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Most of the time, a deck that is considered top tier in Conquest or post-Infinite tends to also be great on the way to the Infinite rank. Shuri, Loki, DoomWave, and even Move Legion have proven their worth in all kinds of environments, cementing their position as the top archetypes in Marvel Snap. Alioth has helped Galactus tremendously, which is what most people predicted when the card was first announced. Currently, most players will Retreat whenever the Eater of Worlds resolves and leaves only one location to contest. In that scenario, unless you have both priority and a way to mitigate Alioth‘s ability (like Cosmo, Armor, or Professor X), Retreating is the recommended route for many players.
This strategy has not picked up too much momentum in the highest competitive spheres so far. Veteran players seem to be able to deal with Galactus pretty well, although both Galactus decks and Electro Ramp decks have progressed significantly since Alioth joined the game. In the ranks leading up to Infinite, on the other hand, these two decks have been putting on a clinic so far. They’re even drawing frustrated comments on social media from players who can’t seem to find a way to derail that synergy.
Looking at the rather simple game plan of both decks, it only makes sense to see a disparity in how it performs depending on where it’s played. Indeed, if a seasoned player has more experience and the time to test new decks in order to adapt to a card like Alioth, a more casual gamer might need more time to get to the same conclusion. The extra time taken to find play patterns within their deck (or a new archetype to pick up) in order to go up against Alioth and Galactus might become disheartening.
Today, let’s explore the various emerging decks using Alioth. We’ll highlight their play patterns and look at why those decks are doing so well in the ranks leading up to Infinite.
Alioth and Galactus Make Quite a Pair!
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Electro Ramp has progressed a ton with Alioth. The new card is pushing both the traditional build with Sandman, Doctor Doom, and Black Panther and the more Galactus-oriented list like the one above. So far, both decks have gone from barely played to the top 10 for popularity. It could be for the simple fact that Alioth is new and people are testing the waters with those decks, but, considering both decks are also on the rise for Cube Averages, it seems like Alioth is a great addition to either of them.
In those decks, the goal is very simple (which is likely the source of early frustration around Alioth for many players). Land Galactus and your opponent will likely concede, especially because they expect Alioth to cancel anything they would try. This strategy is proving pretty effective to climb to Infinite, as decks with a simple game plan tend to work well and allow the pilot to make a difference through smart Snaps and Retreats.
In the sea of very proactive decks below the Infinite rank, such as Shuri, Hela Tribunal, and Loki, these archetypes have picked up a bit of momentum. Don’t get too excited, though, as the OTA could shake the metagame and help other decks with more options to disrupt Galactus rise.
Junk Loves a Solid Option to Dominate One Lane
Technically, this one should go to Loki, as that is the deck Mister Bump crossed the finish line with. But this is an Infinite Decks of the Week piece centered around Alioth, and the Junk deck did most of the work. Plus, it allows me to show a pretty cool strategy around Alioth – one that will be a nightmare for Galactus (so pay attention if you are having a problem with those decks).
The goal here is similar to what Galactus tries to do, except there is a completely different set up. You still want to limit the game to one lane, but this time you are not destroying anything. Instead, you will try to lock a lane you are ahead on, which then allows you to focus solely on winning the second one. Once in that scenario, as long as you are within five power, Alioth should tip the scales in your favor and secure the win.
While this archetype is much more discreet than Galactus (and more difficult to pilot), I would say it is more suited to the meta if you are facing a lot of Galactus opponents. Indeed, Junk is notorious for being one of the best synergies that makes Galactus almost impossible to play. The deck has other problems to solve, such as Shuri developing a lot of points with just a few cards, or Destroy making quick work of the cards you would send to the opponent’s side of the board.
Consider this different take on Alioth as a way to play the card while disrupting the most popular deck that includes it. Just remember that it likely will never shine as bright as the Galactus deck.
Plenty of Annoying Cards Exist to Counter Galactus
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Let’s continue with the idea of stopping Galactus to limit how effective Alioth can be, but with a completely different archetype: Move.
Cards like Spider-Man, Polaris, Aero, and Silk make it difficult to plan where your points will be, and they can be very annoying for Galactus players. In this deck, Mark M took it one step further by including pure counters to a Galactus deck – Cosmo and Jean Grey – which are probably two of the most “you will not Galactus me” cards in Marvel Snap.
In this deck, the goal is to remain as flexible as possible across all three locations by leveraging the Move synergy and Doctor Doom, while also limiting what the opponent can do. It creates a weird mix at first; one might wonder where the points are in the deck, as it seems unlikely for any lane to reliably reach 20 power. However, the current metagame revolves around specific synergies that create a ton of points. Shuri, Hela Tribunal, Galactus… Only Loki seems flexible enough to get out of the Echo, Cosmo, Jean Grey trio without much harm.
With that in mind, even if it means Retreating often against Loki, you should be able to raise the stakes consistently against the other popular archetypes. That is more than enough to guarantee a positive Cube Average.
InSheNaut Beats Up Galactus Pretty Well
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If you aren’t much of a deck builder and you feel like Galactus is still way too popular after the OTA, InSheNaut is a deck you might want to pick up and learn. Indeed, with Cosmo and Leech, this deck can find ways to disrupt an opponent who is relying on powerful On Reveal abilities pretty well. And as an added bonus, you have several cards that are great against Alioth with Sunspot, Evolved Cyclops, and Evolved Misty Knight. Each of those cards allow to just skip a turn and still get use out of your energy.
With that in mind, here is a setup that should do great against a Galactus deck:
- Have a lane with Sunspot plus Evolved Misty Knight or Evolved Cyclops. You want the ability to gain points without playing into Alioth, or simply gain it too many points for the opponent to play Galactus there.
- Have a second lane with Cosmo to prevent Galactus from being played here. You can also keep Cosmo for Turn 4 or Turn 5 if you want to try sniping Galactus with priority.
- On Turn 4, leave at least one energy so She-Hulk is playable on the next turn. This way, you have a 9-Power card that you can play to counter Galactus, if necessary.
If your opponent still gets to play Galactus, you have a final shot with Armor – as long as you have priority. For example, if you passed the previous turn, you could play Armor plus She-Hulk and invest the remaining energy in your Sunspot and Evolved cards.
With the OTA, we don’t necessarily know what the metagame will look like – especially if Loki loses a lot of popularity as a result of the changes. What we do know is that Alioth most likely won’t be impacted by any of the changes, and neither will Galactus. Finding a reliable archetype that was also left untouched, one that has various possibilities to annoy what will probably be the next most popular deck, can be reassuring for a lot of players.
Just don’t count on Magik too much if you fear their Galactus will destroy Limbo.
Closing Words
Although I had to write this piece before the OTA went live for personal reasons, I believe Alioth and Galactus will remain an impactful duo for the rest of the week (if not longer). With that in mind, and considering how much Electro Ramp and Galactus decks have progressed in the first few days after Alioth released, this looked like the perfect theme for the series this week.
We can already see that Galactus‘s performance is very different between the Ladder and Conquest. In the latter, possessing the knowledge that your opponent has Galactus immediately impacts the match and the way you play. Once more players recognize that deck on the Ladder, we might see Galactus do a little worse than it is right now. Plus, the community seems to have quickly identified which decks feel strong and have a good shot against Galactus, either through their natural game plan or with tech cards.
Overall, I’d say Galactus is the big winner of Alioth joining Marvel Snap. Still, I think Alioth is the important card in the duo, and it can definitely be explored outside just a ramp / Galactus kind of deck. I’d like to see more decks like the Junk build we covered today.
I’d love to see what everyone thinks about Alioth, especially if someone found other ways to utilize the card. To reach out, 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.
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