Table of Contents
The metagame three days removed from the OTA Balance Update looks pretty close to the community’s expectations after the notes were published. The High Power deck took a beating with both Techno-Organic Virus and Martyr nerfed, and have disappeared as a result. However, the 1-cost card and the now 2-cost skill have bounced back in opposite ways.
Martyr almost went missing, now only included in 1 archetype. As expected, becoming a [1/5] makes Martyr too close to Hydra Bob in terms of power, leading most players to prefer the flexible ability over one power only.
On the other end, Techno-Organic Virus found a new way to remain a 1-cost card in Quinjet, replacing the now useless Mobius M. Mobius. Thanks to that pairing, the 2-cost skill remains a solid card in the Marvel Snap metagame, now part of the Iron Hand and a Fenris Wolf inspired list with solid results.
This “Disruptive Destroy” build is the best deck to come out of the OTA, both in terms of performance or originality. Indeed, with buffs to weak cards only, most of the archetypes on the rise with High Power gone are known performers with improved win and cube ratios.
Disruptive Aurora, Supergiant Control, Buff Surfer…All these decks, even if they have small tweaks to their list were around before the OTA. Now, they are free to roam the ladder, and seem to do it extremely well.
As usual with a new cycle, we need new powerful decks to get started. They will set the average power we need to beat, the play style we should expect, and the various directions available to beat them.
We know none of these are better than the High Power decks we had previously, so it should be manageable to dethrone them if we build for that precise goal.
Happy Tier List, everyone!
| Tier | Deck |
|---|---|
| Trending | Clea & Buffs 0.35 Cube Average / 55% Win Rate |
| Tier 1 | Disruptive Buff Aurora 0.55 Cube Average / 61.5% Win Rate |
| Tier 1 | Supergiant Control 0.6 Cube Average / 61% Win Rate |
| Tier 1 | Virused Disruptive Destroy 0.6 Cube Average / 60.5% Win Rate |
| Tier 2 | Buff Surfer 0.6 Cube Average / 57.5% Win Rate |
| Tier 2 | Fantomex 0.5 Cube Average / 56% Win Rate |
| Tier 2 | Supergiant Rocks 0.4 Cube Average / 57% Win Rate |
| Tier 2 | Move 0.4 Cube Average / 56.5% Win Rate |
| Tier 2 | Iron Hand 0.45 Cube Average / 54.5% Win Rate |
| Tier 2 | High Evo Control 0.3 Cube Average / 58.5% Win Rate |
| Tier 2 | Zombie Galacti 0.3 Cube Average / 58% Win Rate |
| Tier 2 | High Power Summons 0.3 Cube Average / 58% Win Rate |
| Tier 3 | Askani Double-up 0.35 Cube Average / 53% Win Rate |
| Tier 3 | Nimrolactus 0.25 Cube Average / 52.5% Win Rate |
Trending
Clea & Buffs
den
Performance: 0.35 Cube Average / 55% Win Rate
Quite a gimmicky deck built around buffing Clea, but also capable of flexible patterns thanks to enough room for disruptive cards.
Neither metric is particularly stellar, but with at least three flexible slots, this is an adaptable strategy if the core cards prove to develop enough points to compete.
Tier 1
Disruptive Buffed Aurora
den
Performance: 0.55 Cube Average / 61.5% Win Rate
Disruptive Aurora has been one of the few decks which managed to remain competitive over the past few seasons, without ever being nerfed. Venus came to bolster the points total, making this archetype more than just a deck designed to counter with a bit of points.
The OTA was the cherry on the cake, removing the last hurdle in Disruptive Aurora’s way to finally seize the top spot.
Potential Additions
Stardust is a good disruptive Ongoing ability, while Gorgon or Mobius M. Mobius are specific inclusions for Iron Hand and such strategies.
Supergiant Control
den
Performance: 0.6 Cube Average / 61% Win Rate
I’m not sure I trust this deck as much as I trust Disruptive Aurora. Indeed, Supergiant and Ronan the Accuser have been a solid duo in the past, but have a history of rising after an update or early in the season without staying in the top tier for long.
The metagame is wide open at the moment, and this deck does look good overall, so this could be the time for Supergiant Control to keep its spot for more than a week.
Potential Additions
Hydra Bob or such solid 1-cost would be helpful for Askani’son but doesn’t synergize with Killmonger.
Virused Disruptive Destroy
den
Performance: 0.6 Cube Average / 60.5% Win Rate
This isn’t a new synergy, as Fenris Wolf has been a dominant card a while back. Plus, this clearly takes a page from the High Power decks the OTA just nerfed to go along the destroy your opponent’s cards package.
The question we have to ask now is which part of the deck is the more important. If the answer is Martyr, Wilson Fisk, Quinjet and Techno-Organic Virus, the OTA probably didn’t have that much of an impact. If we pick Fenris Wolf and friends, then the once best synergy in the game is now a fine support, which we can expect to see in a variety of strategies looking for points.
Potential Additions
Scarlet Witch is the flexible card in the build, but represents almost a free-win against Magik decks. Askani’son would be a good default replacement.
Tier 2
Buff Surfer
den
Performance: 0.6 Cube Average / 57.5% Win Rate
I don’t think anyone is surprised to see Silver Surfer in this report, maybe to not see it in the first tier. Instead, the really important question should be how to build the deck optimally, considering the amount of cards which make sense in the synergy.
The other archetypes seem to build around disruption so far in this new metagame, so this seems to be more resilient against those. Indeed, although more power would probably win more games, this one should have a better control over snaps and retreats, alongside more flexible late turn patterns.
Potential Additions
Maverick, Stick and the rest of the power crew are another way to build around Silver Surfer, but you have to kick out the disruptive cards.
Fantomex
den
Performance: 0.5 Cube Average / 56% Win Rate
The win rate is good, but not so far from what we’ve seen Fantomex achieve in the past. However, the cube average clearly shows this archetype is not respected when it snaps.
I assume Shadow King and Mobius M. Mobius help in that matter, but still expect the cube average to worsen in the near future.
Potential Additions
The Fantomex package is difficult to change, but the two flexible slots are open for a ton of possible cards, be it synergistic options like Venom or Wolverine, or other disruptive cards to target specific match-ups.
Supergiant Rocks
den
Performance: 0.4 Cube Average / 57% Win Rate
This was a great deck before the OTA so it is a bit odd to see it below Supergiant Control or other decks with much worse track record over the previous weeks.
There is quite a lot of Killmonger around, which probably explains the struggles of the Rock synergy. Maybe Armor would help, or just wait for that trend to be over with.
Potential Additions
Quinjet and Techno-Organic Virus make sense if they are good in another decks.
Move
Performance: 0.4 Cube Average / 56.5% Win Rate
I’m certain Move is in a great spot at the moment, as the synergy probably represents one of the highest scorers currently in Marvel Snap. To be fair, this way of playing Move has never been the best one. Lockdown Move with Professor X, Bounce Move or just a strong move deck with a couple of disruptive cards should perform really well at the moment.
At least, the cube average tells us Multiple Man or Human Torch early on are a reliable snap.
Potential Additions
Hellion is a good top curve option, while Agony is another way to buff our key cards.
Iron Hand
den
Performance: 0.45 Cube Average / 54.5% Win Rate
There are multiple builds of Iron Hand at the moment, but most have a disappointing cube average compared to their win rate. This one without Victoria Hand, the card giving her name to the archetype, actually manages to surprise opponents with a simple trick: they think you have a bad draw because Victoria Hand never shows up.
Obviously, this direction hurts your ability to develop points without intricate play patterns. Yet, with Sasquatch plus the cards created by Iron Patriot and Valentina, you typically find a way to create a beefy yet cheap card to duplicate.
Potential Additions
Frigga and Victoria Hand tilt the deck towards a simpler approach, but more suited for someone without a ton of experience with this archetype.
High Evo
den
Performance: 0.3 Cube Average / 58.5% Win Rate
High Evo is part of those decks we always see after an OTA, just because it is a simple archetype to pilot with a solid foundation and room for counter cards.
The Win Rate typically is this synergy’s strong suit, and the 58.5% once again proves it. However, the cube average isn’t great, indicating people are careful when playing against it, or its snaps aren’t good enough.
Unfortunately, High Evo needs to find certain cards early, such as Cyclops, while everyone learns to count how big Hulk or how cheap Abomination are.
Potential Additions
Scorpion, Nebula or Lady Bullseye or solid cards withing the synergy. Otherwise, Shang-Chi and Enchantress can be different counter cards. Armor could be good if Killmonger and Fenris Wold remain popular cards, which would make Shadow King better overall.
Zombie Galacti
Performance: 0.3 Cube Average / 58% Win Rate
Zombie Galacti has been a part of the Marvel Snap metagame for a while now, cementing its spot as a competitive archetype. However, it still lacks any kind of surprise to build a good cube average.
Plus, with Disruptive Aurora at the top, it can’t be good to face both Cosmo and Spider-Ham too often.
Potential Additions
Magik could be Crystal if there were too many Scarlet Witches.
High Power Summons
den
Performance: 0.3 Cube Average / 58% Win Rate
A new list of the otherwise same concept, High Power Summons might now be the best scorer in Marvel Snap when it comes to slamming big cards on the board.
Ever since Shang-Chi was changed to destroy only 1 card, this type of deck have been able to exist and thrive in Marvel Snap. Yet, those decks still need to snap early to keep their opponent in the game, while they are also quite fragile to disruption, as they really only have plan A.
Potential Additions
Caliban could be any 3-cost you think might win some matches. Mobius M. Mobius for example, or such card able to shut down certain strategies. Try not to pick an On Reveal card if you want Astral Projection to target your higher cost abilities.
Tier 3
Except for Iron Hand with a 54.5% win rate, the average ratio on this report is quite high, until there is a significant gap with the rest of the metagame. Plus, Iron Hand has other lists at 57 or 58% win rate, but those fail to rack up as many cubes as the one with the better surprise factor.
Among those waiting on the other side of that gap, we have gimmick decks able to develop a lot of points, but only if the draws align. They can also win a good amount of cube, but only if their opponent accepts to play against those same draws.
The OTA impacted the metagame, but not enough for everyone to forget how non High Power decks were winning games.
Askani Double-Up
den
Performance: 0.35 Cube Average / 53% Win Rate
Nimrolactus
den
Performance: 0.25 Cube Average / 52.5% Win Rate
That’s it for this week! To reach out, find me on the Marvel Snap Zone community Discord, or shoot me a direct message (@den_ccg) for specific stuff or coaching.
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 Silent Performers section. That section highlights decks with an excellent Win Rate, 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.
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.
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.
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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