Table of Contents
An OTA, or any balance update really, is the opportunity to test new synergies pushed by the changes, or old ones we believe will benefit from the different environment.
The other opportunity to shake things up is the release of a new card able to make certain decks better. The rise of those decks will shift the necessary disruptive tools, and start a new cycle of proactive and reactive synergies trying to find the right balance.
Unfortunately, although we had both a balance update and two new cards this week, not much has changed in the Marvel Snap metagame. Actually, that is not true, things have changed, but the result tells us they will go back to what they were very quickly.
So what happened exactly ?
First, Spider-Man Noir released with barely any impact except for Pixie Ongoing gaining some momentum, without ever becoming a threat or a top tier contender.
Two days later, the OTA and Deafening Chord happened, and these two had more impact. Indeed, the nerf to Sparky and Storm led to War Machine Ramp losing a lot of popularity in the higher ranks, while Mercury and Shadow King started to be removed from some decks.
On Sunday, we look at the stats, and Move is obliterating every other deck in the cube average deparment, on the back of a snap opponents can’t punish anymore.
Combined with Werewolf By Night being boosted by a new cheap skill to synergize with, there is absolutely no reason for Mercury and Shadow King to stay out of decks. As such, I fully expect the metagame to return to the state it was before the OTA : Move is dominant, but everyone is trying to counter it.
In that mix, Iron Hand should once again benefit, representing the best archetype to both use counter cards, and dodge the ones against Move. With Prowler releasing next week boosting move synergies even more, Iron Hand should be safe for a little while.
Happy Tier List, everyone!
| Tier | Deck |
|---|---|
| Tier 1 | Hybrid Move 0.75 Cube Average / 63.5% Win Rate |
| Tier 1 | Iron Hand 0.4 Cube Average / 63.5% Win Rate |
| Tier 2 | Zombified On Reveal Destroy 0.45 Cube Average / 54% Win Rate |
| Tier 2 | Flexible Zombies 0.3 Cube Average / 57.5% Win Rate |
| Tier 2 | Man-Spider Combo 0.25 Cube Average / 57.5% Win Rate |
| Tier 2 | Pixie Ongoing 0.3 Cube Average / 52% Win Rate |
| Tier 3 | Buff Surfer 0.2 Cube Average / 52.5% Win Rate |
| Tier 3 | Dormammu On Reveal 0.2 Cube Average / 52% Win Rate |
| Tier 3 | Clog Rocks 0.1 Cube Average / 53.5% Win Rate |
Are you still chasing that elusive Infinite Rank? Here are the Top 5 performers in the ranks 80 to 99!
| War Machine Ramp | 0.6 Cube Average / 64% Win Rate |
| Iron Hand | 0.65 Cube Average / 60% Win Rate |
| Ongoing | 0.5 Cube Average / 59.5% Win Rate |
| Scream Move | 0.5 Cube Average / 59.5% Win Rate |
| End of Turn | 0.45 Cube Average / 57.5% 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.
Tier 1
Hybrid Move
den
Performance: 0.75 Cube Average / 63.5% Win Rate
The Win Rate is fantastic, but with Iron Hand also at 63.5%, we can put things into perspective. However, the 0.75 cube average is so far above everyone else, it is clear Move still needs to be countered at the moment.
Without Mercury, Batroc the Leaper into Sam Wilson captain America is simply too good in this fairly balanced metagame. Already, these two are worth snapping for, and the addition of Kraven or Hydra Stomper to the mix only adds insult to injury.
These four are enough to generate a ton of points, meaning the rest of the deck can be geared towards disruption.
If you thought Move would go away with the Sparky nerf, it is time to reconsider. Well, Pure Move did pretty bad since the OTA, but that’s because Disruptive Move runs the appropriate disruption.
Potential Additions
The Thing First Steps is the flexible card here, with Cosmo also possible to swap for another disruptive cards.
Legion and CosmicGhostRider make sense as other 5-costs. Otherwise, just consider that slot available for any card you deem particularly good at the moment.
Iron Hand
den
Performance: 0.4 Cube Average / 63.5% Win Rate
With such a stellar Win Rate, one would expect the cube average to be higher than 0.4. Unfortunately, except for early snaps, Iron Hand struggles to keep the opponent in matches as Victoria Hand is a well respected card nowadays.
Then, whenever the 2-cost comes down early, we know Frigga will be following, or both cards will come down together when a snap occurs on turn five.
A fantastic archetype, but maybe too predictable due to being around for months.
Potential Additions
Agony can be replaced by America Chavez to synergize with Misery. Otherwise, except for Shadow King in the disruptive slot, the rest of the list looks set in stone at the moment.
Tier 2
Zombified On Reveal Destroy
den
Performance: 0.45 Cube Average / 54% Win Rate
Pretty much the opposite of Iron Hand, this revamped On Reveal Destroy now pairing with the Undead Horde crew relies on a clueless opponent to achieve a strong cube rate despite an average win rate.
Every week, there is such a deck popping in the data, typically ranked in the trending section. Yet, with more than 300 games under its belt, Zombified On Reveal Destroy looks like a decently popular deck since the OTA.
Then, I am very curious to see what will this deck do in the final week of the season. Either the cube average is bound to drop as this strategy is mode widely known, or this new look On Reveal Destroy could be a real contender going forward.
Potential Additions
Sage was part of the original On Reveal Destroy deck, while Kitty Pryde could be an On Reveal cheap card to synergize with Firehair and Misery.
Flexible Zombies
den
Performance: 0.3 Cube Average / 57.5% Win Rate
Not running Mercury any more as Sparky was nerfed turns out to be a bad idea, especially as it allowed Werewolf By Night to also make a comeback. With that secondary points condition, the Flexible Zombies archetype has been doing much better over the past few days.
Plus, the new Deafening Chord synergizes really well with the 3-cost, helping this deck have some disruption available for cheap.
If Mercury and Shadow King come back, I expect the Undead Horde synergy to once again suffer from it. Until then, Flexible Zombies should be a solid pick.
Potential Additions
Falcon II”] and Juggernaut are the flexible cards in the build. The first is an extra source of points, but Grand Master or Hawkeye Kate Bishop could also be recent in that slot.
As for Juggernaut, simply pick the disruptive card you value most.
Man-Spider Combo
den
Performance: 0.25 Cube Average / 57.5% Win Rate
Man-Spider struggled to turn its insane points potential into cubes since its release early in the season. A post-OTA metagame is the perfect opportunity to rise for this type of deck, as most opponents won’t be focused on disruption yet, instead testing out new ideas.
In that context, it is no surprise to see such as deck post good results, but it is the abilitity to keep these up that will prove Man-Spider is a threat to keep in mind. If it does, I’m sure Shadow King will be quick to come back into a flurry of decks.
Potential Additions
The discard package is new in the deck, and arguably not necessary for the synergy to click. Then, if you wanted to run other tools, these would be the first cards to go.
Pixie Ongoing
den
Performance: 0.3 Cube Average / 52% Win Rate
Arguably the best deck with Spider-Man Noir so far, or at least the only one with both solid results and enough games to back it up, Pixie Ongoing has started to lose momentum already.
Just like Victoria Hand, this deck tends to tell its opponent when to retreat, as an early Pixie or Agent Venom makes a big difference compared to not seeing either. Unlike Iron Hand, this deck does not sport a high enough win rate to afford winning ust one cubes when the draws align.
0.3 cube per game is not bad, but the 52% win rate needs to go up for Pixie Ongoing to be considered a real threat and not just a solid gimmick.
Potential Additions
Mobius M. Mobius synergizes with Pixie and provides disruption. Surge is another card we see played in this archetype.
Tier 3
While enough to be mentionned in the report, these decks already sit at the edge of both metrics when it comes to competitive builds.
All three archetypes existed long before the OTA, with only Surfer being different with Spider-Man Noir now in the mix. Looking at the results, that experiment might be short lived, as the new 4-cost doesn’t seem to be the answer to get Silver Surfer back to being a threat in the metagame.
As for Dormammu On Reveal and Clog Rocks, both decks look like variations of how to build around Merlin and Werewolf By Night. Unfortunately, except for specific situations, such as Arishem being very popular and worth countering with Cassandra Nova and Darkhawk, it looks like the Undead Horde synergy is the best way to build around that flexible duo.
Buff Surfer
den
Performance: 0.2 Cube Average / 52.5% Win Rate
Dormammu On Reveal
den
Performance: 0.2 Cube Average / 52% Win Rate
Clog Rocks
den
Performance: 0.1 Cube Average / 53.5% 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.
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 > 0.35
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 > 0.20
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.
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