Marvel Snap Meta Tier List: January 22, 2024 – The Meta is a HOT MESS

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

Marvel Snap always has a best deck that racks up more cubes than the rest. Sometimes, there is a big margin and little question as to which is that best deck, such as Thanos Lockjaw before the OTA on Thursday. Other times, the gap is so small that it actually feels wrong to say one deck is “the best”… which is the case right now. Destroy leads the pack since the archetype posted the best combination of Cube Average and Win Ratio. However, Destroy did this by being in first for Cube Average (the metric used to rank decks in this report) and posting the second best Win Rate. We are pretty far from the the usual dominant Marvel Snap deck with a 60% Win Rate and 0.6 Cube Average, the combination of which would be enough to make me consider creating a Tier S for that deck alone.

I’m not saying I regret not having an absolute best deck; I actually like a meta where a lot of decks feel playable and you can even try to create a home brew to climb. I know this can be difficult to navigate since nothing feels particularly powerful and a bad run can make you think your go-to deck isn’t good anymore. However, I like to see the exact opposite situation where you don’t have to build your deck for a single purpose (i.e. to be strong into a specific archetype to have a shot at climbing).

Those metas typically follow a pretty cyclic development. First, proactive archetypes will dominate since their ability to focus on themselves gives them an edge early on. Then, some of those proactive archetypes will start losing momentum, either because one got popular enough to be worth targeting or simply because the better ones will naturally push out those with a little less points or a glaring weakness. For example, I wouldn’t be surprised to see Ongoing Tribunal fall in that category; the deck is off to a similar start as it had in the last meta, but we can already see how running Cosmo makes a huge difference for the deck. It shows that the archetype cannot simply do its thing and hope to get away with it.

The last step of this loop is for a deck to take over as time passes – or disruptive cards will slowly gain importance. In the first case, the meta will revolve around a specific deck, just like we had before the OTA. The second case, however, will push for more diversity, but similar cards should see play inside that diversity (like when the Good Cards archetype has several lists doing well).

So far, it looks like the second option is the likeliest, but there is also a chance the meta won’t develop fast enough to get to a solved staged before a new card pushes it in a new direction or the next balance update comes around. With the break in the upcoming week, it seems like that task will fall to Grand Master.

We’ll have to wait a bit to see if the next card to release will be able to shake things up. Until then, let’s take a look at what the Marvel Snap meta looks like after the OTA.

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

Deadpool Destroy

Deadpool Destroy

Created by den

, updated 3 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:
For the past six or so months, Destroy has been fighting to be considered elite, but it has fallen short more often than not. However, the deck got a lot of praise for being one of the few that could exist in the Thanos Lockjaw meta we just experienced, which means Destroy was atop the list of many players looking for something to play after the OTA. It seems like part of the community was rewarded for their choice, as Destroy posted the highest Cube Average alongside Good Cards Black Knight, 0.4, and it had a slightly better Win Rate to boot. So far, there doesn’t seem to have been any sort of adaptation against Deadpool and company since the meta features a variety of decks. As long as the environment remains in this state, there is no reason to think Destroy will be anything less than a great archetype.

There is really nothing new for Destroy in the way it plays. We still have the same ten cards serving as the deck’s foundation, with Hulkbuster and Arnim Zola being the flexible ones. I checked this deck two days ago and Alioth alongside Deathlok were the best performing cards in that slot. It seems that Destroy can be played with a couple of cards adapting to either your popular opponents or your preferred play style.

Conquest Performance:
If the Ranked mode is a pretty close battle, Destroy is clearly the best archetype in Conquest. It is the only one that managed to post a global Win Rate above the 60% threshold over a large sample of games. The lists used are very similar to the ones used in Ranked, except for Shang-Chi (which sees more play in Conquest).

I would assume the fairly aggressive Snap strategy Destroy can use in Conquest helps a lot in an open meta. Indeed, you can Snap right out of the gate in game one as long as you have the right hand for it, which can put you in the lead for the rest of the match. Sure, Destroy has the downside of not really abusing much of the information it gains about the opponent from one round to the next, but with a lot of decks still searching for their best list this doesn’t seem to be an issue so far.

Potential Additions:
Taskmaster, Deathlok, and Alioth are the three cards you should routinely see used in the Destroy archetype’s flexible slots.

Good Cards Black Knight

Good Cards Black Knight

Created by den

, updated 3 months ago

1

2x 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)

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

3.4

Cost

0-
1
2
3
4
5+

5.5

Power

0-
1
2
3
4
5+

Rank Justification:
As the other deck able to achieve a 0.4 Cube Average since the OTA, Good Cards Black Knight hasn’t changed anything in this new meta. Instead, it relies on its ability to develop a lot of points. Even though the Cube Average was solid – a normal feat for a deck able to Snap aggressively when its hands allows you to build a 12 or 20 power Ebony Blade early in the match – the Win Rate is a little more alarming. Indeed, if 54% is on par with most other decks since the patch, you could have expected more from a deck that is using the exact same list as it was before the update. Compared to the rest of the dominant decks (Destroy, Discard, and Lockdown), Good Cards Black Knight had the lowest Win Rate of the bunch, but the gap isn’t that big yet.

It’s a solid first week, but this archetype definitely has a bit to work on going forward.

Conquest Performance:
Rocking the same list in Conquest (with a bit of Rogue included in the mix), Black Knight still doesn’t feel able to be a very good Conquest deck. Before the OTA, the deck was hovering the 55% Win Rate mark, and it hasn’t improved that score with the OTA. I would assume the deck is too easy to figure out from the opposing point of view, which greatly limits how much Good Cards Black Knight can get away with. For example, let’s compare it with Destroy: both decks are proactive, but it is much more difficult to figure out exactly how many points Destroy will put out, as well as the location those points will be in. When it comes to Black Knight, however, you know precisely how many points you have to beat since you saw the discard happen, and the deck doesn’t have that many cards it can run to surprise its opponents, either.

Potential Additions:
Caiera and Jeff the Baby Land Shark are the two flexible cards here, with other strong standalone usually replacing them depending on your goal. Rogue, Quake, Shadow King, Mobius M. Mobius, and Skaar are among the commonly used cards.

Tier 2

Lockdown

Lockdown

Created by den

, updated 3 months ago

1

1x Collection Level 1-14

3x 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+

4.2

Power

0-
1
2
3
4
5+

Rank Justification:
Lockdown was high on my list of decks able to take over if Thanos Lockjaw fell with the OTA. Third isn’t bad, but Lockdown did perform worse compared to last week. A 0.36 Cube Average and 55% Win Rate are both a little lower than the numbers in the last report. If we compare with Destroy, for example, Deadpool adapted much quicker to the changes, which is probably due to its ability to focus on its own agenda a bit more.

I would explain this slightly worse showing for Lockdown as the deck needing to know how the opponent operates, which is much harder to figure out after an impactful balance change compared to an established meta. Then, the worse performance could also be seen as Lockdown’s ability to work in a difficult environment, and it should only improve as the archetype figures out which other decks are popular and how they operate.

Conquest Performance:
One of the few decks able to challenge Destroy in Conquest, Lockdown also lost a bit of Win Rate in that mode compared to before the OTA – probably for the same reasons it did in Ranked. The list is the exact same with only Medusa feeling flexible. Other 2-Costs can replace it depending on which direction you want to push the deck towards.

In this very proactive meta, I would have expected Lockdown to do very well in Conquest because you should know almost everything about your opponent’s strategy after a few rounds. So far, this benefit doesn’t really show in the deck’s performance, but I’m sure Lockdown has the potential to be a great deck.

Potential Additions:
Quake is a popular replacement for Medusa in the deck, while the Annihilus package also sees play. However, the trio of Sentry, The Hood, and Annihilus have been struggling a bit with Destroy featured among the very popular decks right now.

Discard Dracula

Discard Dracula

Created by den

, updated 3 months ago

1

4x Collection Level 18-214 (Pool 1)

2x Collection Level 222-474 (Pool 2)

3x Collection Level 486+ (Pool 3)

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

2.8

Cost

0-
1
2
3
4
5+

3.3

Power

0-
1
2
3
4
5+

Rank Justification:
Miek had the community split, and most opinions I saw did not believe Discard Dracula could make a comeback with just that new 1-Cost card. Well, apparently, with a new card and an impactful balance update, it was possible for Discard Dracula to come back in the meta, and it posted the best Win Rate over several hundreds of games since the patch. At 57%, the archetype isn’t far ahead of anyone else, but seeing a deck that was completely left for dead for at least the last three months return to the top five has to mean something.

Yes, Discard Dracula has a lot of positive environmental traits going for it. It is a proactive deck right after a big update, and most people already know how to play it since it is one of the oldest decks in the game. Plus, with the little respect it got and other decks being in the spotlight, Discard Dracula had a perfect situation to post a solid performance. Now the deck has to confirm this strong start to convince more players it can be a part of the next meta.

Conquest Performance:
Discard Dracula was in the group of decks chasing Destroy in Conquest, alongside Lockdown, Hela Lockjaw, and Pure Evolutionary with a 59% Win Rate. However, while the other decks all had the same list in both modes (usually the way it goes early after an update), Discard was rocking a different list that was pushed by Miek being the new release. This list boosted Discard to be popular enough to have many players share their insights on the archetype:

Discard Conquest

Created by den

, updated 3 months ago

1

3x Collection Level 18-214 (Pool 1)

3x Collection Level 222-474 (Pool 2)

4x Collection Level 486+ (Pool 3)

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

3.2

Cost

0-
1
2
3
4
5+

4.2

Power

0-
1
2
3
4
5+

Potential Additions:
A lot of other lists around the archetype have existed this week, but most would have ranked in Tier 3 instead of high Tier 2. Those usually include The Collector and Helicarrier together, or Silver Samurai and Wong to push the deck in a different direction.

Thanos Control

Thanos Control

Created by den

, updated 3 months ago

1

2x Collection Level 18-214 (Pool 1)

2x 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

4.7

Cost

0-
1
2
3
4
5+

4.8

Power

0-
1
2
3
4
5+

Rank Justification:
I expected this deck to suffer the most from the Blob change because that card represented a large part of how the deck developed enough points to be a threat. But, looking at how big of a dive Thanos Lockjaw took while the Control archetype is still fighting for a top five placement, I must admit I was wrong. Nothing has changed in the list since the OTA; the deck is still looking to capitalize on Professor X to secure a lane early, and then it can rely on Devil Dinosaur, Vision, or Magneto to develop points on the others.

With decks that are rather slow to develop currently at the top of the rankings, Professor X looks to be in a good place. Cards like Shang-Chi and Alioth remain very powerful as well (as they usually are). Then, even if the proactive potential of Thanos Control is naturally worse – which is why the deck is in the middle of Tier 2 rather than high in Tier 1 – the 0.35 Cube Average and 55% Win Rate are solid at the very least. As such, Thanos still looks to be a solid foundation for a deck in Marvel Snap, and it should remain a part of the forming meta in the near future.

Conquest Performance:
Thanos Control did pretty poorly in Conquest; its best performing list posted about a 51% Win Rate, which is the worst performance of any Tier 1 or Tier 2 deck. Typically, disruptive archetypes tend to do better in Conquest because they can incorporate the knowledge about their opponent in their strategy. Considering Thanos Control is very proactive in the way it operates by looking to land a Professor X more than anything else, it is highly possible that the information gathered actually works against Thanos Control. The opponent can adapt to limit how annoying Professor X will be going into the future rounds.

Sera Control

Sera Control

Created by den

, updated 3 months ago

0

1x Collection Level 18-214 (Pool 1)

2x Collection Level 222-474 (Pool 2)

3x Collection Level 486+ (Pool 3)

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

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

3.3

Cost

0-
1
2
3
4
5+

4.3

Power

0-
1
2
3
4
5+

Rank Justification:
A long time Silent Performer in the previous meta, Sera Control gained a lot of popularity with the OTA. This is the logical aftermath of many players looking for a new deck to play as Thanos Lockjaw didn’t feel like an option anymore. Typically, purely reactive decks tend to do fairly bad early after an update since finding the right balance can be difficult when you don’t really know which opponents you are supposed to counter. However, because Sera Control plays just about every disruptive card available in the game with Mobius M. Mobius, Shang-Chi, Enchantress, Killmonger, Shadow King, and Legion in the deck, one or two of those are bound to work against any opponent.

So far, the deck only posted a 0.3 Cube Average, which isn’t particularly noteworthy. But it holds a solid 55% Win Rate, and that is quite high for a deck in this early meta. If Sera Control was to gain momentum once it figures out exactly how to build and play for the forming meta, the archetype might be much higher in the rankings in our next report.

Conquest Performance:
Sera Control earned its stripes in Conquest during the last meta, so I was surprised to barely see the deck appear in the data this time around. The same list used in Ranked has managed to post a 60% Win Rate, but it has very few games to it. Another one that uses Lizard instead of Jeff the Baby Land Shark is doing much worse at 55%.

Considering the deck’s history, I think it is safe to say Sera Control is likely to be a solid Conquest deck, but it has been experimented with more in Ranked since the OTA.

Potential Additions:
Another way to build the deck also posted some solid results over the last few days:

Sera Control Wide

Created by den

, updated 3 months ago

0

1x Collection Level 18-214 (Pool 1)

2x Collection Level 222-474 (Pool 2)

6x Collection Level 486+ (Pool 3)

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

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

2.8

Cost

0-
1
2
3
4
5+

3.8

Power

0-
1
2
3
4
5+

Ongoing Tribunal

Ongoing Tribunal

Created by den

, updated 3 months ago

1

2x 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)

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

1x Starter Card

3.9

Cost

0-
1
2
3
4
5+

3.5

Power

0-
1
2
3
4
5+

Rank Justification:
Proactive decks always do pretty well after a meaningful balance patch because they need less information about the meta compared to reactive or disruptive archetypes. In that regard, Ongoing Tribunal is as good as it gets, with very little regard for the opposing strategy as long as it can develop its own. Cosmo serves as the sole protective measure for the deck, and that inclusion makes the deck much stronger compared to another ramp tool like Wave.

Early after a patch, it isn’t much of a surprise to see the deck do so well – although a 0.3 Cube Average and 55% Win Rate isn’t that stellar. The question for Ongoing Tribunal should be whether the deck will be able to maintain that performance, or will it it slowly disappear as better strategies emerge and disruptive cards make their way back in the meta.

Conquest Performance:
Similar to Good Cards Black Knight, Ongoing Tribunal appears to be too predictable to dominate in Conquest, and the Win Rate below 55% doesn’t look too good. There is a chance that a very aggressive Snap strategy could work – especially if you can get in the lead during the early rounds while the opponent still doesn’t know what your strategy is. However, if you plan on playing this deck the same way you would to climb the Ladder (meaning you only Snap your good hands and accept the one cube otherwise), you will probably give your opponent too much freedom to stand a chance over the numerous matches to go through the whole Conquest gauntlet.

Potential Additions:
Psylocke is an option instead of Zabu to ramp on a specific turn rather than for specific cards. Otherwise, Sera is sometimes removed to include a tech card, such as Super-Skrull for the mirror match.

Tier 3

Eight decks is the most we have ever had in Tier 3, which goes to show just how many decks are being played right now (and might need some refinement). For this first report after the OTA, we could split this Tier into two categories. The first four (Junk, Shuri Sauron, Pure Evo, and Hela Lockjaw) are pretty close to making it into Tier 2, but they lack a bit in the Cube Average department. Junk in particular holds a 56% Win Rate, one of the highest right now, but it is very limited by the terrible match up it has against Destroy.

If we look at the list, all those archetypes existed before the OTA, and it might be puzzling to see some of them so low on the list. The bottom four can easily be pictured as Tier 2 decks if you look at social media, but the Cube Average was particularly bad for InSheNaut, Loki, Darkhawk, and Thanos Lockjaw (even though their Win Rates could have allowed them to compete with decks in the higher tiers). If you think about it, all these decks could compete with Destroy in the past and only Thanos Lockjaw was nerfed, so it makes little sense to see Destroy top the rankings while these sit at the bottom of the list.

There are a few reasons that might explain this difference in Cube Averages. First, these decks rely on well known play patterns, and they are unlikely to keep the opponent in the game unless they have an answer. If you look at the decks topping the rankings, they are either built around early Snaps (Destroy, Black Knight, Thanos Control, Lockdown) or can react to the opponent to turn a game around (Sera Control). Discard could be seen as the anomaly there, but it benefited from being relatively disrespected. Then, the decks in Tier 3 that tend to be more flexible could be Snapping too late, waiting for more information before they pull the trigger. In the past, most of the decks ranked in Tier 3 today relied on a high Win Rate to be dominant, and then they could build Cube Average. With an OTA reshuffling the cards for a lot of decks, no archetype could really separate from the pack in the Win Rate category, which means the ones able to Snap more aggressively did better.

Apart from Thanos Lockjaw (which only looks like a shadow of its old self so far), I wouldn’t read too much into the rankings of Loki, Darkhawk, and InSheNaut – especially if you know the deck’s intricacies since that should allow you to Snap earlier in games.

Another reason to explain the struggles of these archetypes is the various ways to build around them. If you look at Destroy, Lockdown, and Good Cards Black Knight, these archetypes have one list with two or maybe three flexible cards that can be replaced to fit the environment or a player’s collection. Naturally, this will make those decks reach their peak performance much faster than a deck like Loki, which has been struggling to find an ideal list since its nerf, or like Good Cards Darkhawk, which heavily relies on finding the right disruptive cards to round out the deck. Sure, this excuse doesn’t really work for InSheNaut or Hela Lockjaw since these two tend to feature the same list over time, but maybe these decks should change their Snap strategy. Also, I wouldn’t be surprised to see InSheNaut rise if Destroy continues to be so good since the deck can play Armor better than anyone else.

As said in the intro, I don’t think we have a clear cut best deck right now. The rankings reflect what is happening over large sample sizes, but I wouldn’t blink if someone found success with any of these archetypes in the current environment.

Junk

Junk

Created by den

, updated 3 months ago

0

2x Collection Level 222-474 (Pool 2)

3x Collection Level 486+ (Pool 3)

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

6x Series 5 Ultra Rare – Collection Level 486+ (Pool 5)

3.3

Cost

0-
1
2
3
4
5+

2.3

Power

0-
1
2
3
4
5+

Shuri Sauron

Shuri Sauron

Created by den

, updated 3 months ago

1

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)

3.5

Cost

0-
1
2
3
4
5+

5.8

Power

0-
1
2
3
4
5+

Pure Evolutionary

Pure Evolutionary

Created by den

, updated 3 months ago

1

1x Collection Level 18-214 (Pool 1)

3x Collection Level 222-474 (Pool 2)

1x Collection Level 486+ (Pool 3)

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

6x Starter Card

3.3

Cost

0-
1
2
3
4
5+

4.6

Power

0-
1
2
3
4
5+

Hela Lockjaw

Hela Lockjaw

Created by den

, updated 3 months ago

1

2x Collection Level 18-214 (Pool 1)

2x Collection Level 222-474 (Pool 2)

6x Collection Level 486+ (Pool 3)

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

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

4.3

Cost

0-
1
2
3
4
5+

6.8

Power

0-
1
2
3
4
5+

Thanos Lockjaw

Thanos Lockjaw

Created by den

, updated 3 months ago

1

3x Collection Level 222-474 (Pool 2)

5x Collection Level 486+ (Pool 3)

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

4.6

Cost

0-
1
2
3
4
5+

7.3

Power

0-
1
2
3
4
5+

Good Cards Darkhawk

Good Cards Darkhawk

Created by den

, updated 3 months ago

0

1x Collection Level 18-214 (Pool 1)

2x Collection Level 222-474 (Pool 2)

4x Collection Level 486+ (Pool 3)

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

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

3.4

Cost

0-
1
2
3
4
5+

3.4

Power

0-
1
2
3
4
5+

InSheNaut

InSheNaut

Created by den

, updated 3 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+

Loki

Loki

Created by den

, updated 3 months ago

1

1x Collection Level 18-214 (Pool 1)

1x Collection Level 222-474 (Pool 2)

4x Collection Level 486+ (Pool 3)

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

3x 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+

Closing Words

The meta is still very new, even a few days after the OTA, and it is clearly anyone’s game. The proactive decks have taken the lead, but none of them look particularly dominant with only Destroy feeling ahead of the rest. However, with Discard being the most popular deck and Caiera being regarded as a much stronger card than Armor in most decks, I doubt we will see a particular counter strategy develop soon. Instead, I would guess cards like Shadow King or Valkyrie might have more appeal since they can serve against Destroy as well as other match ups, while Armor would only help against Shang-Chi at the cost of stopping your own on that location as well.

I think the next set of changes in the meta will likely be the amount of decks played. The proactive ones will likely focus on a better potential or the most flexible builds, while reactive strategies will gravitate towards certain counter cards. It is difficult to figure out how much of an impact Grand Master will have; I could see Cosmo becoming a good disruptive card already, and it might ruin the new card’s release party.

If your goal is to climb the Ladder right now, the answer has to be in the small details. There are plenty of archetypes that are able to rack up cubes, but you can’t be passive with your Snap strategy. Indeed, in a diverse meta that will keep your Win Rate around the 50% mark (since there are too many different match ups to really counter anything), the key is to open as many Snap opportunities as possible. This can be done through a very strong pattern you are confident will win you the game when you draw into it, global disruptive cards to annoy several decks at once, or a way to abuse certain locations. This isn’t necessarily a simple situation to navigate, though, because you won’t always be rewarded for the stand you decided on. Still, with such a small gap when looking at the difference in the performance of most archetypes, the way to rank up right now lies in maximizing your strengths as a player.

I saw plenty of players share their struggles on social media, stating they can’t find a deck to climb reliably in this new meta. Maybe there simply isn’t one right now and it is up to each player to figure out how they can get an edge based on their own skill set.

May you find success in that search for the perfect deck and have fun doing so! As usual, find me on the Marvel Snap Zone community Discord for any questions, or follow my Twitter page where I share decks and biased opinions about the game.

Good Game Everyone.