Table of Contents
This Meta Tier List report is dedicated to the Ranked mode and lists the current best decks heading into, and once in the Infinite Rank. Looking to figure out the impact of a newly released card or the latest balance changes? This is the place to be!
| Tier | Deck |
|---|---|
| Trending | Hela 56% Win Rate 0.4 Cube Average 200 Games |
| Tier 1 | Arishem 60% Win Rate 0.5 Cube Average |
| Tier 1 | Mister Negative 56.5% Win Rate 0.5 Cube Average |
| Tier 1 | Toxic 58.5% Win Rate 0.4 Cube Average |
| Tier 1 | Bounce Move 57.5% Win Rate 0.4 Cube Average |
| Tier 1 | Mill 57% Win Rate 0.4 Cube Average |
| Tier 2 | Wiccan Control 57% Win Rate 0.35 Cube Average |
| Tier 2 | Iron Hand 57% Win Rate 0.35 Cube Average |
| Tier 2 | Bullseye Discard 57%% Win Rate 0.3 Cube Average |
| Tier 3 | Destroy 54% Win Rate 0.25 Cube Average |
| Tier 3 | Ronan Control 54.5% Win Rate 0.2 Cube Average |
| Tier 3 | Lockdown 54% Win Rate 0.2 Cube Average |
Are you still chasing that elusive Infinite Rank? Here are the Top 5 performers in the ranks 80 to 99!
| Deck | Performance |
| Wiccan Good Cards | 0.7 Cube Average 65.5% Win Rate |
| Mister Negative | 0.65 Cube Average 55% Win Rate |
| Galactus | 0.6 Cube Average 60% Win Rate |
| Clog | 0.6 Cube Average 57.5% Win Rate |
| Small Good Cards | 0.5 Cube Average 60% Win Rate |
Here is my usual annoying advice because I’m a coach and I like to think this helps people: Focus on controlling the stakes of each game and building trust in both your deck and your decision making abilities. Once you feel confident, feel free to take more risks. Reaching Infinite is all about understanding the process of grinding cubes. Also, constantly changing your deck limits your ability to learn the game fundamentals, as you are always focused on learning how to pilot the new deck.
Marvel Snap Meta Overview
With 7 archetypes breaking the 57% Win Rate threshold and five Tier 1 contenders, the current meta feels very healthy with a wide array of well positioned decks. Among those are the particularly interesting Mill and Toxic; both of these decks are typically focused on disrupting their opponents, which is something difficult to achieve in a meta with lots of excellent yet different synergies.
Both have also started to focus on more points to be able to challenge more opponents. This limits their ability to outright cancel certain gameplans, but it gives them a chance in every match in return. Iron Patriot leads the way when it comes to generating more points for both decks, which further reinforces its case for the strongest 2-Cost in the game. The Season Pass card also helped Wiccan Control, another Control deck on the rise, in that department.
Basically, thanks to being able to access energy cheats through strong standalone cards—particularly Iron Patriot and Wiccan—disruptive decks are able to keep up with the points potential of most archetypes.
The synergistic decks are doing even better than the Control builds at the moment. Scream was nerfed in the last OTA, so now Move only has to worry about Red Guardian on Madame Web. Apart from this specific threat, the deck often has a very safe Snap when it draws the right cards early on. The same could be said about Mister Negative, except that it has even less to worry about; it only cares about Mobius and the occasional Alioth in certain decks. Bullseye Discard would be the third one in that category, but it is a little weaker to common disruptive cards such as Red Guardian. Plus, Luke Cage can also deny Bullseye‘s ability, which explains why it is a tier lower.
Finally, we have the flexible decks. They haven’t been around as much lately, likely due to being more difficult to build perfectly while disruptive and synergistic builds tend to have at least ten obvious cards you have to run. Also, Iron Patriot can be played in any deck right now whereas previous strong standalone cards like Galacta weren’t as good in synergistic or disruptive lists.
Still, this meta rewards potential above all, so Arishem rose above every other archetype on the back of still being unstoppable when the generated cards don’t ruin the party. Sure, a list with a bit of everything can look super unreliable, but your Snaps and Retreats can mitigate the impact of bad hands. Also, the game features so many strong cards that your starting 11 (Arishem doesn’t count) is bonkers, and Doctor Doom 2099 allows you to continue playing as long as you have one good card in hand.
Happy Tier List, everyone!
Trending
Performance: 58.5% Win Rate / 0.5 Cube Average / 200 Games
How the tables have turned for Hela! Many have already labelled her as a failed comeback attempt and, overall, they aren’t completely wrong; most Hela builds have terrible results at the moment. Yet, this particular one did much better since the OTA, more than enough to be considered a competitive option.
If you were missing Hela and haven’t found a way to win with her since the OTA, this is the list to test.
Tier 1
Arishem
den
Performance: 60% Win Rate / 0.5 Cube Average
As we near the end of the season, the pool of players you can be matched against gets wider, which means decks that are able to impose their will have gained momentum. When everything goes according to plan, Arishem is still an unstoppable force. You’re able to challenge opponents on points with Galacta and the Doctor Doom pair as well as disrupt their decks with Juggernaut, Red Guardian, Alioth, and other such cards.
Just Retreat for a cube when the generated cards limit your ability to play and Snap when they aren’t a factor.
Potential Additions
Quinjet, Shadow King, Cable, and
Mister Negative
den
Performance: 56.5% Win Rate / 0.5 Cube Average
A 56% Win Rate might not be much compared to many archetypes on this list, but it is kind of an anomaly for Mister Negative since the deck typically isn’t super reliable. However, with
Potential Additions
Ironheart and Wong can see play together, replacing Super-Skrull and Cassandra Nova. Black Panther and Arnim Zola are another pair, typically instead of Taskmaster and either Cassandra Nova or Sage.
Toxic
Performance: 58.5% Win Rate / 0.4 Cube Average
The current meta features a lot of cheap cards, which might not be great for the nerfed U.S. Agent—but it makes Hazmat and Man-Thing represent a ton of power. Combined with Iron Patriot and Blink, Toxic has been focusing more on power, which is likely due to the meta featuring a lot of strong decks. Picking a reactive strategy is sometimes too risky due to that diversity. On the other hand, points are good, and they will always represent a way to compete for the win.
Potential Additions
Nebula plus Rocket and Groot are a solid duo in the deck. Strong standalone cards, especially 3-Costs, can also find a spot. Cards like Juggernaut and Copycat.
Bounce Move
den
Performance: 57.5% Win Rate / 0.4 Cube Average
This is the best deck in the game for many top players, but Bounce Move is limited by its complexity compared to other archetypes. Except for this need to mess up a lot in order to master the intricacies of Bounce Move, the list has been the same 11 cards plus a flexible slot for a while. It’s also consistently put up great results, which shows how reliable the archetype has become over time.
This week, that 12th card was Nico Minoru (and it was Iron Patriot in our previous report). It has also been Cloak and a disruptive card in case you want to take the deck in another direction.
Potential Additions
The Pure Move deck is also posting strong numbers:
den
Mill
den
Performance: 57% Win Rate / 0.4 Cube Average
Although it lost the top spot, Mill remains a very strong archetype at the moment. This is due to two main factors: Killmonger and Lady Deathstrike have a wide array of targets, and Iron Patriot brought some extra points and energy cheating that the deck desperately needed.
Now Mill doesn’t have to rely on just disrupting the opponent’s game plan. It can also fight on points, which is something it was unable to do in the past.
Potential Additions
Shadow King can replace Cable if you want extra disruption. Red Guardian can also be included in that role.
Tier 2
Wiccan Control
den
Performance: 57% Win Rate / 0.35 Cube Average
Arguably the most impactful card in the game, Wiccan has a wide array of decks that rely on its ability. The two best are this Control shell and the Iron Hand deck, but this one did slightly better in the Cube Average category.
The reason for that is the surprise element brought by the mix of counter cards in the deck. Enchantress plus Shang-Chi typically don’t really mix well with Alioth since the latter requires priority to be effective. Yet, once you factor in the extra two energy from Wiccan and the very cheap cards provided by Iron Patriot, seizing priority with a Control build isn’t that big of a problem anymore.
Potential Additions
Valentina and Copycat are fine replacements in the deck if you’re missing something in the early turns.
Iron Hand
den
Performance: 57% Win Rate / 0.35 Cube Average
When the random cards generated are on your side, this deck is impossible to stop because it combines everything you’d want in a deck. Indeed, Iron Hand was already featuring great flexibility, reactive cards, and a strong points total before the OTA. Then the buff to Mister Fantastic made it a… well, fantastic addition alongside Moonstone. This granted the deck the ability to contest any location—even the unplayable ones.
Potential Additions
Rogue and Juggernaut could be a lot of different cards. Speed, Copycat, and Red Guardian are the top three to consider.
Bullseye Discard
den
Performance: 57%% Win Rate / 0.3 Cube Average
After tinkering with a lot of different lists, Bullseye seems to have found a really good one with Moon Girl acting as the gel that makes the deck reliable. She can grow The Collector and Daken even more while giving Bullseye more ammunition.
Although this performance is much better than the early results around Bullseye, the deck doesn’t benefit from doing anything new at all. Indeed, new builds are typically surprising, which boosts their Cube Average through opponent staying against Snaps or not playing optimally. In this case, the deck is so easy to recognize and based around such distinct synergies that it is difficult to catch anyone off guard.
Potential Additions
Gambit and Grand Master replaced Miek and Moon Girl in a list to shift the focus more to disruption, but that list did worse overall.
Tier 3
Deadpool Destroy
den
Performance: 54% Win Rate / 0.25 Cube Average
The Destroy synergy is on the rise lately thanks to the Mill archetype. However, it needs to be paired with some form of disruption to give you a well-rounded strategy. In the case of Deadpool Destroy, there is no surprise left at all and you will rarely be in a position to win more than a cube or two.
Ronan Control
den
Performance: 54.5% Win Rate / 0.2 Cube Average
This honestly looks like a weaker Wiccan Control deck. It has the spice of using Ronan the Accuser, but otherwise doesn’t have much to show for if the performance of both decks is compared.
Lockdown
den
Performance: 54%% Win Rate / 0.2 Cube Average
If you have a nutty hand, you should Snap as early as possible with this deck. Indeed, once the opponent knows you are a Lockdown deck, the equation becomes too simple to solve (stay if Doctor Doom 2099 can be countered, otherwise Retreat) for it to bring many cubes.
Closing Words
There are so many strong cards to account for in this meta (Iron Patriot, Copycat, Red Guardian, Wiccan…) on top of possible counter cards that it is often easier to think proactively. Indeed, if you start playing around everything, you are purposefully lowering the potential of your deck to account for a plethora of “maybes”.
Synergistic decks are the simplest solution to this problem since they are built to focus on their own gameplan, and several of them posted great results this week. However, those decks often have little leverage with the Snap mechanic because they are simple to recognize, which means opponents can accurately picture the outcome of the match and Retreat accordingly.
To gain some leverage, you can turn to more flexible decks whose Snaps aren’t as simple to figure out (both for the pilot and the opponent). That comes with accepting the fact that the Iron Patriot roulette might decide a few of your matches.
To reach out, find me on the Marvel Snap Zone community Discord or send me a DM @den_ccg for a question about an article or coaching inquiry.
Good Game Everyone.
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 Trending section. That section highlights decks with excellent results, 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. 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 Tier 1 and Tier 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 OR 0.4 Cube Average & 57%+ Win Rate.
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.
0.4 > Cube Average > 0.3
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.
0.3 > Cube Average > 0.2
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.
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