Marvel Snap Metagame Tier List, March 28th, 2023: The King Is Dead; Long Live the Queens!

We are less than a week after one of the most asked for balance patches in the history of Marvel Snap, and the reports about its impact are mixed. For some, seeing Thanos Lockjaw go from the best deck in the game by quite a margin to a weaker deck is enough, and they are rejoicing at the increased deck diversity in Marvel Snap. For others, Shuri Zero being largely untouched (and still representing about 20% of this new metagame) has been taken as some sort of bad joke from Second Dinner.

Overall, I would say the metagame is still more enjoyable. Thanos Lockjaw has gone back to a deck to figure out. It isn’t gone by any means, and its ranking shouldn’t lead you to believe it is dying. Instead, the deck took a big hit and has a bit of restructuring to do. Stay tuned to see how it performs in the coming weeks, especially as new variations begin to emerged.

Shuri Zero keeping its top tier status is a bit of a buzz kill, but at least the rest of the archetypes have gained a bit of popularity. This week we had many more decks above 5% popularity compared to the weeks going into the patch, so there are some positives to take out of this.

I’m most saddened by not seeing much new archetypes emerge, but that was to be expected with no buffs in the patch. Valkyrie, at least, is the new curiosity; the card has been picking up a ton of popularity lately, even joining Shang-Chi as a counter to Shuri Zero but with a synergistic purpose to its deck as well. Sera Control, Patriot, Thanos Zoo, and Mister Negative, all highly synergistic archetypes with low power cards, have added Valkyrie to their list. Together with Bast, they form a solid duo to buff cards like Iron Man, Mystique, Patriot, and the like. I am a huge fan of the card, and I can’t stress enough how it is finally time for Valkyrie to get some deserved spotlight. But more importantly, it means we might have still a couple of surprises in store for Shuri Zero before we have to call for the nerf hammer once again.

Variants

Valkyrie

On Reveal: Set ALL cards here to 3 Power.

Collection Level 486+ (Pool 3)

view card details Start a deck Decks with Valkyrie

To conclude, I would like to emphasize on the importance of checking the Potential Additions and Silent Performers this week. As is the case for most meta reports in a still developing environment, things are moving very fast, so don’t take a deck list and form an opinion within 5 games. Most archetype have their intricacies and many different builds going around their core concepts.

I’m done being a buzzkill: Happy post-patch report, everyone!

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.

Decks not good enough to be considered contenders but with a good representation will be ranked in Tier 4 in our chart and won’t have their own dedicated writeup here but may be transferred to the main Tier List section. 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.

Marvel Snap Meta Tier List

Silent Performers of the Week

This week’s Silent Performers are all Series 3 decks, which is probably the biggest win overall in the patch. With more diversity in the metagame, the need to be able to counter specifics decks has reduced – even if Shuri Zero is still prevalent. This reduced need to be good against precise strategies has opened many more proactive decks to flourish, and we have seen more win conditions from Series 3 rise in win rate and cube average data.

Bounce came back from out of nowhere as the archetype was left for dead for a while. This new take including Darkhawk is an interesting one. It adds an extra high scoring card alongside Angela and Bishop. Other takes on the deck accomplish that goal with Devil Dinosaur and Agent 13 instead. Apart from its decent scoring ability, the deck also has disruptive potential with Iceman and Korg, which is what makes it so intriguing. There are a lot of proactive decks running around in the current metagame, and an extra energy or a bad draw can be a real knife to the heart for the opponent. This deck is able to have several chances at being a thorn in the opponent’s side, so it seems like a nice concept.

Attuma Destroyer is a tempo approach to the Ongoing Destroyer build with some influence from Shuri Zero‘s book and a bit of disruption with Storm. The deck has mostly been played in tournaments so far, but it’s posted solid results there thanks to its high scoring ability and simple-to-navigate synergies. I’m curious to see how it will perform on the ladder if more players pick up the deck.

Lastly, we have a deck that used to be on this list but suffered way too much from Leech to stay relevant. With that card seeing less play now, combo decks aiming to hold specific cards in hand feel much stronger and are able to more reliably develop their game plan. In the past, Magik She-Hulk had more of a disruptive spin to it with Viper and Green Goblin included in the build. Since the patch, it seems like the deck has picked up more proactive and cheaper tools, and it resembles the Kazoocula deck a little. I particularly like the inclusion of Dracula as we can play it twice on Turn 7 with Quinjet and Moon Girl. Alongside a cheap hand, it makes targeting She-Hulk or The Infinaut fairly reliable.

Tier Explanation

Tier 1

Shuri Zero

Shuri Zero

Created by den

, updated 1 year ago

14

3x Collection Level 18-214 (Pool 1)

2x Collection Level 222-474 (Pool 2)

7x Collection Level 486+ (Pool 3)

3.2

Cost

0-
1
2
3
4
5+

4.8

Power

0-
1
2
3
4
5+

Rank Justification: While Thanos Lockjaw was hit pretty hard by the balance patch, Shuri Zero has retained most of its power. The deck is slightly less popular than it was before the patch, but it still holds a popularity north of the 20% mark which is miles ahead of the next most popular deck. This was definitely the deck to beat in this first week of the new metagame.

The main reason for this was Red Skull as a 13 power card feeling like its old self, and a 26 power card copied by Taskmaster on Turn 6 has won as many games as the 30 power combo did before. With this change being the sole direct nerf to the deck, many players already expressed the fact that Shuri Zero got stronger, not weaker, with the balance changes.

Aero is the big question mark in the deck right now. Some players choose to not run it anymore while others claim it is still a great card. Vision is featured in the build this week as it is a great card to dodge Shang-Chi or Valkyrie in case we don’t draw our protective cards (Armor and Cosmo). Speaking of those two, they seem to be absolutely key in keeping Shuri Zero as the deck to beat since they disable most of the counter cards the community has come up with so far.

How to play: The whole point of the deck is to overwhelm the opponent with impossible-to-match numbers, most of the time during the second part of the game. Ideally, one will play Shuri on Turn 4, Red Skull on Turn 5, and Taskmaster on Turn 6, leading to two 26-point monsters to contest two lanes and win the game. Because of this relative rigidity in the last three turns, Shuri Zero often needs to play its other cards before this point and can’t really hold too many resources in hand for a surprise later on. The only flexibility we might have are 1-cost cards, which can be paired up with Taskmaster on Turn 6.

While Red Skull is usually the go-to card on Turn 5, there are other, more flexible options to consider – even if they are worth a little less points. Vision took over Aero with the patch and serves as both a solid Shuri target and a difficult target for the opponent’s Shang-Chi thanks to its ability to move.

Lastly, because the deck is looking to abuse 5-cost cards most of the time, She-Hulk makes it worth to consider passing your turn on five and then slamming your 5-cost alongside She-Hulk on six. This strategy is especially effective when you want to lose priority against an expected Shang-Chi or wait and see where your opponent plays their Galactus.

Potential additions:

• Aero and Captain Marvel can be played instead of Vision.
• Sauron and Ebony Maw can be played instead of Sunspot and Polaris.

Sera Control

Sera Control

Created by den

, updated 1 year ago

12

6x 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)

2.9

Cost

0-
1
2
3
4
5+

3.1

Power

0-
1
2
3
4
5+

Rank Justification: A very good deck that wasn’t part of the last balance patch, Sera Control had very few reasons to feel weaker after the patch. Also, considering the metagame didn’t change too much apart from Thanos Lockjaw reducing drastically, the archetype didn’t need to adapt too much. Less of Thanos Lockjaw did hurt the deck a little, mostly because Darkhawk and Killmonger have felt a bit weaker.

While Killmonger is still a staple in the deck, Darkhawk seems to have been removed for the time being (along with Rockslide, his faithful sidekick). This opened some slots to play different cards, notably Valkyrie, as an extra option to punish Shuri Zero. Enchantress also found her way back in the deck and looks to be enough to keep Zabu in the mix.

Several lists around Sera Control were shared during the week, and they all seem to have similar results. The biggest strength of the archetype is its flexibility, so feel free to experiment with some cards in the potential additions section.

How to play: This archetype relies on giving up priority going into the last turn so it can punish the opponent with reactive cards like Shang-Chi, Enchantress, and Killmonger. With Darkhawk out of the build for now, there has been a bit of a need for more points, which the Mister Sinister, Mysterio, Bishop, and Valkyrie package tries to take care of. Played on Turn 3, Bishop can grow to huge power for its cost and serves as a nice lane anchor. Otherwise, we can still use Mysterio and Mister Sinister as nice Nova or Valkyrie targets later on.

Sera is at the core of this strategy alongside Zabu in a more specific role. Both cards allow you to reduce the cost of cards in your hand, strengthening your Turn 6 potential and making it worth to purposefully give the lead to your opponent. Note that losing priority doesn’t mean losing the game – we can be in the lead on a location and close on the other two. Since Sera only has four power, your opponent will typically have a stronger Turn 5 than you do and take back priority.

This way we don’t need to have an incredible Turn 6 or perfectly guess our opponent’s plays to win every game. Most of this deck’s strength relies on its ability to be able to stay as close as possible while not having priority, so our reactive cards are at their best.

Potential additions: The deck features at least three flexible slots in Bishop, Mister Sinister, and Mysterio. Valkyrie can also be removed if you don’t see so many Shuri Zero during your climb. Here are potential replacements:

• Polaris, Maximus, and Sentinel represent a more pro-active, standalone package.
• Angela can fit the Valkyrie package as she is a great recipient to the equalizing ability.
• Darkhawk, Rockslide, and any third standalone card are still a valid package in the deck.
• Some 6-cost cards like Magneto and Doctor Doom can have merit for the times you don’t draw into Sera.

Toxic Sera was a deck designed to punish Thanos Lockjaw, so I’m not sure how relevant it is now. The deck did show up in the data, so it could be worth testing:

Toxic Sera – MSZ Deck Highlight

Created by HowlingMines

, updated 1 year ago

51

4x 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)

2.9

Cost

0-
1
2
3
4
5+

4

Power

0-
1
2
3
4
5+

Tier 2

Good Cards DoomWave

DoomWave

Created by den

, updated 1 year ago

18

1x Collection Level 1-14

3x Collection Level 18-214 (Pool 1)

4x Collection Level 222-474 (Pool 2)

4x Collection Level 486+ (Pool 3)

3.2

Cost

0-
1
2
3
4
5+

4.3

Power

0-
1
2
3
4
5+

Rank Justification: When you don’t really know what to play, go with the good stuff! This is a simple formula, but it seems to be a winning one for DoomWave. The leader of the Good Cards archetype had a really nice week after the patch, and Wave in particular seems to be a great card right now since it puts in a lot of work against Sera Control and makes Aero a huge disruption card against Shuri Zero.

In her changed form, Aero will only pull one card. This is something Shuri Zero will punish by playing a 1-cost after Taskmaster on Turn 6. With Wave on Turn 5, the opponent can only play Taskmaster, making Aero feel like her old self. Also, Iceman has proven to be a solid 1-cost card once again. Hitting Shuri, Red Skull, or Cosmo can derail the opponent’s play pattern quite a lot.

The deck might lose a few ranks on this list when new archetypes emerge, but it felt like a good week to be a Series 3 player.

How To Play: The deck’s bread and butter is the Turn 5 and 6 play pattern using Wave followed by She-Hulk plus another big card, usually Aero, Doctor Doom, or, at worst, America Chavez. Shang-Chi is a consideration when the card is able to turn a lane around as well.

In order to make sure this late game sequence locks the game for good, we need to be ahead on Turn 5. Then playing only Wave won’t represent such a sacrifice since we need to keep two energy saved for She-Hulk to be a 2-cost card on Turn 6. Once every card costs four, we should be in the driver’s seat to lock the game, either going big on a location or spreading our points.

In order to take the lead in the first four turns, we have the usual good cards suspects at every energy cost. The way you want to spread your points early in the game should depend on whether you anticipate going for Aero or Doctor Doom late in the match. The former would push for building two solid locations because Aero can pull any opposing cards to the third one. The latter, on the other hand, allows us to win close and contested lanes on the last turn and is fine with seeing you spread your points around.

Potential additions: As usual with the Good Cards archetype, a lot of cards could be mentioned, as long as they are worth enough points to satisfy the deck’s game plan.

Currently, Polaris and Magneto are logical inclusions as they are good cards against many other archetypes. Daredevil could also replace Scorpion if you value Turn 5 information when you don’t draw Wave. Spider-Woman was experimented with as well.

Zabu Devil Darkhawk

Zabu Darkhawk

Created by den

, updated 1 year ago

9

4x 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)

1x Starter Card

3.1

Cost

0-
1
2
3
4
5+

3.1

Power

0-
1
2
3
4
5+

Rank Justification: While the Quinjet nerf dismantled Thanos Lockjaw, the Devil Dinosaur synergy didn’t suffer much from the nerf. As such, Zabu Devil Darkhawk remained very similar to what it was before the patch. Unfortunately, Shuri Zero also remained mostly unchanged, so Darkhawk and Devil Dinosaur often lose the points battle against Red Skull and Taskmaster.

A solid deck that’s not able to compete for the top spots, this archetype still seems to be the best home for Darkhawk and Devil Dinosaur now that Sera Control dropped Darkhawk from its lists.

How To Play: The goal here is to be very efficient with our energy while also keeping our options open for the last few turns. We have three main win conditions: Darkhawk, Devil Dinosaur, and Shang-Chi, and Mystique could represent a fourth win condition if she copies either of our two huge Ongoing cards. When we find Zabu on Turn 2, we are able to keep Darkhawk and Mystique together for a Turn 6 play, creating a solid one-two punch with Devil Dinosaur on Turn 5. Shang-Chi plus Darkhawk is another very strong Turn 6.

Without Zabu, we are a bit less explosive and usually rely on Mystique copying Devil Dinosaur with Agent Coulson to buff them both. We could also use Quinjet to cheat some energy on cards copied with Moon Girl.

Potential additions: Agent Coulson seems to be the flexible card in the build and can be replaced for a tech card you find valuable in your meta.

Dracula Discard 🔼

Dracula Discard

Created by den

, updated 1 year ago

13

4x Collection Level 18-214 (Pool 1)

3x Collection Level 222-474 (Pool 2)

4x Collection Level 486+ (Pool 3)

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

3.1

Cost

0-
1
2
3
4
5+

4.1

Power

0-
1
2
3
4
5+

Rank Justification: With Leech seemingly gone from ladder play for the time being, Discard was finally able to make a comeback in Marvel Snap. While Morbius and Dracula can’t necessarily compete with the 26 power Red Skull from Shuri Zero, the synergy still has some solid upsides.

First, apart from buffing Morbius early on, Shang-Chi has very little impact on the overall Discard game plan. Then, the archetype’s ability to change the number on its cards (Morbius, Dracula, Sunspot) makes it much harder for opponents to know precisely what they have to beat. In a new metagame where most decks are proactive, this trait can be very precious.

Discard had already reached top five status in the past, but it never retained that status for long. Let’s see how the archetype might develop in the near future.

How to play: The idea with a Discard deck is to be extremely strong on two lanes and have one for utility purposes. Oftentimes, Morbius and Dracula will serve as anchors to our strong lanes, while the third one will be dedicated to Lockjaw shenanigans. If Morbius or Dracula are still in the deck, though, you could consider the Lockjaw lane to be strong as you might pull one of these two at some point.

The second important success factor for a Discard deck is knowing when to discard and when to play it safe. In the perfect scenario, we play out Morbius, Lockjaw, and Dracula and only begin to discard once these cards are out of hand; however, when we draw one of these later in the game, it can be difficult to decide what to do. In that instance, it is your hand that will dictate what to go for, especially when you have Swarm and Apocalypse in hand already.

With Swarm in hand, you have the ability to pull some crazy turns with Lockjaw and discard a ton as you cycle through your deck. With Apocalypse, you can build a big card for Turn 6 or leave it in hand since it’s the perfect target for Dracula. Morbius is more of a standalone card. It’s just happy to see you discard a lot, making MODOK the default partner. As such, depending on the structure of your hand, each of your anchors will see its strength affected, impacting how reliable they will be at competing for a lane.

Potential additions: Sunspot is the flexible card in the build and is included to ease the need to pass the turn occasionally (and it’s a fine play behind Lockjaw at worst). Moon Knight could be in that slot if you want more discards.

The other route you can take is to have a very strong card to pull with Lockjaw, most of the time an impactful 5-cost, such as Leech.

Patriot 🔼

Patriot

Created by den

, updated 1 year ago

10

3x Collection Level 18-214 (Pool 1)

7x Collection Level 486+ (Pool 3)

1x Recruit Season

1x Starter Card

2.6

Cost

0-
1
2
3
4
5+

1.3

Power

0-
1
2
3
4
5+

Rank Justification: This archetype is a great home for Valkyrie, Shuri Zero‘s current worse nightmare. Thus, Patriot has managed to come back in the Marvel Snap metagame. The deck was listed in the silent performers last week, but its popularity took off with the patch as more players looked to pick up a new deck.

This more flexible build was the most popular in the ranks leading to Infinite, but other ways to build around Patriot tend to dominate below rank 60. Higher in the ranks, it seems the flexibility and fewer recognizable cards (we don’t run any Vanilla cards like Misty Knight and Shocker) seems to be a great asset to the deck’s success.

How to play: The deck functions with a very flexible early game where we develop cards as locations reveal – and our hand allows – into a quite rigid play pattern for Turns 5 and 6.

In those last two turns, we will usually play a 5-cost card and then either another 5-cost plus a 1-cost or Patriot plus Mystique. Because of this relative rigidity late in the game, we need to anticipate what we want to do by then and play the cards that don’t fit beforehand. Particularly, Bishop and both 2-cost cards are extremely difficult to fit past Turn 4.

Once this sequence is under control, the deck can be quite flexible and usually doesn’t reveal its true nature until we actually play Patriot.

Potential additions: The flexible slots in the deck are Bishop and Mysterio, both of which can be replaced with other card duos:

• Debrii can offer disruption and a good answer to Galactus. She should be paired with a strong standalone card like Shang-Chi or Doctor Doom if you fancy another 6-cost.
• Vanilla cards can be played in the deck, of course, although they tell our opponent the archetype we run much earlier in the game.
• Look for low power cards with a strong ability since they will perform much better alongside Bast and Valkyrie.

Electro Ramp 🔼

Electro Ramp

Created by den

, updated 1 year ago

7

1x Collection Level 1-14

2x Collection Level 18-214 (Pool 1)

4x Collection Level 222-474 (Pool 2)

5x Collection Level 486+ (Pool 3)

3.6

Cost

0-
1
2
3
4
5+

5.4

Power

0-
1
2
3
4
5+

Rank Justification: Apart from Shuri Zero, most decks in the current metagame are annoyed by Sandman because they rely on playing several cards in the last turn of the game. Also, the new Aero feels great alongside Sandman. She is basically her old self with an extra power.

As a result, Electro Ramp has gone back to a more simple build this week, not including any Nimrod or Black Panther synergies. Instead, the deck focuses on annoying as many opponents as possible. Shang-Chi also made it into the deck, something we’ve never seen before since it represented quite a loss in energy. The prevalence of Shuri Zero, and Sunspot adding value to the unused energy, made the card worth considering.

How to play: Electro Ramp relies on very simple concepts, and it’s usually a deck that is great for players struggling with flexible play-patterns.

At its core, the deck is trying to play Electro on Turn 3 and then go on a 5-6-6 cost pattern for the three remaining turns. For example, the Sandman → Doctor Doom → Odin pattern has been the deck’s bread and butter for a while.

In the current metagame where disruption seems to be more important, Electro Ramp will usually value Sandman, Magneto, and Aero more if the opponent didn’t have a strong early game. In this approach, playing proactively before Electro is quite important because the deck will develop fewer points later on.

Sunspot makes this approach to play low cost cards such as Shang-Chi in the later rounds a valid option, giving the deck the possibility of being disruptive with fewer points developed.

Potential additions:

• Iceman, Armor, and Scorpion highlight the popular cheap cards the deck could run outside the ones included. Squirrel Girl could be considered for priority purposes, or as a soft synergy with Sandman.

For the late game, there are a few duos worth mentioning:

• Black Panther and Arnim Zola go very well in the On Reveal shell the deck pushes for.
• Doctor Octopus and Heimdall have a nice synergy going on.
• Shuri and Nimrod are fine if you include Arnim Zola or Destroyer as well.

Tier 3

Thanos Ongoing Zoo 🔽

Thanos Ongoing Zoo

Created by den

, updated 1 year ago

2

3x Collection Level 1-14

4x Collection Level 18-214 (Pool 1)

2x Collection Level 486+ (Pool 3)

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

2x Recruit Season

3.7

Cost

0-
1
2
3
4
5+

3.8

Power

0-
1
2
3
4
5+

Rank Justification: Collateral damage to the Thanos Lockjaw nerf, Thanos Ongoing Zoo lost a full tier with the patch, placing it very close to Kazoocula when it comes to performances. Alongside Thanos Lockjaw itself, this is probably one of the archetypes with the most different lists as everyone is trying to see if the archetype is still worthy of playing for now.

Goose and Valkyrie seem to be great against Shuri Zero, and the Ongoing synergy feels strong overall. Still, it is undeniable that the loss of Quinjet in the deck hit very hard, and there aren’t any free wins anymore.

How to play: Compared to the previous Ongoing deck with Destroyer, this one clearly retains a very similar theme. Thanos, however, makes it a little more complicated to navigate, especially because the Infinity Stones can quickly fill our side of the board and block some lanes for us. As such, be careful when playing the non-Ongoing Stones and consider holding them in hand if you have no precise reason to use up that space.

When it comes to winning lanes, the deck has three main angles of attack:

• Going big with Devil Dinosaur (and Cosmo for protection) alongside cheap support.
• Valkyrie should win us a lane most of the time since it is near impossible for our cards to stay at the three power they are set to considering the many buffs they can receive.
• Using Ant-Man, Goose, Lizard, and other cheap cards that are also supported by Ka-Zar, Blue Marvel, and Spectrum.

Potential additions: Any card with Ongoing written on it could make sense in the deck, and Valkyrie is included to mess with Shuri Zero. As such, feel free to experiment with other Ongoing cards such as Mojo, Professor X, and Iron Man.

Some players have played around with cards like Dazzler and Super Skrull, but these are not popular enough to have an idea of how good they truly can be.

The Kazoo archetype has had various builds going around since the patch. The Kazoocula build made a comeback as well as it is a much more affordable deck. It seems to be weaker in high collection levels as it doesn’t have the flexibility of Thanos or the punish ability of a card like Valkyrie.

KazooCula

Created by den

, updated 1 year ago

5

2x Collection Level 1-14

4x Collection Level 18-214 (Pool 1)

3x Collection Level 222-474 (Pool 2)

2x Collection Level 486+ (Pool 3)

1x Recruit Season

2.6

Cost

0-
1
2
3
4
5+

4.8

Power

0-
1
2
3
4
5+

Seracle Surfer 🔼

Seracle Surfer

Created by den

, updated 1 year ago

3

1x Collection Level 18-214 (Pool 1)

2x Collection Level 222-474 (Pool 2)

8x Collection Level 486+ (Pool 3)

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

3.3

Cost

0-
1
2
3
4
5+

2.9

Power

0-
1
2
3
4
5+

Rank Justification: Another proactive strategy that came back after the balance changes. Silver Surfer, similar to Discard, finally feels playable with Leech absent from the metagame.

For this first week, this hybrid list with Zabu and a trio of 4-cost cards was the best performing one by the numbers, very likely because Shang-Chi helps the deck against Shuri Zero. Goose also proved quite effective in the match-up. Playing the card on the Armor or Cosmo lane the opponent set up will deny a Red Skull or Taskmaster on said lane.

Also, since the Silver Surfer nerf, the deck feels like it comes a little short against a lot of other proactive decks in regard to its points ceiling; Wong and Absorbing Man provide that extra reach to surprise the opponent and shorten that gap.

And about that extra reach: the Patriot Surfer deck also showed up this week, and you can find it in the potential additions section.

How to play: The deck follows a pretty simple play pattern that culminates into an explosive Turn 6, hopefully catching the opponent off guard.

On Turns 2, 3, and 4, you will usually just play a card, spending your energy efficiently and advancing your game plan. Apart from the Storm-Juggernaut duo on Turns 3 and 4, there aren’t many synergies going on during that part of the game. Look to play cards you won’t be able to fit in on Turns 5 and 6 but still need to have in play.

Turn 5 will usually be a Sera play, if you can. If you don’t have Sera, it can be a 3-cost plus a 2-cost (Zabu sets up for our 4-costs to be playable on Turn 6 alongside a 3-cost, and Goose can lock a location from a big card being played by our opponent while barely impacting us). Or, simply playing Wong might be enough since we won’t be able to on Turn 6 without either Zabu or Sera in play. On the last turn of play, the deck has many play patterns. I can focus on developing its points with Silver Surfer plus Wong, Absorbing Man, or another 3-cost. You can also mix in some disruption using Shang-Chi.

Potential additions: A lot of 3-cost cards can enter the deck and make sense. Feel free to play around with the abilities you think are valuable to the deck’s success. Bishop, Maximus, Wolfsbane, and Mister Fantastic can all be very valuable.

The Patriot hybrid deck still exists, and it looks very similar to the Patriot Valkyrie deck ranked in the tier above:

Seracle Surfer Patriot

Created by den

, updated 1 year ago

0

1x Collection Level 18-214 (Pool 1)

10x Collection Level 486+ (Pool 3)

1x Recruit Season

3

Cost

0-
1
2
3
4
5+

2.1

Power

0-
1
2
3
4
5+

Thanos Lockjaw 🔽

Thanos Lockjaw

Created by den

, updated 1 year ago

5

1x Collection Level 1-14

2x Collection Level 18-214 (Pool 1)

3x Collection Level 222-474 (Pool 2)

5x Collection Level 486+ (Pool 3)

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

4.7

Cost

0-
1
2
3
4
5+

5.8

Power

0-
1
2
3
4
5+

Rank Justification: The big loser of the patch. The deck even posted worse results than Thanos decks without Lockjaw in it this week. Currently, Thanos Lockjaw feels like a shell of its former self, and the deck cruelly lacks the explosivity that made its reputation before the balance changes. It is still a decent deck, but it’s hard to not feel bad when comparing it to what it was a week ago, especially when Shuri Zero retained most of its power.

This week, the traditional list was still the most popular and had the most data, but other builds have emerged as well and seem to represent the future of the archetype. Mainly the Wave, Death, Killmonger variant and the Ongoing variant, also labelled “Korean Thanos Lockjaw”. You can find those in the potential additions section, and I would expect one of these two to take over in the weeks to come as the default build.

How to play: The go-to game plan involves trying to summon big cards without actually paying for them or getting Leech very early in the game to disable the opponent’s hand. As soon as you anticipate one of these events happening, a snap to ensure the opponent can’t retreat for 1 cube is usually warranted.

The key factor in pulling this off lies in an awareness of what is left in your deck in order to maximize the chances of summoning a big card rather than an Infinity Stone. With that goal in mind, here is each Stone’s role in the deck:

• The Mind Stone removes some Stones from your deck and leaves more big cards to hit.
• The Space Stone, while it can’t totally free your Lockjaw like before, allows you to move at least one card out from behind him. It can also let you reach some otherwise difficult locations like Death's Domain.
• The Time Stone allows you to gain an energy and skip a turn where you typically have no play (like Turn 4). You can then play something ahead of its natural timing, such as Leech.
• The Reality Stone and the Soul Stone are utility cards, and their abilities depend on whether you need them in the matches where they appear.
• The Power Stone should be played behind Lockjaw if you don’t plan on using Thanos; otherwise, it’s best kept on board.

Potential additions: As the deck is undergoing a complete revision, I would suggest thinking out of the box for now. Just try the cards that you feel could have an impact.

Wave, Death, and Killmonger build:

Lockjaw Death

Created by den

, updated 1 year ago

4

1x Collection Level 1-14

1x Collection Level 18-214 (Pool 1)

4x Collection Level 222-474 (Pool 2)

5x Collection Level 486+ (Pool 3)

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

4.8

Cost

0-
1
2
3
4
5+

6.2

Power

0-
1
2
3
4
5+

Here is the Ongoing synergy. You could see it as a hybrid from Thanos Zoo and Thanos Lockjaw:

Ongoing Thanos Lockjaw

Created by den

, updated 1 year ago

0

3x Collection Level 1-14

4x Collection Level 18-214 (Pool 1)

1x Collection Level 486+ (Pool 3)

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

2x Recruit Season

1x Starter Card

4.2

Cost

0-
1
2
3
4
5+

4

Power

0-
1
2
3
4
5+

The non-Thanos Lockjaw deck is also still in the metagame without much change compared to before the patch:

Lockjaw On Reveal

Created by den

, updated 1 year ago

0

1x Collection Level 18-214 (Pool 1)

4x Collection Level 222-474 (Pool 2)

7x Collection Level 486+ (Pool 3)

3.8

Cost

0-
1
2
3
4
5+

6.1

Power

0-
1
2
3
4
5+

Galactus

Galactus

Created by den

, updated 1 year ago

6

3x 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)

3.9

Cost

0-
1
2
3
4
5+

4.8

Power

0-
1
2
3
4
5+

Rank Justification: The nerf to Aero was supposed to be Galactus‘s big break into a top contender position. That, unfortunately, didn’t happen. First, it’s because Aero still exists in decks like Doomwave. Second, it’s because there are other prevalent cards that can annoy Galactus a lot, like Cosmo, Polaris, and Debrii.

At this point, it feels like Galactus just isn’t designed to be a top tier deck. Counter cards are too common and too easy to include as soon as the deck gains a modicum of popularity among the community. Instead, Galactus should be seen as a great counter, punishing decks which that focus on themselves too much and forget to pack a few disruptive tools.

How to play: With Nimrod in the mix, the deck has more play patterns it can explore, and it even looks to win without drawing into its signature card.

First, the deck can still play similar to previous Galactus builds with a Doctor Octopus → Galactus → Knull kind of pattern. The line using Wave to get Galactus a turn early also works well in that regard, although Spider-Man isn’t in the build anymore to lock Turn 6 from the opponent. The way best way to abuse Galactus on Turn 4 is to use Shuri on Turn 5 and follow with a huge Destroyer. Or simply to use Doctor Octopus on five to just take over the lane on six, usually with Shang-Chi or Knull, as the opponent can’t play anymore.

The new direction Nimrod brings to the table is the ability to play Galactus on Turn 6 and still have a solid, unique lane. Shuri → Nimrod → Galactus, for example, works really well, or Electro → Nimrod → Destroyer → Galactus works as long as you are careful about where you play your cards.

Without Galactus, the deck can still use Destroyer alongside Nimrod to spread power on its lanes: Wolverine → Electro → Nimrod → Destroyer → Knull is a decent pattern for that, apart from the obvious Shuri → Nimrod → Destroyer.

Potential Additions:

• Zabu and Wong would work with Shuri to create a 20-power Nimrod.
• America Chavez, Spider-Man, and Death were popular inclusions in the past, for various reasons.
• Hobgoblin is in the 5-cost cards rotation, but it is usually a big tell that we are not a ramp deck.
• Ebony Maw is stronger than Yondu for priority reasons, but limits our flexibility.
• Cloak can help against unwanted summons, although Destroyer can take care of those as well.

DeathWave

Death Wave

Created by den

, updated 1 year ago

13

4x Collection Level 18-214 (Pool 1)

3x Collection Level 222-474 (Pool 2)

5x Collection Level 486+ (Pool 3)

3.3

Cost

0-
1
2
3
4
5+

4.3

Power

0-
1
2
3
4
5+

Rank Justification: Killmonger being great against Thanos deck gave Deathwave a nice boost before the patch. It feels only logical to see lose a bit of momentum as Thanos lost a big chunk of popularity.

Wave is still a top tier card in the metagame, but DoomWave seems to be a better home for it as that deck doesn’t lose to Armor or Cosmo on the lane with you Bucky Barnes. That tends to happen a lot when Shuri Zero represents over 20% of the metagame.

How to play: The whole point of the deck is to get at least two destroy effects while having reveal priority going into Turn 6. This should be achieved with a simple on-curve play during the first four turns, as the destroy synergy is able to generate solid power through its signature cards Bucky Barnes, Deathlok, and Carnage.

Turn 5 should be a Wave play and nothing else. If we have She-Hulk in hand, the card will be a 2-cost on the next turn and can be paired with Aero or America Chavez. If we manage to get to four destroy effects, Death becomes free and both her and She-Hulk can be played in addition to another card. Squirrel Girl being destroyed by Killmonger is usually the way we get our four destructions in time.

Outside this basic play pattern, the deck is quite flexible and is able to develop points even without drawing into Wave. The destroy synergy shines especially well when it comes to cleaning up annoying cards that appear on our side of the board.

Potential additions: The deck usually rotates through four different 1-cost cards: Nova, Yondu, The Hood, and Squirrel Girl, and each has its own merits. Moon Girl is a notable inclusion, as duplicating She-Hulk or Death often opens some crazy strong turns. America Chavez can also be considered for more consistency, although both Shang-Chi and Aero seem impossible to remove right now.

Closing Words

Overall, I would say the metagame moved in the right direction with the patch. It might not have moved as much as some would have liked, especially since Shuri Zero moved about 0 meters from where it was before the balance changes. It still moved a bit, especially in regard to how many decks are being played enough to be considered relevant in the current metagame this week. Indeed, Thanos Lockjaw losing about 20% of popularity opened the door for various decks to come back, and that is at least a step in the right direction.

Although it isn’t likely, there’s still a part of me that is curious as to whether Shuri Zero can be a dominant deck alone at the top. We are already seeing Valkyrie be widely used and push several archetypes that aren’t relying on high power cards. Enchantress is back in Sera Control and could help to disable Armor so Shang-Chi lands. Iceman is more widely used, and I’m convinced this card is a sleeper against Shuri Zero considering how many cards need to be played with precise timing.

None of these things are enough to push Shuri Zero out of Tier 1, of course. But if we add all of it, now that there isn’t much else needing our attention, we might have enough small counters to create a globally difficult environment. That or Thanos Lockjaw comes back with a refined build once it figures out how to build it.

Ah, I’m starting to be a buzzkill again, let’s not go down this road. I hope you enjoyed this week’s report and learned a few things thanks to it. As usual, feel free to join us on Discord with any questions you may have. You can also find me on Twitter for more personal opinions or direct messages.

Good Game Everyone.