Marvel Snap Meta Tier List: March 9, 2024 – Hope Summers is Coming for Discard!

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 regularly 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

A new season is always a good moment to take a look at all the decks in the Marvel Snap meta. Indeed, with two new cards added to the game and a typically impactful balance patch, there is often a lot to look out for in a new season.

So far, Hope Summers clearly won the battle of the most impactful release against Pixie. The latter is a very fun card that opens some nice play patterns in certain archetypes (such as Galactus), but the new Season Pass card has made it into more decks and enhances each of their core strategies with more energy.

At the end of last season, we were in quite the Discard dominated meta. After two strong additions in Corvus Glaive and Proxima Midnight (plus some nerfs to the competition), Dracula, Hela, and Apocalypse looked mighty. The Discard synergy is still the strongest one in the game in the first week of Avengers Vs. X-Men, but Hope Summers managed to close the gap a bit. Thanos Lockjaw is making a comeback, as is InSheNaut, and Move has returned to be a competitive archetype.

I’m always careful when it comes to the results of the early season. People trying new things and bots being in the equation both have a big impact on everyone’s results. For example, this is the only time of the season where multiple archetypes break the 60% Win Rate threshold, and some have absurd Cube Averages around 0.9 or even 1. Still, even if this early snapshot is bound to change and almost every deck’s performance will decrease by the time we revisit this report, early season madness is always fun to explore, and it can often be a source of inspiration as well.

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

Discard Dracula

Discard Dracula

Created by den

, updated 2 months ago

1

3x Collection Level 18-214 (Pool 1)

3x Collection Level 222-474 (Pool 2)

3x Collection Level 486+ (Pool 3)

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

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

3.4

Cost

0-
1
2
3
4
5+

4.4

Power

0-
1
2
3
4
5+

Rank Justification:
Discard has always been an incredible archetype for getting to the Infinite rank. It is simple to understand, it doesn’t need you to know a ton about the current meta, and it isn’t so telegraphed that your opponent can easily counter you. Indeed, even if you are effectively just slamming points for six turns, Dracula remains one of the most resilient cards in the game, and both Swarm and Proxima Midnight bring some explosive potential.

With a strong 64% Win Rate – one of the highest ever recorded over several hundred games for this archetype – Discard Dracula is definitely is at its peak right now.

Conquest Performance:
The list used in the Ranked mode did pretty well in Conquest as well. However, a hybrid list that mixes both Apocalypse and Hela did the best and earned the Discard synergy its badge for Conquest in the process.

Discard Conquest

Created by den

, updated 2 months ago

1

1x Collection Level 18-214 (Pool 1)

3x 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)

4.1

Cost

0-
1
2
3
4
5+

6.1

Power

0-
1
2
3
4
5+

Potential Additions:
Colleen Wing, Miek, and Daken are three cards you can slot in the deck if you are missing (or dislike) one of the cards in the featured list.

Move Summers

Move Summers

Created by den

, updated 2 months ago

0

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)

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

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

3

Cost

0-
1
2
3
4
5+

3.8

Power

0-
1
2
3
4
5+

Rank Justification:
Move made a triumphant return to the Tier List with Hope Summers, rekindling its love for abusing cards that require you to play on a certain location. Angela and Elsa Bloodstone are also getting some love after they both disappeared following their nerfs back in late October 2023. So far, the results are great; this list posted a 64% Win Rate over almost 500 games.

The archetype still functions the same way it did back in the day, except the added energy opens many more play patterns and the potential to develop proactively. The points ceiling still feels relatively low compared to Discard and Thanos, but Move still benefits from being super flexible when it comes to locations. Finally, the deck has enough space to include a tech card (typically Alioth or Shang-Chi), which is very important for survival in the long run.

Conquest Performance:
Move struggled a little more in Conquest compared to the Ranked mode. It posted only around a 52% Win Rate. While this seems more on par with what we’re used to from this archetype, it begs the question of where is Move headed in the future since both performances are very different from one another.

Potential Additions:
Shang-Chi or another counter card can replace either 6-Cost card in the deck.

Thanos Lockjaw

Thanos Lockjaw

Created by den

, updated 2 months ago

0

1x 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)

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

4.5

Cost

0-
1
2
3
4
5+

5.8

Power

0-
1
2
3
4
5+

Rank Justification:
While I expected the Control archetype of Thanos to be in the spotlight, it seems like Thanos Lockjaw found a new engine to abuse with Hope Summers. As a result, it immediately returned to a Tier 1 archetype.

This list is very similar to what it used to be, except Hope Summers replaces Wave as a new way to cheat energy for your big cards. Only Shang-Chi is left as a counter option in the deck now, which pushes Thanos Lockjaw to be even more proactive than it was in the past. It is difficult to measure it against Hela or Discard for now, but the deck is at least back in that conversation.

Conquest Performance:
With Jeff the Baby Land Shark slotted instead of Lockjaw, Thanos managed to post a 55% Win Rate in Conquest. Considering the game mode tends to reward disruption more than sheer number of points, there is a strong chance you should throw Leech or Caiera in the deck to bolster its ability to interact with the opponent’s strategy.

Potential Additions:
Wave and Caiera are the other cards you could consider in the deck, typically replacing Mobius M. Mobius if you have no use for it. Leech or Alioth can be included instead of Shang-Chi. Black Swan and Professor X also see play as a duo in the deck, tilting it more towards a disruptive game plan. Leech and Alioth could also be included in that scenario.

Hela Discard

Hela

Created by den

, updated 2 months ago

1

2x Collection Level 18-214 (Pool 1)

2x Collection Level 222-474 (Pool 2)

6x Collection Level 486+ (Pool 3)

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

4.8

Cost

0-
1
2
3
4
5+

8.3

Power

0-
1
2
3
4
5+

Rank Justification:
Hela is a step behind Discard Dracula at the start of this new season, even though the numbers are still great. I would say Hela probably struggles to keep the opponent in the game when things go well, and the randomness contained in the deck can sometimes be a little troll. While an experienced player will be able to achieve great results over a large sample of games, it seems like the more reliable Discard Dracula is the way to go right now.

Compared to the other archetypes, however, Hela is still part of the Marvel Snap crème de la crème, and it should retain that status until it is nerfed or more archetypes are able to match its points.

Conquest Performance:
The list used in the Ranked mode did pretty well in Conquest as well. However, a hybrid list that mixes both Apocalypse and Hela did the best and earned the Discard synergy its badge for Conquest in the process.

Discard Conquest

Created by den

, updated 2 months ago

1

1x Collection Level 18-214 (Pool 1)

3x 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)

4.1

Cost

0-
1
2
3
4
5+

6.1

Power

0-
1
2
3
4
5+

Potential Additions:
Black Knight is a card I would definitely slot in this deck instead of one of the 4-Costs.

Tier 2

Good Cards Black Knight

Good Cards Black Knight

Created by den

, updated 2 months ago

0

2x Collection Level 18-214 (Pool 1)

2x Collection Level 222-474 (Pool 2)

4x Collection Level 486+ (Pool 3)

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

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

3.2

Cost

0-
1
2
3
4
5+

5.5

Power

0-
1
2
3
4
5+

Rank Justification:
If it wasn’t for Mobius M. Mobius gaining popularity as InSheNaut came back into contention, Good Cards Black Knight would have been a Tier 1 deck, which solidifies even more how dominant Discard is in this meta. However, due to Move’s ability to play around Annihilus fairly well (it can clog the right lane and only move its cards on Turn 6), as well as Zabu often being denied by Mobius M. Mobius, the Good Cards synergy will have to deal with a Tier 2 placement.

Black Knight and the Junk package are unlikely to be nerfed in the next patch because they are both outside the very dominant decks. As such, this deck could be on the rise after the balance patch coming on Tuesday.

Conquest Performance:
With the same list, Good Cards Black Knight averaged a 54% Win Rate in Conquest. Spider-Ham, Echo, and other similar disruptive cards have already been discussed in the deck to replace Nico Minoru. Conquest is definitely the mode you want to pack extra disruption if you can.

Potential Additions:
Spider-Ham or another Snap worthy 1-Cost can replace Nico Minoru, while Cull Obsidian and Magneto battle for the last spot in the deck.

Loki

Loki

Created by den

, updated 2 months ago

1

1x Collection Level 18-214 (Pool 1)

1x Collection Level 222-474 (Pool 2)

3x Collection Level 486+ (Pool 3)

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

3x 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+

Rank Justification:
I saw a few players share how they had success after simply throwing Hope Summers in their Loki build, which makes sense. Loki Discard got a nice boost from Corvus Glaive, so it would only make sense to see the Good Cards variant benefit from another 3-Cost with a similar ability.

Apart from this new inclusion, Loki is the same as its always been, and it received its usual popularity boost after the last OTA. Still, even if the Trickster god re-established itself as a solid archetype, it seems unlikely that Loki will be able to reach an elite status until Discard isn’t so dominant because it is one of Loki‘s worst match ups.

Conquest Performance:
While you can cut your losses against Discard in the Ranked mode, Conquest is much more punishing for Loki. With this in mind, Loki was able to post good numbers only when looking at very small sample sizes, which indicates the deck might have a problem if you want to play a full run with it.

Potential Additions:
Iron Lad is the flexible card in the deck, with Gladiator, Morph (yes, Morph), and Hope Summers posting similar results in its place.

Bounce

Bounce

Created by den

, updated 2 months ago

0

1x Collection Level 222-474 (Pool 2)

4x Collection Level 486+ (Pool 3)

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

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

2.9

Cost

0-
1
2
3
4
5+

3.6

Power

0-
1
2
3
4
5+

Rank Justification:
Bounce has been pretty quiet lately after a nice run of dominance around the middle of last season. With Hope Summers added to the mix, the archetype has picked up a bit of momentum. The 3-Cost feels absolutely perfect for mitigating the damage of not drawing Zabu early.

The extra energy gained had so much impact that Bounce started to run some 6-Cost cards like Alioth in the featured list. The new 3-Cost has opened a new form of explosivity for Bounce, which can now be a little slower to develop but still packs a great punch in the later turns. Plus, it also gives Bounce more resilience against Mobius M. Mobius. That card is typically a problem for a deck based on Zabu, Beast, and sometimes Black Swan.

Conquest Performance:
Bounce didn’t have much data to look at in Conquest. The exact same list as the one featured above manage to post a great 65% Win Rate, but the sample size isn’t even 50 games. As such, I can’t really give a proper assessment of the archetype in that mode, even though Good Cards concepts have historically been solid in Conquest.

Potential Additions:
Valkyrie can replace Alioth, and Spider-Ham feels like the most flexible 1-Cost if you want to include another one. Still, the little pig is currently very valuable with great targets in most discard builds.

Bounce also has a completely different way to be built:

Bounce

Created by den

, updated 2 months ago

0

1x Collection Level 18-214 (Pool 1)

1x Collection Level 222-474 (Pool 2)

5x Collection Level 486+ (Pool 3)

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

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

1x Starter Card

2.3

Cost

0-
1
2
3
4
5+

1.7

Power

0-
1
2
3
4
5+

InSheNaut

InSheNaut

Created by den

, updated 2 months ago

0

4x 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

3.4

Cost

0-
1
2
3
4
5+

5.5

Power

0-
1
2
3
4
5+

Rank Justification:
Similar to what happened when Caiera released, there was a lot of buzz around InSheNaut and its ability to abuse Hope Summers. The hype wasn’t undeserved; the possibility of using the Season Pass card instead of Magik finally solved the Limbo problem for the deck that cost it so many cubes. However, Mobius M. Mobius came around and quickly reminded everyone he is the real menace for She-Hulk.

InSheNaut has clearly improved with the new season, but it hasn’t solved every issue it’s had in the past, either.

Conquest Performance:
Considering the deck was already at its best in Conquest and the deck received a nice boost this week, it is no surprise to see InSheNaut receive its Good in Conquest badge. There’s only one difference to note compared to the Ranked list: Cosmo and Armor were preferred to Wasp and Shang-Chi.

Potential Additions:
Shang-Chi and Shocker are the flexible cards in the deck, with Rogue making a lot of sense to fight against Mobius M. Mobius.

Otherwise, you can also give Pixie a shot.

Evolved Pixie

Created by den

, updated 2 months ago

0

3x Collection Level 222-474 (Pool 2)

2x Collection Level 486+ (Pool 3)

3x 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+

Galactus Junk

Galactus Junk

Created by den

, updated 2 months ago

0

2x Collection Level 222-474 (Pool 2)

4x Collection Level 486+ (Pool 3)

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

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

3.5

Cost

0-
1
2
3
4
5+

2.4

Power

0-
1
2
3
4
5+

Rank Justification:
Another archetype that gladly welcomed Hope Summers to accelerate its synergies, Galactus Junk took out Wave and slotted the new Season Pass card instead. Game play wise, it doesn’t make much of a difference, but Hope Summers fits so well with what the deck is already trying to accomplish that the inclusion just felt natural.

So far, it has not translated into incredible results for Galactus, even if the archetype managed to climb back into Tier 2. However, with a meta looking more and more like a battle for points, there is a chance that disruption could eventually be the way to punish all the self-centered decks.

Conquest Performance:
There wasn’t much data about the classic build of Galactus Junk in Conquest, but the deck tends to rely on a bit of surprise to function at its best. However, over 200 games were played with the Pixie build you can find below, and that one did really bad. Like, less than 40% Win Rate bad.

Potential Additions:
A nice build with Pixie also emerged if you enjoy a more high-roll based play style.

Pixilactus

Created by den

, updated 2 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)

3.5

Cost

0-
1
2
3
4
5+

2.1

Power

0-
1
2
3
4
5+

Tier 3

Tier 3 has a bit of everything this week with some Control, Ramp, and Combo strategies. Mostly, the lesson to take from these decks is their need for a certain play pattern to happen, and they can also be easily disrupted.

Sera will struggle as soon as Mobius M. Mobius hits the board, and Negative Tribunal hates Enchantress with a burning passion. Corvus Ramp is probably the hardest one to stop from the opposing point of view, but the deck can often lose to itself if it can’t find its signature 3-Cost early on.

Overall, any of these decks can get you to infinite. They are actually great to play considering bots are clueless against their strategy. However, once you enter the real game, these three are good, but a little fragile to be sitting at the adult’s table.

Sera Control

Sera Control

Created by den

, updated 2 months ago

1

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+

Corvus Ramp

Corvus Ramp

Created by den

, updated 2 months ago

1

1x Collection Level 1-14

1x Collection Level 18-214 (Pool 1)

3x Collection Level 222-474 (Pool 2)

6x Collection Level 486+ (Pool 3)

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

4.8

Cost

0-
1
2
3
4
5+

7.3

Power

0-
1
2
3
4
5+

Negative Tribunal

Negative Tribunal

Created by den

, updated 2 months ago

1

1x Collection Level 18-214 (Pool 1)

1x Collection Level 222-474 (Pool 2)

5x Collection Level 486+ (Pool 3)

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

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

1x Recruit Season

1x Starter Card

4.1

Cost

0-
1
2
3
4
5+

2.8

Power

0-
1
2
3
4
5+

Closing Words

The next balance patch is planned for Tuesday, and I can’t imagine Discard not being impacted one way or another. The synergy has many great cards to build around, so the patch might target only one of them, or just focus a card involved in both Hela and Apocalypse decks. Similarly, it seems like Hope Summers has been a great replacement to Lockjaw for Thanos. The Control version took over last week, but the Lockjaw build came back swinging in the new season. Finally, there seems to be no way to prevent Zabu from pushing at least two to three different decks in Marvel Snap – a nerf-worthy trait for many in the community.

There really is no way to know how big the new patch will be, but I’m for sure excited to see what will be in it. Of course, it will be my pleasure to break it down in an article on this very website and explore everything about it in a future report as well.

Until then, 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.