Conquest is a bit of a weird place right after the beginning of a season. On the one hand, we have players who want to test some original ideas without the risk of losing their rank on the Ladder. Those players will typically populate the Proving Grounds, which can make the lower league a bit of a mess with any kind of deck appearing at random whenever you queue into a match.

If you go a little higher, the Silver and Gold leagues feature less of those innovative brews, and the more reliable archetypes become much more popular. That doesn’t mean they are necessarily stronger, but when the stakes are higher most players will go towards a deck they know they can trust over something they are still polishing.

In this first Tier List of “Big In Japan”, let’s take a look at the deck that managed to gain the trust of the community (and posted solid results as well). As you can probably guess, there will be a lot of familiar faces on this list; we are just days after the start of the season, so brand new synergies might need a bit more time to develop. Also, as most of the action is typically happening on the Ladder in the first week, Conquest will have much fewer games played compared to the rest of the season. As such, let’s consider this week a first glance into the probable future metagame, as well as a representation of which decks are already good enough to perform in a chaotic environment.

There is actually a new deck in the “creative brews” category that took the crown this week. The Move synergy is doing great currently, pushed by the new Spider-Man and Kraven finally feeling like a powerhouse. Behind it are a sea of solid archetypes that players can rely on until they find their next archetype of choice. We’ll close the ranking with many Silver Surfer decks, as the card is seeing a lot of experimentation with two new cards introduced on Tuesday.

A bit of new, a large chunk of solid old with a couple of twists, and a completely reworked archetype. It might just be week one, but there is a lot to discuss in Conquest this week!

Marvel Snap Conquest Meta Tier List

Tier Explanation

Tier 1

Move Legion

Move Legion

Created by den

, updated 9 months ago

7

4x Collection Level 18-214 (Pool 1)

1x Collection Level 222-474 (Pool 2)

3x Collection Level 486+ (Pool 3)

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

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

2.7

Cost

0-
1
2
3
4
5+

3.4

Power

0-
1
2
3
4
5+

Rank Justification:
The new kid on the block made quite an impression in its first week of play! This comes after falling short in its dedicated season back in June, then again in July when The Phoenix Force was deemed good enough to give Move another run. In both seasons, the numbers have not followed the hype around Move.

It is still early to say if this is one is here to stay, but the numbers are extremely promising. Right now, this Good Cards update using a Move package instead of Darkhawk is posting around a 62% win rate in Conquest across all leagues. It might be a case of the deck being new, which is surprising for the opponent. Or this new Spider-Man could have been the missing ingredient for the Move synergy (although the Good Cards trio of Kitty Pryde, Angela, and Shang-Chi still does a lot of heavy lifting for the deck).

How to Play:
Mostly looking to build points proactively, Move Legion relies on Kraven and Angela to anchor your lanes. Either card is able to grow to eight, maybe even ten, power over the course of a match.

Then, with one lane contested via points, the second lane can be challenged through three different means:

• You can easily get points on a locked or unplayable location with Silk, Captain Marvel, and Jeff the Baby Land Shark.
• You can play a disruptive game with Legion, Spider-Man, and Shang-Chi.
• You can win a second lane on points with Silk, Legion, and a 1-Cost Miles Morales all representing good points for their costs.

Overall, it feels like once this deck is in the lead, its flexibility allows the pilot to dictate how the rest of the game will go. It does require some anticipation skills, but it has the ability to reach any location, develop points, and play counters, which gives you all the tools to turn an early lead into a successful Snap.

Potential Additions:
Hulkbuster is the card I see routinely changed in this archetype, with various possible replacements such as Polaris, Nightcrawler, or a counter card. The archetype is new, so feel free to make it your own. Legion can also become Aero for a heavier focus on the Move package and some control on Turn 6.

Sera Control

Sera Control

Created by den

, updated 9 months ago

0

4x Collection Level 18-214 (Pool 1)

2x Collection Level 222-474 (Pool 2)

3x Collection Level 486+ (Pool 3)

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

1x Starter Card

2.6

Cost

0-
1
2
3
4
5+

2.3

Power

0-
1
2
3
4
5+

Rank Justification:
As an evergreen archetype that always looks solid whenever the metagame is a bit all over the place, Sera Control once again resurfaced as everyone’s favorite comfort pick.

As usual with this archetype, there isn’t much to say about its solid performance (around 61% win rate overall in Conquest). The list is still the same, although different packages keep being experimented around. Nevertheless, it feels like conceding priority in a metagame where tech and flexible cards are dominating is really what makes Sera Control special. Indeed, this is one of the few builds that can almost always ignore Shang-Chi, which is kind of a luxury when you think about how the card exists in almost every archetype in Marvel Snap.

The other real upside in the current environment is the fact that running counter cards lowers a deck’s points potential, and those cards are in every deck. As such, Sera Control doesn’t need to get the perfect hand in order to compete on points with most of its opponents – something that was not possible during the Bounce and Lockjaw metagame. Angela, Bishop, and Hit Monkey are all enough to challenge a lane with the help of Sentinel or Mysterio.

For a deck that relies mostly on countering the opponent’s game plan with Shang-Chi, Killmonger, and Rogue, being able to just play proactively is extremely valuable.

How to Play:
This archetype relies on giving up priority going into the last turn, so it can punish the opponent with reactive cards like Shang-Chi and Killmonger. Ever since Hit Monkey joined the deck, it also unlocked a proactive pattern on Turn 6 with the monkey assassin able to challenge a lane with points rather than looking to counter what the opponent did.

Sera is at the core of this strategy, as she allows reducing the cost of cards in your hand, strengthening your Turn 6 potential and making it worth to purposefully give the lead to your opponent. Note that losing priority doesn’t mean losing the game – you can be in the lead on a location and close on the other two. Since Sera only has four power, your opponent will typically have a stronger Turn 5 than you do and take back priority. This way, you don’t need to have an incredible Turn 6 or perfectly guess our opponent’s plays to win every game. Most of this deck’s strength relies on its ability to be able to stay as close as possible while not having priority, so your reactive cards are at their best.

While the basic ideology of Sera Control remains the same from one build to another, this is one of the most flexible archetypes in Marvel Snap. As such, some builds will look to focus on reacting to the opponent, while others might have more of a proactive development in mind by answering one lane and developing points on another. Make sure to understand the goal of your build and how your deck aims to win over two lanes by game’s end.

Potential Additions:
There is plenty of experimentation going around with this deck. For example, Daken has brought more of a Destroy package:

Sera Destroy Control

Created by den

, updated 9 months ago

0

5x Collection Level 18-214 (Pool 1)

2x Collection Level 222-474 (Pool 2)

3x Collection Level 486+ (Pool 3)

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

2.6

Cost

0-
1
2
3
4
5+

2.3

Power

0-
1
2
3
4
5+

Shuri Sauron

Shuri Sauron

Created by den

, updated 9 months ago

0

3x Collection Level 18-214 (Pool 1)

3x Collection Level 222-474 (Pool 2)

6x Collection Level 486+ (Pool 3)

3.1

Cost

0-
1
2
3
4
5+

4.8

Power

0-
1
2
3
4
5+

Rank Justification:
One of the few purely proactive archetypes to post solid numbers, Shuri Sauron benefits a lot from putting up more points than most while running Armor and Vision to protect from Shang-Chi.

As usual, the deck needs to accept that it has to Snap quite early in the match, otherwise the opponent will have too much information to work with. For example, if you are waiting to reveal your Sauron and Shuri before raising the stakes, the deck might not perform as well. However, even without one of its signature cards, Shuri Sauron still plays the cards with the highest numbers written on them. With that in mind, a simple curve of high power cards supported by Sauron (Zero → Lizard → Sauron → Typhoid Mary → Vision → Red Skull + Ebony Maw) could very well surprise an opponent who thought they were safe as Shuri was not around.

We’ll have to see how Shuri Sauron‘s performance develops in the future, but it seems to be a great comfort pick for people who don’t enjoy the current environment that is based on countering and being flexible.

How to Play:
Shuri Sauron is based around the idea of cancelling negative Ongoing abilities with Sauron and abusing Shuri to create a big amount of points. In that regard, the deck is very rigid in the mid game since Turns 3, 4, and 5 are almost always the same: Sauron → Shuri → any card worth doubling the power. Often times, Turn 2 will also be dedicated to Armor as a way to prevent an opposing Shang-Chi from ruining your plans. Speaking of Shang-Chi, Vision is another way to play around it, as hitting a moving target isn’t so simple.

This leaves only Turn 1 and Turn 6 to be truly flexible, with Nebula ideally taking up the 1-Cost slot and Taskmaster usually being the default Turn 6 play alongside Ebony Maw.

If this very straightforward approach can lead to a ton of points on two lanes, it also often doesn’t equate to a lot of cubes. Indeed, unless you are Snapping aggressively, the opponent can see the points coming and will rarely stay in the game once you show Shuri (and they can’t handle it). This creates two important factors to take into consideration when playing Shuri Sauron:

• You have to accept Snaps early in the game, especially when Sauron and Shuri show up.
• You need to find lines of play even when you don’t have the best play pattern with the deck, especially when the opponent does not Snap. Even without Shuri, the deck can develop a solid amount of points, and Enchantress is able to steal a few wins.

The last important point to cover is positioning, especially when you don’t draw into Sauron or Shuri. Indeed, while both cards will dictate a lot of your strategies, there are other pairings to know about:

• Sunspot and Armor are nice against Killmonger, and you could even follow it up with Ebony Maw if you don’t expect Sauron to show up.
• Enchantress can cancel the abilities of Lizard, Typhoid Mary, and Red Skull.
• Taskmaster copying an unprotected card is better to play with priority. On the contrary, if the target can’t be destroyed, playing without priority protects Taskmaster. Position your cards in order to gain or lose priority depending on the situation.

Potential Additions:
Nebula and Sunspot are battling for the same spot. If you opt for Sunspot, She-Hulk can replace Vision.

Tier 2

Thanos Death

Thanos Death

Created by den

, updated 9 months ago

0

5x Collection Level 18-214 (Pool 1)

3x Collection Level 222-474 (Pool 2)

2x Collection Level 486+ (Pool 3)

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

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

3.4

Cost

0-
1
2
3
4
5+

3.7

Power

0-
1
2
3
4
5+

Rank Justification:
After Thanos Control dominated most of the past season, the Death variation started picking up some momentum towards the end of the season, and it seems to have kept the ball rolling since then. Compared to the more traditional Destroy builds, Thanos Death appears to do slightly better. This is probably due to the Infinity Stones providing a much easier way to discount Death, creating a more explosive Turn 6 alongside Thanos or Knull.

While the deck is not hiding its intention, the fact that it does not clearly tell the opponent where the majority of its points will be early on seems to help a lot. Indeed, it is very easy to manipulate the Infinity Stones for priority and set up a situation for the late game cards to be as impactful as possible. In particular, the ability to play with priority by taking it with the Stones early to dodge a Cosmo or Armor, or without through the destruction of your own cards to land Shang-Chi or protect Knull and Death, makes the deck more flexible than both Thanos Control and Pure Destroy.

Last, it feels pretty clear that Killmonger and Shang-Chi are a great pair to have in any deck right now – especially when one of the two synergizes with your own deck.

How to Play:
Thanos Death is a proactive build looking to play with priority in order to limit the impact of the opponent’s counter cards. Early in the match, the deck will use the Infinity Stones to gain priority and therefore ensure the On Reveal effects can safely be used. Later in the match, once you start working towards contesting two locations, the deck will destroy those same Stones to set up a cheap Death, a big Knull, or a Shang-Chi. If you know your opponent is not running any potential counters, the deck is still able to play like a basic Destroy deck. It can aggressively grow Wolverine and use the Time Stone to get both Thanos and Knull on board.

This flexibility in deciding who will reveal first is key for Thanos Death to perform in an environment where the Destroy synergy has been struggling, as several of its counter cards are roaming Marvel Snap.

Considering Knull is able to win a lane almost on its own (or, at least, should be played with that intent), Thanos Death does not necessarily need to develop a massive amount of points to challenge two lanes. Death plus a Winter Soldier, a Wolverine, or an eight power Carnage could be enough to secure the win.

Potential Additions:
Compared to Pure Destroy, this deck cannot run the early timing cards like Deadpool as effectively. Galactus has been spotted in a few lists, and Nimrod can be cheated out early with the Time Stone.

Pure Evolutionary

High Evolutionary

Created by den

, updated 9 months ago

0

1x Collection Level 18-214 (Pool 1)

1x Collection Level 222-474 (Pool 2)

4x Collection Level 486+ (Pool 3)

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

5x Starter Card

3.1

Cost

0-
1
2
3
4
5+

4.6

Power

0-
1
2
3
4
5+

Rank Justification:
With Evolved The Thing nerfed to feel effective only when Abomination is in the deck, Pure Evolutionary logically remained the default High Evolutionary deck going into the new season. This new month seems to be starting well for the deck, as the surrounding chaos has led few players running Luke Cage, the archetype’s nemesis. Destroy can be a bit of a problem, as they won’t keep their afflicted cards on the board most of the time, but Armor can help with that problem. Otherwise, it feels like High Evolutionary has slowly become one good Marvel Snap card among others. It posts solid numbers, around a 56% win rate, but it’s not the flashy, top-of-its-class deck that it was back in June.

Overall, apart from Luke Cage making an unexpected comeback in the metagame, High Evolutionary should remain a decent pick for the foreseeable future – although it is difficult to imagine the deck evolving since no new cards appear to make sense in the deck. Only the change of its tech cards can impact its performance.

How to Play:
High Evolutionary seems to push a proactive play style and tries to play cards while keeping unspent energy in the process. Ideally, the deck will be able to build a very strong lane in the first few turns on the backs of Sunspot and Evolved Misty Knight, building its points total early on. Then, the deck can become more disruptive, looking to counter what the opponent is doing, or anticipate a future a counter play from their part.

Due to its off-curve play style that typically looks to keep one unspent energy to trigger Evolved Misty Knight, Evolved Cyclops, and Evolved Hulk, the deck can be a bit awkward at first. Keep in mind that each point of unspent energy can be worth up to six total points if all your cards trigger their abilities. Here is a normal play pattern with the deck:

• Pass on Turn 1.
• Sunspot on Turn 2.
• Evolved Misty Knight or a 2-Cost on Turn 3.
• Evolved Cyclops on Turn 4.

The last turns of the game are much more flexible, as Abomination and She-Hulk can push your play patterns in various directions. These two will impact your timing for Hazmat and the amount of energy you are looking to keep unused.

Although this looks suboptimal for many decks, the various synergies in the deck will make such out of sync play patterns worth it in the end. Note that this kind of pattern is only worth going for if you have several cards that gain something from unspent energy.

Potential Additions:
Armor and Rogue are the tech cards, and they’re included to answer Luke Cage and Destroy (i.e. the deck’s two biggest problems). If you find a card more suited to the current metagame, you can work around these two slots.

Discard Dracula

Discard Dracula

Created by den

, updated 9 months ago

0

4x Collection Level 18-214 (Pool 1)

2x Collection Level 222-474 (Pool 2)

3x Collection Level 486+ (Pool 3)

2x 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+

3.7

Power

0-
1
2
3
4
5+

Rank Justification:
Daken joining the deck felt like it pushed Discard Dracula to see much more play, and it’s posted some better numbers as well. The fact that Dracula dodges Shang-Chi is also a great upside to the deck. Otherwise, Discard Dracula hasn’t changed much; it still features the same play patterns and core cards. The only difference is an eight power Daken has joined the archetype, as there is very little chance you don’t discard the Muramasa Shard during the game if you played Daken on Turn 3.

The biggest change for this deck is Good Cards shifting to the Move package, as it means less available slots for standalone strong cards, such as Spider-Ham and Cosmo. Enchantress is a little less popular, too, because Shang-Chi is often the preferred tech with one slot available, which makes Morbius stronger. Without these three around to disrupt the deck’s key synergies, Discard Dracula is able to roam free and challenge most of the other decks that invested in flexibility rather than sheer amount of points.

How to Play:
The Discard archetype relies on growing Morbius and Dracula out of proportion through the Discarding your hand. Most of the time, either of these two cards are able to challenge the lane they are played into on their own. Morbius can fall to Enchantress, which pushes you to support the card much more or not consider that lane a surefire win. On the other end, Dracula isn’t weak to any card in the metagame – its ability isn’t Ongoing, and it protects itself from Shang-Chi. As such, whenever you have Apocalypse in hand and start discarding it, you can almost guarantee Dracula will be able to take over its location.

Daken could be considered the third anchor in the deck at eight power. Combined with Hellcow or MODOK, the location can quickly force the opponent to invest several cards to contest it.

Last, you have two turns to discard as much as possible and develop points the old-fashioned way. Most discard oriented cards have solid power for their cost, so you can build a decent total through playing several of them in the same lane.

Discard’s biggest strength is also its most common weakness: it is pretty simple to understand. The hand manipulation part, as well as maximizing your odds of hitting the right card, are not such easy feats when you pick up the deck. However, the deck’s strongest points contributors are well known at this point. As such, it can often be difficult to get more than a cube out of a Morbius plus Dracula start if you did not Snap early. Similarly, your opponent should know to be careful if you start discarding Apocalypse, while they can feel better if Lady Sif discards MODOK instead.

Because the Discard deck gives the opponent a lot of information through showing the discarded cards, it is important to have an aggressive mindset; otherwise, you will regularly be forced to play by your opponent’s rules.

Potential Additions:
The Collector can be included instead of Nebula or Wolverine.

Tier 3

The big story in Tier 3 is the multiple builds emerging around Silver Surfer, including Patriot Surfer, that a few players shared since the season start. I was a little surprised to see the archetype ranked so low, but, considering the amount of different decks, the overall performance is obviously worsened. Once a better build emerges (which might very well be the same list we had for the past two seasons), I have no doubt Silver Surfer should find its place higher in the rankings. For example, Shadow King is great against the new Move deck, as it counters both Kraven and Angela.

As for the other two decks featured here, Lockjaw and InSheNaut, it simply feels like they are not having a great time against the popular Tier 1 decks. Legion Move and Sera Control both pack Shang-Chi for Lockjaw and a way to destroy InSheNaut’s precious Limbo. As such, although both decks are still doing well overall, only an experienced pilot will be able to navigate the traps of the current metagame.

Evolved Lockjaw

Evolved Lockjaw

Created by den

, updated 9 months ago

0

1x Collection Level 1-14

1x Collection Level 18-214 (Pool 1)

1x Collection Level 222-474 (Pool 2)

7x Collection Level 486+ (Pool 3)

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

1x Starter Card

4

Cost

0-
1
2
3
4
5+

5.7

Power

0-
1
2
3
4
5+

InSheNaut

InShenaut

Created by den

, updated 9 months ago

0

2x Collection Level 18-214 (Pool 1)

3x Collection Level 222-474 (Pool 2)

2x Collection Level 486+ (Pool 3)

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

3x Starter Card

3.3

Cost

0-
1
2
3
4
5+

5.3

Power

0-
1
2
3
4
5+

Sera Surfer

Sera Surfer

Created by den

, updated 9 months ago

0

1x Collection Level 18-214 (Pool 1)

2x Collection Level 222-474 (Pool 2)

9x Collection Level 486+ (Pool 3)

2.8

Cost

0-
1
2
3
4
5+

2.8

Power

0-
1
2
3
4
5+

Surfer On Reveal

Surfer On Reveal

Created by den

, updated 9 months ago

0

2x Collection Level 18-214 (Pool 1)

2x Collection Level 222-474 (Pool 2)

7x Collection Level 486+ (Pool 3)

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

3

Cost

0-
1
2
3
4
5+

2.8

Power

0-
1
2
3
4
5+

Negative Surfer

Negative Surfer

Created by den

, updated 9 months ago

0

1x Collection Level 1-14

8x Collection Level 486+ (Pool 3)

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

1x Recruit Season

1x Starter Card

3.1

Cost

0-
1
2
3
4
5+

1.2

Power

0-
1
2
3
4
5+

Closing Words

I enjoyed this first iteration of the Conquest metagame very much. I have to admit, I didn’t have so much trust in the Move archetype taking first place. I mostly attributed it to its novelty and the other archetypes testing Daken and Spider-Man. Still, after testing it for this report, I have to admit the deck is more than a gimmick, and the Move package does synergize well with Angela to form a new “Good Cards” variant.

Behind that deck are the usual Marvel Snap archetypes we’ve learned to expect over time, with a few builds I expect to rank differently when we revisit this list. Shuri Sauron, in particular, seems way too good for a metagame with Shang-Chi in almost every list and a Move deck that is able to get Armor out of the way if needed. Silver Surfer also feels way stronger than the numbers are indicating, but all the testing around the archetype is naturally making it look worse than it really is. I would not be shocked to see it become a Tier 1 staple once things start to stabilize more. In particular, Shadow King seems like an incredible card against Good Cards Move.

There are a lot of things to digest for now, and I would encourage everyone to test the decks and get their own idea of their potential and place in the current metagame. In the end, we almost never get two new cards at the same time, and it just so happens that both are quite playable, too!

I hope you are having fun in this new metagame and finding a deck that suits you in your advance towards your goals. As usual, if you need anything, 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.