Nebula Control Detailed Deck Guide: CODE RED – Lock It Down!

Nebula has clearly established itself as one of the best 1-cost cards in Marvel Snap, as well as one of the best Season Pass cards of the last few months. It easily beats Nimrod and MODOK in terms of performances. As it stands, Nebula is one of the most popular cards in Marvel Snap because it is the default 1-cost card for many archetypes. However, if Nebula is a great card in a lot of decks, the highest distinction a card can earn in Marvel Snap is having its own archetype. Being able to push a deck or help a barely playable build to be competitive is, to me, the biggest testimony of a card’s impact on the game.

Control is quite a large denomination in Marvel Snap, and it can mean many things: Junk with The Hood, Viper, and Green Goblin; Lockdown with Storm, Professor X, and Spider-Man; and even Sera alongside Enchantress, Killmonger, and Shang-Chi. A lot of archetypes have inherited of the “Control” tag in Marvel Snap.

If I had to classify Nebula Control as one of the categories listed above, the deck would be a part of the Lockdown family where the goal is to block one or several lanes. Through these limitations, we can trigger the ability of our Guardians of the Galaxy cards much more reliably, alongside protecting Nebula to get her to grow consistently. Simply put, Nebula finally brought the points to an archetype that could only lock down lanes and lacked a way to punish the opponent – until now.

Deck Presentation

Nebula Control

Created by den

, updated 24 days 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)

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

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

1x Recruit Season

3.2

Cost

0-
1
2
3
4
5+

3.8

Power

0-
1
2
3
4
5+

Deck Concept and Strategy

As with most Lockdown decks preceding this one, the game plan revolves around trying to lock a lane early on, preferably with Nebula on it to score some points. Then, with a location under control, we can focus on winning one while our opponent has to push to win both of the remaining locations. In that sense, it is important to have a proactive mindset when starting the match. Different from, for example, Sera Control, the deck is not trying to counter what the opponent does. Instead, it looks to limit the opposing possibilities before they can happen.

Most of the time, a location will be under control through Storm flooding it early on or Professor X closing the lane for good on Turn 5. On some rare occasions, Titania can clog a lane for an opponent and prevent them from playing there until we get Titania back to our side. If you played Polaris or Green Goblin in the deck, you could also use one of these two to limit the space available to your opponent.

Once you are in that favorable set up of only needing to win a lane, there are various ways to accomplish it.

• Explosive Turn 6: Gamora plus Titania is 17 points if the opponent plays on the lane as well. Drax is eight points, but he can be paired with Jeff the Baby Land Shark anywhere else on the board. With Zabu in play, Drax plus Iron Lad is quite strong.
• Develop Points Across Several Turns: Jessica Jones on Turn 4, Gamora on Turn 5, and Drax plus Iron Lad on Turn 6 is worth a ton of points, and it’s usually enough to contest both remaining locations.
• Lockdown: If you get Storm on Turn 3 (or there is a location that limits the ability to play already), Spider-Man or Professor X can completely end the match for your opponent, especially with Daredevil.

Core Cards

Variants

Nebula

Each turn your opponent doesn’t play a card here, +2 Power. (except the turn you play this)

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

view card details Start a deck Decks with Nebula

Variants

Professor X

Ongoing: Lock down this location. (Cards can’t be added, removed, etc.)

Collection Level 18-214 (Pool 1)

view card details Start a deck Decks with Professor X

Variants

Spider-Man

On Reveal: Your opponent can’t play cards at this location next turn.

Collection Level 486+ (Pool 3)

view card details Start a deck Decks with Spider-Man

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

A lot of cards feel mandatory in the deck, but in reality, the Lockdown archetype is about the four cards shown above. Once you have this core, you could go many directions to exploit their abilities. In the featured list, the emphasis was around developing enough points to contest lanes from our opponent.

However, one could imagine using Enchantress and Shang-Chi to counter what the opponent does on one of the remaining lanes after Storm. We could also think of a more flexible approach with Doctor Doom, Klaw, and Mister Fantastic where we still have a way to impact locations without playing cards there. The Move package is another consideration for the deck; with Polaris and Nightcrawler providing flexibility and making Miles Morales a cheap five power card. One could go as far as to play the Darkhawk package with Korg and Rockslide because it is easy to include in the deck.

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

Iron Lad

On Reveal: Copy the text of your deck’s top card.

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

view card details Start a deck Decks with Iron Lad

Jeff the Baby Land Shark and Iron Lad have helped elevate the archetype to new heights alongside Nebula, but this does not mean that these cards are mandatory in order to build around the quartet of Storm, Nebula, Professor X, and Spider-Man.

Card Substitutions

Here are various packages of cards to consider when building the deck. In this piece, I mostly highlighted basic ways to build the deck without tech cards included. Feel free to adapt to your preferences and your popular opponents.

Guardians Package (Points Providers)

Groot is not included on purpose because the card is (unfortunately) not good enough compared to cards like Polaris.

Variants

Rocket Raccoon

On Reveal: If your opponent played a card here this turn, +2 Power.

Collection Level 18-214 (Pool 1)

view card details Start a deck Decks with Rocket Raccoon

Variants

Star-Lord

On Reveal: If your opponent played a card here this turn, +3 Power.

Starter Card

view card details Start a deck Decks with Star-Lord

Variants

Drax

On Reveal: If your opponent played a card here this turn, +2 Power.

Collection Level 486+ (Pool 3)

view card details Start a deck Decks with Drax

Variants

Gamora

On Reveal: If your opponent played a card here this turn, +5 Power.

Recruit Season

view card details Start a deck Decks with Gamora

Move Package

Variants

Nightcrawler

You can move this once.

Collection Level 1-14

view card details Start a deck Decks with Nightcrawler

Variants

Polaris

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

Collection Level 486+ (Pool 3)

view card details Start a deck Decks with Polaris

Variants

Miles Morales

If a card moved last turn, this costs 1.

Collection Level 486+ (Pool 3)

view card details Start a deck Decks with Miles Morales

Variants

Aero

On Reveal: Move the last enemy card played this turn to this location.

Collection Level 486+ (Pool 3)

view card details Start a deck Decks with Aero

Variants

Juggernaut

On Reveal: If your opponent played cards here this turn, move them randomly.

Collection Level 486+ (Pool 3)

view card details Start a deck Decks with Juggernaut

4-Cost Cards Package

Variants

Zabu

Ongoing: Your 4-Cost cards cost 1 less. (minimum 1)

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

view card details Start a deck Decks with Zabu

Variants

Iron Lad

On Reveal: Copy the text of your deck’s top card.

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

view card details Start a deck Decks with Iron Lad

Variants

Jessica Jones

On Reveal: If you don’t play a card here next turn, +4 Power.

Collection Level 1-14

view card details Start a deck Decks with Jessica Jones

Variants

Rockslide

On Reveal: Shuffle 2 Rocks into your opponent’s deck.

Collection Level 486+ (Pool 3)

view card details Start a deck Decks with Rockslide

Variants

Darkhawk

Ongoing: +2 Power for each card in your opponent’s deck.

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

view card details Start a deck Decks with Darkhawk

Multi Location Package

Variants

Doctor Doom

On Reveal: Add a 5-Power DoomBot to each other location.

Collection Level 486+ (Pool 3)

view card details Start a deck Decks with Doctor Doom

Variants

Mister Fantastic

Ongoing: Adjacent locations have +2 Power.

Collection Level 1-14

view card details Start a deck Decks with Mister Fantastic

Variants

Klaw

Ongoing: The location to the right has +6 Power.

Collection Level 18-214 (Pool 1)

view card details Start a deck Decks with Klaw

Other ways to build the archetype

The biggest difference when it comes to building the deck is deciding what you are trying to do on Turn 6. In the basic list, we aim to play Gamora plus Titania or Drax plus a 2-cost on the last turn of play. In this different variant, we have Doctor Doom replacing Gamora, which pushes us to develop more points during the course of the match so Doctor Doom can keep our lead on Turn 6.

Nebula Control Points

Created by den

, updated 24 days ago

0

1x Collection Level 1-14

2x Collection Level 18-214 (Pool 1)

1x Collection Level 222-474 (Pool 2)

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)

3.3

Cost

0-
1
2
3
4
5+

3.3

Power

0-
1
2
3
4
5+

Nebula Control was an archetype built on the backs of the recently released Series 5 cards. Both Jeff the Baby Land Shark and Iron Lad are great in the archetype, and they both enhance the deck’s performance quite a bit. Nevertheless, if you are still collecting cards in Pool 3 but happened to treat yourself to this month’s Season Pass, here is a budget build using the Move package to get Gamora plus Miles Morales on Turn 6.

Budget Nebula Control

Created by den

, updated 24 days ago

0

1x Collection Level 1-14

1x Collection Level 18-214 (Pool 1)

1x Collection Level 222-474 (Pool 2)

6x Collection Level 486+ (Pool 3)

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

1x Recruit Season

1x Starter Card

3.3

Cost

0-
1
2
3
4
5+

3.9

Power

0-
1
2
3
4
5+

Snap and Retreat

Nebula Control is fairly simple to read when it comes to Snaps and Retreats, but it can be scary as well. Indeed, most of the deck’s strategy is decided around Turn 3, and so is the decision to Snap (most of the time).

Zabu and Storm are the two cards we are looking for in the early part of the match. The former allows us to play stronger cards and contest for points while the latter enables our Lockdown plans. If you have either of these two, you should be in a good position for the match, especially with Nebula on Turn 1. Without either of these cards, I would consider a conservative approach with your cubes.

Locations

With both Storm and Professor X in our deck, this deck is often favored with limiting locations, and it’s able to go around the most annoying ones.

Good Locations

Altar of Death, Death's Domain, Sanctum Sanctorum: We only have to lock one more lane now.

Avengers Compound, Sinister London: Excellent Spider-Man locations.

Luke's Bar, Milano, Miniaturized Lab, Morag, The Vault, Kyln: Can be leveraged to lock the opponent from playing.

Asteroid M: Can be tricky for our opponent to play on Storm‘s lane because of it, and it tends to get clogged quickly.

Bad Locations

Elysium: It’s harder for us to predict our opponent’s next move.

Isle of Silence: We can’t Professor X this.

Knowhere: We have lots of On Reveal abilities.

Krakoa, Ego: Random plays are not good for this deck.

Lemuria: Can delay our Zabu or Storm and set us back.

The Big House: We can’t play Spider-Man or Professor X here.

Matchups

Obviously, archetypes able to impact locked lanes are always more annoying for us. Doctor Doom, Ultron, and Jeff the Baby Land Shark are cards we don’t necessarily want to see our opponent play as they mess with Storm a lot. Hela can be an annoying opponent to deal with as well.

The other opponents we have to be worried about are the ones that can be very explosive early in the match. Indeed, if an opponent can quickly get set on a location, it automatically reduces the effectiveness of our lockdown cards because they could very well fill the location we intend to block. Similarly, an opponent able to modify the power of their cards after we locked a lane can be equally annoying. Bounce fills both definitions with Bishop or The Collector while also possessing this explosive trait.

Looking at the good match ups, we love archetypes that are easy to predict or slow to get started. Galactus is a great one for Nebula Control in that regard. Otherwise, this deck feeds off limiting locations first and foremost as they directly contribute to our game plan.

Turn by Turn Breakdown

Turn 1

Nebula if you have it in hand. Most of the time, it is worth playing her on unrevealed locations since unplayable ones tend to be great for Nebula.

If you are playing Titania as your second 1-cost, do not play it. Otherwise, Nightcrawler or Iceman can be played without much care.

Turn 2

Zabu and Daredevil typically are the go-to cards here. Jeff is flexible, so it can be held for longer. If you intend to play Storm, you might not need Zabu on Turn 2 (even though it never hurts to have the card in play).

Turn 3

This is the big turn for the deck. On Turn 3, we should almost know exactly where we are going for the rest of the match, and we might even consider Snapping already.

Storm is our go-to play here, and it could warrant a Snap depending on the rest of our hand and our first two turns. Ideally, Storm serves to set up Nebula to win the location, but it can also be useful to remove an annoying location. If you play Doctor Doom, there is no reason to play Storm on a location that you are far ahead on already. If you don’t, assess your ability to develop power on Turn 4.

Keep in mind: you will likely use Spider-Man or Professor X to win the second location, so you need to keep a location where you can use those cards.

Without Storm, Zabu is the other card that impacts our mid game a lot. It serves as our accelerator to play a 4-cost card this turn. Both Drax and Iron Lad are good plays here as we tend to keep Spider-Man for later (if possible). If you play Jessica Jones, it tends to be the safest option at this point, and you have a lot of time in the second part of the game to come back to her location if needed.

Turn 4

If you played Storm, you likely already had a plan in mind, so simply look for clues telling you your plan isn’t worth running anymore. Otherwise, keep doing what you were doing. It is a similar idea with Zabu, although you are a bit more flexible.

Turn 4 is just an extension of Turn 3, really.

Turn 5

This is the other big turn for Nebula Control. Here, we’d like to be deciding between Spider-Man plus a 2-cost or Professor X. Without any of these two options, we better be in a good position to fight for points.

If Daredevil is in play, the decision should be quite easy to make. Snapping on a Daredevil play will often push your opponent to Retreat, but it can be a good cube to take nonetheless. Without Daredevil, Spider-Man is safer than Professor X as we can still impact the lane next turn. However, we open Doctor Doom for our opponent as well.

Turn 6

There should only be one lane to fight for at this point, with at least one already under our control. This turn will typically be Gamora plus Titania, or Drax plus either Jeff the Baby Land Shark or Star-Lord. The decision to play both cards on one lane or spread them across two lanes is purely based on the game situation.

If you only have one lane to win, it is hard to justify spreading your points. The opponent will need to beat you on both anyway. If you are behind and need to win both lanes, it might be worth Retreating at this point, unless you find a clear path to turning the game around.

Closing Words

Nebula Control, at its highest power level, requires quite an investment. Nebula, of course, but also Jeff the Baby Land Shark feel necessary for the deck to reach its true potential. Iron Lad is a favorite of mine, although I think one can get away with playing Enchantress in the deck instead.

Even if you don’t have all the cards for the perfect list, I believe this kind of archetype is important to understand, especially if you feel like you want to improve at Snapping or abusing locations. Since you won’t have the same points potential as other decks, you will be forced to incorporate the locations into your game plan. As for Snapping, you will soon realize that your game plan is easy for your opponent to figure out, and you might quickly become tired of only getting one cube from your best starting hands.

Considering it is quite a demanding archetype to play well, you might not end up playing Nebula Control every day. Instead, you might prefer a simpler deck where you can drop big cards and score tons of points. Still, there are a lot of times where a hot or featured location comes around and the Lockdown archetype rarely has a problem with it. For that simple reason, it might be good to have Nebula Control as part of your potential picks.

If you have any questions about this guide or simply want to share your list around the archetype, you can find me on the Marvel Snap Zone community Discord, or you can follow my Twitter page where I share decks and biased opinions about the game.

Upcoming events you might be interested in:

• May 27th: Qualifiers #3 and #4 of the TYB 616 Open. Anyone can join and try to qualify for their share of a $1,000 prize pool.

• May 28th: Coaching seminar alongside Freshlobster about the basics of deck building, game planning, Snapping, and Retreating.

Good Game Everyone.