Best Mockingbird Decks to Try on Day 1 and Strategy Guide: Improvise and Win

Mockingbird is the next Series 5 card for the March 2024 Season, Avengers vs. X-Men. It is a 5-Cost, 9-Power card that reads: Costs 1 less for each card you have in play that didn’t start in your deck. Today, we will take a deeper look at the new card and, of course, the best decks to try it out in.

Variants

Mockingbird

Costs 1 less for each of your cards in play that didn’t start in your deck.

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

view card details Start a deck Decks with Mockingbird

Strengths and Weaknesses

Mockingbird costs five Energy, but as you get cards down that didn’t start in your deck, the cost reduces. This condition can be achieved by using cards that put other cards onto the board (such as Squirrel Girl) and by playing the cards generated by the likes of Loki. So, how low of a cost can you consistently get this card, and just how much impact can she have on the current fast-paced meta?

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

Maria Hill

On Reveal: Add a random 2-Cost card to your hand.

Collection Level 486+ (Pool 3)

view card details Start a deck Decks with Maria Hill

Variants

Agent Coulson

On Reveal: Add a random 4-Cost and 5-Cost card to your hand.

Collection Level 486+ (Pool 3)

view card details Start a deck Decks with Agent Coulson

The answer is probably somewhere between low and very low. The condition you have to meet can be met within several archetypes that have already had success in Marvel Snap, and including the reduced cost Mockingbird into many of these decks is only going to make them stronger. The threshold you want to aim to get her to is different depending on the deck she’s in.

First up are the card generation decks. This style is likely to drop her down in cost the least, but they may not actually be better with Mockingbird. The investment to get Mockingbird down in cost is paid twice with these decks, and you may find that it’s less effective than expected. You can, of course, play Maria Hill into playing the generated 2-Cost card, which brings her down by one. Then you can play Agent Coulson into the 4-Cost card and bring her down by another one.

The problem, however, is that achieving this reduction in cost already requires that you have spent 10 Energy. That rate is not great. Loki can give you lots of cards to play out that may get her down to a 0-Cost card in one turn, but then Loki has to be played on turn 4, you have to play the cards on turn 5, and then you have to draw Mockingbird on turn 5 or turn 6. The hoops to get her down in cost via these directions are not insignificant, but including a card that can be three Energy for nine Power in any deck isn’t necessarily going to make the deck worse.

Variants

Squirrel Girl

On Reveal: Add a 1-Power Squirrel to each other location.

Collection Level 18-214 (Pool 1)

view card details Start a deck Decks with Squirrel Girl

Variants

Debrii

On Reveal: Add a Rock to each other location, for both players.

Collection Level 486+ (Pool 3)

view card details Start a deck Decks with Debrii

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

Throwing cards onto the board is the best way to drop the Power down consistently. These cards don’t require you to generate the card and then play them, so the investment is only paid once. For example, Squirrel Girl costs one Energy and reduces Mockingbird‘s cost by two. Compared to Maria Hill, the rate here is fantastic. Play Shanna on Turn 3 after a Squirrel Girl, and all of a sudden Mockingbird costs nothing. These “flood the board” cards are very efficient at reducing the cost of Mockingbird.

You could consider Brood into Absorbing Man as well; this combination can put Power into two lanes and then make Mockingbird cost one Energy. Decks that can pay less Energy to activate the effect are more likely to be able to get Mockingbird onto the board for cheap more often. While having a vanilla [5/9] in your deck isn’t bad, you’re still going to want to play the card down for less so you can play more supporting cards. These generation cards are more likely to bring her cost down consistently. The downside is these decks are not the strongest in the current meta, but Mockingbird may be just enough Power to make them consistent contenders once again.

Variants

Thanos

At the start of the game, shuffle the six Infinity Stones into your deck.

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

view card details Start a deck Decks with Thanos

Finally, as we seem to do with almost every new card as of late, we have Thanos. This deck has six generated cards without any additional deckbuilding. Unlike the Agents of S.H.I.E.L.D. and Loki, you don’t have to do extra work to get these cards into your deck, and you want to play them whenever you draw them because they continue your draws. Playing two Stones brings Mockingbird down to three Energy, and this could be seen regularly by Turn 3 with Thanos, thus avoiding a pesky counter card (check out our deep dive on Mobius M. Mobius’s impact in the current meta).

It is hard to imagine how Mockingbird won’t good in Thanos decks, which leaves only one question: what card do you drop to include her? It appears that the sweet spot to aim for to make her an effective part of your deck is three Energy (and preferably by turn 3). This allows you to get her out early and then continue on with your game plan.

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

This also avoids the only true counter to this card. This could be the main point of frustration and the reason why Mockingbird pushes some deck archetypes. Mobius M. Mobius only counters Mockingbird when you cannot play her on Turn 3. This may lead to her being more consistent with Zoo/Flood decks and Thanos since she can be played on Turn 3 and also cannot be hit by Shang-Chi.

The Verdict

On the surface, Mockingbird seems to be very strong. High stats on cards have been valuable – even when they can be countered – and this one has higher than average stats with a cost that can be reduced consistently in several deck types. She may be able to push Flood decks back into the spotlight, but she is just as likely to find a home in decks that consistently get two generated cards down early. The questions this card poses are simple, and the payoff is high.

Potential Score:

Zoo

Squirrel Bird

Created by SafetyBlade

, updated 2 months ago

0

2x Collection Level 18-214 (Pool 1)

1x Collection Level 222-474 (Pool 2)

5x Collection Level 486+ (Pool 3)

2x Series 5 Ultra Rare – Collection Level 486+ (Pool 5)

2x Recruit Season

2.7

Cost

0-
1
2
3
4
5+

2.4

Power

0-
1
2
3
4
5+

Zoo may have the easiest time fitting Mockingbird into turns and is, therefore, a deck worth considering for her inclusion. Here you have two main activators with Squirrel Girl and Shanna. These two alone reduce Mockingbird to zero, but the goal is to have the ability to play her on turn 3 (which can be achieved with just Squirrel Girl. I also included The Hood since the Demon can become a reduction. Plus, you can try to include Valkyrie as a way of equalizing a lane.

Brood

MockingBrood

Created by SafetyBlade

, updated 2 months ago

0

3x Collection Level 18-214 (Pool 1)

4x Collection Level 486+ (Pool 3)

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

1x Recruit Season

1x Starter Card

3.6

Cost

0-
1
2
3
4
5+

3.4

Power

0-
1
2
3
4
5+

Mockingbird may be just what this deck needs to become relevant once again. Here you have lots of ways to reduce her cost while advancing the main game plan. Mister Sinister, Brood, Absorbing Man, and even Iron Lad can represent good stats and cost reductions on Mockingbird. This allows for the deck to get ahead easily, reduce Mockingbird, and have Alioth ready to seal the game on Turn 6.

Thanos

Thanos Bird

Created by SafetyBlade

, updated 2 months ago

0

2x Collection Level 222-474 (Pool 2)

2x Collection Level 486+ (Pool 3)

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

7x Series 5 Ultra Rare – Collection Level 486+ (Pool 5)

4.7

Cost

0-
1
2
3
4
5+

6.6

Power

0-
1
2
3
4
5+

In what is probably the most obvious application, Mockingbird should play great with Thanos. So, while this deck is not the most inventive to suggest, it may just end up being the most effective. Each Stone reduces the cost, which means that playing Infinity Stones on turns 1 and 2 will reduce Mockingbird‘s cost to three fairly easily by turn 3. Then the deck has an easy transition to the late game, and it has lots of big plays to make (which I’m sure you knew).

Variants

Closing Thoughts

This looks like a strong card for certain archetypes (on paper, at least). When paired with the right enablers, Mockingbird is cheap, reliable Power that dodges a lot of the meta’s most common tech cards. But is it’s one major counter, Mobius M. Mobius, enough to keep it out of your deck? Only time will tell!

Good Luck, Have Fun, and Stay Safe!