Marvel Snap September 2023 (Loki For All Time) New Card Guide: Review and Decks

The Big in Japan season is ending, and it might go down as one of my favorite seasons ever – particularly on the balance side of things. Sure, we’ve had some strong decks during the entirety of the month, but it never felt like something was clearly the best, and the balance changes brought some nice diversity along the way.

Speaking of balance, the new season might be a challenge in that regard; several of the new cards have been hyped as extremely potent and defining to several strategies. In particular, Alioth and Mobius M. Mobius are regarded as must have cards, as their abilities had a large part of the community buzzing. Now that we are almost at season launch, it seems that Loki has picked up in everyone’s interest. Many people are wondering where to play the Season Pass card and whether it could be a strong standalone addition. Ravonna Renslayer is the card I have seen less of when reading about everyone’s expectations for the new season, but let’s not underestimate the power of reducing the cost of our cards (even if it’s only a specific fraction of them).

To me, each of those cards has a certain appeal, and I am sure I would use them if I were to collect any of the four. I have my favorite, of course, but let’s enter the season with an open mind and check what every card brings to the table!

Cards

Variants

Loki

On Reveal: Transform your hand into cards from your opponent’s starting deck and give them -1 Cost.

Series 5 Ultra Rare – Collection Level 486+ (Pool 5)

view card details Start a deck Decks with Loki

Variants

Alioth

On Reveal: Remove the text from all unrevealed enemy cards here.

Series 5 Ultra Rare – Collection Level 486+ (Pool 5)

view card details Start a deck Decks with Alioth

Variants

Ravonna Renslayer

Ongoing: Your cards with 1 or less Power cost 1 less. (minimum 1)

Series 4 Rare – Collection Level 486+ (Pool 4)

view card details Start a deck Decks with Ravonna Renslayer

Variants

Mobius M. Mobius

Ongoing: Your Costs can’t be increased. Your opponent’s Costs can’t be reduced.

Series 4 Rare – Collection Level 486+ (Pool 4)

view card details Start a deck Decks with Mobius M. Mobius

Loki: The Next Secret Weapon for Big Hands?

Variants

Loki

On Reveal: Transform your hand into cards from your opponent’s starting deck and give them -1 Cost.

Series 5 Ultra Rare – Collection Level 486+ (Pool 5)

view card details Start a deck Decks with Loki

Loki is the Season Pass card.

Strengths:

• Cost Reduction is always a strong mechanic to explore.

• We already have cards to pair with Loki in Quinjet, The Collector, and the entire Big Hands archetype.

• We can completely change the complexity of a match when playing Loki.

Weaknesses:

• We cannot get an Infinity Stone and would get Vanilla cards from an opponent with High Evolutionary.

• The pilot needs to be able to adapt to the new hand on the fly.

• We will have a hand and a deck that won’t necessarily synergize with each other.

Featured Deck:

Loki Tempo

Created by den

, updated 8 months ago

0

2x Collection Level 18-214 (Pool 1)

2x Collection Level 222-474 (Pool 2)

4x Collection Level 486+ (Pool 3)

2x Series 4 Rare – Collection Level 486+ (Pool 4)

1x Series 5 Ultra Rare – Collection Level 486+ (Pool 5)

1x Starter Card

2.1

Cost

0-
1
2
3
4
5+

2.5

Power

0-
1
2
3
4
5+

Since it was confirmed the two would work together, Loki has been associated with The Collector a lot. It is only logical if you think about it because Loki represents a buff of four power to The Collector if the two are played on curve. Also, this is a deck that is able to play cards, develop some points, and barely affect the power of Loki in the process since your hand should remain quite big (even if you use your cards).

Loki could also serve other purposes and end up being more flexible than anticipated. For example, one could make an extremely committed deck that relies on one very precise game plan, and then use Loki to change their hand if their deck doesn’t look like it will work out by Turn 3.

I also saw some players toy around with the idea of including Loki in the Agatha Harkness archetype since you start the game with an extra card in that deck. Bounce was another idea I saw being explored because it’s a deck that can easily manipulate its hand to make the most of Loki. Plus, it relies on only a few very important cards. Imagine not getting Angela or Bishop early – exchanging your hand could be a great move.

Plus, who knows? As a [3/5], Loki might be good enough to be considered in more decks that would just play it on Turn 5 and look to replicate a Sera-like Turn 6.

Alioth, the Next Herald of Galactus

Variants

Alioth

On Reveal: Remove the text from all unrevealed enemy cards here.

Series 5 Ultra Rare – Collection Level 486+ (Pool 5)

view card details Start a deck Decks with Alioth

Alioth is a Series 5 card.

Strengths:

• Priority on Turn 6 should guarantee that Alioth reveals and (probably) wins the lane.

• Very strong synergy with Galactus, but also Iron Lad and Absorbing Man.

• It only impacts the opponent’s cards, in case you want to play more cards alongside Alioth.

Weaknesses:

• Five power is very weak for a 6-Cost. The ability needs to land for Alioth to do anything.

• Cosmo and Armor are already pretty popular in the metagame, limiting where you could play Alioth.

• Without priority, Alioth is scary to play because several cards could stop the ability.

Featured Deck:

GalAlioth

Created by den

, updated 8 months ago

0

1x Collection Level 1-14

1x Collection Level 18-214 (Pool 1)

1x Collection Level 222-474 (Pool 2)

4x Collection Level 486+ (Pool 3)

5x Series 5 Ultra Rare – Collection Level 486+ (Pool 5)

3.7

Cost

0-
1
2
3
4
5+

3.2

Power

0-
1
2
3
4
5+

When reveled to the community, Alioth immediately struck fear in the hearts of many. It was reminiscent of the glory days of Galactus. Indeed, now that Galactus only works when you are ahead on the lane, you should start the next turn (often the last one in the match) with priority. This priority is probably the most important part of abusing Alioth, as it seems nothing can cancel the card’s ability in that scenario since it destroys unrevealed cards.

Apart from Galactus, other ideas have been discussed around Alioth, such as Electro Ramp playing it on Turn 5 before using Arnim Zola to destroy cards on the other two lanes. Another proposed scenario was to win over a lane early with Professor X, which can be done with Electro on Turn 4. Then, Turns 5 and 6 can be Alioth followed by Absorbing Manto prevent the opponent from playing on the other lane you covet.

Most of the ideas with Alioth include both some ramp ability and the need for priority, which is more for safety than anything else. Still, the card could become a sort of Leader by guaranteeing you keep your lead on a lane after a Wave-like effect. However, Alioth begs the question of flexibility, as it doesn’t seem like the card can make it into a variety of archetypes. As such, although it seems to make a lot of sense in the decks we discussed, Alioth would end up being pretty useless if they were to be countered.

Ravonna Renslayer

Variants

Ravonna Renslayer

Ongoing: Your cards with 1 or less Power cost 1 less. (minimum 1)

Series 4 Rare – Collection Level 486+ (Pool 4)

view card details Start a deck Decks with Ravonna Renslayer

Ravonna Renslayer is a Series 4 card. Consider purchasing it with Collector’s Tokens if you want to save your Spotlight Caches.

Strengths:

• Cheating energy is always a strong avenue to explore in card games.

• Lots of strong Ongoing cards have zero or one power, such as Iron Man, Darkhawk, Cerebro, and Mystique.

• The pool of reduced cards will only improve over time.

Weaknesses:

• Mister Negative seems to have a similar ability with bigger upside.

• Does nothing with 1-Cost cards like the Infinity Stones.

• Needs to give back the energy invested, otherwise it’s just a bad card. Also, slots for 3-Cost cards are very competitive.

Featured Deck:

Negative Ravonna

Created by den

, updated 8 months ago

1

3x Collection Level 1-14

5x Collection Level 486+ (Pool 3)

2x Series 4 Rare – Collection Level 486+ (Pool 4)

1x Recruit Season

1x Starter Card

3.8

Cost

0-
1
2
3
4
5+

1.5

Power

0-
1
2
3
4
5+

Ravonna Renslayer is a [3/3], which is sub-par in today’s Marvel Snap. If you get one discount with it, it becomes a [2/3], which is still below the average you want for two energy. Once you get two discounts, Ravonna Renslayer could be considered a [1/3] and is finally more on par with the cost-to-power ratio you would expect.

It’s only when you get three discounts that Ravonna Renslayer becomes basically free, and then it can be considered a solid card that gained your deck some energy. The slight issue here is the comparison with Mister Negative, as that card seems to synergize much better with a lot of the low power cards in the game. Darkhawk, Iron Man, Arnim Zola… The list of cards that become completely busted when affected by Mister Negative but only slightly better with Ravonna Renslayer is pretty long.

With that in mind, we have to look for the cards that benefit more from Ravonna Renslayuer than Mister Negative. Hobgoblin and Green Goblin come to mind as the two cards with the most upside. Even then, with Green Goblin as a 3-Cost, it’s really only a Turn 4 Hobgoblin that is appealing. Then, you would need to find other cards that benefit from Ravonna Renslayer for Turns 5 and 6 in order to make her ability worth including in the deck. Otherwise, Ravonna Renslayer‘s best use might be as support to a Mister Negative deck for the times you don’t find your signature card. But, honestly, that seems like a terrible reason to stay in a game.

Unlocking the White Tiger, Arnim Zola, Odin curve seems decent, and so is the ability to play Ironheart, Wolfsbane, and Mystique on Turn 5 after Wong while keeping Odin for Turn 6. Now that Mister Negative won’t make the card cost more than six, that might be worth exploring.

Even alongside Cerebro, which I have seen a bit when looking for ideas around the card, it doesn’t seem like we can get enough cards discounted to justify paying three for Ravonna.

I hope I’m missing something about the card, but Ravonna Renslayer would be my pass for September if I had to pick one. It is worth noting that the card is pretty cool if you have a limited collection, as many cards in the first two pools seem to synergize with it.

Mobius M. Mobius WILL Be a Game Changer

Variants

Mobius M. Mobius

Ongoing: Your Costs can’t be increased. Your opponent’s Costs can’t be reduced.

Series 4 Rare – Collection Level 486+ (Pool 4)

view card details Start a deck Decks with Mobius M. Mobius

Mobius M. Mobius is a Series 4 card. Consider purchasing it with Collector’s Tokens if you want to save on Spotlight Caches.

Strengths:

• Cost manipulation has been the core of multiple strategies for a while in Marvel Snap.

• There really isn’t any drawback to playing it, except for the spot it takes in your deck.

• [2/3] seems pretty generous for the ability attached to the card, which makes it a solid standalone inclusion.

Weaknesses:

• Rogue, Enchantress, and Echo can remove the ability.

• 2-Cost cards are very competitive. Playing Mobius M. Mobius might force you to avoid another card like Armor or Jeff the Baby Land Shark.
• A tech card usually does not rely on power to contribute. If the opponent is not affected by Mobius, the card will not compare to Angela, Kraven or such cards able to grow their power.

Featured Deck:

Mobius DoomWave

Created by den

, updated 8 months ago

0

1x None

2x Collection Level 18-214 (Pool 1)

1x Collection Level 222-474 (Pool 2)

2x Collection Level 486+ (Pool 3)

1x Series 4 Rare – Collection Level 486+ (Pool 4)

3x Series 5 Ultra Rare – Collection Level 486+ (Pool 5)

2x Starter Card

3

Cost

0-
1
2
3
4
5+

4.1

Power

0-
1
2
3
4
5+

Mobius M. Mobius is anticipated to be the next must-have card in Marvel Snap; there really isn’t a deck that would consider its ability bad. At worst, it would be a tech card against Sera, Zabu, Mister Negative, and Wave, which would deny a significant part of your opponent’s game plan. At best, you include similar cards in your deck, and you can also use Wave while completely removing the downside for yourself.

I think Mobius M. Mobius has been one of the cards with the most questions surrounding its release, as everyone wants to make sure they understand exactly what they’re dealing with. The interaction with Wave has taken a very large part of the debate around the new card. Plus, the recently unnerfed Doctor Doom brought back the DoomWave archetype, which is a logical home for a card like MMM. Indeed, the deck basically just wants to play good cards until it can lock up the game with Wave, so the card would fit perfectly.

However, it feels like a lot of people are forgetting how easy it is to counter Ongoing cards if you really want to. Zabu has taught us many tricks on how to limit a 2-Cost Ongoing card you don’t want to see too much of. Rogue and Gambit, for example, are two cards to keep in mind if you start seeing too much of Mobius M. Mobius on release.

Closing Words

The cards we will get in September are definitely flashy. Destroying cards before they reveal and energy manipulation are some of the strongest things one can do in Marvel Snap. As such, I fully expect some cards on this list to have an impact of some sort, be it pushing an archetype to rise or even impacting the metagame as a whole.

I also can’t stop thinking about the great balance we’ve had during Big in Japan, and I can’t help but think that the Second Dinner team knows what they are doing and we might be over-hyping certain cards. I guess only time will tell if the fear around MMM and Alioth breaking the game is real, or if they will just end up being solid cards that aren’t game defining. Fortunately enough, we shouldn’t have to wait too long to find out 🙂

I wish you a great time in the Loki For All Time season! May you get the cards you want and may your deck bring you many cubes. To share your ideas and creations, join us 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.