Mirage Decks to Try on Day 1 and Strategy Guide: Do We Really Need Another 2-Cost Card?

Jeff the Baby Land Shark, Armor, Luke Cage, Spider-Ham, Zabu, Invisible Woman… The amount of solid 2-Cost cards in Marvel Snap is incredibly high for a game where only 12 cards can be played in a deck. Also, I only listed the cards that are played in various decks, without strong synergistic requirements. Otherwise, we would have to add Wolverine, Swarm, Angela, Daredevil… I think you get it. You better be a great card if you want to make it as a popular 2-Cost in Marvel Snap.

Variants

Mirage

On Reveal: Copy the lowest-Cost card in your opponent’s hand into your hand. Give it +2 Power.

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

view card details Start a deck Decks with Mirage

If this came before the nerf to Kitty Pryde, when Bounce on top of the metagame, Mirage would immediately have an incredible reason to be played in a variety of decks. Copying a buffed Kitty Pryde or some other beefed up 1-Cost card, you could fight Bounce with its own favorite weapons. Unfortunately, Mirage lost its best possible target, and it might very well become an afterthought as a result, just like how Armor disappears whenever Destroy isn’t an extremely popular archetype.

As a result, even if Mirage is a Series 4 card (which is a huge plus with the Spotlight Cache system), the card still needs to answer two big questions to be considered a good card:

• What do we want to copy?
• Which deck is able to run Mirage, meaning which deck is flexible enough to play both her and the card she copies?

In a metagame that is difficult to figure out, where flexibility and the right tech cards seem to be the best ways to rack up cubes, where does Mirage rank against all the 2-Cost cards already in place?

Let’s try to find out!

Gameplay and Synergies

While there are some cases where we’ll keep Mirage for later in the game — especially if we know the opponent has a card with a growing ability like Deadpool or they play Beast — I feel like Mirage should be evaluated as a Turn 2 play first and foremost. If the card cannot work in that role, I don’t think trying to find some difficult play patterns down the line will save it.

Fortunately, there are plenty of cards worth copying with a Turn 2 Mirage play.

What popular cards make us want to play Mirage?

This is probably the biggest question to answer in order to know if we want to proceed with finding space in our deck to include Mirage. As it stands, there are two kinds of cards I could see myself targeting with Mirage:

• Strong 1-Cost cards to gain flexibility in future turns
• 3-Cost cards to have a solid Turn 3 play

Although we might occasionally copy a 4-Cost card with Mirage, let’s not start thinking we will get a Shuri or Iron Lad in hand too often. Most of the time, it’ll be a one or two energy card, and sometimes a three.

The 1-Cost Cards

There are already a lot of really good 1-drops that can’t be targeted, such as Nebula and Sunspot, since they are most likely to be played early in the match. Either the opponent will play them, or it’ll be too late to leverage them. Here are a few cards that would be nice to get from Mirage.

Variants

Demon

“A deal is a deal.”

Unreleased

view card details Start a deck Decks with Demon

Variants

Evolved Misty Knight

When you end a turn with unspent Energy, give one of your other cards +1 Power.

None

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Variants

Iceman

On Reveal: Give a card in your opponent’s hand +1 Cost. (maximum 6)

Collection Level 222-474 (Pool 2)

view card details Start a deck Decks with Iceman

Variants

Soul Stone

Ongoing: Enemy cards here have -1 Power.

Unreleased

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Variants

Ebony Maw

You can’t play this after turn 3. Ongoing: You can’t play cards here.

Collection Level 222-474 (Pool 2)

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Variants

Deadpool

When this is destroyed, return it to your hand with double the Power.

Collection Level 486+ (Pool 3)

view card details Start a deck Decks with Deadpool

• Demon: Three energy worth ten power. I’ll take that deal.
• Evolved Misty Knight: Probably the weakest on the list, but at least it provides flexibility with energy usage. Nightcrawler is probably a better target, but it barely sees play.
• Iceman: It has a strong ability that’s good throughout the match.
• Soul Stone: Most Infinity Stones will do, but we might as well take the best one.
• Ebony Maw: The only way we are stealing this is with a Shuri Sauron deck keeping it in hand after they remove its Ongoing ability. It’s probably the best target in the game as one energy for nine power is incredible.
• Deadpool: As long as you don’t have priority, you should be able to copy it.

Honestly, if The Hood was a little more popular, the other four are reasonable ones to expect on a somewhat regular basis. Especially the Infinity Stones in the current metagame with Thanos Control being a popular deck. Of course, Kitty Pryde remains a very good target for Mirage, but it isn’t easy to copy; the card needs to be in hand in order for Mirage to target it.

The 2-Cost Cards

While some 1-Cost cards are decent in a variety of decks and included as standalone cards, the 2-Cost slot tends to be more synergistic or match up oriented. Still, the best target in the game is probably in this category:

Variants

Jeff the Baby Land Shark

You can move this once. Nothing can stop you from moving or playing this to any location.

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

view card details Start a deck Decks with Jeff the Baby Land Shark

Variants

Lizard

Ongoing: -4 Power if your opponent has 4 cards here.

Collection Level 18-214 (Pool 1)

view card details Start a deck Decks with Lizard

Variants

Mister Sinister

On Reveal: Add a Sinister Clone here with the same Power.

Collection Level 18-214 (Pool 1)

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Variants

Scarlet Witch

On Reveal: Replace this location with a new one.

Collection Level 18-214 (Pool 1)

view card details Start a deck Decks with Scarlet Witch

Variants

Spider-Ham

On Reveal: Transform the leftmost card in your opponent’s hand into a Pig, keeping its Power and Cost.

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

view card details Start a deck Decks with Spider-Ham

Variants

Mysterio

As you play this, play Illusions to other locations. Disguise this as an Illusion until the game ends.

Collection Level 486+ (Pool 3)

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Variants

Luke Cage

Ongoing: Your cards can’t have their Power reduced.

Collection Level 486+ (Pool 3)

view card details Start a deck Decks with Luke Cage

• Jeff the Baby Land Shark: Oh boy.
• Lizard: Same scenario as Ebony Maw, and I like points.
• Mister Sinister: Two energy worth eight power isn’t so bad.
• Scarlet Witch: It’s good to have it, and to know the opponent has it.
• Spider-Ham: This adds up to a [4|6] that ruins a card for the opponent, which is decent.
• Mysterio: If the illusions are getting +2 as well, this is better than Bast for points.
• Luke Cage: Important information about the opponent’s hand.

With Jeff being such a popular card that isn’t necessarily designed to be played on Turn 2, Mirage has a wonderful target. Regarding the other cards, there is a nice mix of points and valuable information to have about the opponent. This makes me like Mirage more.

The 3-Cost Cards

Considering Silver Surfer is seeing a reasonable amount of play (and Lockjaw, Hela, and Electro Ramp exist), I think Mirage could copy a 3-Cost card more often than one believes. And there are a few targets I wouldn’t mind having in hand with an extra two power.

Variants

Brood

On Reveal: Add 2 Broodlings here with the same Power.

Collection Level 486+ (Pool 3)

view card details Start a deck Decks with Brood

Variants

Polaris

On Reveal: Move an enemy 1 or 2-Cost card to this location.

Collection Level 486+ (Pool 3)

view card details Start a deck Decks with Polaris

Variants

Cosmo

Ongoing: On Reveal abilities won’t happen here.

Collection Level 18-214 (Pool 1)

view card details Start a deck Decks with Cosmo

Variants

Shadow King

On Reveal: Set all cards here to their base Power.

Collection Level 486+ (Pool 3)

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Variants

Storm

On Reveal: Flood this location. Next turn is the last turn cards can be played here.

Collection Level 222-474 (Pool 2)

view card details Start a deck Decks with Storm

• Brood: Five energy total, 14 power. Hello, homemade Red Skull.
• Polaris: Just a very good 3-Cost. Could have been Juggernaut as well.
• Cosmo: Good card, plus it’s great to know they have it.
• Shadow King: Very important information here, and the same goes for Rogue and Wave.
• Storm: Probably tells us their next play.

So in the end, Mirage does have some good targets to hit in the current Marvel Snap metagame, even with Bounce gone. There are several cards that benefit a lot from the bonus two power, transforming them into real contributions towards winning a lane.

Finally, let’s conclude with the absolute nuts that could happen very rarely:

Variants

Death

Costs 1 less for each card destroyed this game.

Collection Level 486+ (Pool 3)

view card details Start a deck Decks with Death

Variants

Mister Negative

On Reveal: Swap the Power and Cost of all cards in your deck.

Collection Level 486+ (Pool 3)

view card details Start a deck Decks with Mister Negative

Later in the game, Death should be a potential hit for Mirage since most people tend to hold it until Turn 6 to avoid Shang-Chi. As for Mister Negative, all the cards it touches also tend to be very low cost and kept in hand to avoid being disabled — especially Iron Man.

Where do we play Mirage, then?

Before we dive into the deck lists, let’s mention the few cards that would benefit from Mirage being in the deck, regardless of the card card we pull from the opponent: the Devil Dinosaur package.

Variants

Devil Dinosaur

Ongoing: +2 Power for each card in your hand.

Collection Level 18-214 (Pool 1)

view card details Start a deck Decks with Devil Dinosaur

Variants

The Collector

When a card enters your hand from anywhere (except your deck), +1 Power.

Collection Level 222-474 (Pool 2)

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Variants

Quinjet

Ongoing: Cards that didn’t start in your deck cost 1 less. (minimum 1)

Collection Level 486+ (Pool 3)

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In addition to the obvious synergy with The Collector and the rest of the Big Hands archetype, there might be a few other cards worth considering with Mirage.

Variants

Beast

On Reveal: Return your other cards here to your hand. They cost 1 less next turn.

Collection Level 486+ (Pool 3)

view card details Start a deck Decks with Beast

Variants

Lockjaw

After you play a card here, swap it with a card in your deck. (once per turn)

Collection Level 486+ (Pool 3)

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Variants

Valkyrie

On Reveal: Set ALL cards here to 3 Power.

Collection Level 486+ (Pool 3)

view card details Start a deck Decks with Valkyrie

Mirage has a decent ability to copy, and the card we get from it should be a cheap one, which makes two great targets for Beast. As for Lockjaw, we get two cards to play behind it while including only one in our deck. Lockjaw probably does not need it, but freeing up deck slots is very valuable when only 12 are available.

Last, with the bonus two power, there is a real chance the card we copy will be above three power, which breaks Valkyrie‘s parity on the lane we play her on Turn 6.

Thanos Control Gets Better

Thanos Mirage

Created by den

, updated 9 months ago

2

3x Collection Level 18-214 (Pool 1)

4x Collection Level 486+ (Pool 3)

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

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

1x Recruit Season

3.7

Cost

0-
1
2
3
4
5+

3.7

Power

0-
1
2
3
4
5+

Thanos decks thrive on being flexible and keeping their options open through the course of the game. As a little added value, Devil Dinosaur is naturally included in the deck, a card that has natural synergy with Mirage (and Valkyrie as well).

Overall, Mirage should represent a nice card to add to the rotation of the deck. It collects information on the opponent while having a few synergies with other cards as well.

Big Hands Obtains Another Weapon

Big Hands Mirage

Created by den

, updated 9 months ago

2

4x 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)

3.2

Cost

0-
1
2
3
4
5+

3.8

Power

0-
1
2
3
4
5+

Similar to Thanos Control, Mirage will have to go against some tough competition to be included in this deck; the 2-Cost card pool is really deep in Marvel Snap. Here it seems like it will compete with Sentinel, a staple of the archetype for a long time now.

However, compared to the other card generating tools the deck typically uses, Mirage also comes with important information. As a result, Mirage could end up more valuable than an Agent Coulson or a Sentinel, considering the points slam and unpredictable approach has not worked out so well for the archetype up until this point.

Bounce on the Comeback Trail?

Bounce

Created by den

, updated 9 months ago

1

3x Collection Level 18-214 (Pool 1)

1x Collection Level 222-474 (Pool 2)

3x Collection Level 486+ (Pool 3)

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

1x Starter Card

2

Cost

0-
1
2
3
4
5+

1.5

Power

0-
1
2
3
4
5+

Obviously, if a cheap On Reveal ability is added to the game, it almost feels mandatory to include Bounce in the discussion. I wanted to add Mirage to the other build that features The Collector at first, replacing Falcon since it usually leads to hand management problems. However, the Iron Man core is currently doing much better overall.

In that deck, Mirage could bring a bit of added flexibility, especially considering Bounce cannot compete on sheer points against every deck anymore. Bounce should be the perfect place to assess if Mirage and Beast are indeed a good duo to explore.

Closing Words

Unless you want Thanos, opening Spotlight Caches in the coming week seems like it could hurt in August because there are some very interesting cards coming up. Still, considering Mirage is a Series 4 card that could be considered a standalone addition, I think it’s worth the 3,000 Collector’s Tokens. Plus, if we get the same 500 tokens we got from Legion‘s weekly mission, Mirage starts to look like a decent purchase, especially when we get to keep our precious Spotlight Caches for Series 5 cards.

As for the decks to include the card into, I feel there are already some solid candidates for Mirage. Plus, the metagame might make Mirage a good tech card in the future. I’m thinking of X-23, which could bring Deadpool to a center stage role in the near future (and Deadpool is one of Mirage‘s best targets). Until then, copying Jeff the Baby Land Shark will do in order to surprise Lockdown with a five power, “go anywhere I want” card.

I hope this piece was helpful for your decision to go after Mirage or not. Spending tokens seems like it could be a good idea, but spend Caches only for Thanos. As usual, don’t let a single card ruin your fun in Marvel Snap; there are plenty of decks one can run with a limited collection. If you need help with that, or you have a coaching inquiry, you can find me 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.