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
The most recent OTA didn’t have much of an impact regarding the best decks in the game. Indeed, I’m sad to write that, apart from Phoenix Force, no Move decks managed to post a good enough performance to be part of this report. Instead, the archetypes that have been battling for Marvel Snap domination still remain at the top. What is fascinating, though, is how the battle for the top spot keeps intensifying week after week.
If you look at the thresholds I use for each tier, you’ll see that Tier 1 not only requires a 0.5 Cube Average (which has been the norm in these reports for a while), but I also added the requirement to post a 60% Win Rate. Only five decks managed to reach that threshold this week. This shows an insane density in terms of great decks, especially because they aren’t all relying on a similar play style. There are some similarities, such as the fairly low average cost of cards in the deck for Junk, Silver Surfer, and Small Good Cards. You can also see that all five decks have the ability to manipulate their points on a location, even when full.
Nocturne is played in all five decks, alongside Jeff the Baby Land Shark in three of them. Silver Surfer and On Reveal can buff their cards easily, while Junk can send or destroy cards with Annihilus to create space if needed. Small Good Cards will use Kitty Pryde to fill a location if required, but still be able to play there on the next turn. As for Good Cards Blink, Klaw helps for points, while Quake or Magneto can change the position of opposing cards or locations.
Through these five decks, you can clearly identify how Marvel Snap should be played in the higher ranks: good points potential, but very flexible in how to spread those points. Plus, you want to mix in a bit of reactive cards to make sure you keep your opponent on their toes. On that topic, there is very little targeted disruption. Instead, cards like Cosmo, U.S. Agent, Mobius M. Mobius, and Echo are in the decks, all of which are cards you can play on curve to protect your game plan or just to spend your energy if needed. One way or another, they will impact your opponent or protect some of your cards so you can focus on your development.
A core game plan based around developing points surrounded by great, flexible cards is the recipe for a top tier deck right now.
Happy Tier List, everyone!
Marvel Snap Meta Tier List
| Tier | Deck |
|---|---|
| Silent Performer | Zabu Discard |
| Tier 1 | Junk |
| Tier 1 | Small Good Cards |
| Tier 1 | Silver Surfer |
| Tier 1 | On Reveal |
| Tier 1 | Good Cards Blink |
| Tier 2 | Kazoolgamesh |
| Tier 2 | DeathJunk |
| Tier 2 | Electro Ramp |
| Tier 2 | Mill |
| Tier 3 | Galactus |
| Tier 3 | Discard Dracula |
| Tier 3 | Phoenix Force |
| Tier 3 | Destroy |
| Tier 3 | Loki |
| 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 & 60% 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.
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 > 0.25
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.
Silent Performers
If you look at its all time performance, this deck has no business being on this report. Yet, for some reason, Zabu Discard managed to post a 0.4 Cube Average alongside a 59% Win Rate, which was enough to land the deck in high Tier 2 if it had more recorded games.
It is hard to pinpoint exactly how the deck, which was a thing last year, managed to post such a good performance, but that’s kind of the point with the Silent Performers. They appears out of nowhere and pique your curiosity.
Tier 1
Junk
Since adding Mysterio and Mockingbird to the mix, Junk has been the best deck in the game and posted incredibly good results. This week is no different, as the 0.7 Cube Average and 62.7% Win Rate are both insane numbers.
Most of Junk’s success comes from playing the simplest form of disruption—space limitation—in a meta where most are trying to play cheap cards to be flexible. By taking that flexibility away from your opponent, you remove their ability to adapt. That often correlates with their ability to Snap, or even just compete on a location.
Potential Additions
Red Guardian is the flexible card in the deck, replaceable with any flexible tool you might deem necessary. Rogue, Mobius M. Mobius, and Juggernaut are good fits.
Small Good Cards
Ravonna Renslayer has been taken out of her own deck, just some unfortunate collateral damage from the Angela nerf. Indeed, with only Thena and Sage now benefiting from the cost reduction, investing in other cards made more sense. You can see the return of Elsa Bloodstone in the deck to beef up the points potential. Also, now that Angela contributes to seizing priority heading into Turn 3, Cosmo and Red Guardian make sense in the deck, as they’re potentially able to snipe certain cards.
This is just a first attempt after the OTA, but the results are already fantastic with a 0.6 Cube Average and 60.5% Win Rate.
Potential Additions
The list below would have ranked in Tier 2 if it wasn’t an alternate of Small Good Cards, but it could be a better fit for players who are looking to disrupt more than develop. The Win Rates for both decks were close, so the difference was mostly in their Cube Averages.
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Silver Surfer
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The archetype on the rise since the fall of Professor X and Hela, Silver Surfer keeps posting better numbers each week. It just can’t seem to beat Junk for that top spot. This time, the deck could have claimed the top spot, as it had a better Win Rate than Small Good Cards with 62.5%, but the lower Cube Average was the ultimate tiebreaker in the end.
The featured list is pretty weird, but it was the best build for the archetype (by a significant margin compared to the more traditional way to build the deck, which would have ranked in the high Tier 2). As such, even if the inclusion of Makkari might raise a few eyebrows, it simply fits the theme of the deck: be proactive and leverage both Cosmo and Mobius M. Mobius to limit the opponent.
Potential Additions
This Ravonna Surfer list wouldn’t have ranked in Tier 1, but it still posted a very good performance. If it fits your play style more, you can definitely give it a try.
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On Reveal
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After quite some time far from the top, the On Reveal synergy climbed its way back into Tier 1 with an impressive 0.55 Cube Average and 61.5% Win Rate. The deck is the same as we’ve known for several weeks now, so the reason for its comeback must simply be in the post-OTA meta. Arguably, this one has the highest potential of the Tier 1 decks, but it also seems to be the easiest one to disrupt. Junk should be able to cancel Namora in its sleep, and that’s arguably the biggest challenge for this deck since Echo serves as a Cosmo shield.
With this in mind, I would probably wait for the final week of the season before giving my trust to On Reveal.
Potential Additions
The list has been the same for quite some time now, so it is hard to recommend any specific changes.
Good Cards Blink
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The last deck able to post an insane performance this week (honestly, a 0.55 Cube Average and 61.5% Win Rate would have taken the top spot of many reports in the past), Good Cards Blink soared back to the top of the rankings this week.
The main reason looks to be Leech being able to turn off many of the On Reveal abilities kept in hand for Turn 6. Between Silver Surfer, Namora, Odin, Sersi, or simply Sage, there are plenty of targets right now, which naturally plays into Good Cards Blink‘s game plan perfectly.
Potential Additions
Apart from Jubilee, Blink, and Leech, the rest of the deck is just good cards so you can definitely try different things. Look at the cards that are very popular in other archetypes to get a feel for the most impactful ones currently.
Tier 2
Kazoolgamesh
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In almost every other meta, Kazoolgamesh would be a Tier 1 deck; a 0.45 Cube Average and 59.5% Win Rate is an excellent performance. However, this isn’t just any environment, and there are five decks that managed to post both a better Cube Average and a better Win Rate.
Outside of that, Kazoo seems like it found its balance currently with Alioth serving as the disruptive card in the deck to shut down the many flexible opponents that are looking to explode on the last turn of play. The card was already in the mix before its recent buff since Kazoolgamesh has no problem seizing priority to set it up.
Potential Additions
Nebula, Jeff the Baby Land Shark, and Nocturne are the flexible cards. Nico Minoru, Shadow King, and Gilgamesh (which I kept in the name of the archetype despite not appearing in the best list) are valid options on top of the usual counter cards that any deck could run.
DeathJunk
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DeathJunk is a deck that has the required Cube Average to be included in Tier 1 at 0.5. Yet, the Win Rate of 54% is way worse than any of the five decks ranked in the first tier, hence why I lowered it down to Tier 2.
While 54% isn’t a bad Win Rate, it shows how DeathJunk is more Snap based than the other decks, and it can’t really compete when it doesn’t draw most of its key pieces. In the current meta that features plenty of super flexible builds, Snapping early to maximize your chances of the opponent staying in the match can be a risky gamble.
Potential Additions
Annihilus or Sersi could be swapped for Lady Deathstrike or Valkyrie.
Electro Ramp
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Ramp posted an exceptional performance this week based on the deck’s usual standards. At a 0.45 Cube Average and a 57.5% Win Rate, Ramp is apparently a great archetype in the current meta.
I would attribute a lot of that success to Sandman because it has the ability to shine in a meta that revolves around flexibility. Indeed, with most decks looking to keep their options open to adapt to their opponents, Sandman is a great punish, just like Leech in Good Cards Blink.
Potential Additions
Mill
Mill managed to post a 0.35 Cube Average alongside a 58% Win Rate this week, which is a solid performance (if it wasn’t for the other decks posting insane numbers).
Mill has one huge upside compared to the other decks right now: information asymmetry. Basically, Mill knows a lot more about the match than its opponents due to stealing, cancelling, or dragging the opponent’s cards. This ability should mostly be used to make educated Snaps, even if your opponent will often Retreat.
This is the biggest challenge when playing Mill, and you can see that represented by the high Win Rate and middling Cube Average. It is very difficult to keep your opponents in the game if you Snap after disrupting their strategy.
Potential Additions
Plenty of disruptive, flexible cards can be tossed in the deck. Rogue, Mobius M. Mobius, Nocturne…
Tier 3
The current meta rewards flexibility and the ability to adapt to your opponent if necessary. Synergistic decks still exist (many of which are in Tier 3), but they will often fall prey to the disruptive cards that appear in many decks. Still, they are doing fairly well despite the other decks completely crushing the standards we’ve been used to in the past.
If you enjoy any of these synergies, I wouldn’t refrain from playing them; these decks all have a positive Cube Average and Win Rate. Simply put, you need to be disciplined with your Snaps and Retreats because you won’t be able to rely on a stellar Win Rate to carry you through the ranks.
Galactus
Discard Dracula
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Phoenix Force
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Destroy
Loki
Closing Words
Flexibility has always been the best way to play Marvel Snap whenever the tools to do so exist. More synergistic decks can break through at times, such as Hela before its nerf or On Reveal this week, but this is the first time we have had so many of those decks be relevant at the same time.
Maybe certain flexible cards are too strong. Nocturne, for example, sees play in every Tier 1 deck this week. The card is also instrumental in limiting Magik, a core piece for several combo-oriented decks.
Should those be changed to open the way for more synergies to exist? Or is the fact that you can play these cards in a variety of archetypes the way to create diversity?
I guess we all have a different opinion on the matter. If you care about mine, I believe we’ll be in a good spot as long as the updates keep coming regularly, even if they sometimes have very little impact like the one we had on Thursday.
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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