Infinite Decks of the Week – January 14, 2023: Savage Land Season Week 2

While I am a big fan of the first week of the month on a personal level, the second week is usually where I find the most content for this series, as the amount of players reaching Infinite is starting to be big enough to see a nice diversity. Obviously, I try to pick decks that would be telling a story about the current state of Marvel Snap. Decks featured here are either looking to show a direction the metagame is going towards, emerging decks or niche archetypes that could be worth exploring currently. However, the most popular decks, which we featured in our weekly tier list also are reaching Infinite on a weekly basis. This mixed with the uncommon builds makes up for a great environment to explore when I write this piece.

So, what is on the menu this week?

Zabu keeps exploring the metagame, finding new allies along the way, such as Zero or She-Hulk. Patriot is starting to be used as a secondary win condition, but also keeps its status as a signature card in its evergreen archetype. Lastly, we have a little new trend going on, with decks looking to mix several win conditions in the same build, and just taking the one showing up while playing. With the “Good Cards” archetype going strong currently, decks with as many strong cards as possible as trending. Up until this point, we were going for overall purpose rather than a strong synergy. It seems like decks with several two or three cards synergies are starting to merge together, creating a “Good Synergies” kind of deck, I guess.

Lots of things to analyze as such, so let’s take a look at the Infinite Decks of the Week for the Savage Land Season, the second week.

Zabu keeps pushing new archetypes around the card

There are a lot of talks about how Silver Surfer is still the biggest star of the metagame when it comes to Season Pass cards, and arguably, the December card deserves the praise. However, Zabu isn’t done experimenting, and there are more new builds with the card being share daily, and we have two new ones for you today.

The first one comes from Charlie Whyborne (Whybona in game) who messaged me on Twitter to share their deck and accomplishment. If you have been following me there recently, you know how much work I put into building a good Zabu Control list and unfortunately failed at do so. So seeing a fellow player reach the top of the mountain with their creation on the same archetype fills me with joy.

Zabu Control

Created by den

, updated 5 months ago

3

4x Collection Level 18-214 (Pool 1)

2x Collection Level 222-474 (Pool 2)

5x Collection Level 486+ (Pool 3)

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

3.2

Cost

0-
1
2
3
4
5+

3.9

Power

0-
1
2
3
4
5+

The very interesting cards I want to highlight from this deck are She-Hulk and Wave, as the rest of the build are quite common inclusions alongside Zabu currently. She-Hulk has been gaining popularity in the archetype lately, as the deck clearly lacks enough points to compete when Shang-Chi or Enchantress aren’t able to complete take over a lane. Adding Wave as an extra support for it is also a great idea. Indeed, it opens a very powerful turn six, where we can play three cards, all costing two energies each.

Why is that? Well, because She-Hulk is a 2-Cost if you only played Wave on turn five, and every originally 4-Cost is a 2-Cost with Zabu in play. Furthermore, if we had a Moon Girl played on turn four, it opens some very nice combos with double She-Hulk, and potential great turns to turn the game around. For now, it is about the best idea I have seen to help the archetype in the points department. Also be sure to check out the more detailed deck guide by Whybona to learn how to play the deck:

The second archetype around Zabu I wanted to feature today is a Zabu Zero deck, one without the lack of power problem, as Attuma, Dracula and Typhoid Mary are all solid in that department.

Zabu Zero

Created by den

, updated 5 months ago

12

4x Collection Level 18-214 (Pool 1)

2x Collection Level 222-474 (Pool 2)

5x Collection Level 486+ (Pool 3)

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

3.3

Cost

0-
1
2
3
4
5+

6.2

Power

0-
1
2
3
4
5+

Before any kind of analysis, I want to share my love for the build. While I am a big fan of America Chavez in Zabu decks, and believe the card is great alongside Dracula too, finding enough space for Zero, Attuma and Typhoid Mary is impressive. Because all these cards are quite cheap, it makes Moon Girl a scary prospect, opening turns similar to what the previous deck what doing with She-Hulk. Except this time, there isn’t any turn five set up needed as long as Zabu is in play.

Darkhawk really was the star of week one when it came to developing a ton of points in a Zabu deck. New ways of building around the card, and developing some scary amount of points are on the way, so don’t end the discussion of the best Season Pass card yet.

Want another take at a similar archetype ? wwlos also reached infinite with a similar take during the week!

How many win conditions can fit into the same deck?

If I told you I was playing Patriot, Silver Surfer, Mister Negative, Zabu and Wong. How many decks would you think I am currently playing ? The title gave the answer away, but yet, it is one and only deck, courtesy of ebeltrando who labelled it Incredible!

Incredible Win Condition

Created by den

, updated 5 months ago

12

2x Collection Level 1-14

1x Collection Level 18-214 (Pool 1)

7x Collection Level 486+ (Pool 3)

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

1x Recruit Season

3

Cost

0-
1
2
3
4
5+

1.1

Power

0-
1
2
3
4
5+

To me, this deck is both impressive and terrifying. Impressive because it is difficult to find a way to make so many defining cards together without bricking your hand too often. I mean, if you look at each card, they don’t have the same support as they usually do in their dedicated deck:

• Patriot: Synergizes with Mister Sinister, Brood and White Tiger
• Zabu: Mister Negative and Wong
• Wong: White Tiger, Ironheart, Wolfsbane, Silver Surfer

Mister Negative does feel great, as every card seems to benefit from being reversed, and Silver Surfer has seven targets, not counting the Broodlings. But for the three above, it seems difficult to find them a ton of value, and it might just be the point – aren’t we looking to abuse cards too much?

Maybe this kind of way of building with a lot of very strong, archetype-defining cards makes for a more reliable build in the end, as you are guaranteed to find some kind of abuse one way or another. In the end, when you play a Zabu or Patriot only deck, you are often forced to retreat when the signature card is in the bottom three. With this deck, you should always have a way to contest, and might be able to stay in more games than more dedicated archetypes.

Lastly, even if some cards, like Zabu or Patriot notably, don’t have a ton of cards they will enable, they also serve as recipients for Silver Surfer buff, or to Mister Negative‘s ability. It might be a little offsetting to think of Zabu, Wong or Patriot as “just another deck in my deck”, but as long as it works, who can argue about this different take?

Ebeltrando doesn’t seem to be alone in using this concept, as I could also find Kelfabie’s deck, where Silver Surfer, Mister Negative and the Black Panther package are included. Once again, this is a build where it feels like one might be looking to do too much with one deck but in reality, isn’t the guarantee to find a win condition tantalizing? If you miss on Mister Negative, you can switch to a Wong, Black Panther and Arnim Zola late game. Or, if the 3-Cost cards would show up, Wong can still serve to double Silver Surfer‘s ability on turn six, and contribute to another win condition outside the Black Panther pattern.

So one can wonder, are multi-win condition decks the future of Marvel Snap?

Negative Zola

Created by den

, updated 5 months ago

15

10x Collection Level 486+ (Pool 3)

1x Recruit Season

1x Starter Card

3.8

Cost

0-
1
2
3
4
5+

0.9

Power

0-
1
2
3
4
5+

Closing Words

I am an avid enjoyer of innovative deckbuilding and creative brews. So this season has been a blast for me so far, because of Zabu being a card that has led to so many creations, but also because of the different vision some players have brought to established synergies. However, I thought about those who might not be ready to go crazy on their deckbuilding, and still look for the good old reliable build to get the job done.

In our last inclusion of the week, we have Owi, who used a very basic Patriot list to reach the Infinite rank. No spice, just sound plays that will get the job done as well.

Good Old Patriot

Created by den

, updated 5 months ago

7

1x Collection Level 1-14

3x Collection Level 18-214 (Pool 1)

5x Collection Level 486+ (Pool 3)

1x Recruit Season

2x Starter Card

3.1

Cost

0-
1
2
3
4
5+

3

Power

0-
1
2
3
4
5+

It really feels that different kind of players can perform on the Marvel Snap ladder currently. So whether you are more of the safe type of player rather than the crazy scientist kind, the Infinite rank is within reach and we will gladly feature your accomplishment in this weekly series once you get there!

How to do so? Join us on Discord for everything Marvel Snap or find me on Twitter for a direct contact.

Good Game Everyone