Infinite Decks of the Week – It’s a Different Game After Infinite

Looking for a sweet decklist to climb the Ladder? Every week, we scour the community for decks and highlight the interesting ones that reach the Infinite rank on the Marvel Snap ranked Ladder. We also provide commentary on each list, which allows us to discuss how the overall Marvel Snap metagame is developing and how these players took advantage of it.

Overview of the Week

If you have a look at social media, particularly the content creators that are routinely in the higher ranks, you might have noticed that very few of them are enthusiastic about Annihilus. Nobody is saying the card is rubbish, but the consensus around the card is that it is solid alongside The Hood and Sentry but unable to push an archetype of its own.

So far, the best deck (at least, according to data we have available) with Annihilus has been Bounce, where Werewolf By Night and Darkhawk have looked like the real win conditions. Junk did post some good numbers – better than it has all month – with multiple lists above the 0.3 Cube Average threshold, which would place it in Tier 2 in our weekly Tier List. However, the builds for Junk are very diverse, which indicates that the archetype still needs to be refined and find one list the community can agree upon.

This is exactly what I will try to do with this Infinite Decks of the Week piece; a ton of players have punched their ticket to the Infinite rank using Annihilus this week. As such, there are plenty of ideas to look at and be inspired by in order to complete our quest of finding the best list with the new card.

Plus, we didn’t get any balance updates with Thanksgiving, so there is plenty of time to work with the current environment to find a strong deck that could (hopefully) lead to several days of dominating the Ladder.

Ready to check out what everyone is playing? Let’s explore!

Plenty of Flavors of Junk

Infinite Junk

Created by den

, updated 5 months ago

0

1x Collection Level 18-214 (Pool 1)

9x Collection Level 486+ (Pool 3)

2x Series 5 Ultra Rare – Collection Level 486+ (Pool 5)

3.2

Cost

0-
1
2
3
4
5+

3.3

Power

0-
1
2
3
4
5+

There are many more lists that I could have shown considering how many players shared their accomplishment using Junk over the past couple of days. We can already see Annihilus having a big impact on the meta, or at least parts of it like the road to the Infinite rank. It makes sense if you think about it; a significant part of the new card’s strength comes from a clueless opponent who doesn’t realize they are about to be locked out of space.

With that in mind, these various lists are perfect for getting an idea of which cards are often tied with Annihilus and/or represent the best way of setting it up. Sentry and The Hood are regarded as the best two so far, and they usually join Annihilus in other archetypes as a mini Junk package. However, Junk also includes Debrii and a bunch of other cards that can clog the opponent’s locations (Titania, Black Widow, Green Goblin…).

I believe the main reason why Junk feels so good in the lower ranks (but doesn’t receive the same regards in the higher ones) is the ability to adapt on the fly. Indeed, figuring out Destroy is probably a great deck against Junk is not magic, and plenty have already made that connection on several occasions, repeating it ad nauseam when discussing Annihilus. However, the ability to place your cards properly when you are playing another archetype or simply recognizing when you don’t stand a chance will go a long way into reducing your cube losses.

This is probably the biggest difference between trying to compete at the top of the Ladder and hitting Infinite. In the second case, highly synergistic decks tend to do much better because they allow the pilot to follow a clear path, and the opponent doesn’t necessarily pick up all the clues that come with playing such decks. Then, a card like Annihilus can shine in the deck we all imagined it would, and it has helped a ton of players reach their goal.

Annihilus and the Good Cards Archetypes

Infinite Good Cards

Created by den

, updated 5 months ago

0

2x Collection Level 222-474 (Pool 2)

2x Collection Level 486+ (Pool 3)

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

6x Series 5 Ultra Rare – Collection Level 486+ (Pool 5)

3.1

Cost

0-
1
2
3
4
5+

3.8

Power

0-
1
2
3
4
5+

In Marvel Snap, there is a test that rarely fails to determine whether a card is good or not on its own, and that test is slotting it in the “Good Cards” archetype. For what it’s worth, I believe Annihilus passed the test. And even though I don’t think we have found the perfect list, we could at least identify the power of the trio it forms with The Hood and Sentry.

Together, these three cards bring a lot of points and flexibility; they give you a ten, seven, and six power card to play, as well as sending negative thirteen to your opponent. However, compared to a Darkhawk– or Move-based Good Cards deck, each card is much worse on its own, which emphasizes the risk and reward part of this specific package.

So far, these kinds of builds are where Annihilus has done its best work, largely in part thanks to not being expected to do all the work on its own. Another card that has been a great addition is Storm since it opens a cute pattern alongside Sentry. If you Storm on the right lane and then play Sentry anywhere else, it is extremely unlikely that opponent will manage to fill the right lane. Then, you can be certain that Annihilus will send The Void over to them when you play it, making Sentry a twenty power card across two different lanes.

Outside these synergies (which should represent the foundation of Annihilus in the current meta outside of the Junk archetypes), there are not many synergies that have looked dominant so far. But we’re just a couple of days into learning how to use a rather intricate card, so maybe there are a few crazy synergies we have not yet explored.

A Nasty Galactus Set Up

Infinite Galactus

Created by den

, updated 5 months ago

0

1x Collection Level 222-474 (Pool 2)

7x Collection Level 486+ (Pool 3)

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

3x Series 5 Ultra Rare – Collection Level 486+ (Pool 5)

3.7

Cost

0-
1
2
3
4
5+

2.8

Power

0-
1
2
3
4
5+

This is probably my favorite use of Annihilus, although I’ll easily admit it isn’t the best way to use the card. In this one, the new 5-Cost joins both Goblins to serve as a Galactus set up, allowing you to land the Eater of Worlds on a location with negative power. In the previous deck, I discussed how The Hood and Sentry were the perfect allies for Annihilus to join archetypes outside of Junk, and we have the perfect example here.

Ideally, this deck will spread its cards across all three locations, with one used for playing cards with positive power, one for The Hood and The Void, and an empty one for Galactus (if you don’t find Annihilus in time) where you can also play your Goblins. This way, you have different paths towards winning the game:

• You can go for Galactus after Annihilus sent The Hood and The Void to your opponent on Turn 5.
• You can go for Galactus on Turn 5 after Green Goblin or Hobgoblin lowered the opponent’s power on that location.
• You can try to win two locations, one with positive power (Sentry plus Annihilus is already 17) and one with negative power sent to your opponent.

So far, this particular deck has not become the norm for Galactus (it is still mostly used in the more traditional Ramp builds). Still, it is nice to see Annihilus inspire people to test out-of-the-box ideas and try to surprise their opponents for big cube gains.

Closing Words

Although Annihilus hasn’t found its perfect deck according to the players atop the leaderboard, those trying to make it onto the leaderboard sure are finding lots of ways to use the new card. In the introduction, I stated that there is quite a difference in the meta if you look at what is working in the high Infinite ranks compared to the 80s or 90s. I didn’t mean this negatively – the difference in how easily you recognize the cards in your opponent’s deck also leads to a more diverse environment where some decks have a much better chance of performing.

In the case of Annihilus, this is clearly a blessing. It leads to an environment where the card feels like a superstar, appearing in the expected archetype, Junk, and raising its Cube Average to a season best, and also joining other decks to confuse and surprise the opponent.

With no balance changes this week, a new and impactful card was very important for giving a sense of novelty to the game (and some fun to a meta that many have already called dull). I’m glad my search for Infinite decks this week was filled with Annihilus decks, especially since several of them looked pretty exciting to play.

I hope you are having fun with Marvel Snap. As usual, 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.