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 a tyrannical performance in the Infinity League shortly after its release, Arishem has also installed itself as an elite archetype in Ranked. However, the extra time seems to have allowed the other decks to adapt, and they found plenty of ways to fight back. As such, Arishem remains the most influential force in Marvel Snap, but it’s no longer the best performer. The simple fact that three of the top five decks are using Darkhawk, a card that was otherwise out of the meta, shows how feared the new 7-Cost is. Still, Arishem Loki isn’t at the top of the list, not even in Tier 1, which means the deck can be countered if need be.
Popularity wise, Arishem (and the decks aimed at beating him) took a significant portion of the data I could find. As a result, there are only 8 decks to discuss this week even though the rest of the season typically featured double that amount. I could have included more if I considered the various lists inside each archetype, though. Good Cards Ravonna had two different builds, Junk had three, and Arishem had plenty. Yet, looking at those variations only tells me that those decks work whether you build to target Arishem or not, but the targeted strategy nets better results… for now.
Overall, the meta is still mostly about Arishem, even four days after its release. You could compare the card to High Evolutionary last year, which had a similar impact and also released at the end of a season.
To close The Celestials’ Finest season, there is little doubt that Arishem will take the title of most impactful card of the month. However, it will be very interesting to see if the card can keep this level of hype and performance once new cards are added to the game.
Happy Tier List, everyone!
Marvel Snap Meta Tier List
| Tier | Deck |
|---|---|
| Tier 1 | Good Cards Ravonna |
| Tier 1 | Junk Move |
| Tier 2 | Darkhawk Control |
| Tier 2 | Arishem Loki |
| Tier 2 | Toxic Surfer |
| Tier 2 | On Reveal |
| Tier 3 | Kazoo |
| Tier 3 | Phoenix Force |
| 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 > 0.30
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
Good Cards Ravonna
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A premier archetype ever since Thena released, Good Cards Ravonna has once again shown its ability to adapt to a new foe. This time, the deck included Mobius M. Mobius and Darkhawk for the Arishem match up, and it managed to claim the top spot on this report in the process.
Arishem remains the most influential deck in the game; most archetypes have specifically adapted against it, after all. But it seems like Good Cards Ravonna was the only one able to beat it, which earned the archetype a 0.6 Cube Average and 57.5% Win Rate.
Potential Additions
If you aren’t facing much of Arishem, the traditional build probably is a better idea:
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Junk Move
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Junk was one of the archetypes that was easily able to switch to a Darkhawk shell, but that list would have been a low Tier 2 candidate. Instead, with a strong 0.5 Cube Average and the best Win Rate on this report—60%—Junk Move fully deserves its Tier 1 placement.
In each report, I talk at length about how solid the Junk synergy is for anyone without a strong grasp of specific deckbuilding. If you just fill the opponent’s board and limit their ability to play, you can create obvious Snap opportunities and simple situations to navigate.
Junk has a one problem though: it often doesn’t play enough points to compete. That means you need to disrupt your opponent to have a shot. Junk Move helps that problem a little.
Obviously, you will look at Dagger and see how the card can grow to big numbers when it moves to a lane with a Rock, Green Goblin, and/or Widow's Kiss. However, there is much more that Iron Fist and
- You can move Doctor Octopus out of lane that you pulled too many points onto and still find value from the 10 power.
- You can play Green Goblin into an empty lane, making sure it will change sides, and then move it to the lane that you really wanted to clog if the opponent didn’t fill it. This makes sure you give Green Goblin, even if the opponent filled the lane you originally wanted to play it into.
- You can use Cannonball‘s ability on a lane to win it where the scores are close, and then move the seven power to contribute to another contested lane.
The reliability of the entire deck is still to be confirmed, but the 60% Win Rate is a very reassuring sight already. Otherwise, Junk Move is the breakout star of the week for sure.
Potential Additions
Shang-Chi, Magik, and Red Hulk are the flexible cards in the deck. You can probably play around with them if you have other ideas you want to test.
Tier 2
Darkhawk Control
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Sera Control has been struggling for a while; the meta before Arishem released was quite diverse, and it’s not the best deck for countering many specific strategies. This week, with a clear opponent to beat, Sera Control was able to build for a purpose and it logically posted a much better performance as a result.
The Win Rate remains on the lower end of the spectrum at 54%, but a counter strategy looks to leverage its Snaps rather than win every game. As such, the 0.45 Cube Average shows that if you find the right match ups, you should be able to compete with the best.
Obviously, the target for this Darkhawk Control build was Arishem since it was the most popular deck in the game this week. Keep in mind that with less of Arishem, this deck should perform worse.
Potential Additions
Rogue could help against Ongoing strategies, while Nocturne, Gladiator, and other strong standalone cards also have a claim to be in the deck.
Arishem Loki
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Arishem Loki became top menace in Marvel Snap so quickly that its best list became the one for the mirror match. However, it is important to note that this particular build is declining in performance rapidly, while lists that are not as specific are getting better. This is only logical, as most of the meta started targeting Arishem Loki while the archetype was also trying to beat itself.
With this in mind, you could have very different reads of the archetype’s performance in this report. Indeed, you could look at this Tier 2 (0.4 Cube Average and 58.5% Win Rate) performance as a disappointment, possibly the first sign of Arishem‘s decline as it falls prey to other archetypes using Darkhawk.
On the other hand, the counterargument is valid, too: most decks would have been kicked out of the competitive meta if most other archetypes, as well as itself, were not trying to target it.
This simply looks like the end of Arishem not caring about the other archetypes and instead finding builds that its able to play against something other than itself.
Potential Additions
Here is an example of a build to play in a more diverse field rather than trying to beat the mirror match at all costs. You can still play Darkhawk instead of Sersi if you want to gain an edge in the mirror match, though.
Toxic Surfer
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In the Conquest report, I noted that most decks able to survive in the Arishem meta were either targeting it (which I already covered in this report with Good Cards Ravonna and Darkhawk Control), or doing their own thing for points.
Sure, Toxic Surfer is including Darkhawk, which is a clear sign that gaining an edge in the Arishem match up is still very important. But you can’t ignore the deck’s ability to generate a ton of points if left alone. Rogue is a little scary because it can steal the ability of many cards in your deck (Luke Cage, Wong, Sera, Darkhawk). Otherwise, these types of combo decks are glad to see everyone gunning for the same target because that opens a lot of space to simply develop their synergies in peace.
The Win Rate doesn’t reflect this favorable situation, as 52.5% isn’t special at all. But the 0.35 Cube Average is pretty good for a deck that isn’t winning that much, and that indicates there are many Snap opportunities to be had.
Potential Additions
Sage, Absorbing Man, or any strong On Reveal ability can make it into the deck. Rogue and Nocturne are also considerations for simply being strong cards. Darkhawk and Mystique were added for this specific meta, so they can be replaced if you aren’t facing that much Arishem.
On Reveal
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Rogue is a popular card in this meta with a lot of Darkhawk, so trying to leverage Wong might be a risky idea. Yet, when Rogue is somewhere in a 24 cards deck, that gamble is a little easier to accept.
Apart from that interaction, On Reveal keeps being that solid archetype that you can rely on when you’re not in the mood to build something specific for the current environment. The points are fairly simple to visualize, you are flexible with the move cards, and you can challenge a big Blob with Sage behind Wong or with Odin as support.
It’s nothing complicated, which naturally limits how good the deck can be, but a 0.3 Cube Average and 54% Win Rate is pretty good when the entire meta is in shambles.
Potential Additions
The deck has been the same for the entire season, so you probably just want to replace something you don’t have with another card that can fill the exact same role.
Tier 3
Kazoo
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This has been a difficult week for Kazoo, which lost most of the momentum it built during the season. It has pretty much returned to being an archetype with some potential but subpar results.
Arguably, this week has been difficult for most archetypes, or at least those that did not start playing Darkhawk. There is a small chance for Kazoo to bounce back in the new season. The 52% Win Rate and 0.2 Cube Average are by far the worst numbers the deck has put up this month, though.
Shadow King and Rogue make sense in the current meta, so the reason must be in the deck’s inability to develop as much as its opponents. Plus, there is more of Rogue around, which naturally hurts Blue Marvel, Ka-Zar, or even Dazzler. Maybe Cosmo could help for protection. Otherwise, it feels like Kazoo just can’t keep up with the environment changing after Arishem.
Phoenix Force
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Phoenix Force is far from the solution to the current meta like it was in the past when the deck’s ability to Snap a great opening hand was a surefire win.
First, Junk remains a popular deck, and White Widow alone often makes it a 50/50 to revive a Widow's Kiss instead of Multiple Man or Human Torch. Then, Shadow King can also be a problem because it will often ruin an entire lane for you.
Still, even if a 0.2 Cube Average doesn’t deserve any particular praises, this Cable plus Loki list caught my attention… and there weren’t that many decks worth discussing anyway.
Closing Words
Depending on your favorite way to play the game (focusing on your Cube Average or Win Rate), Marvel Snap can reward very different strategies. For those who like to play high stakes games and Snap aggressively, going after Arishem specifically seems to be a good strategy—although you might only have a few days to keep doing it. On the other hand, even if you could slot Darkhawk and Mobius M. Mobius into a multitude of decks without specifically supporting them, the deck with the best Win Rate was not using any specific counter cards. Indeed, Junk Move relied on doing its own thing: a clever mix of Dagger alongside clogging your opponent’s space.
Even with only 8 decks, you can still see some variety in the synergies you can pick from to climb the ranks before the season comes to a close. I hope this report was helpful, and good luck on those final days of climbing!
To reach out, 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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