Welcome to our Marvel Snap Meta Tier List for Conquest mode! Each week, we review the best decks in the ever-changing Marvel Snap metagame and not only we bring you the decklists, we provide you with an in-depth report: How their ranks are justified, how to play the decks, and how to build the deck with alternate cards to accommodate for different collections.

Marvel Snap Conquest Meta Overview

With a balance patch on Tuesday and most of the attention turned toward the Ladder, Conquest has been very quiet during the first days of the season. However, a smaller number of games to look at doesn’t mean we have nothing to analyze. I believe Conquest is a much better place to assess a deck’s true strength, as one has to manage information on top of the usual Ladder considerations. As such, even though a new deck can surprise an opponent and steal some wins on the back of unexpected patterns, Conquest will require you to win some cubes when the opponent is fully aware of your strategy, which is a much bigger test to pass for a new brew.

Speaking of new brews, Loki has pushed the expected archetype around The Collector. There are many lists going around right now with a core of eight or nine cards that feel like they represent the foundation of the archetype. However, the real upside to Loki in Conquest isn’t the strength of the deck: it’s the ability to mess up information. In a mode where you use the information you’ve collected round after round to make better decisions about your play patterns, Loki forces your opponent to risk something since they have to play around any card in their deck plus the ones you might draw. For now, though, Loki has not appeared much in Conquest data, and the performance is all over the place to be honest. We’ll have much more to discuss about the card’s impact on the Ladder, which we’ll do in the dedicated Tier List.

Let’s talk about the decks that have been dominating Conquest mode now. Four decks have emerged above the rest: Shuri Sauron, InSheNaut, Patriot Surfer, and Sera Surfer.

The first two should not be a surprise at all; they were already dominant before the patch, and they had no reason to slow down the pace because they were not involved in any changes. Patriot Surfer remaining a top contender might be a little more surprising after the Absorbing Man nerf, but, even though the list with multiple tech cards has seen its performance dip a little, the points driven deck has posted very solid results overall. Similarly, Sera Surfer saw its most traditional list post a solid 60% Win Rate this week, and it was also running the Forge, Brood, Absorbing Man trio.

Behind these four are a mix of various synergies, and none looks particularly stronger than another. Move Legion looks like it stabilized after the nerfs in last week’s OTA, and High Evolutionary has picked up a bit of momentum. As for decks directly impacted by the recent patch, such as Thanos and Discard, they don’t seem to have changed too much yet. It might just be a case of needing more time to let the changes sink in to the metagame. Thanos, in particular, has seen its Zoo list post a very good Win Rate (although the sample size is quite small).

Have you already reached Infinite? Are you in the mood for some early Infinity ticket grinding? Let’s take a look at this week’s Tier List!

Marvel Snap Conquest Meta Tier List

Disclaimer and Tier Explanations

Conquest is not being played as much as the ladder, so it is difficult to have a clear representation of the metagame in the mode. Indeed, there is currently not enough data to precisely assess the power of each deck, even more so when the Proving Grounds have become the unranked mode for Marvel Snap. Nevertheless, through scanning social media, looking at what players are having success with and which decks are performing on ladder as well. One can form an educated opinion about the best performing decks in Conquest, alongside those worth keeping an eye on.

This Tier List won’t be as detailed as the ladder one, instead focusing on the very best decks currently, alongside a few more worth keeping in mind, similarly to the Silent performers in the ladder Tier List. I would rather keep it to a shorter list for now, one I can develop around and provide a reasoning, rather than a longer list I would have to extrapolate about.

Tier 1

Shuri

Shuri Sauron

Created by den

, updated 8 months ago

0

3x Collection Level 18-214 (Pool 1)

2x Collection Level 222-474 (Pool 2)

6x Collection Level 486+ (Pool 3)

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

3.1

Cost

0-
1
2
3
4
5+

4.9

Power

0-
1
2
3
4
5+

Rank Justification:
Shuri has picked up momentum after each of the last balance changes thanks to being untouched after both, in addition to being a very simple archetype to pick up. After every other deck at the top suffered a nerf of some sort in the past month, Shuri is, logically, left at the top of the mountain while we wait for the next dominant deck to rise.

The other upside to Shuri is that it’s very good in a point-based battle, which means it’s not likely to lose to any deck with a decent point potential. You have to be able to put 30 points on two different lanes in order to reliably challenge Shuri without using counter cards in your deck. Even before the changes, Shuri was regarded as a solid alternative to Patriot Surfer or Move Legion, as those decks were spreading their points across three lanes while Shuri would just mount two big scores instead.

I don’t expect Shuri to remain the top archetype for long, to be honest. We know how to counter it if we need to. Cards like Valkyrie and Shadow King can be included in decks built around Thanos or Silver Surfer. Still, it seems to be a solid checkpoint to see if your deck can make it in the current environment.

How to Play:
Shuri Sauron is based around the idea of cancelling negative Ongoing abilities with Sauron and abusing Shuri to create a huge 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 or Zero 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:

• Nebula 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 into 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:
This Shuri Kitty list is posting similar numbers, although its Win Rate is about one percent less. Both decks deserve a Tier 1 placement, so it probably comes down to your preferred play style.

Shuri Kitty

Created by den

, updated 8 months ago

2

5x 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)

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

3

Cost

0-
1
2
3
4
5+

3.7

Power

0-
1
2
3
4
5+

Patriot

Patriot Surfer

Created by den

, updated 8 months ago

1

4x Collection Level 18-214 (Pool 1)

5x 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

2.9

Cost

0-
1
2
3
4
5+

2.9

Power

0-
1
2
3
4
5+

Rank Justification:
Although it went from 15 to 12 Power after copying Brood, the nerf to Absorbing Man has not cost Patriot too much for now. The archetype has maintained a solid overall Win Rate. However, while the lists with counter cards instead of Silver Surfer were doing better before the patch, it seems like the extra help in the points department is now welcome in order to make sure any hope of a comeback is dashed.

As such, Cosmo is the only counter card included, as it works well with Patriot or Silver Surfer on Turn 6 (if you want to mix points and stopping the opponent from using an On Reveal ability). The rest of the deck is true to what it was before the patch, with Blue Marvel and Legion remaining the default 5-Cost cards. Iron Man is seeing some play with Iron Lad cemented as a staple in the deck – especially if you want to beat Shuri in a points shootout.

How to Play:
Patriot Surfer relies on two waves of points. The first comes in the mid-game with the now (in)famous Forge → Brood (Mister Sinister works too) → Absorbing Man curve for 15 and 12 Power on two separate lanes. The second wave comes on the last turn of play when Patriot and Silver Surfer strengthen those lanes even more. Surrounding this core are the usual suspects of the Iron Patriot deck with Wasp, Iron Lad, and Blue Marvel, all of which can help whenever you don’t draw into your ideal scenario.

As the deck gains momentum, more counters are bound to emerge, which is where the disruptive cards shine. Legion seems to be a staple right now, even if there isn’t a particular synergy for it in the deck. However, gaining priority going into Turn 5 allows you the ability to use Legion on a location that would lock the game and result in you emerging victorious on the spot. Otherwise, Cosmo serves the role of protecting your Ongoing cards from Enchantress and Rogue, or the buffed ones from a Shadow King. This is likely the flexible slot in the deck if you were looking to gain an edge against a certain opponent.

With this deck, you should often have priority going into the later turns, which gives your opponent a lot of information regarding what they have to beat. As such, Patriot Surfer can be met with a lot of early Retreats – especially when the deck starts hot and takes a gigantic lead by Turn 4. It is important to leverage your tech cards to cancel any potential comebacks, but they can also be used to commit to early Snaps. That way your better hands are not worth only a single cube.

Potential Additions:
The same way Shuri has two different builds, Iron Patriot is a solid alternative to Patriot Surfer. The Win Rate is, again, about one percent lower, but it probably comes down to which match ups you are looking to beat.

Iron Patriot

Created by den

, updated 8 months ago

1

3x Collection Level 18-214 (Pool 1)

6x Collection Level 486+ (Pool 3)

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

1x Recruit Season

1x Starter Card

3.4

Cost

0-
1
2
3
4
5+

3

Power

0-
1
2
3
4
5+

Sera Surfer

Sera Surfer

Created by den

, updated 8 months ago

1

2x Collection Level 18-214 (Pool 1)

2x Collection Level 222-474 (Pool 2)

8x Collection Level 486+ (Pool 3)

2.9

Cost

0-
1
2
3
4
5+

2.9

Power

0-
1
2
3
4
5+

Rank Justification:
Similar to Shuri, Sera Surfer is a deck that usually benefits from balance changes, as the archetype is well known among the player base. This time could have been different, though, as the deck did lose a bit of firepower with Absorbing Man‘s change. But, in the same way Patriot Surfer stood tall, it doesn’t seem like Sera Surfer took too much of a hit.

Another upside for Silver Surfer in the current metagame are the decks you are likely to face. Destroy has regressed, for now; Armor ended up being too much of a problem, and Loki ate up some of its popularity. Thus, Killmonger feels good to run once again. The card also has nice targets against Loki (Quinjet), Shuri (Nebula, Kitty Pryde, Zero), and InSheNaut (Nebula, Sunspot, Evolved Misty Knight). In the same vein, Shadow King feels great against Angela, The Collector, and Shuri, and moving the opponent’s cards remains a good mechanic to annoy them.

Although nerfed, it’s somehow better overall in the current set of things. Weird timeline for Sera Surfer.

How to Play:
The deck follows a pretty simple play pattern that culminates into an explosive Turn 6 and hopefully catches the opponent off guard.

On Turns 2, 3, and 4, you will usually just play a card, focus on spending your energy efficiently, and advance your game plan. Your two most common patterns are Forge, Brood, and Absorbing Man, or the tried and true Storm and Juggernaut. Otherwise, play cards you anticipate you won’t have the energy for later on.

If you are running tech cards like Rogue, Killmonger, or Shadow King, you will be looking to keep them for Turn 6 in order to get the most effective use. As such, you need to play the more proactive cards during the early turns. Usually, Nova is better played on Turn 4 with more information available rather than on Turn 1. It also disguises your archetype from the opponent better and let’s you play with your space more efficiently.

On Turn 5, the deck typically runs a card dedicated to this turn – which is most often Sera. While these are the go-to plays most of the time, Forge and Brood have a second opportunity to be played on Turn 5, which sets you up nicely for Silver Surfer plus a counter card on Turn 6. In this build, you could also consider playing Armor on Turn 6 if you have priority in order to negate an opponent’s important effects before focusing on points.

Turn 6 will almost always have Silver Surfer included, plus another 3-Cost (or two with Sera on board). While Silver Surfer is a big buff to all of your lanes, it is usually correct to focus on two lanes for the end of the game – especially if you kept a Shadow King or other such card that is able to flip one in your favor on its own.

Potential Additions:
Cosmo is probably the next card to consider, or Maximus if you feel like you lack points.

Tier 2

InSheNaut

InSheNaut

Created by den

, updated 8 months ago

1

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

3.4

Cost

0-
1
2
3
4
5+

5.3

Power

0-
1
2
3
4
5+

Rank Justification:
Once again, InSheNaut is a little behind the Tier 1 decks. It has a lot of upsides, but it just can’t seem to use all of its potential. Destroy regressing a bit might have hurt a little, as Armor and Cosmo lost a great match up to abuse. But the rest of the metagame has not changed much, so it is hard to explain why InSheNaut did not progress the same way Silver Surfer and Shuri did after the patch.

It’s probably because Shuri gaining momentum is annoying for InSheNaut; that deck can accept competing on points over seven turns. Also, InSheNaut is arguably the more difficult deck to pick up among our Top 4 this week, so that could impact the performance if many players tested the deck after the patch in search of something new to play.

Finally, Wave has been picking up in popularity lately, which obviously annoys a deck looking to pass a turn to drop both She-Hulk and another big card. Compared to Shuri or Patriot, I’d say InSheNaut and Silver Surfer will be much more affected by Wave‘s presence, which might explain why the decks are ranked in that order this week.

How to Play:
In this new and improved build around She-Hulk and The Infinaut, the goal is to make the game about points – a battle you are more than suited to win. Ideally, the deck wants to play Magik on Turn 3, Leech on Turn 5, and profit from passing Turn 6 with Sunspot and Misty Knight before dropping two high power cards on Turn 7. However, there are many more play patterns in the deck to achieve victory:

• With Armor, Cosmo, and Leech, the deck has quite a formidable disruptive ability against many different decks, in addition to the ability to protect it’s own important cards.
• If Shocker hits The Infinaut, it unlocks a pattern where you pass on Turn 4, play The Infinaut on Turn 5, and then play Evolved Hulk on Turn 6. When reducing either of your 6-Cost cards, you can pass on Turn 5 and play the reduced one plus She-Hulk.
• Without Magik, you can try passing Turn 3 or 4 to play She-Hulk early and follow with a big Evolved Hulk on Turn 6. With Limbo and no Leech, you could also pass on Turn 5 to do the same “The Infinaut into Evolved Hulk” kind of pattern.
• With a hot start through the 1-Costs giving you a nice lead, you might not want to create Limbo and give your opponent more time to mount a potential comeback. You can just become a tempo deck with Evolved Cyclops on Turn 4, She-Hulk or Leech on Turn 5, and Evolved Hulk on Turn 6.

Through these various scenarios, you can see that this build of InSheNaut is actually trying to get away from the very rigid patterns Moon Girl was pushing for that made the deck too predictable. Right now, you should consider this deck a High Evolutionary tempo build, except it can play around with its energy to change which turns it develops points and which it adopts a more passive stance.

In the featured build this week, Legion is used instead of The Infinaut, which makes the deck is a little more proactive.

Potential Additions:
I heard Storm is very helpful to gain an edge against Shuri (if you see a lot of that deck). Otherwise, Shocker is included instead of Cyclops or Cosmo on occasion.

Move Legion

Move Legion

Created by den

, updated 8 months ago

1

3x Collection Level 18-214 (Pool 1)

1x Collection Level 222-474 (Pool 2)

5x Collection Level 486+ (Pool 3)

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

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

3.2

Cost

0-
1
2
3
4
5+

3.9

Power

0-
1
2
3
4
5+

Rank Justification:
Still a solid deck, even after two nerfs, Move Legion got to the back of the line when it comes to the best decks in the metagame – but it has remained in the discussion nonetheless. The reinforcement from Wave and Doctor Doom gave the deck a different play pattern, even if it meant dropping Kitty Pryde. However, looking at the performance of both builds, it seems like including the DoomWave duo was the right move.

This change to a more disruptive approach shows that the points ceiling of the deck has reduced enough that it’s forced to take the metagame into consideration. Now, Move Legion looks to limit what the opponent can do rather than enter a war of points. Wave is great against any Kitty Pryde deck, which opens a few Snap opportunities against Shuri Kitty, Deadpool, InSheNaut, and Loki at the very least.

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, Nightcrawler, 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, Spider-Man, or 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. With the addition of Wave and Doctor Doom, trying to be in the lead by Turn 4 or Turn 5 is even more important.

Potential Additions:
I would love to see a 1-Cost in this deck (probably Nightcrawler) instead of Shang-Chi, Legion, or America Chavez in order to really focus on the tempo aspect of the deck. Still, it seems like Move Legion needs to leverage a tech card to win against the decks ranked higher on today’s list – especially Shuri.

Deadpool Destroy

Deadpool Destroy

Created by den

, updated 8 months ago

1

5x Collection Level 18-214 (Pool 1)

1x 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)

3.2

Cost

0-
1
2
3
4
5+

2.9

Power

0-
1
2
3
4
5+

Rank Justification:
Although a new season and balance patch created some chaos around the metagame, Armor and Cosmo remained popular enough to keep Destroy at a reasonable power level. Compared to the other decks in the rankings, Destroy posted a Win Rate of 56%, which is more than 2% below Move Legion. However, simply mentioning Destroy among the best decks in the game when its nemeses are virtually playable in any deck (and actually played in a lot of them) is a feat to behold. I guess you could think of Deadpool Destroy as a Hela Tribunal, Mister Negative, or other highly synergistic deck that struggles whenever certain cards are popular. Except this one still does pretty well even when Armor appears in a lot of decks.

The list has been the same for a few weeks now. It’s stabilized after X-23 joined the game, so it’s hard to imagine Destroy having a trick up its sleeve to miraculously adapt to the metagame. Still, it is important to keep in mind that none of the cards are pushing Destroy this month (Alioth could, but that’s a different kind of destroy), so watch out for Deadpool if the metagame starts forgetting how good of a deck it can be.

How to Play:
Based around the idea of abusing its namesake card, Deadpool, this Destroy variant aims to build a humongous amount of points with the Destroy synergy. In addition to Deadpool, you can use Knull, Venom, and/or Death to challenge a lane. If possible, you want to destroy Deadpool every turn. You can add other cards to this mix, such as X-23 for extra energy or Wolverine and Sabretooth to build up Knull and reduce Death.

At its core, the deck is pretty simple to understand because every card in the deck aims in the same direction. However, success with this deck comes from avoiding your opponent’s traps and getting your points one way or another. If everything works according to plan, you could have enough points to win two games at once. A 32 Power Deadpool, a 50 Power Knull, and a free Death are nothing to sneeze at. Plus, cards like Carnage, Deathlok, and Wolverine can quickly add up to another 20 points spread across the lanes. But, even though this will beat pretty much any other deck, no opponent will stay in such a game without a backup plan.

With this in mind, your goal should be to advance your synergies safely while making sure to protect your most important cards. Don’t try to beat the opponent with a 30 point lead – a win by one is still a win. Cards like Cosmo, Armor, and Professor X, as well as decks that can move your cards, will be looking to disrupt your plan make your deck unable to function properly.

One of the keys to overcoming this deck’s challenges is priority. It makes reading the situation much simpler than trying to guess the opponent’s cards. In order to keep priority, you need to establish early points through Bucky Barnes and your other cheap cards.

Potential Additions:
America Chavez could be slotted for stability instead of Taskmaster.

Silent Performers

Usually, this section is dedicated to Tier 3 decks, but there are a lot of decks in that Win Rate range this week, and I’m guessing a lot of you who read this column on a weekly basis have noticed that it is often the same archetypes. I wanted to give a bigger spotlight to the Silent Performers, some of which are posting better results than the Tier 3 decks, instead.

This week, we have two decks based on a proactive game plan that branches out to disrupting the opponent once they have seized priority. Indeed, both Evolved DoomWave and Thanos Zoo are looking to leverage their disruptive cards (Cosmo, Wave, Armor, Evolved Cyclops…) to solidify any lead they manage to create. Then, they make sure the opponent cannot make a comeback. If that situation is successfully achieved, these two decks can Snap with confidence because they’re very likely to win.

However, if these two archetypes cannot get going and fall behind in the mid-game, it can be very difficult for them to mount a comeback, and then a Retreat seems safer. It’s a lot about momentum and priority for Thanos Zoo and Evolved DoomWave. As a little bonus, both synergies don’t give Evolved cards or Infinity Stones to Loki, which might be something good to consider if the card starts becoming popular in Conquest. Also, Wave has proven to be a great disruptive card against the new Season Pass card.

Evolved DoomWave

Evolved DoomWave

Created by den

, updated 8 months ago

1

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)

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

3x Starter Card

2.8

Cost

0-
1
2
3
4
5+

3.6

Power

0-
1
2
3
4
5+

Thanos Zoo

Thanos Zoo

Created by den

, updated 8 months ago

1

1x Collection Level 1-14

6x Collection Level 18-214 (Pool 1)

1x Collection Level 222-474 (Pool 2)

1x Collection Level 486+ (Pool 3)

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

1x Recruit Season

4.3

Cost

0-
1
2
3
4
5+

4.5

Power

0-
1
2
3
4
5+

Closing Words

Before we go, let’s address the elephant in the room: How come Loki is not in the list when the only thing social media can talk about is how much of a problem it can be? Yes, there are really strong decks with Loki going around, and they would probably deserve a Tier 2, bottom of Tier 1 ranking on this Tier List. However, The Triskelion was featured on the Ladder on Wednesday, which made Loki much stronger. Also, there are a ton of lists with Loki, and some average less than a 40% Win Rate. It’s really difficult to know where to draw the line for now. No matter what, I have not seen one Loki list post more impressive numbers than Shuri Sauron or Patriot Surfer in the data I had available when writing this Tier List.

For all these reasons, I left Loki out of the report this week. But I will give it a particularly close look on Sunday when it comes time to look at the Ladder numbers. If you are worried about Loki ruining your game experience until then, I would recommend trying a highly synergistic deck like Cerebro 3, Hela Tribunal, or Mister Negative. Try to choose a synergy that the opponent can’t really leverage unless they were playing it since the start of the game. Otherwise, Shuri Sauron simply appears to put up better numbers – at least for now.

As usual, I hope you are having a good time in Marvel Snap. If you needed 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.