Marvel Snap Meta Data Analysis: Top Performing Card Pair Combinations and Hidden Gems

In last week’s Running the Numbers (Marvel Snap Meta Data Analysis), we looked at one of the most dominant duos in Marvel Snap — Shuri and Red Skull before its nerf. That got me thinking about what other pairs of cards might be especially powerful together. There are the common combos that most of us could rattle off — Galactus and Knull, Sunspot and She-Hulk, Hit Monkey and Mysterio… you get it.

Variants

Galactus

On Reveal: If this is your only card here, destroy all other locations.

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

view card details Start a deck Decks with Galactus

Variants

Knull

Ongoing: Has the combined Power of all cards destroyed this game.

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

view card details Start a deck Decks with Knull

It doesn’t matter what comes front of mind when I say “power pairing”, though! Throw that out the window, I’m here to dig into data. I really hoped there might be some hidden gems to reveal and whoo-wee, I was not disappointed! Excited?!

The idea behind this analysis is that maybe some cards are often used in a suboptimal way. Maybe averages for individual card performance or even averages for deck performance are hiding the potential of some cards. I hope some of you will find this as inspiring for deckbuilding as I did!

Of course, any single card or pair of cards is just a piece of a whole deck. Throwing a bunch of top-tier twosomes together isn’t gonna make a top-tier deck. You’ll also notice a dearth of the duos we rattled off earlier. While a pair like Shuri and Red Skull make a lot of appearances in top tier decks, there are also players trying to make them work in less-than-stellar decks, too — and that hurts their stats.

By the nature of this exercise, many of these high-performing pairs are going to be less common.

Overview

Some quick context before we get to the meat and potatoes.

I included every ranked match in the past 7 days of data collected by our Marvel Snap Tracker. Well, almost every match. Apologies to her fans, but I excluded any deck running Agatha Harkness.

When analyzing the top card pairs, I only looked at those represented in 400+ matches. I experimented with this number quite a bit. 400 proved to be a reliable cutoff to get top pairs that were consistent, not just lucky.

I also wanted each pair to be represented in 10+ decks — but there actually weren’t any top pairs that met the 400-match cutoff without also meeting the 10-deck cutoff.

Your Local Metagame

We’re not looking at the top performers in one overarching metagame today. The metagame you experience might be very different depending on various factors. I’ve broken up the data into six sections.

Trust me that things get weird if we look at all the data combined. Don’t believe me? The top pair for both win rate and average cubes is — drumroll, please…

🥁
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Domino and Lizard.

Variants

Domino

You always draw this card on turn 2, and not before.

Collection Level 18-214 (Pool 1)

view card details Start a deck Decks with Domino

Variants

Lizard

Ongoing: -4 Power if your opponent has 4 cards here.

Collection Level 18-214 (Pool 1)

view card details Start a deck Decks with Lizard

Yeah.

So I categorized the data by rank and collection level. There are other factors too, of course. MMR being one that’s important, but only available to Second Dinner.

Rank Categories

• Mid: Rank 30–69
• High: Rank 70–99
• Infinite: Rank 100+

Collection Level Categories

• Mid: Collection Level 486–1999 (pool 2 complete)
• High: Collection Level 2000+ (pool 3 complete)

Alright, groundwork laid. Let’s dive in!

The Meat and Potatoes

Mmm, meat and potatoes. A top-tier pairing if you ask me, but enough ado!

For each category, you’ll see:

• Top 10 pairs by usage
• Top 10 pairs by win rate
• Top 10 pairs by average cubes
• Honorable mentions for win rate
• Honorable mentions for average cubes

Mid Rank (30–69) and Mid CL (486–1999)

Cutoffs
Matches: 400+
Decks: 10+

Usage

Win Rate

Average Cubes

Honorable Mentions

Pairs that would have made the top 5 if the cutoff was 300+ matches instead:

Win Rate

1. Heimdall & Magneto
2. Ka-Zar & Mojo
3. Rockslide & White Queen
4. Magneto & Multiple Man
5. Blue Marvel & Mojo

Avg Cubes

1. Domino & Storm
2. —
3. Heimdall & Magneto
4. Magneto & Multiple Man
5. Hulkbuster & Magneto

Mid Rank (30–69) and High CL (2000+)

Cutoffs
Matches: 400+
Decks: 10+

Usage

Win Rate

Average Cubes

Honorable Mentions

Pairs that would have made the top 5 if the cutoff was 300+ matches instead.

Win Rate

1. Kang & Sandman
2. Typhoid Mary & Vision
3. —
4. —
5. —

Avg Cubes

1. Kang & Sandman
2. Black Panther & Titania
3. Typhoid Mary & Vision
4. Ironheart & Sentinel
5. Bast & She-Hulk

High Rank (70–99) and Mid CL (486–1999)

Cutoffs
Matches: 400+
Decks: 10+

Usage

Win Rate

Average Cubes

Honorable Mentions

Pairs that would have made the top 5 if the cutoff was 300+ matches instead:

Win Rate

1. Cyclops & Debrii
2. —
3. Carnage & Sentinel
4. —
5. —

Avg Cubes

1. Cyclops & Debrii
2. —
3. —
4. —
5. —

High Rank (70–99) and High CL (2000+)

Cutoffs
Matches: 400+
Decks: 10+

Usage

Win Rate

Average Cubes

Honorable Mentions

Pairs that would have made the top 5 if the cutoff was 300+ matches instead:

Win Rate

1. Cloak & Doctor Doom
2. Black Panther & Leech
3. Absorbing Man & Devil Dinosaur
4. Cloak & Ebony Maw
5. —

Avg Cubes

1. —
2. Absorbing Man & Agent Coulson
3. Shocker & Wave
4. —
5. —

Infinite Rank (100+) and Mid CL (486–1999)

Cutoffs
Matches: 400+
Decks: 10+

Usage

Win Rate

Average Cubes

Honorable Mentions

Pairs that would have made the top 5 if the cutoff was 300+ matches instead:

Win Rate

1. Doctor Doom & Sentinel
2. Darkhawk & Korg
3. Blue Marvel & Lizard
4. Aero & Armor
5. —

Avg Cubes

1. Blade & Squirrel Girl
2. Blade & Ka-Zar
3. Ant-Man & Blade
4. Angel & Blade
5. Blade & Blue Marvel

Infinite Rank (100+) and High CL (2000+)

Cutoffs
Matches: 400+
Decks: 10+

Usage

Win Rate

Average Cubes

Honorable Mentions

Pairs that would have made the top 5 if the cutoff was 300+ matches instead:

Win Rate

1. Black Widow & Devil Dinosaur
2. —
3. —
4. —
5. —

Avg Cubes

1. America Chavez & Deathlok
2. America Chavez & Polaris
3. Beast & She-Hulk
4. —
5. Beast & Death

Conclusion

Isn’t it interesting that Shuri only showed up twice in the data? Or that Galactus didn’t show up at all? I also found it really interesting to see how different the results are depending on a player’s rank and collection level.

Raise your hand if you expected Maria Hill anywhere on this list, let alone taking the #1 spot for win rate in our highest-level category. Nobody? Yeah, me neither.

I think one of the biggest takeaways is that many decks do well to use a hybrid of card packages. So many of the pairings don’t have direct synergy with each other, but they represent packages that do well together. Or single cards that boost a deck we don’t normally see them in.

I think it’s worth looking at the top lists for categories besides your own. Some takeaways are only relevant to that local category (the Move archetype seems to be a cube thief on your way to infinite if you haven’t finished pool 3 yet). Other takeaways can surely have wider value.

Here are some highlights:

• Spider-Woman boosts Zero/Shuri decks
• Storm and She-Hulk boost Discard decks
• Hulkbuster boosts Galactus decks
• Moon Girl and Death is a powerful combo
• Vision wins games
• Maria Hill is underrated

In conclusion, looking at the top card pairings provides some valuable insights. By examining the pairings across different rank and collection level categories, both dominant and unexpected combinations were surfaced. I know this data will change the way I think about some cards and deck archetypes the next time I’m deckbuilding.

How about you? Any surprises? Any pairings you want to try or any adjustments you want to make to that deck you’ve been developing? Any unusual pairings you love that didn’t make the cut?

Most importantly, are you prepared for the Lizard-Domino meta? 😜

A final reminder that an analysis like this is powered by the data from our Marvel Snap Tracker. If you thought this was cool, would like to see more, and are playing the game on PC or Android, consider giving it a download. It also automatically syncs your collection to our site and powers useful tools like the Meta Snapshot over at MarvelSnap.Pro.