cards, or Mister Negative being a [4/4]. All these cards have been heavily nerfed to align with the average power for a card in the game, and are still played to this day, while not being considered busted anymore.

Today, I would like to discuss some problem cards of the current metagame as they seem to appear in many decks that reach the Infinite rank on a daily basis. And look at how these cards contribute to their deck, in order to explain where these cards might be a problem, or become one in the future.
This shouldn’t prevent us from celebrating the accomplishment of the players who managed to reach the highest rank in the game thought, congratulations everyone!

Sera is still a crazy good card

Sera Control dieplstks

Created by den

, updated 5 months ago

13

Pool 3Infinite

7x Collection Level 18-214 (Pool 1)

2x Collection Level 222-474 (Pool 2)

2x Collection Level 486+ (Pool 3)

1x Starter Card

2.7

Cost

0-
1
2
3
4
5+

2.9

Power

0-
1
2
3
4
5+

Sera was part of the last nerfs alongside Angela or Mysterio, basically the last problem card that were adjusted. Well, apparently, Deiplstks didn’t get the memo, and still cruised to Infinite rank with his take on Sera Miracle, the control build. Most of the time, Magik is also included in the deck as a way to get seven energy, allowing for a Shang-Chi or Enchantress plus Killmonger in case we wouldn’t find Sera. Cosmo also, could be a consideration looking at all the On Reveal effects roaming the popular decks.

However, the reason I wanted to highlight this deck first is because it is proof that nerfing and killing a card are completely different things. Indeed, we have three of the last four nerfs in the deck, and it still works just fine. The reason for it? Sera Control makes a lot of sense in the current metagame.

The optimal way of playing Marvel Snap currently, for many, is to seize priority early on, as it makes a lot of cards much stronger. For example, one of the most popular cards, Aero, is so much better when the opponent’s cards reveal after they were moved compared to before. The same goes for Armor or Cosmo, which can deny cards played on the turn compared to the next one.

With Sera Miracle, we are fine leaving priority to our opponent most of the time, as our key cards want the opponent to reveal first anyway. Shang-Chi, Enchantress, Killmonger mostly, are fine with the opponent revealing first, as it potentially gives them more targets to counter. As a result, I immediately liked the idea behind this deck, and thought it was a great metagame pick when everyone is fighting for priority.

Why would someone nerf Galactus?

RoycelikeRolls Galactus

Created by den

, updated 5 months ago

0

InfinitePool 5

4x Collection Level 222-474 (Pool 2)

7x Collection Level 486+ (Pool 3)

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

4.7

Cost

0-
1
2
3
4
5+

6.2

Power

0-
1
2
3
4
5+

I found this deck soon after Ben Brode announced Galactus was on their watchlist. And funnily enough, to me, this deck features at least 3 cards that are arguably more nerf-worthy than the newly released Series 5 card.

Death obviously, is a card that routinely comes back in the nerf discussion, and with Lamentis-1 being a Featured Location recently, and Galactus being a new ally, she naturally was a target of many criticism. Personally, I don’t mind Death in her current form, as both her or Galactus power stems from the same card: Wave.

Arguably the best Season Pass card ever released, although Silver Surfer appears to be tough competition, Wave enables a lot of otherwise impossible play patterns in Marvel Snap. This usually ends up being the star of a deck that was based on another synergy to begin with.
A show stealer in the Destroy archetype, renamed DeathWave to prove how good the duo was (later became BAEro, but we’ll come back to this one), Wave is now included alongside Psylocke and Electro in ramp based archetypes. With no surprise, she once again is the real gem in the deck.

If Electro on turn three might be the strongest thing the deck can do on a large sample size, the deck’s biggest high roll definitely is Wave into Galactus on turn three and four. Indeed, with Galactus coming down on turn four instead of turn five with Electro, the flexibility to build in the now sole lane of the match is incredibly improved:

• We can now think about passing on five to play the Infinaut on turn six.
• We can play a big card on turn five, such as Death or Doctor Octopus and Taskmaster on turn six.
• We can leave reveal priority to the opponent on turn five to land a Shang-Chi on turn six.

These are just the patterns for this precise deck – and don’t get me started if we would include Spider-Man in the build for example.

Just play good cards

Devil Dinosaur Good Cards Pile

Created by den

, updated 5 months ago

2

Pool 3Infinite

6x Collection Level 18-214 (Pool 1)

1x Collection Level 222-474 (Pool 2)

4x Collection Level 486+ (Pool 3)

1x Starter Card

3.5

Cost

0-
1
2
3
4
5+

3.8

Power

0-
1
2
3
4
5+

DasDanke actually messaged me on Discord to share this deck and their Infinite climb, and it perfectly fits in today’s discussion. Indeed, it might actually be the deck representing the metagame the best currently: Good cards, big points, and disruptive potential.

While the Devil Dinosaur shell appears to be the best to welcome the Aero – Leader duo currently terrorizing the ladder, you can find them in many other decks too. The concept is quite simple, if you are ahead on turn five, it’s almost impossible to lose the game.

With Aero, you get to control where the opponent will play, either on a lane you know is yours already, and they can’t take back. Or the opposite, a lane you know is a loss, and the opponent’s points there won’t help them. Leader on six should match the opposing turn, and there you have it, the lead built during the first four turns just stay put, and you win the game.

In the same logic, Maximus is the key card for this deck, giving the opponent cards that we will decide what they can do with, in exchange for a priority that is game defining currently. While this deck runs more versatile cards like Daredevil or Scarlet Witch, you will usually see Lizard in there as well, serving a similar purpose of being in the lead for the important turns.

The creator wrote a thread about the deck, so you can find a ton of information there:

Can Leader be played everywhere?

Control SlaytheSquire

Created by den

, updated 5 months ago

2

Pool 3Infinite

1x Collection Level 1-14

3x Collection Level 18-214 (Pool 1)

3x Collection Level 222-474 (Pool 2)

5x Collection Level 486+ (Pool 3)

3.1

Cost

0-
1
2
3
4
5+

2.4

Power

0-
1
2
3
4
5+

While I don’t share the popular opinion that Leader should be heavily nerfed, and rather believe it is the product of the current metagame pushed by cards like Aero or Death, it is undeniable Leader fits part of the description of a problem card currently that has at least two of the key traits: It is extremely popular and limits the space players have for their turn six.

This is the reason I wanted to highlight this deck in particular, as it shows Leader is apparently playable in a lot of decks, even ones without the usual suspects of how to seize priority early on. Here, the big scoring cards don’t come before turn four, and even have to wait until turn five to reach their full potential. As a result, the creator decided to keep turn five flexible, with Captain Marvel being the go-to card, but still have Leader in case no counter card like Shang-Chi or Killmonger would do the trick.

Coming back to Captain Marvel, I really like the card in a metagame dominated by Aero currently, as she doesn’t really care when she is played. I started using Klaw for a similar purpose and both cards seem to fit the bill in decks that aren’t actively working for priority by turn five.

Closing Words

Depending on how you see it, the current metagame is either a pain or a great opportunity to innovate and take your metagame reading skills to another level. I think we have to go back to early September to have a metagame that was really about a clear mechanic in the game. Then, Sera Negative emerged for the first time and took over until players started using Sandman to try to counter it.

With new cards still able to make an impact as we are far from collecting most of them yet, it is difficult to know if a balance patch is in the air before 2023. With a new card every week (both Darkhawk and Sentry are due for release on December 20), Second Dinner might believe there are enough shakeups in store to not have to pull the nerf trigger.

At the very least, we can see that players manage to reach the Infinite rank with various strategies and decks, so there definitely is room to be creative and find an edge over the competition. The second week of the season is also the most packed in terms of players reaching the highest rank, usually showcasing more decks than the very best ones used during week one.

As usual, feel free to join us to share your takes on the current state of the game or your recent accomplishments. You can so on our community Discord, or tag me on Twitter at @den_CCG.

Good Game Everyone,