Man-Thing Decks to Try on Day 1 and Strategy Guide: Junk-Thing

As the only Series 4 card we will get in October, Man-Thing has a lot of people wondering if the new 4-Cost is worth 3,000 Collector’s Tokens. Indeed, the norm has become to open Spotlight Caches for Series 5 cards and spend tokens on Series 4 cards. It just feels like a better deal to use Collector’s Tokens when the rarity is lower. As an example, Legion felt like a steal in the past with that system.

But let’s be honest: Man-Thing is no Legion. The card isn’t as versatile, and it requires that you either build a deck dedicated to its strength or wait for a metagame that features a lot of cheap cards. The current environment might do the trick, as Elsa Bloodstone is pushing for low cost cards to be valued at a premium. Plus, plenty of the most popular cards in the game are 2-Costs right now. Mobius M. Mobius, Jeff the Baby Land Shark, Angela, The Collector, Elsa Bloodstone… Man-Thing should find enough targets to reliably become a [4/9], maybe even a [4/11], simply based on what the environment looks like today.

Variants

Man-Thing

Ongoing: 1, 2, and 3-Cost cards here have -2 Power.

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

view card details Start a deck Decks with Man-Thing

Man-Thing Overview

The new card isn’t so simple to assess; depending on whether you focus on the good or the bad, you might see a lot of potential, or a potential bust.

Let’s start with the promising traits of Man-Thing. I believe this card is worth having in your collection for 3,000 tokens. First, there is a ready-made deck for it: Junk. The archetype is already picking up popularity as we speak and establishing itself as a solid deck against the many Elsa Bloodstone builds that have popped up since the start of the season. In that archetype, Man-Thing is sure to be a powerhouse. It synergizes with the Rocks we want to give our opponent, and it simply makes the deck even stronger against the archetypes it is looking to bully.

The second positive trait for Man-Thing is the anticipated power of the card. Most of the time, Man-Thing should range from a [4/7] to a [4/9], as basically every deck in the game packs at least a few 1- and 2-Cost cards, both of which should be played before Turn 4. Then, Man-Thing should always find a lane with a target in it, whether you play it on curve or wait for the end game.

However, even though Man-Thing currently has quite a perfect set-up to shine and look like a powerful card, there are some aspects that worry me a bit.

First, we have to discuss Luke Cage. Yes, we can use the card ourselves, which saves our cards from being affected by our own Man-Thing. But, with Angela, The Collector, Elsa Bloodstone, and Kitty Pryde all routinely falling prey to Shadow King, Luke Cage is already seeing a lot of play as a flexible card in many decks.

Second, we also have to account for Destroy, which has always been a popular synergy in the game. Sure, Armor is available to slot in our deck, but if we have to play both Armor and Luke Cage, we’ve already spent all our flexibility regarding tech cards. This is even more problematic if we have to run Enchantress or Rogue to take care of an opposing Luke Cage as well.

Overall, Man-Thing has a lot of upsides in the right scenario, and it could represent one of the highest scoring 4-Cost cards in the game when it all goes according to plan. On the other hand, there are plenty of little things that could go wrong and make the card feel much worse than we drew it up in our minds.

It will probably come down to what the metagame looks like for Man-Thing. Let’s take a look at some of the decks it might be good in.

Junk is a Perfect Match For Man-Thing

Junk Thing

Created by den

, updated 7 months ago

5

2x Collection Level 18-214 (Pool 1)

1x Collection Level 222-474 (Pool 2)

8x Collection Level 486+ (Pool 3)

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

2.9

Cost

0-
1
2
3
4
5+

3.4

Power

0-
1
2
3
4
5+

It doesn’t necessarily take more than one deck for a card to be considered great. Loki, for example, only has one archetype to show for, and it remains one of the best rated cards in Marvel Snap.

In Junk, Man-Thing has all the allies it could ask for with Debrii, Green Goblin, and Viper all ready to send cards on the opposing side of the board. In this particular deck, the new card can be a Turn 4 play, or kept a secret for the end game (paired with Luke Cage or Shadow King, for example). Here, I would be shocked if Man-Thing wasn’t routinely at least a [4/9], probably a [4/11] when the deck works as intended.

Also, the deck feels like it has the necessary room to run both Luke Cage and another tech card. Currently, Shadow King is the popular one, but we discussed how Armor or a way to cancel an opposing Luke Cage could be valuable to the deck.

There are a few concerns about Junk, obviously, such as the capacity to perform outside favorable metagames. Until now, the deck has never really managed to stay relevant for long, as it can quickly crumble whenever Killmonger is around or the On Reveal cards are tampered with.
Nevertheless, I would be shocked if Junk did not end up as the most powerful deck to play Man-Thing in. If you enjoy the archetype, then you can safely spend your 3,000 tokens.

Can Man-Thing Be a Strong Standalone Card?

Towards the end of September, the Move archetype started to include Crossbones because it was fairly simple to get ahead on a lane with the deck. It showed that a consistent [4/8] is appealing enough for the community to consider running it in one of the top decks in the game.

If we consider Luke Cage to be a solid inclusion in a deck already, and we believe the new card should routinely find a lane with two cards costing three energy or less, we effectively have a [4/9] available in the game. It wouldn’t suit every archetype, but I can imagine a few decks that might be interested in such a deal. Here are a few ideas:

High Evo Thing

Created by den

, updated 7 months ago

2

1x Collection Level 18-214 (Pool 1)

2x 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)

4x Starter Card

2.9

Cost

0-
1
2
3
4
5+

4

Power

0-
1
2
3
4
5+

Alongside High Evolutionary, Man-Thing is perfect for helping to reduce the cost of Abomination; Turn 4 should be far enough in the game for the opponent to have played several low cost cards. Plus, since it was changed, The Thing always felt a little disappointing. We might have found the perfect replacement.

Toxic Thing

Created by den

, updated 7 months ago

2

2x Collection Level 1-14

1x Collection Level 222-474 (Pool 2)

6x Collection Level 486+ (Pool 3)

3x Series 4 Rare – Collection Level 486+ (Pool 4)

3.3

Cost

0-
1
2
3
4
5+

3.3

Power

0-
1
2
3
4
5+

The toxic archetype already features a few cards Man-Thing should synergize well with. There’s Luke Cage, of course, but also Zabu to reduce its cost. Invisible Woman can be used for the surprise effect since it hides the fact that the opponent should not play cheap cards on her location.

This one is a little more far-fetched as an idea, obviously, and it does not focus on abusing Man-Thing in any way. However, it shows how the card potentially has a range of possibilities when it comes to being included in different archetypes.

Thanos Thing

Created by den

, updated 7 months ago

3

1x Collection Level 1-14

2x Collection Level 18-214 (Pool 1)

1x Collection Level 222-474 (Pool 2)

2x Collection Level 486+ (Pool 3)

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

4x Series 5 Ultra Rare – Collection Level 486+ (Pool 5)

1x Recruit Season

4

Cost

0-
1
2
3
4
5+

4.6

Power

0-
1
2
3
4
5+

Thanos‘s archetypes are always a good metric to know if a card is good on its own because they typically look for standalone strong cards. In this one, Man-Thing obviously clashes with the Infinity Stones, but we have Luke Cage to help with that. Plus, the Move cards can get out of the way if we want to play Man-Thing on their location.

Man-Thing provides yet another good ability to copy with Iron Lad, and it is also a great set-up for Professor X on the following turn. Indeed, unless the opponent has a big card to play on that lane, it is very unlikely that they will commit cheap resources there, which makes Charles Xavier much more likely to secure the lane in our favor.

Closing Words

I don’t expect Man-Thing to be close to an Alioth, Mobius M. Mobius, or the two recent Season Pass cards. However, I don’t see it ending up like Ravonna Renslayer, which cannot exist because of a direct counter card being a staple in every deck.

Luke Cage will probably play a dirty trick on how popular Man-Thing will end up being since it will limit how much we can abuse the new card. It shouldn’t completely shut it down, though, as we have ways to mitigate a Luke Cage, and both Rogue and Enchantress aren’t so difficult to play in the decks that would want Man-Thing.

The big question for Man-Thing is whether it will be able to earn a spot in a deck outside of Junk, which seems necessary in order to consider it an overall solid card. Otherwise, Man-Thing should at least be a very good inclusion in that archetype, which currently makes a lot of sense to run because of how prevalent Elsa Bloodstone is. If you think that is enough of a reason to spend 3,000 Collector’s Tokens, then I wish you a lot of fun with Man-Thing! I know I’m eager to see how much potential the card really has, so I will definitely go after it.

Have any other ideas with Man-Thing? Let me know in the comments below, or find me on the Marvel Snap Zone community Discord. You can also follow my Twitter page where I share decks and biased opinions about the game.

Good Game Everyone.