Marvel Snap Metagame Tier List, January 30th, 2023: Savage Land Week 4 – Pre-Series Drop and Balance Patch Impact!

Hi everyone! Welcome to our latest Marvel Snap Meta Tier List, where I take a look at the current state of the game and rank the most popular decks by breaking down their strengths in the current metagame.

In order to be featured here, a deck needs to represent at least 1% of the current environment and have a positive cube average using data from our Marvel Snap Tracker. If a deck showed great performances with a very limited presence in the metagame, you can find it in the new “Silent Performers” section. There, I will highlight decks with an excellent cube per game ratio but too little of a sample size to be representative of their real strength. These builds can either be decks on the decline popularity wise, such as Negative Surfer (largely eclipsed by Sera Surfer this season) or unpopular decks due to the cards they include or the gameplay they push for, such as Thanos Zoo. Lastly, it can be a rising deck that I want to know more about before trying to rank it amongst the other popular decks, as is the case for Electro Wong On Reveal this week.

Decks that aren’t good enough to be considered contenders but have a good representation will be ranked in Tier 4 in our chart and won’t have their own dedicated write-up. See Tier 4 as decks that are good to know about, as you should face those when playing Marvel Snap. However, unless the metagame changes or a new variation of the build emerges, these decks aren’t noteworthy picks at the moment.

This week was quite disappointing to be honest, as Zabu seems to have clearly taken over Marvel Snap at either above or below the Infinite rank. Considering how dominant those decks seem to be, I could theoretically have a Zabu decks only Tier 1 this week. It might have taken almost an entire month, but the community seems to have figured out that Zabu on turn three is almost always a Snap and there is no reason to risk it when not drawing your signature card. With this very simple principle, it is quite hard to lose cubes using a Zabu archetype, apart from the fact you should face exactly that most of the time. Indeed, Zabu represents at least 40% of the metagame according to our Tracker, both in the 80 to 99 range and once one reaches the Infinite rank. Zabu Darkhawk and ZabuCula combine to represent around 30%, while the Devil Dinosaur variant is the fastest growing deck in the game and already posts an above 10% popularity.

Obviously, our Tracker only represents a part of the player base and cannot tell the whole story. Nevertheless, if you talk with other players or take a look at social media, you should see Zabu in most conversations and decks. Silver Surfer, Galactus and Death are still very popular as well, all of those being amongst the most popular archetypes. Yet, none of these cards, or their archetype, reach even half of what Zabu currently represents overall.

This leads to a metagame that hasn’t moved much in the past week, with the most notable change being the pairing of Zabu and Devil Dinosaur to create the Zabu Handsize archetype. The deck combines the strengths of the Devil Dinosaur Good Cards deck and a Zabu package together. It doesn’t take a veteran player to figure out that pairing a very strong deck with the strongest card in the game nets great results. Logically, it propelled Devil Dinosaur and Moon Girl back to Tier 1 while giving Zabu yet another archetype to brag about.

So what can be done about it? To be transparent, I am not sure yet. The explosivity in the second part of the game that Zabu unlocks feels impossible to match. Electro, Lockjaw, Mister Negative, Silver Surfer or Patriot, all these cards still represent good win conditions in Marvel Snap. Yet, even with the perfect hand, it is hard to not look at that retreat button when the opponent snaps on turn 2 or 3, and we know for sure it means Zabu is hitting the board.

As for the counters, Enchantress, Sandman, and other cards able to impair Zabu feel too slow coming down on turn four, as the opponent managed to play two cards already and is ahead now. Especially against the Devil Dinosaur variant since it is able to keep going with only one card played on turn five and six. Overall, it feels like early disruption might be the best course of action for now, for example Iceman hitting Zabu or Black Widow preventing its draw.

This intro isn’t very joyful, I admit, but part of reporting what is happening in the game on a weekly basis means going through those kinds of weeks. Nevertheless, we are getting a balance patch very soon, so hopefully these rankings will change. Until then, we are going to use this tier list to take a look at how the patch could change the complexity of the metagame. Instead of the usual rank justification, then, we will take a look at how the patch might affect those decks.

Marvel Snap Meta Tier List

Silent Performers of the Week

Our silent performers of the week have not changed since, just as the rest of the metagame, not much happened this week in Marvel Snap. The patch could change a lot of things though, and if it could sign the end of Negative Surfer in case of a nerf to its signature card, I expect Thanos Zoo and Electro Ramp to gain a lot.

Thanos already performs quite well, and Thanos is a card that most people who decided to get it from the store are eager to play. The deck could suffer from a return of Baero as a very strong deck, Killmonger being a natural predator to the deck, but that will depend a lot on whether Armor is nerfed or not. Otherwise, Sera Surfer already plays Killmonger, so this deck reducing in popularity would be great news.

As for Electro, the card or the archetypes it pushes, it’s very simple to use and often represent a comfort pick for many players when not sure about what to play. Therefore, I can easily picture the deck gaining a ton of popularity right after the patch and becoming an early contender thanks to its simple play patterns and easy-to-grasp concepts.

Tier Explanation

Tier 1

Zabu Darkhawk

Zabu Darkhawk

Created by den

, updated 8 months ago

13

5x Collection Level 18-214 (Pool 1)

1x 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+

3.2

Power

0-
1
2
3
4
5+

Rank Justification: Just like it will be the case for any Zabu deck, if the battle pass card is impacted, the deck will obviously suffer a big blow. This one is a little different, though, as Darkhawk is another popular inclusion in the nerfs discussion. For what it’s worth, I have never seen Darkhawk in a deck without Zabu, and considering the amount of Zabu decks currently, I don’t think much would change if Darkhawk alone was impacted. At worst, this particular archetype would fall, only to be replaced by other Zabu archetypes.

Overall, it will probably be the most impacted deck amongst the Zabu archetype, the question is whether it will be from Zabu directly or a card benefiting from it.

How to play: Just like any Zabu deck, the idea of the build is to go crazy as most of our cards cost half of their real value. Thanks to this discount, the deck is very flexible and can hide its true potential until the last turn of the game. Darkhawk and Devil Dinosaur should carry the load when it comes to points, with Mystique able to copy either card’s ability. Ideally, we would look to shuffle Rocks and disrupt on turn four, develop Devil Dinosaur on five, and go all-in with Darkhawk, Mystique on turn six.

As for the utility cards, the trick is to play them so they can have an impact down the line, but not close any of our options early on. It can either be to help Darkhawk or Devil Dinosaur win their contested lane, or represent something the opponent has to beat on a lane we didn’t plan on fighting tooth and nail for. Note that Rockslide and White Queen can still represent a good amount of points each, even if they are labelled as support cards.

There aren’t any precise play patterns with the deck, as we are extremely flexible once Zabu is in play. Depending on your hand, you can show your Darkhawk and Devil Dinosaur early on and grow them on turn six, or do the opposite with support cards first and the big haymakers on turn five and six. If you don’t find Zabu, you aren’t guaranteed to lose as Devil Dinosaur is still a very solid anchor to a lane. Nonetheless, I would be very careful with how you play the game and if Snapping is a good idea.

Potential additions: With several archetypes around Zabu currently, the other builds represent the various addition that could be made in the deck.

Outside the usual 4-Cost cards, this deck is keen on welcoming other strong ongoing effects for Mystique to copy. You can also replace Armor if you don’t fear Shang-Chi on your Darkhawk. Otherwise, the problem usually is not having Darkhawk, and there are other builds to explore in that case.

Zabu Handsize 🆕

Zabu Handsize

Created by den

, updated 8 months ago

14

3x Collection Level 18-214 (Pool 1)

2x Collection Level 222-474 (Pool 2)

5x Collection Level 486+ (Pool 3)

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

1x Starter Card

3.3

Cost

0-
1
2
3
4
5+

3.7

Power

0-
1
2
3
4
5+

Rank Justification: Although this is the latest Zabu deck to emerge, Devil Dinosaur is establishing itself as the best complementary win condition in the game currently. It helps a ton that both White Queen and Moon Girl are 4-cost cards, but I don’t think these two need to be changed if Zabu is tuned down a bit.

A power loss for Devil Dinosaur wouldn’t come as a shocker, especially now that Agent Coulson gained some popularity and established itself as the staple 3-cost in the Handsize package. We now have a very stable turn one (Agent 13), two (Sentinel), three (Agent Coulson), four (Moon Girl, White Queen), and five (Devil Dinosaur) forming a group of six cards that can be slotted as a complement to almost any strategy with enough space available. Currently, I don’t think there is a need to nerf if we look at power, but it could be done preventively in order to avoid everyone defaulting to it after the patch.

How To Play: The deck aims at setting up during the first three turns and explode in the second portion of the game, developing points and limiting what the opponent is able to do.

If Devil Dinosaur is the obvious points powerhouse in the deck, Zabu is the real key card as it allows playing multiple cards per turn and keeping the opponent guessing on what we might do. This last part is particularly important and is what makes the deck so strong in the final turns:

• With Zabu in play, we have very cheap, flexible cards and are able to buff our Devil Dinosaur in play with Moon Girl or White Queen on turn six, a play that would otherwise be too weak to consider. This option makes other cards like Shang-Chi much stronger since we don’t have to decided on whether we want to keep a big Dinosaur or play on other lanes.
• Aero and Leader are much more unpredictable with Zabu in play, most people focusing on the 4-cost cards we might be playing. It leads to these two win condition being more effective as the opponent cannot solely play around those.

Without Zabu, the basic Devil Dinosaur curve of Agent Coulson on three and Aero or Leader on six should win you some games. This game is a true Zabu archetype, with other play patterns included for good measures. In the current environment, where people go crazy on 4-cost cards in their Zabu deck, it creates a lot of opportunities to abuse our other, surprising win conditions.

Potential additions: Steaming from the mix of a Zabu deck and the Handsize good cards deck, potentially any 4-cost or generally strong card could make the cut. I would work on the early curve more, considering cards like Armor, Scorpion, Agent 13 or Lizard if you feel like you are missing some early punch. Late in the curve, Magneto could replace Leader for a different effect on turn six.

ZabuCula

ZabuCula

Created by den

, updated 8 months ago

42

3x Collection Level 18-214 (Pool 1)

3x Collection Level 222-474 (Pool 2)

5x Collection Level 486+ (Pool 3)

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

3.8

Cost

0-
1
2
3
4
5+

6.8

Power

0-
1
2
3
4
5+

Rank Justification: I think seeing this many decks with Zabu ranked so high is a testimony to Zabu being the problem, a mile ahead of any other card included alongside it. With the card, we are seeing a resurgence in several marginally played Pool 3 cards such as Dracula, America Chavez or even Enchantress. It is great to see Zabu push for some diversity, and make almost any 4-cost card worth considering in the deck, but it is too much at this point. If the card isn’t nerfed, this diversity will reduce with time, as players unlock more cards and it becomes clear what the superior deck is. Granted, Darkhawk is a series 5 card, which largely limits who can afford it, but I don’t think anyone wants the metagame to be Zabu Darkhawk against Zabu Pool 3, and it is exactly where we are heading currently.

How to play: The goal with this deck is to get set by turn five, so we can be flexible on turn six, where most of the important action takes place.

By the end of turn five, we want to have achieved one of these two situations:

• A lane is a sure-fire win with Dracula or Red Skull, and we are in reasonable range in the other two lanes → On turn six, you can try to overtake a lane, either with your reactive tools, or using Magneto to move your opponent’s cards around.
• All lanes are contested, but we have Zabu in play and our 4-Cost cards in hand → This opens playing both Typhoid Mary and Enchantress on a lane to contest it, and Shang-Chi or Dracula on another one to surprise the opponent.

Ideally, we want to decide which situation to create based on our hand. A reactive hand will perform better in a contested situation, but a hand full of points makes it easy to read where we should develop our points.

Potential additions: Jubilee and Omega Red are two solid 4-Cost cards to play in this deck, both cards synergizing well with our big cards. Spider-Man or other common inclusions in Zabu decks should be tested with caution, as they can make Dracula awkward at times.

Lady Sif and Ghost Rider have been spotted in the archetype as well, and represent another way to cheat out big cards.

The Sunspot – Armor duo is the most flexible part of the deck, and can be played around to fit your liking, locations or specific matchups.

Seracle Surfer

Seracle Surfer

Created by den

, updated 8 months ago

83

Pool 3Meta

1x Collection Level 1-14

1x Collection Level 18-214 (Pool 1)

4x Collection Level 222-474 (Pool 2)

6x Collection Level 486+ (Pool 3)

2.9

Cost

0-
1
2
3
4
5+

3.1

Power

0-
1
2
3
4
5+

Rank Justification: Silver Surfer was in the exact same situation Zabu is currently in December and during the first weeks of January. I don’t think it is possible to impact the Zabu archetype and not Silver Surfer decks as well as it would very likely result in going back a month when Silver Surfer dominated without any form of competition. There are concerns of Battle Pass cards not being nerfed because players had to pay for them, and it would mean a huge backlash from those players. There must be a solution for a fair compensation, like offering Mordok in February to anyone who purchased Silver Surfer or Zabu for example. Both cards are solidly anchored atop the Marvel Snap mountain, and changing one without the other doesn’t make a lot of sense.

The Seracle archetype should not be done even with a Silver Surfer nerf, Sera being a strong enough win condition to push for another core around the card. Time proved the card has enough resources to fall back on its feet, even if it loses its best ally so far.

Overall, every deck in Tier 1 currently should be impacted by the upcoming balance changes.

How to play:

The basic play pattern for the deck would be:

• Play a 3-Cost on turn three.
• Play a 3-Cost on turn four. The sole 1-Cost can be played here if you have it in hand.
• Play Sera on turn five.
• Play several 3-Cost cards, including Silver Surfer as the last one on turn six.

Presented like this, it doesn’t seem like the deck is very flexible, but the whole point is that you have so many 3-Cost cards that you can use them flexibly depending on what you need. Cards like Bishop or Mister Fantastic are non-committal cards, meaning their effect is the same no matter the game state. Cosmo, Killmonger, and Polaris are more matchup based, but can help to derail the opposing strategy. Lastly, Maximus and Brood are payoff cards, which tip the opponent as to where we will invest our largest amounts of points. Ideally, we want to keep these for the last turn, as to maximize flexibility.

Potential additions: This deck is a best of all the current 3-Cost cards in Marvel Snap. So if you have a 3-cost you think makes sense in the environment, it probably can be included in the deck.

Popular replacements are Bishop and Rogue instead of the Storm, Juggernaut duo.

Tier 2

Shuri Zero 🔽

Shuri Zero

Created by den

, updated 8 months ago

4

1x Collection Level 18-214 (Pool 1)

1x Collection Level 222-474 (Pool 2)

9x Collection Level 486+ (Pool 3)

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

3.6

Cost

0-
1
2
3
4
5+

5.3

Power

0-
1
2
3
4
5+

Rank Justification: Shuri might be the biggest winner in the patch, as she arguably is the third-best card in the game, but is much more discreet than the first two. As a result, there could be a scenario where Zabu and Silver Surfer are nerfed, and Shuri rises to dominate the field of play with her absurdly big Red-Skull, Taskmaster and She-Hulk.

The deck currently plays Zabu, but should easily be able to move on from a potential nerf to the card, including Maximus again, and maybe removing some Attuma or Typhoid Mary as the 4-Cost cards wouldn’t be as strong anymore.

How to Play: The deck is the textbook definition of setting up early, and going all in late. When in doubt, go for the maximum amount of points.

In the first three turns, you want to set up your synergies, and then, depending on your setup, you will develop your points differently:

• Zabu pushes for a more explosive approach, with Attuma, Shuri and Typhoid Mary coming down for a big burst outside the expected turn four. Make sure to play Attuma with Armor, and disable Typhoid Mary’s ability if possible with Zero.
• Sauron and Shuri make playing big cards on curve very easy. Go for Typhoid Mary, Red Skull and either Taskmaster or Arnim Zola to duplicate their power afterwards.
• Zero pushes you to play one big card, but can be used flexibly because of its cost.
• Armor protects Attuma from itself, but also your big card on turn five from an opposing Shang-Chi. If you plan to use Arnim Zola, don’t play the card on Armor’s location.

Potential Additions: Previous iterations of the build have seen Vision, Maximus and Lizard included. These represent more flexible options compared to Ebony Maw or Attuma in the presented build.

Sauron isn’t mandatory to run this deck; the card simply lends a little more reliability towards disabling Typhoid Mary, Red Skull, and Ebony Maw. You could probably cut the latter alongside Sauron if you don’t have the card.

Patriot Surfer

Patriot Surfer

Created by den

, updated 8 months ago

38

8x Collection Level 486+ (Pool 3)

1x Recruit Season

3x Starter Card

3.1

Cost

0-
1
2
3
4
5+

2.8

Power

0-
1
2
3
4
5+

Rank Justification: Patriot has always been in the conversation of solid decks in Marvel Snap, but has largely been overshadowed for the last two months. It was only after Silver Surfer joined the archetype that we saw a surge in the deck’s popularity. Nevertheless, compared to Sera Surfer or Negative Surfer, a duo who build their entire strategy around Silver Surfer, I think Patriot is the best equipped to handle a nerf to Silver Surfer. It could go back to a full on Patriot deck or look for another secondary win condition.

How To Play: The idea around the deck is to show that we are a Patriot deck, as most players will recognize that in the first two turns of the game, but keep the Silver Surfer a surprise to mess with their anticipation of our points spread. As such, Brood is often best kept in hand if possible as the card might tip our opponents onto the Silver Surfer potential.

There are usually two ways to play this deck: on curve, or with a combo-like play style:

• On Curve: This is our typical Patriot gameplan, with the intent to play Ultron during the last turn of the match and fill whatever is left of our board. Before that point, simply looking to set up Ultron nicely and getting our Patriot out is key, even if it can be answered. By this logic, we are just playing our best turn possible points wise every time. It is typically the go-to route when Silver Surfer is nowhere to be seen.
• Combo: Sera helps, as she usually allows for a combination of three amongst Patriot, Mystique, Silver Surfer, and Brood on turn six. Even without Sera, we can get away with Brood and Silver Surfer on turn six while masquerading as a classic Patriot deck. Patriot into Mystique also works perfectly, but tends to be more expected.
  With this approach, try to think of your space ahead of time, and keep some flexibility to dodge annoying locations or Cosmo.

Potential additions: The build hasn’t changed during the week, which seems to indicate players have reached some form of agreement on the best way to play it. Here is another take on the archetype with even more win conditions:

Incredible Win Condition

Created by den

, updated 8 months ago

12

2x Collection Level 1-14

1x Collection Level 18-214 (Pool 1)

7x Collection Level 486+ (Pool 3)

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

1x Recruit Season

3

Cost

0-
1
2
3
4
5+

1.1

Power

0-
1
2
3
4
5+

If you’d like some game play of this deck, HowlingMines recently made some!

Lockjaw On Reveal

lockjaw on reveal

Created by den

, updated 8 months ago

20

1x Collection Level 1-14

1x Collection Level 18-214 (Pool 1)

3x Collection Level 222-474 (Pool 2)

7x Collection Level 486+ (Pool 3)

4.1

Cost

0-
1
2
3
4
5+

6.3

Power

0-
1
2
3
4
5+

Rank Justification: The first deck on our list that I am confident about after the patch since I don’t see any reason why it should be impacted. Currently, Lockjaw is already showing good results, and it might be next in line to becoming the best deck in the game (depending on how hard the other decks are get hit). Of course, other archetypes will return as well, but Lockjaw is great at being unpredictable and playing around the Good Cards archetype, another deck that might rise after the patch, as it became a comfort pick for a lot of players.

How To Play: Based on its signature card, the deck aims to use cheap, weak cards behind Lockjaw in order to summon much stronger ones without paying the required energy.

The first three turns of the game can be very quiet for a Lockjaw deck, with only the last one being extremely eventful. Ideally, the player would go all in on Lockjaw on turn five and dedicate turn three to Thor so there’s time to find Mjölnir. It also opens turn four to play Dracula or Jubilee, both good cards to anchor a location.

Once in the last two turns of the match, the goal is to think about best outcomes and how to high roll enough to win the game. If ahead, a simple Magneto play could be enough to secure the win. Always be mindful of what is left in the deck in order to calculate the odds of finding the right card with Lockjaw.

Potential additions: Considering the deck re-emerged recently, there are various takes on how to approach the archetype. Either look to go for a safer approach, or aim for more potential points. There is even a build around Thanos that uses the Infinity Stones to abuse Lockjaw.

Here is a list of cards that can make sense in the deck:

• Cheap cards that can be played behind Lockjaw: Iceman, Korg, Sunspot.
• Expensive cards that are rewards to pull with Lockjaw: Captain Marvel, Hulk, Giganto, Death.

Other potential additions:

• Aero and Leader can replace any card representing a potential win condition, such as Magneto, Doctor Doom, etc.
• Cosmo is our flexible counter card, Enchantress, Shang-Chi or Killmonger could be valid inclusions.
• Iceman is a flexible 1-Cost, as is Lizard in the 2-Cost cards. Nightcrawler and Armor are the most likely replacements.

Leech Leader Good Cards Priority

Leech Leader Priority

Created by den

, updated 8 months ago

11

1x Collection Level 1-14

4x Collection Level 18-214 (Pool 1)

3x Collection Level 222-474 (Pool 2)

4x Collection Level 486+ (Pool 3)

3.4

Cost

0-
1
2
3
4
5+

4.4

Power

0-
1
2
3
4
5+

Rank Justification: The archetype in the eye of the storm the last time nerfs were on the menu, we all expect Leader to get hit a second time as Ben Brode promised during the first balance patch of the month. The Good Cards archetype isn’t so popular at the moment, or at least not compared to Zabu or Silver Surfer. However, I don’t think anyone wants to go back to the Aero – Leader metagame we had before Silver Surfer took over.

As a result, most decks including Leader as the default win condition might be hit just as hard as the battle pass cards. There are other greats cards to include as replacements, such as Magneto or Doctor Doom, and Aero might not be nerfed a second time, so don’t count the Good Cards archetype completely out either.

How To Play: Get priority early on with Lizard and Maximus, keep it while gathering information with White Queen, and then just dictate the last two turns with Aero and Leader.

If this plan fails or the draws don’t align, you still have a couple of other patterns thanks to alternate plays at every mana cost.

Leech is the most important card in the deck as it can make or break some matchups. Look to play it as early as possible against highly synergistic builds like Silver Surfer or Zabu, but be careful against Zero decks or if you suspect your opponent might run The Infinaut.

Potential additions: Anything that can score a ton of points on its own could fit this list:

• Thor was a popular inclusion in the past.
• Scorpion can be in the 2-Cost card rotation.
• Shang-Chi can be included to help against Shuri decks.
• Polaris sees play in the Devil Dinosaur Priority build.

Tier 3

Galactus

Galactus Electro

Created by den

, updated 8 months ago

5

1x Collection Level 18-214 (Pool 1)

2x Collection Level 222-474 (Pool 2)

7x Collection Level 486+ (Pool 3)

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

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

4.4

Cost

0-
1
2
3
4
5+

4.9

Power

0-
1
2
3