Marvel Snap Ultimate Meta Tier List: December 25, 2023 – Lockdown Survives the Professor X Nerfs!

Welcome to our Marvel Snap Meta Tier List! Each week, we review the best decks in the ever-changing Marvel Snap meta. Then we bring you the deck lists, and we provide an in-depth report about them. This report contains information like how the ranks are justified, how the decks fare in both Ranked and Conquest modes, and how to build the deck with alternate cards to accommodate different collections.

This report is updated twice a week to make sure it is as close to the current meta as possible. Looking to figure out the impact of the newly released card or the latest balance changes? This is the place to be!

Marvel Snap Meta Overview

The latest OTA was aimed at shaking things up heading into the new year by nerfing two of the most impactful cards in the game while giving a boost to Ronan the Accuser (a card that was desperately in need of some extra power).

If you looked at social media, you might have spotted a few players unhappy about these changes and complaining that all they really did was give Loki a reason to be dominant again. To be honest, I had the same feeling early on after the OTA. I couldn’t get any deck around Ronan work, and giving Loki more cards to transform really wasn’t ideal.

Fortunately, this situation didn’t last long. It seemed to mostly impact a certain group of players, which also appears to be the most vocal on social media. We are now a couple of days after the OTA and the environment doesn’t seem to be particularly favorable for Loki. Instead, it seems like the meta has gone back to decks based around the Lockdown strategy. This is a similar situation to the one that led to Professor X being nerfed, but with two major differences to note:

• Thanos Blob took a big hit, going from a Tier 1 powerhouse to the bottom of Tier 2 after the OTA.
• Ronan and Galactus posted the highest Cube Averages over the last two days, which is a mind-boggling scenario for this post-OTA meta.

For both statements, our instincts are telling us that something must be wrong and this can’t be the real state of the meta – especially if we compare it to our own experiences. You might be right; I also had some troubles believing in what the data was telling me this week. Still, it’s undeniable that the OTA pushed most players to reconsider their stance and go back to the drawing board when it comes to which archetype to play.

Until we can gather more evidence as to which decks are dominant going into 2024 (which we will do when we revisit this report in a couple of days after Selene joins the game), we will have to trust our instincts and go with what our own experiences are telling us. Or we can believe what the data is pointing towards, which looks to be a wide open environment with a lot of things left to figure out.

Happy Tier List, everyone!

Marvel Snap Meta Tier List

Disclaimer and Tier Explanations

In order to be featured here, a deck needs to represent at least 1% of the current environment and have a positive cube average in the Ranked mode. Win Rate is also taken into consideration, and it can greatly impact the ranking of a deck, particularly when several archetypes (or different builds of the same deck) have a similar Cube Average but big Win Rate discrepancies. The Marvel Snap mechanics do, however, push players to maximize cubes gained rather than win every single game.

In order to create this chart, den is using data from our Marvel Snap Tracker, as well as other available data online and his own expertise and opinion of respected players. If a deck showed great performances with a very limited presence in the meta, you can find it in the Silent Performers section. That section highlights decks with an excellent Cube Average but too little of a sample size to be representative of their real strength.

Decks not good enough to be considered contenders but with a good representation will be ranked in Tier 3 in our chart. They won’t have their own dedicated write up here, but they may be transferred to the main Tier List section. See those builds as decks that are good to know about, as you should face them when playing Marvel Snap. However, unless the meta changes or a new variation of the build emerges, these decks are a notch below the dominant ones in Tiers 1 and 2.

For each deck, you will also get a write-up about their performance in the Conquest mode. In that section, we’ll discuss how the deck is doing and which differences, if any, exist when compared to the Ladder performance. In the chart above, you will also be notified of a strong archetype in Conquest with a Conquest flag next to their name.

Tier 1

Good Cards Ronan

Good Cards Ronan

Created by den

, updated 4 months ago

1

1x 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)

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

3

Cost

0-
1
2
3
4
5+

3.2

Power

0-
1
2
3
4
5+

Rank Justification:
Even though the first hours of the patch were difficult for Ronan the Accuser, it seems like the card managed to find a great deck eventually with this Good Cards build. Here you can find a mix of various concepts, the trademark of the Good Cards archetype, with only Mystique and Super-Skrull looking like odd inclusions. But with the amount of Lockdown there is, copying Ms. Marvel sounds incredible. It seems like these two cards are what makes this deck so special since the environment has been seeing a lot of Ms. Marvel in other archetypes.

You might wonder if Ronan the Accuser is really necessary to this deck’s success and whether Darkhawk could do even better. Considering Thanos Blob is still a popular deck (and Ronan the Accuser is the new flavor of the patch), we’ll give it the benefit of the doubt for now. Plus, with a 60% Win Rate alongside a 0.55 Cube Average, you really have to be picky to criticize this deck.

Conquest Performance:
There aren’t many games with a similar deck in Conquest, but the archetype remains well positioned nonetheless. Super-Skrull and Zabu are gone with Storm and Doctor Doom replacing them, pushing this towards a more generic approach.

As usual, the Good Cards archetype is a solid one to play in Conquest since you can build it around generic concepts to cover many match ups. You can also use tech cards to target specific opponents (more similar to the Ladder list above) in order to abuse certain traits of the current environment.

Good Cards Ronan Conquest

Created by den

, updated 4 months ago

2

1x Collection Level 18-214 (Pool 1)

2x Collection Level 222-474 (Pool 2)

5x Collection Level 486+ (Pool 3)

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

3

Cost

0-
1
2
3
4
5+

3.3

Power

0-
1
2
3
4
5+

Potential Additions:
I can see this deck going in various directions in order to adapt to your collection or the meta:

• Korg, Rockslide, Black Widow, and Darkhawk can replace Ronan the Accuser, Maximus, Master Mold, and Nebula.
• Cosmo, Shang-Chi, and Super-Skrull are all flexible in the deck, although the last one has synergy with Mystique. Still, you could include Killmonger and replace Nebula with a utility 1-Cost such as Spider-Ham.
• Onslaught or Doctor Doom could fit as a 6-Cost in the deck for some extra high rolls with Iron Lad.

Galactus Ramp

Galactus Ramp

Created by den

, updated 4 months ago

0

1x Collection Level 18-214 (Pool 1)

2x Collection Level 222-474 (Pool 2)

4x Collection Level 486+ (Pool 3)

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

3.9

Cost

0-
1
2
3
4
5+

3.1

Power

0-
1
2
3
4
5+

Rank Justification:
In pretty much the exact same way it happened after the previous balance update, Galactus managed to sneak in a remarkable performance with a 0.45 Cube Average and a 56% Win Rate. The list is the exact same as before the patch, too, which indicates this is probably a case of taking advantage of many decks being refined and not necessarily expecting to face Galactus.

In the second week after the patch, the deck’s performance took a bit of a dip and it ended up in Tier 2. Let’s give it a bit of time before we give a definitive verdict on the Eater of Worlds.

Conquest Performance:
A lot of Galactus‘s upsides as a card come from surprising your opponent. They might think you are a typical Ramp deck or not foresee a Ms. Marvel helping it resolve. Therefore, if you don’t get a solid four or eight cube win early on in the match, you might struggle to close the match once your opponent knows what they are up against.

This is an archetype that is much stronger in Ranked play compared to Conquest.

Potential Additions:
Ravonna Renslayer now has synergy with Professor X, which could entice you to add Green Goblin into the mix. You would likely replace Psylocke and Shang-Chi to get these two in the deck.

Lockdown

Lockdown

Created by den

, updated 4 months ago

0

1x Collection Level 1-14

1x Collection Level 18-214 (Pool 1)

2x Collection Level 222-474 (Pool 2)

1x Collection Level 486+ (Pool 3)

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

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

1x Starter Card

3.6

Cost

0-
1
2
3
4
5+

3.6

Power

0-
1
2
3
4
5+

Rank Justification:
As one of the archetypes directly impacted by the OTA, Lockdown maintained a very strong position in the game – and didn’t have to adapt its build to do so. In the end, the deck only lost two power to one of the cards that wasn’t responsible for the power aspect of the deck. With that in mind, you can still relatively safely play Professor X whenever you have Jeff the Baby Land Shark, Ms. Marvel, or Nebula to support it, and it remains an incredible card to copy with Iron Lad.

Lockdown is slightly weaker, yes. But a bad archetype? It looks like we’re still pretty far from that. At least, that’s what what the 0.45 Cube Average and 55% Win Rate indicates.

Conquest Performance:
The exact same deck has one of the highest Win Rates in Conquest at 63%, which makes Lockdown a great all-around deck. Considering your goal is to counter what the opponent wants to develop, the information you gather each round helps you improve how disruptive you can be.

For example, you will learn which locations to turn off with Storm, how many points they can throw into a locked location, and how important it is to grab priority for Alioth on Turn 6.

Potential Additions:
Considering the same list is posting the best numbers in both modes, it is difficult to recommend any specific changes. Shang-Chi is the flexible card for sure, but you likely want to replace it with another 4-Cost card with Zabu in the deck. You could try Super-Skrull or Enchantress against Ongoing synergies. Stegron could be a good overall inclusion, too.

Outside of 4-Cost cards, Shadow King, Echo, and maybe Cosmo come to mind as disruption options.

Tier 2

Deadpool Destroy

Deadpool Destroy

Created by den

, updated 4 months ago

2

4x 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)

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

3.1

Cost

0-
1
2
3
4
5+

2.7

Power

0-
1
2
3
4
5+

Rank Justification:
Once again, we saw a patch with a lot of good news for Destroy since Professor X was an annoying card for the deck. Unfortunately, those changes were not enough to make it go away, so Deadpool stayed at a very similar place compared to before the OTA. Armor is almost non existent currently, so Destroy is cleared on that front.

Another thing to note is that balance changes are the perfect opportunity to surprise your opponent with something unexpected. Even if an already built archetype has the upside of being ready to go immediately, you also have the downside of your opponent knowing what to expect. This often means that you are unlikely to keep people in games when they can’t interact with your strategy.

Conquest Performance:
The same list holds a 59% Win Rate in Conquest, which is a solid score overall. Over the course of a full run, the deck might run into the occasional counter deck that could spell the end of your gauntlet. Otherwise, Destroy seems to actually do well in Conquest since opponent’s can’t just Retreat every time you Snap. If they do, you can bluff Snap and take a lot of cubes from them, thus making your below-average draws worth at least one cube.

Potential Additions:
Taskmaster, Shang-Chi, and Deathlok would be the three main cards you would be looking to include in this build. This list seems to be a clearly better version of Destroy according to the performance of each build, though.

Good Cards Darkhawk

Darkhawk

Created by den

, updated 4 months ago

0

1x Collection Level 18-214 (Pool 1)

3x Collection Level 222-474 (Pool 2)

3x Collection Level 486+ (Pool 3)

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

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

3.5

Cost

0-
1
2
3
4
5+

3.5

Power

0-
1
2
3
4
5+

Rank Justification:
With Professor X nerfed, I expected Thanos Blob to take a step back and Darkhawk to emerge as one of the biggest winners of this OTA – especially because the change to Black Widow wasn’t so bad in the end. With a 59% Win Rate, it is second only to the other Good Cards deck on this list that holds the top spot. However, with just a 0.35 Cube Average, Darkhawk doesn’t seem to steal cubes the same way Ronan the Accuser does after the OTA.

It might just be that the community knew how to react to one more than the other, or that the Lockdown core around Ronan the Accuser puts in more work than what Leech, Killmonger, and Doctor Doom do. No matter what, we can for sure say that the Good Cards archetype is one to keep in mind right now as a great, flexible archetype.

Conquest Performance:
Darkhawk is a little all over the place in Conquest because it is being used as a foundation to many different decks. That makes the data about the card difficult to clearly see through. The same list exists in this mode and holds a very strong 68% Win Rate, but it has very few games under its belt.

I think it’s safe to assume that a Good Cards deck that is built around flexibility and standalone power cards is a good one to use in Conquest. There is a chance that Darkhawk does even better than Ronan the Accuser there since the surprise effect will wear off rapidly after a few rounds (and we already know how strong Darkhawk is). If you nail the right tech cards, there should be absolutely no reason for this deck to be disappointing in either mode.

Potential Additions:
Shadow King and other counter cards always have a reason to be considered in the deck, particularly the 4-Cost ones with Zabu already included. You could run Enchantress or Super-Skrull to gain an edge against other Ongoing strategies, and Jessica Jones could represent a nice points inclusion.

With Black Widow now a 3-Cost, I don’t know if you can still include as many 3-Cost cards like Killmonger or Cosmo. Maybe a 1- or 2-Cost would be easier to use, such as Iceman, Spider-Ham, or Armor.

Junk

Junk

Created by den

, updated 4 months ago

0

1x Collection Level 18-214 (Pool 1)

1x Collection Level 222-474 (Pool 2)

5x Collection Level 486+ (Pool 3)

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

3.4

Cost

0-
1
2
3
4
5+

3.3

Power

0-
1
2
3
4
5+

Rank Justification:
Professor X was very annoying for Annihilus because the card being played on the right lane before Annihilus reveals often meant losing it with The Void. Although Professor X hasn’t really regressed so far, Junk was still able to benefit from Loki gaining popularity early after the OTA and Silver Surfer disappearing (which meant less of Killmonger).

Once again, we can see it is the mix with Lockdown that is posting the better numbers with a 0.35 Cube Average and a 59% Win Rate. For comparison, the other list with enough games to compare it is at 0.1 cubes per game and a 52.5% Win Rate. It seems that the Lockdown package makes a huge difference in this deck, even after the OTA.

Conquest Performance:
Junk barely exists in Conquest, and it is posting all sorts of results depending on the build you are playing. Over a significant amount of games, the Lockdown hybrid seems to be the most interesting one to run once again. Unfortunately, Junk is much lower on the list compared to other decks abusing the Lockdown package.

Potential Additions:
You could also consider a different type of disruption package with Stegron and Zabu added to the mix instead of Debrii and Valkyrie.

Loki

Loki Lockdown

Created by den

, updated 4 months ago

1

1x 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)

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

2.9

Cost

0-
1
2
3
4
5+

3.2

Power

0-
1
2
3
4
5+

Rank Justification:
Yet another deck using Professor X and Ms. Marvel together in an otherwise very different synergy. Loki will often have priority going into the second half of the game thanks to being able to spread power around and The Collector typically winning its lane. Then, it will be able to leverage Professor X to protect The Collector from Shang-Chi or a Turn 6 Shadow King, or to protect the 1-Costs from Killmonger.

Similar to Junk, Loki seems to be much stronger with Ms. Marvel, Professor X, and Alioth; this build posted a 0.35 Cube Average and a 57% Win Rate while the other builds didn’t get close to a 55% Win Rate over a large sample. The Werewolf By Night build, in particular, had a very bad showing. It was barely above the 50% Win Rate bar.

Conquest Performance:
Loki has always been a solid contender in Conquest, and it is often the choice of many when it is time to fight for an Infinity avatar. The ability to copy the opponent’s deck not only gives you tons of information for the coming rounds, it also makes it impossible for the opponent to know precisely what it is in your hand going into the late game.

The exact same Lockdown-inspired list posted a 61% Win Rate over several hundred games. But, same as the ranked mode, other builds exist and are doing significantly worse.

Potential Additions:
Agent 13 can replace Mirage, and Shang-Chi is your flexible counter card. Rogue or Armor are able to replace if you picture those having a bigger impact.

Thanos Control

Thanos Control

Created by den

, updated 4 months ago

3

1x Collection Level 18-214 (Pool 1)

3x Collection Level 222-474 (Pool 2)

2x Collection Level 486+ (Pool 3)

5x 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+

Rank Justification:
Although it looks like Thanos Control was the most impacted by the changes to Professor X, the card also remained a staple in that deck. This lead to barely any changes in the list – just a worse overall performance compared to before the OTA.

With a 0.3 Cube Average and a 58% Win Rate, Thanos Control remains a solid deck to play. It can be punished more easily when it goes for an early Professor X, but it can still leverage Jeff the Baby Land Shark and Blue Marvel to help that lane later on. We have already covered a lot of archetypes with Ms. Marvel, though, which will naturally make Thanos‘s go-to play pattern weaker.

I don’t think we should count Thanos out just yet, but the deck sure went from a powerhouse to an archetype in need of adapting to the current environment.

Conquest Performance:
With Nico Minoru instead of Okoye and Devil Dinosaur replacing Aero, Thanos Control remains a solid Conquest archetype that is able to disrupt various strategies. This is on par with all the other Professor X-inspired decks that all posted solid results in Conquest after the OTA.

Once again, the ability to gain information as the match progresses is big for a deck running Professor X, Alioth, and Shang-Chi. As more rounds are played, you should be able to identify which of your counter cards have the most impact and whether you should simply focus on your points output.

Thanos is also able to change several of its cards to fit your play style or popular opponents, but the deck will keep the same core concept. This makes for a great way to make the deck your own and adapt to your understanding of the meta.

Potential Additions:
Devil Dinosaur and Legion also see play as other 5-Cost options. Otherwise, some lists are running Elsa Bloodstone instead of Okoye, and it might be possible to find Enchantress or Rogue making their way in the deck. Or maybe Echo to limit how much Ms. Marvel can hurt the Professor X line of play.

If you don’t like the control play style pushed by Professor X, there is also a much more proactive build of Thanos Blob:

Thanos Control points

Created by den

, updated 4 months ago

0

2x Collection Level 18-214 (Pool 1)

2x 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

3.8

Cost

0-
1
2
3
4
5+

5.3

Power

0-
1
2
3
4
5+

Tier 3

Tier 3 this week doesn’t have much spice to it. Hela Tribunal joined two decks that were already in this position before the OTA. InSheNaut has a shot at a big comeback if Lockdown eventually falls, but that doesn’t seem to be the case yet. Instead, the archetype seems poised to remain a Conquest contender where information about the opponent’s deck gives InSheNaut a lot more to work with.

As for the other two, Hela Tribunal is making its typically post patch comeback since it represents a very simple deck to pick up and play in a chaotic environment. The deck could do well if Alioth wasn’t one of Professor X‘s faithful allies. The purple cloud has the tendency to shut Hela Tribunal down.

As for Ongoing, the deck manages to stay relevant even with that vibe of being a beginner’s deck. Still, it has many tools to do well in the Lockdown metagame. Super-Skrull, Onslaught, and Klaw all give it an edge against Professor X-based decks when it comes to fighting the locked location. Plus, Cosmo is easily able to deny Alioth.

If the deck wasn’t so predictable (Ant Man and Mister Fantastic do not exist in any other deck currently), it might be a sleeper deck against Professor X archetypes specifically.

Hela Tribunal

Hela Tribunal

Created by den

, updated 4 months ago

1

1x Collection Level 18-214 (Pool 1)

1x Collection Level 222-474 (Pool 2)

6x Collection Level 486+ (Pool 3)

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

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

1x Starter Card

4.8

Cost

0-
1
2
3
4
5+

6.3

Power

0-
1
2
3
4
5+

InSheNaut

InSheNaut

Created by den

, updated 4 months ago

1

1x 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)

4x Starter Card

3.3

Cost

0-
1
2
3
4
5+

5.3

Power

0-
1
2
3
4
5+

Ongoing

Ongoing

Created by den

, updated 4 months ago

0

3x Collection Level 1-14

5x Collection Level 18-214 (Pool 1)

1x 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

3.4

Cost

0-
1
2
3
4
5+

3.7

Power

0-
1
2
3
4
5+

Closing Words

The OTA targeted two very strong cards in Marvel Snap – Professor X and Werewolf By Night – and it seems to have impacted both cards very differently so far. Indeed, the now 4-Cost card has lost quite a bit of momentum; it’s only being used in Bounce after it made its way into the Silver Surfer and Loki archetypes. On the other hand, Professor X has remained basically the same it was before the change. It’s still being played in plenty decks and doing greats things in most of them it seems.

The reason for this is where both cards get their strength from. Werewolf By Night is the card you build around, so it can win a lane through sheer power. Even if you used to Snap a lot when you had it in hand, the card could still be countered, and it at least forced you to play a specific kind of play style.

Professor X has specific allies in the game, even if they are mostly generic strong cards like Ms. Marvel, Alioth, and Jeff the Baby Land Shark. The card also doesn’t push your deck towards doing anything specific. Then, it is only logical to see those cards appear in a variety of archetypes. Through that diversity of decks it managed to spread around the game, Professor X was much more likely to remain solid after a nerf because few decks needed those two points of power in the first place.

This could beg the question of a possible rework of the card, or maybe we just need to give it a bit of time and let the community figure out how to adapt. Nonetheless, seeing this many Lockdown packages among the top performers is a bit worrisome, especially after one of the key cards was nerfed.

Let’s see how the situation evolves in the coming days; Professor X is also seeing play in many archetypes that we already knew about, so the environment could be the result of players who are just sticking with their comfort pick.

I hope you are having fun with the game and have found a deck that you can reach your goal with. Feel free to share your impressions or your own brews after the OTA in the comment section.

To reach out, 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.