Table of Contents
The OTA led many to believe combo-oriented decks would thrive without all those counter cards around. So far, we haven’t seen much of a change to the metagame compared to the first week.
Certain archetypes have started to include more synergistic elements. For example, Arnim Zola and Magik are part of the best Bullseye list this week, while Phoenix Force and Destroyer are now in Deadpool Destroy.
Still, except for Sauron 10 Power making a comeback, the decks putting up the best numbers are pretty much the same : Move and Iron Hand leading the pack, and Wiccan, Silver Surfer, Cerebro or End of Turn part of that pack.
This could be due to none of the best decks prior to the OTA being nerfed, so most players stayed on their comfort pick. Or maybe we simply have not found a reliable deck to develop more points than Move while matching a fraction of that synergy’s flexibility. Scream is an obvious answer to that problem, but wouldn’t mean the OTA has any more impact.
Overall then, the metagame a couple of days after the OTA feels relatively the same as before. At best, it seems we can get a little greedier with our build, as certain gimmicky play pattern will work when they didn’t up until this point.
Happy Tier List, everyone!
| Tier | Deck |
|---|---|
| Trending | Pure Move 0.75 Cube Average / 67% Win Rate / 60 Games |
| Trending | Lockdown Ramp 1 Cube Average / 65% Win Rate / 60 Games |
| Trending | Bullseye Zola 0.85 Cube Average / 65% Win Rate / 60 Games |
| Trending | Phoenix Deadpool Destroy 0.75 Cube Average / 65.5% Win Rate / 60 Games |
| Trending | Wiccan Curve 0.85 Cube Average / 61.5% Win Rate / 55 Games |
| Tier 1 | Move Bounce 0.6 Cube Average / 65% Win Rate |
| Tier 1 | Iron Hand 0.6 Cube Average / 65% Win Rate |
| Tier 1 | Toxic Cerebro 3 0.9 Cube Average / 59% Win Rate |
| Tier 1 | Sauron 10 Power 0.55 Cube Average / 61% Win Rate |
| Tier 1 | HelAgatha Discard 0.6 Cube Average / 59% Win Rate |
| Tier 1 | End of Turn 0.6 Cube Average / 59% Win Rate |
| Tier 2 | Wiccan Surfer 0.45 Cube Average / 56.5% Win Rate |
| Tier 2 | On Reveal Buffs 0.35 Cube Average / 57% Win Rate |
| Tier 2 | Clog 0.4 Cube Average / 56.5% Win Rate |
The decks in the ranks 80 to 99 were very similar to those in Infinite. Move and Iron Hand had worse numbers, likely due to their more intricate play patterns. Then, someone looking for a deck to climb at the moment might be wise to pick amongst the more straight forward builds and focus on solid snaps and retreats.
Trending
Pure Move
den
Performance: 0.75 Cube Average / 67% Win Rate / 60 Games
Merlin and Galactus First Steps are a bit peculiar in this deck, but replacing Cosmo and Alioth is no easy task. The 2-cost provides a flexible option in a deck with multiple decent Polymorph or Once and Future targets in Araña or Sparky.
As for the 6-cost, the card is able to grow quite high when its Heralds is Kraven, since forcing the opponent rarely wants to play on the location they expect to be your strongest at the end of the game. Plus, forcing them to stack their cards in one spot helps Dagger grow.
They might not be the final options, but Pure Move sure remains a good deck, even without Cosmo and Alioth in the mix anymore.
Lockdown Ramp
den
Performance: 1 Cube Average / 65% Win Rate / 60 Games
The cube average on this one is downright stupid considering there are no bots included, even with such a low sample size.
Either Ramp Lockdown went on a streak of incredible snaps and retreats, or the deck is truly great at controlling that mechanic. It might actually be true, since the Lockdown package is great at creating snap opportunities, while War Machine allows to bypass plenty of annoying locations.
Add the possible high rolls from Merlin, Lockjaw or Blink, and we might actually have a deck able to beat anyone when it doesn’t lose to itself.
Bullseye Zola
den
Performance: 0.85 Cube Average / 65% Win Rate / 60 Games
One of the weirdest changes I have seen in an archetype, Bullseye is diversifying through adding Magik and Arnim Zola to the mix.
Arguably, the pair serves to duplicate Bullseye, Daken or Morbius for points. If we aren’t scared of disruption too much, I can see how Arnim Zola on turn six with a turn seven lining up. Still, I have a hard time believing this is more than a flavor of the moment, surprising pattern to steal cubes from a clueless opponent type of change.
Profit while it lasts, I guess.
Phoenix Deadpool Destroy
den
Performance: 0.75 Cube Average / 65.5% Win Rate / 60 Games
I didn’t expect to see Deadpool in this report with Killmonger nerfed on Thursday. Yet, it seems like Destroy found a way to bounce back, with Phoenix Force and Destroyer now in the mix.
Typically, Arnim Zola would be in the Destroyer slot, but with Shang-Chi seemingly gone, I can understand why a 16-power card makes sense. Plus, we need that global destruction to discount Death.
This is more high roll based compared to the previous build, but it has the potential to mount a lot of power, while Phoenix Force brings a bit of flexibility.
Wiccan Curve
den
Performance: 0.85 Cube Average / 61.5% Win Rate / 55 Games
Wiccan Curve still chases the same results as the Fenris Wolf build, so far without success, at least when it comes to popularity, a key trait to be called dominant.
The OTA might change that dynamic however, since Ghost Rider”] and Lady Deathstrike now represent one of the best disruptive duos in the game.
It is too early to say, but this could be what disruptive strategies look like from now on.
Tier 1
Bounce Move
den
Performance: 0.6 Cube Average / 65% Win Rate
With Pure Move in the trending section and Bounce Move sitting at the top, there is no doubt the Move synergy as a whole is a great one currently. So good certain archetype have already called back Shadow King in their deck.
Bounce Move didn’t have to change anything following the OTA, so it is only logic to see it as the better one for now.
Potential Additions
Sage is the flexible card in the deck, but has been around for so long it should be considered a staple at this point.
Iron Hand
Performance: 0.6 Cube Average / 65% Win Rate
The best flexible archetype, mostly due to its ability to generate enough points to rival the synergistic builds, Iron Hand still requires a few disruptive tools to remain top tier.
Rogue edges the mirror match and other decks with one or two Ongoing cards. It particularly helps to take out Madame Web, while Shadow King takes out a Human Torch, Dagger, or Vulture in order to rival Move in the head to head.
Flexible archetypes with a bit of disruption might not suffer from the OTA that much after all.
Potential Additions
Bastion could be Moon Girl for those without the cards.
Toxic Cerebro 3
den
Performance: 0.9 Cube Average / 59% Win Rate
Arguably the most improved deck with Bastion, Toxic Cerebro 3 picked up some momentum over the week and now represents a solid option amongst flexible archetypes following the OTA.
One thing to be worried about is the growth of Rogue in Iron Hand, alongside Sauron 10 Power using Red Skull. Past these two threats, Cerebro 3 looks like a real deck in this metagame.
Potential Additions
Grand Master has plenty of synergies in the deck. Gorgon will help against Iron Hand while Shadow King does against Move.
Sauron 10 Power
den
Performance: 0.55 Cube Average / 61% Win Rate
The obvious comeback archetype with Shang-Chi nuked in the OTA, Sauron 10 Power immediately rose to be a top tier archetype. The deck might lose momentum from this point however. Indeed, it seems like Sauron 10 Power can’t beat Move when it comes to sheer amount of points, at least not when Move draws perfectly.
Then, Enchantress remains a key piece in the archetype, providing a bit of disruption to win against the other, more flexible high score decks.
Potential Additions
Surge is the flexible card in the deck. Gorgon could help against Iron Hand, and Scream against Move, if you wanted to target a specific opponent.
HelAgatha Discard
den
Performance: 0.6 Cube Average / 59% Win Rate
Already in the mix for a while, the Hela plus Agatha alliance has been great at develop points all over the field. With the OTA, the deck is now able to play, or summon Hela on turn five, without fearing Shang-Chi destroying an entire location on turn six. Plus, although Cosmo is still around, Alioth is another card Hela does not have to worry about.
Obviously, this deck isn’t as reliable as the ones above. Yet, a great snap and retreat game will keep this one a Tier 1 contender.
Potential Additions
The Infinaut could replace Eson, while some builds run the Odin – Jubilee pair as budget replacements.
End of Turn
den
Performance: 0.6 Cube Average / 59% Win Rate
No more of Killmonger was great news for End of Turn, which finally can plan on Hydra Bob, Sunspot and Copycat to stay on the board for the entire match. This naturally prompted Marvel Boy to come back in the build.
So far, Stardust seems to remain a staple inclusion in most decks, typically beating The Thing First Steps for that last slot.
Potential Additions
The Thing First Steps, Human Torch First Steps, Bruce Banner or specific counter cards such as Mercury, Juggernaut, Gorgon or Mobius M. Mobius can replace Stardust or Spider-Ham.
Squirrel Girl and Hawkeye Kate Bishop also see play due to their synergy with Marvel Boy.
Tier 2
Wiccan Surfer
den
Performance: 0.45 Cube Average / 56.5% Win Rate
Slightly more reliable in its draws, Wiccan Surfer beat Buff Surfer by a thin margin. Yet the more interesting gap is the one Silver Surfer needs to fill in order to catch up to the top tier archetypes.
It doesn’t seem like more points can be added to that deck, so a more disruptive approach might be required.
Potential Additions
Buff Surfer can also be played without Wiccan :
den
On Reveal Buffs
den
Performance: 0.35 Cube Average / 57% Win Rate
Pretty much the exact same analysis as for Silver Surfer above, it is going to be difficult to include more points in On Reveal Buffs. Then, except if one finds other play patterns, maybe with Sage or such card able to grow its power, it seems a bit of disruption will be required to reach new highs.
Potential Additions
Nightcrawler can replace Jeff the Baby Land Shark with Killmonger out of the picture. Echo can help if you still face Cosmo.
Clog
Performance: 0.4 Cube Average / 56.5% Win Rate
Amongst the disruptive archetypes, Clog was the only one to pop in the data, which makes sense considering Killmonger’s nerf is a big boost to this synergy.
Looking at the numbers, Clog is good enough to deserve a spot amongst competitive archetypes, and with Destroy very scarce, there is a good chance it remains a viable pick, especially once the list is tailored to the dominant decks.
Amongst other disruptive synergies, Scream did not see much play since the OTA, but the dominance of Move might have a say in that in the near future.
Potential Additions
Gorr and Red Hulk also make sense as the 6-cost in the deck. Werewolf by Night synergizes quite well with Merlin, Kate Bishop and Green Goblin.
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 Trending 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.
Trending: 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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