Table of Contents
During the first week of the New X-Men Season, the Marvel Snap Ranked Tier List uses data ranging from the ranks 80 up to players already Infinite. Also, there is no “Pre-Infinite” decks due to those being mixed in the main table.
| Tier | Deck |
|---|---|
| Tier 1 | High Evo Toxic 0.8 Cube Average / 64.5% Win Rate |
| Tier 1 | Small Good Cards 0.75 Cube Average / 64% Win Rate |
| Tier 1 | Mister Negative 1.05 Cube Average / 56.5% Win Rate |
| Tier 1 | Bounce Move 1 Cube Average / 59% Win Rate |
| Tier 1 | Silver Surfer 0.8 Cube Average / 62.5% Win Rate |
| Tier 1 | Thanos Control 0.7 Cube Average / 62% Win Rate |
| Tier 2 | Thanos Ongoing 0.7 Cube Average / 60.5% Win Rate |
| Tier 2 | Ongoing 0.6 Cube Average / 61% Win Rate |
| Tier 2 | Good Cards Move 0.7 Cube Average / 60% Win Rate |
| Tier 2 | Scream Move 0.5 Cube Average / 60% Win Rate |
| Tier 3 | Discard Dracula 0.55 Cube Average / 59% Win Rate |
| Tier 3 | Sauron 10 Power 0.55 Cube Average / 59% Win Rate |
| Tier 3 | Clog 0.55 Cube Average / 58% Win Rate |
Marvel Snap Meta Overview
Bots are feeding us Cubes, every deck is busted, and climbing to Infinite can be done in a day. Yes, that is the smell of a new season of Marvel Snap.
In these times, what is really important to look at is the big picture, not really nitpick on the details. Indeed, veteran players will climb back to Infinite with basically anything, so you can’t really trust every deck with a stupidly strong performance you come across.
Instead, we need to look at the similarities, the cards we see in multiple archetypes, or the archetypes sharing similar synergies we could counter all at once. This is the secret of a successful climb when you don’t get a free 8-cubes match every other game.
Amongst those interesting points, here are the ones I feel we should talk about:
- Surge is super popular, but actually rarely part of the best list for most archetypes. The new 2-cost has been played in plenty of contenders, but only Good Cards Move is at its best with Surge in the mix.
- Esme Cuckoo is only part of the starting 12 cards of one archetype as well: Mister Negative. This one is even trickier, as Mister Negative is a fantastic bot farmer thanks to playing 90% of its points total on the last turn of the match.
- Two disruptive cards are gaining momentum this week: Luke Cage and Mobius M. Mobius. The first to counter the #1 ranked deck Toxic, the second to stop Surge from cheating too much Energy. Red Guardian and Cosmo are also quite popular, but they already were last week.
This last point kind of counters the first one. Of course, Surge won’t be part of the best performers if most of the 3-costs we play are designed to counter her. So should we stop playing her ? Do people on the verge of getting it hold on to their tokens for now? It’s weird, but the answer is probably to get the card, but not play it at the moment.
The same question is valid for the Move synergy. Bounce Move managed to reach Tier 1 on the back of an insane cube average. However, the other two decks in the synergy, Good Cards and Scream, are still stuck in Tier 2. Funny that it is the worst win rate of the three holding the better spot.
Does that mean Bounce Move is better at farming bots? Probably. Yet, it is also better at repositioning its points, which helps to adapt against an opposing Snap, and possibly win 4 Cubes when other decks would have retreated for one.
All of this to say the first week of the season doesn’t tell us much. The reality is, we can answer most interrogations with opposite arguments: “But you did it against bots” or “Maybe you found something good in this meta”.
So let’s focus on the big picture: There are plenty of competitive archetypes. Pick one, learn its intricacies, and focus on winning 2 to 4 Cubes while losing only one. Next week, bots will be out of the picture, and we’ll know for sure what is, or isn’t good.
Happy Tier List, everyone!
Tier 1
High Evo Toxic
den
Performance: 0.8 Cube Average / 64.5% Win Rate
Toxic has been chasing that #1 spot for a while now. It is ironic to earn on the first week of the season, when it holds the least value due to bots. Then, this ranking doesn’t tell us much part from Toxic still being a great deck, and the fact it wasn’t affected by the new cards much.
Potential Additions
Small Good Cards
den
Performance: 0.75 Cube Average / 64% Win Rate
Not seeing neither Surge nor Esme Cuckoo in the top performing list of Small Good Cards can feel weird, especially as U.S. Agent had not been a part of it for a while. Yet, it seems like the right way to build Small Good Cards is to stop opposing Surge with Cosmo and Red Guardian rather than try to get your own on the board.
Plus, Agent Venom remains a more important 2-cost in this deck, while Thena plus Kitty Pryde beats Esme Cuckoo power wise, when you can afford not to cancel an opposing Surge on turn three.
Potential Additions
Luke Cage or such 3-cost can make sense for certain matchups. Adam Warlock, Gorgon, Sam Wilson captain America or Surge could replace Havok or U.S. Agent.
Mister Negative
den
Performance: 1.05 Cube Average / 56.5% Win Rate
To be fair, there were plenty of lists with a great Cube Average for Mister Negative. The deck is just fantastic at climbing to Infinite if your MMRs is high enough to face bots. However, the list with Esme Cuckoo had the best win rate, showing the new season pass is helping Mister Negative be more reliable.
Mobius M. Mobius will still punish you, but we are getting closer to that particular 3-cost being the only certain way to stop Mister Negative.
Potential Additions
Ironheart can replace a 3-cost you wouldn’t own, while Super-Skrull edges the mirror match and Ongoing matchups.
Bounce Move
den
Performance: 1 Cube Average / 59% Win Rate
With Topaz now in the mix, Bounce Move can pull even more shenanigans to create points. The reality is that veteran players will either punish you, because that’s the only reason they would stay in the game, or give you a cube for your trouble. Then, it feels weird to see Bounce post such a high cube average, but a lower Win Rate than its Move counterparts.
The only reasonable explanation is bots helping a bit, or some players are staying in games they shouldn’t.
Potential Additions
Before Topaz, the deck was running generic strong cards such as Sage, or protective cards like Cosmo.
Silver Surfer
den
Performance: 0.8 Cube Average / 62.5% Win Rate
The exact same 11 cards are part of the list with or without Surge. Unfortunately, the card Surge is competing with for that 12th spot is Sam Wilson Captain America, ruler of the 1000 synergies in Marvel Snap. I know, the funniest part is Forge not being the card removed in either case.
Honestly, the difference is a mere percent of Win Rate in a deck average well above 60%, so it feels the 3-cost cards are more important than the 2-costs you pick. There is a good information there as well : Esme Cuckoo isn’t part of those 3-costs unfortunately. Too often, the need to pay another three energy to make Esme Cuckoo worth is too much. Silver Surfer is simply stacked with strong cards and reliable enough not to need that ability.
Potential Additions
Gorgon can annoy Thanos while there are plenty of 3-cost cards to consider. Cosmo, Rogue, Luke Cage, Sage, Juggernaut… Depending how you want to play your Silver Surfer deck.
Thanos Control
den
Performance: 0.7 Cube Average / 62% Win Rate
Compared to the decks above in the rankings, Thanos is the most proactive one when it comes to showing your opponent what you are capable of. Unfortunately, this is a detriment against bots, which will typically retreat if they aren’t ahead in a match. Then, I would wait for week 2 before calling Thanos a deck on a possible downfall.
Plus, the Cosmo, Mobius M. Mobius and Red Guardian must be a nightmare for any Surge player. This is likely the reason why the 2-cost is replaced by Gorgon in the best performing list.
Potential Additions
Surge, Iron Patriot or a 1-cost are good cards to consider to bolster your early turns. Shang-Chi and Shadow King can be added for counter play, but don’t synergize well with Cosmo. As for points, Vision is a fine card giving you flexibility heading into turn six.
Tier 2
Thanos Ongoing
den
Performance: 0.7 Cube Average / 60.5% Win Rate
There is still a lot of Enchantress around, which limits Thanos Ongoing ability to thrive, but also reminds us how good this deck must be to post such numbers with its immediate counter in various builds.
Potential Additions
Captain America can replace a missing Speed while some like to play Alioth instead of Spectrum if you value disruption over points.
Ongoing
den
Performance: 0.6 Cube Average / 61% Win Rate
I was eager to see if Esme Cuckoo could fit a spot in this type of deck due to her natural synergy with Iron Man or Mystique. Yet, the new card of the week is Luke Cage, added to counter Toxic, alongside the Cassandra Nova roaming to counter Thanos, but actually fairly annoying when they hit Iron Man, Mystique or Captain Carter.
Potential Additions
Super-Skrull can edge Ongoing matchups.
Good Cards Move
den
Performance: 0.7 Cube Average / 60% Win Rate
The problem with this deck is how early you have to Snap for your opponent to stay. Typically, if you haven’t snapped by the end of turn two, it will be too late to do it. Indeed, you either showed Batroc the Leaper into Sam Wilson captain America, or maybe Zabu into Surge, two combinations no one wants to play against. Or you showed you don’t have those, and your opponent probably recognized your deck because you had to play Kraven or Silk, so they know if they can Snap against that.
One great upside of this deck though, is the fact it seems to completely disregard matchups. If you draw the nuts, very few opponents will be interested in checking whether they can compete with that.
Potential Additions
Zabu, Captain Marvel and Enchantress form a pack of cards you could replace with a lot of things depending the direction your want for your build. Kitty Pryde, Miles Morales and Shang-Chi can be a flexible trio as well.
Scream Move
den
Performance: 0.5 Cube Average / 60% Win Rate
With Surge and Esme Cuckoo releasing, there has been less of Move around. Plus, we also saw Luke Cage gain some momentum in a few archetypes. These are all bad news for Scream, which naturally lost a bit of cube average as a result.
One thing to note is the more traditional list being the best performer to kick off the season, when the Darkhawk build had been the best one for a few weeks prior to that.
Potential Additions
Rocket and Groot, Mobius M. Mobius or Red Guardian can replace Hydra Stomper. You could also cut Kingpin for Miles Morales or another synergistic cards you found more value in.
Tier 3
Discard Dracula
den
Performance: 0.55 Cube Average / 59% Win Rate
Sauron 10 Power
den
Performance: 0.55 Cube Average / 59% Win Rate
Clog
den
Performance: 0.55 Cube Average / 58% 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.
Cube Average > 1 or Win Rate > 62%
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 > 0.6 or Win Rate > 60%
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 < 0.6 & Win Rate < 60%
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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