Table of Contents
Welcome to our Marvel Snap Meta Meta Tier List! Each week, we review the best decks in the ever-changing Marvel Snap ladder meta.
This report is dedicated to the Ranked mode and lists the current best decks heading into and once in the Infinite Rank. We also provide a Conquest report, available every weekend, that highlights the best archetypes for that mode. Looking to figure out the impact of the newly released card or the latest balance changes? This is the place to be!
If you are looking for more information about a deck in particular, check out our Archetypes pages, with detailed information about each of the household names in Marvel Snap.
Marvel Snap Meta Overview
After an eventful week following the OTA, it seems like the meta is back to what we had during July: Arishem on top and lots of good decks teching to find an edge against it. Darkhawk isn’t as popular, but Cassandra Nova is included in six of today’s eight archetypes. This shows that even though
Ironically, Arishem Loki is alone in Tier 1, but not due to a particularly stellar performance. With a 58% Win Rate and 0.55 Cube Average, the deck is doing great, but it’s not particularly better than any typical Tier 1 performance. Instead, it seems like all the other decks underperformed this week. Midrange Sandman, Good Cards, and Silver Surfer all posted worse results this week compared to last week. My best guess is that those decks are known by now and can’t really surprise their opponent, which lowers their overall performance. On the other hand, Arishem will never be fully figured out because the random cards will always bring that unexpected factor.
Archetype wise, there isn’t much to note; the eight archetypes on this Tier List already existed. Both Marvel Boy and
Overall, the current meta will reward a disciplined Snap and Retreat plan, alongside a little creativity to catch your opponent off guard at times. If you can do both, the road to Infinite should be a walk in the park. For the more reckless ones, however, it can be difficult to climb reliably, as just eight decks means there aren’t many of the unrefined or wacky brews around, which might have been easier foes to defeat.
Happy Tier List, everyone!
Marvel Snap Meta Tier List
| Tier | Deck |
|---|---|
| Tier 1 | Arishem Loki |
| Tier 2 | Midrange Sandman |
| Tier 2 | Good Cards Thena |
| Tier 2 | Silver Surfer |
| Tier 2 | Stature Darkhawk |
| Tier 2 | Patriot |
| Tier 3 | Galactus |
| Tier 3 | Move Junk |
| Budget | Ongoing Kazoo |
| Budget | Devil Dinosaur Destroy |
| Budget | Swarm Discard Aggro |
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.
Silent Performer: Decks with a very little presence in the meta that still showcase a Cube Average and Win Rate worthy of a Tier 2 deck (or better). Oftentimes, these can be archetypes with some nice game play that have been left unchecked in the current environment, or decks on the rise that found a few good match ups to abuse.
Tier 1: Tier 1 represents decks with all the upsides we would be looking for to rack up Cubes. They have good match ups in the current meta, offer different play patterns during a match, and often have the ability for explosive or surprising turns. These should be decks worth investing into in order to climb for the coming week.
Cube Average > 0.5
Tier 2: Tier 2 are very good decks but with a weakness holding them back – either not being as reliable in its draws as Tier 1 decks, countered by another popular deck, or still being a work in progress as you read this. A good pilot could probably take these and have the same results as with a Tier 1 deck, but their play patterns are more difficult to enact compared to the tier above.
Cube Average > 0.35
Tier 3: This tier is made of decks that have a pervasive issue compared to Tier 1 or Tier 2 decks. Usually, Tier 3 will be a mix of decks on the rise that don’t have much data, old archetypes on the decline, decks that require substantial experience and/or knowledge to pilot properly, powerful decks that aren’t well positioned, or niche decks.
Cube Average > 0.20
Budget: Decks that consist only of cards in Pool 1 and 2 that are still capable of competing with an experienced pilot in a similar Collection Level, Rank, and MMR range. See our matchmaking guide for more details.
Meta stats and analytics directly from our Marvel Snap Tracker can also be found here.
Tier 1
Arishem Loki
den
After the last OTA and Cassandra Nova stealing enough power to beat Blob, it is kind of wild to think that Arishem Loki was the sole deck with a Cube Average above 0.5 this week. But, on the back of a plethora of disruptive cards (Shang-Chi, Shadow King, Enchantress, Alioth…) and one more energy than all the other decks, Arishem Loki managed to score both the best Cube Average and the best Win Rate.
This is where it gets interesting. A 58% Win Rate is typically good, but that’s closer to a Top 5 Win Rate rather than the best one. As such, the gap between all the decks might be much closer than the lone Arishem Loki might indicate. I believe the difference in Cube Averages comes from the unpredictability that this deck has access to. Not only will the reactive build let your opponent believe they are in a good position, you also have a shot at a high roll with a random card at times.
Potential Additions
It is hard to recommend a card in particular, but I would look for strong standalone inclusions. Cards that are able to have a huge impact on the match in certain situations, or can simply be dumped on the board for power at worst.
Tier 2
Midrange Sandman
After a breakthrough performance to close the previous season, as well as the addition of Marvel Boy to synergize with Squirrel Girl, I would have expected Midrange Sandman to be even stronger going into this new season. The deck did a bit worse in its Win Rate this week, but 57% remains a great score overall. It shows that the archetype is able to perform even when the opponent knows what’s coming. A 0.4 Cube Average is also good, but it’s a little low for a deck that was so dominant last week. This indicates that Midrange Sandman might struggle to win enough four or eight cube games.
This is kind of the problem with these specific synergies. They are great when the draws align, but the Snap immediately tips the opponent off on what is coming next. Then, even if your hand was worthy of a Snap, it puts your opponent in control since they just have to assess whether they can or cannot beat your Sandman. If they can’t, they’ll Retreat for one cube. If they can, you’re probably losing four.
Potential Additions
Another 1-Cost could be good to support Marvel Boy, but it is difficult to cut one of Cassandra Nova, Copycat, or Nocturne. Maybe Shanna could replace one of those as well.
Good Cards Thena
den
Disappointing would be an understatement for Good Cards this week. The 51% Win Rate is only saved by a 0.3 Cube Average, which is an average performance by most other decks. Still, this is the worst Win Rate this archetype has had in a while, signaling there might be a problem.
It’s obvious that Sandman is a problematic card because it shuts down this deck on Turn 6. Then, the removal of Cassandra Nova for Killmonger made sense with
Flexibility is a great skill in Marvel Snap, but maybe Good Cards pushed it a little too far and forgot to score enough points.
Potential Additions
White Widow, Shang-Chi, and Killmonger are the reactive cards, but they could be changed for a more proactive option to score more points. Vision, Cassandra Nova, Gladiator…
Silver Surfer
den
Here’s another archetype with a solid Win Rate (56.5%) but a disappointing Cube Average (0.3) to go with it. Similar to Midrange Sandman, it’s possible that Silver Surfer is too reliable for the Ranked mode where players will Retreat when they know they can’t win. Especially during a week Killmonger had lots of targets around, I expected to see this archetype ranked much higher on the list.
It would be interesting to see the results in Conquest. Maybe Silver Surfer was able to dominate there, like you would expect from a deck with all the current best cards in the game (considering they are all 3-Costs).
Potential Additions
Spider-Ham pairs really well with Copycat, while Hope Summers can replace Sera as another way to cheat energy.
Stature Darkhawk
den
The anti-Arishem archetype keeps posting decent results—particularly its 57.5% Win Rate—which is only logical with Arishem still being a very popular deck. But, once again, this is a deck with a limited ability to take its opponent to the last turn since it is quite obvious whether you have a shot or not based on how they set up their synergies early on in the match.
Potential Additions
Swarm and Blade could help with making a more discard heavy package.
Patriot
den
Super-Skrull is a nice wrinkle in the Patriot deck because it heavily tilts the mirror match in your favor. However, Enchantress was part of the best Arishem Loki list, in addition to Patriot joining the long list of decks that can easily be figured out on Turn 6 to decide whether you should stay or Retreat.
Just like Midrange Sandman, Stature Darkhawk, and Silver Surfer, this deck has a high Win Rate (57.5%) combined with a low Cube Average (0.25).
Potential Additions
Wasp, Brood, and Absorbing Man are routine inclusions if you don’t like Super-Skrull, Blink, or Sandman.
Tier 3
Galactus
I didn’t expect to see Galactus do anything relevant in a meta with a lot of disruption around. From the Junk decks testing
Move Junk
den
Closing Words
This first week of the season wasn’t as exciting as I anticipated. Both new cards made it into an archetype, but the more innovative ones almost didn’t deserve to appear in this report. On the other hand, all the archetype we already knew have eaten up most of the popularity, leaving us with kind of a bland environment.
In a way, Arishem is the most unpredictable deck on this report and the one you have the highest chances of playing a full match against. Still, it is the one forcing all the other decks to run Cassandra Nova and possibly shutting down many experiments with its counter heavy build.
I would love to see a new archetype shake up the current standings like Midrange Sandman did last week, if only it didn’t fall back in the ranks on the following report. Maybe we’ll find one with a future new card, or maybe we have to wait for the next OTA.
Want to discuss this report or looking to get coached? 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.
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