Infinite Decks of the Week – Spider-Versus Week 2: With Conquest, the Ladder Becomes More Diverse

This week in Marvel Snap was not really about the ladder. With Conquest released on Tuesday, most of the community was buzzing about the new mode. Even those who were still looking to climb to the Infinite rank seem to have taken a break to test Conquest, before getting back on the grind. With such a big distraction on the side, those who decided to stick to ladder play seem to have been rewarded, as several exotic archetypes made it to the highest rank this week. As a result, we have a pretty spicy menu this week, with three niche archetypes and some news about Galactus after its change on Tuesday.

Most of the time, these kinds of archetypes will rise later in the month. To see decks like Mister Negative and Move make it to Infinite in the first half of the season shows how the ladder has opened up a bit to reward creativity once again. Obviously, the ladder bug might have played a role in seeing today’s builds punching their tickets to the highest rank; nevertheless, even if you started in the 80s instead of the usual 70s, you still have to get the wins. Many of the players featured this week seem to be visiting the Infinite rank for the first time, which largely reduces the impact of the bug on their climb.

I hope you like some heat, because it’s going to be spicy!

Negative Destroys the Ladder!

Negative Destroy

Created by den

, updated 10 months ago

5

2x Collection Level 18-214 (Pool 1)

1x Collection Level 222-474 (Pool 2)

7x Collection Level 486+ (Pool 3)

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

1x Starter Card

3.2

Cost

0-
1
2
3
4
5+

1.2

Power

0-
1
2
3
4
5+

Using a list from Jeff Hoogland, LeZoahve made the entire climb to Infinite. This is another testimony to the Destroy synergy being underrated lately; the complete lack of counter cards lets it post solid results across the board. Then, after Beast was nerfed (which hurt Deadpool‘s ability to grow to ridiculous sizes), Deadpool might have another way to be abused. If we manage to hit Arnim Zola or Knull with Mister Negative, we suddenly clear a ton of energy we can use to grow Deadpool instead.

This is probably what I like the most about this deck, although I would have loved to see a Shang-Chi in there to make it perfect – although I admit I wouldn’t know what to remove. There are no cards that are bad to hit with Mister Negative, but the deck does not feel like it is built around or for Mister Negative.

It has been a very long time since Mister Negative was able to serve anything else than its own interest, usually resulting in decks with the same eight or nine cards as a result. In this one, we managed to get some pure destroy oriented cards with Carnage, Killmonger, and Venom. Those three make the potential of the deck much higher, as they will directly support Deadpool and Knull and give the deck a primary game plan. Then, if we get Mister Negative early enough, we can open a second play pattern that relies on late game combos.

Even Magik, which is usually a good inclusion in Mister Negative decks already, finds utility as the card opens the ability to play Knull on Turn 6 and Arnim Zola it on Turn 7. I truly love this deck!

Someone Made Shanna Work!

Infinite Shanna

Created by den

, updated 10 months ago

1

1x Collection Level 1-14

2x 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)

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

1x Recruit Season

2.8

Cost

0-
1
2
3
4
5+

4.7

Power

0-
1
2
3
4
5+

Shanna has been gathering dust in everyone’s collection, even back when the card was a [4/2]. Upon the OTA that saw the card buffed to a [4/4], many of us thought the card suddenly looked pretty hot and were eager to build around Shanna. Unfortunately, the card still didn’t make the cut, partly because Killmonger is one hell of a good card in Marvel Snap. To see someone get to Infinite with Shanna is already a feat in itself, but to have the guts to do it with an off-meta archetype is pretty incredible.

The Kazoocula archetype isn’t new; it’s been around for quite some time, and it was actually considered a solid deck at one point. However, I think it’s been at least two months, if not more, since I saw the deck appear in large data sample sizes or even shared on social media.

I don’t know how good the archetype is in the current environment, but I believe Armor and Cosmo are still very solid disruption cards. If we pair them with Dracula‘s insane potential (considering the card should routinely be a 15 or 20 power card), I can easily imagine how this deck would win two lanes on game’s end.

This might be something to try again. Proving grounds, here I come!

Was Galactus Nerfed in the Last Patch?

Infinite Galactus

Created by den

, updated 10 months ago

0

3x Collection Level 18-214 (Pool 1)

1x Collection Level 222-474 (Pool 2)

6x Collection Level 486+ (Pool 3)

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

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

3.6

Cost

0-
1
2
3
4
5+

2.9

Power

0-
1
2
3
4
5+

Every time a card is changed and we can’t see how it is clearly an improvement, we are quick to call it a nerf. Myself included, I thought Galactus‘s change would hurt the card much more than it really did. In reality, it might have not hurt the card at all, just change the way we use it.

As we can see with MegaBiscuit (love the name, by the way), they shared what was basically both Galactus builds before its change. The Pre Nerf one is the one that was seen as a problem and qualified as too limiting to play against and generally unfun. The Post Nerf one includes Iron Fist, a nice little utility card to use with Shuri (Iron Fist plus Shuri on Turn 5 lets you Galactus on the empty lane and buffs the card to 14 power). Otherwise, this looks like a pretty standard build one could have played before the latest patch.

Sure, the Doctor Octopus and Spider-Man deck had much better results overall, so defaulting to what was considered the weaker version of the archetype could be considered a nerf in itself. Nevertheless, it does not seem like those who wished Galactus would disappear from Marvel Snap will see their wish granted.

Move Finally Starts Moving!

Infinite Move

Created by den

, updated 10 months ago

2

3x Collection Level 18-214 (Pool 1)

3x Collection Level 222-474 (Pool 2)

4x Collection Level 486+ (Pool 3)

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

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

2.9

Cost

0-
1
2
3
4
5+

4.2

Power

0-
1
2
3
4
5+

With three cards total added to the archetype this month (and even though one of those is still to come), it would have been a shame if Move had to wait until Spider-Man 2099 released to start posting results. We are not talking about a tournament win yet, but reaching Infinite is already a big step towards making an archetype popular. Also, just like TinTinCCG previously, I have to pay respects to the innovation on their very first climb to Infinite.

Now, this isn’t a full on Move deck. We can only see five cards (Iron Fist, Silk, Miles Morales, Vulture, and Ghost-Spider) from the Move arsenal. Still, this is already a step in the right direction as finding flexible packages of cards will lead to building around them as a core in the future.

In this deck, it seems like Move was mixed with some control elements, looking to derail the opponent’s development. As such, the deck appears to focus on the Move synergy early on to create points and then transfer to a disruptive game plan in the later turns.

I have to admit, this is a combination I have not seen before. When we think about it, Silk and Vulture can create solid points by Turn 4, which gives us priority to land a Cosmo or Spider-Man on Turn 5 before we seal the deal with Shang-Chi or Spider-Woman.

Doctor Octopus was used in Move decks in the past, especially with Heimdall, as you could move the ten power away if the lane wasn’t winnable. In this deck, the card just looks to be another disruptive tool.

Closing Words

I have never considered the ladder to be a good representation of one person’s skill. Bots, volatile matchmaking, time commitment, and an increasingly friendly and easy system have spoiled the achievement of ranking up once you’ve done it a few times already. However, with Conquest releasing, it seems like all those players who kept bragging about reaching rank 300 while saying it means nothing at the same time have a different challenge to take on.

It might only be for this week, but this new situation feels much healthier when it comes to playing on the ladder. There is more diversity and more opportunities to climb for the creative players, which I consider to be a big plus.

Obviously, I just shared four hand-picked decks here, which doesn’t mean you aren’t going to face Evolved Lockjaw and other dominant decks in your queue. Nevertheless, these are decks I would usually find much later in the season. This makes me very excited to see what the second part of the Spider-Versus season has in store if the decks I found in week two are already this creative.

Tune in for our next installment of this series to find out! Until then, you can find me on the Marvel Snap Zone community Discord, or follow my Twitter page where I share decks and biased opinions about the game.

Good Game Everyone.