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As Second Dinner teased at the start of the The Amazing Spider-Season, Hellcow and Black Swan are now Activate cards and also were adjusted to better match their new keyword. Hellcow lost two power, which is a sign that the developers believe the new keyword is an improvement to the card. I definitely agree with the sentiment, as timing or targeting your discard properly is key to make the synergy click. As for Black Swan, I’m not sure yet whether I like a [2/3] or a [3/5]. Most of the time, a lower cost is preferable because it makes the card more flexible. Yet, Bounce is already the most flexible archetype in the game, so more points isn’t bad to have. As we’ve seen with Beast becoming a [3/5], the extra energy isn’t much of an issue.
Finally, we are also getting an unexpected change to Sword Master that allows him to join the targeted discard crew. There is no denying that the card was in need of some help since Sword Master has been out of Discard decks for quite a while now. However, the choice to make it discard an odd costed card makes it a bit of a puzzle. Indeed, Swarm, Apocalypse, Proxima Midnight, Wolverine, or simply a big card to create a huge Ebony Blade are all even cost cards. I have my idea as to what the developers might have in mind, and I’ll discuss it further down in this article.
We got a very impactful OTA just four days ago, so I can’t be mad to see only three cards being changed today. Obviously, I wanted more cards to gain the Activate keyword, but the devs appear to hold the ability in high esteem and they might want to change cards at a slow pace to control their impact.
Hellcow should already be able to help the Discard synergy be more reliable in how it develops, while Black Swan can simply be played on Turn 2 and Activated later on to create explosive turns. There isn’t a ton of suspense regarding these two; they are just better as Activate.
What about Sword Master, then? It probably brings back one of the most controversial archetypes in Marvel Snap.
Hellcow and the Reliable Discard
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While slotting Hellcow back in Discard Dracula already makes a lot of sense, the card could also entice you to play more combo oriented decks now that you can control your discards a little better.
Builds solely based around making a certain combo happen rarely work out, but just slotting in a couple of cards that will occasionally give you a Plan B when you miss on Morbius or Dracula makes sense.
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You also can use Hellcow alongside Hela since the Activate ability makes Hellcow safe to play. Simply Activate on Turn 6 before Hela reveals and you’ll get two cards out of your hand before the Goddess of Death triggers. This might not turn the fortunes of Hela around, but Hellcow on Turn 4, Iron Man on Turn 5, and Hela on Turn 6 can develop enough points to compete in matches that would have otherwise been a Retreat. You might even throw Black Cat in the mix instead of Red Hulk to give this inflexible deck a clearer Plan B.
Black Swan Feels Bouncy
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Black Swan has already been played almost exclusively in the Bounce archetype, and changing the card to an Activate ability should only strengthen that connection. Sure, you can try the card in a KaZoo deck to give you a second way to play around Killmonger, but I don’t foresee the card dethroning Dazzler, Shadow King, or
Finding New Tricks with Sword Master
It’s clearly in the developer’s note: Sword Master now works very well with Hela because the 6-Cost cannot be discarded anymore. I agree, Hela naturally comes to mind when thinking about a discard oriented deck looking to protect even cost cards. Still, I doubt this will be how Hela makes her grand return to the Marvel Snap competitive world.
If you feel like trying it anyway, here is where I would start. Odin might be a curiosity to explore instead of Magneto.
Lockjaw also feels like a decent pairing since both the dog and the Goddess of Death are even cost cards.
Now, if you wanted to be a little creative, there are a few odd cards that you can try to cheat out early and reap the benefits from.
Sera on Turn 4 with Lady Sif or Sword Master into Ghost Rider? Yes please!
As a bonus, you can build plenty of different synergies around this package as long as you can find a solid 5-Cost to use as a second target in case you don’t find Sera. If you can’t, Vision might be good enough to allow you to play without a specific synergy in mind.
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From a competitive standpoint, none of these look particularly appealing. However, I hope these builds might help some players with a smaller collection. It was a fun deckbuilding exercise for me at least. Plus, every odd card that synergizes with the Discard synergy now has an obvious pairing to be tested with.
Closing Words
This patch will tell us the power of the Activate keyword. So far, Symbiote Spider-Man struggled to shine, and Araña should be limited by not getting its ability back when bounced. However, if Hellcow and Black Swan suddenly become meta staples (or at least solid inclusions in a certain archetype), we’ll know the new keyword is to be taken seriously. That might force us to reevaluate future cards with Activate as well.
I hope this breakdown helped you get a better grasp of what to expect with this patch. As usual, you can find me on the Marvel Snap Zone community Discord to chat, or use my Twitter page for a direct message.
Good Game Everyone.
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