Nimrod will be hitting Marvel Snap on March 6, 2023 with the start of the Days of Future Past Season. This card will initially be purchasable as the featured card of the Season Pass before entering Series 5 at the end of the month.
As a reminder, Series 5 cards can be purchased for 6,000 Collector’s Tokens or opened via the Collection Level Track at a 0.25% drop rate in Collector’s Caches and Reserves. Nimrod is a 5 energy, 5 power card which has the following ability: When this is destroyed, add a copy to each other location.
Decks with Nimrod
Strategy and Potential
Nimrod potentially opens up some new avenues for destroy decks. As a 5 energy card, it doesn’t fit very well into what we currently know as a Destroy deck. Playing Nimrod on 5 and following up with Carnage or Deathlok just to make copies on the other two locations doesn’t feel powerful. So we need to look at the way it works and see what we can do to modify how Destroy decks look to incorporate Nimrod.
First up, we obviously want to destroy the card. As a 5 energy card, we either have to cheat it out early using Psylocke, Electro, or Wave, or we have to use a 6-cost card to destroy it. If we can cheat it out early, any destroy effect will do, but a safer option would be to follow up with a card that can Destroy Nimrod and provide other benefits.
Decks with Venom
Decks with Galactus
Decks with Arnim Zola
These choices limit the deck building opportunities with the card, and you may have also noticed that all of those cards are Series 3 and above. Destroyer, Venom, and Arnim Zola seem to be the most promising directions to create unique Nimrod focused decks.
Galactus looks like an interesting turn six play, especially when combined with Shuri. This could be easier to play than previous Galactus decks but may suffer from predictability.
The question then becomes: is destroying one Nimrod to add ten power to the board really worth the deck building restrictions, or do we need more pay offs? There are two other ways we can use the duplicated Nimrods to our benefit. Since the Nimrods are exact copies of the original, we can either buff Nimrod prior to the Destroy effect or buff the copies after they are created. Cards that could be used here include Shuri, Forge, Hulkbuster, and the crowd favorite Cerebro.
Decks with Hulkbuster
Decks with Shuri
If we are looking to buff Nimrod before we destroy it, the card might slot nicely into versions of the Destroy archetype that include Deadpool and Knull. This way we create buffed copies across the board and we make our Knull stronger for our final turn.
If we choose to go Cerebro, we can combine Nimrod with cards such as Doctor Doom, Deathlok, and Titania alongside Arnim Zola to flood the board with a swarm of five power cards.
For a card which may seem limited, there are actually a ton of directions to try to use the card. The question mark surrounding Nimrod is the power level. For all the positives we’ve covered, there is one really big weakness: you will usually have to play Nimrod a whole turn prior to activation. This leaves you open to counter play from Cosmo, Aero, even Armor. Your opponent will be able to see exactly what you’re trying to do, and revealing that much information in Marvel Snap can be dangerous over time. Therefore, we need to focus on maintaining priority with our Nimrod decks to mitigate this downside.
In summary, Nimrod represents another Destroy card that opens up new lines of play for older cards and adds power to some existing decks. Most of these decks feature a lot of Series 3 cards, unfortunately, so newer players will not get as much immediate benefit from this month’s Season Pass card.
Potential Score
Below are some potential starter decks for Nimrod with brief descriptions.
Starter Decks (Theorycraft)
SafetyBlade
Starting things off we have a classic Electro Destroyer list. This list plays the usual suspects you would find in the DeathWave deck with a modified top end. The goal here is to play Electro on three, Nimrod on four, then Destroyer on five. After that you can follow up with further destroy effects on the Nimrod lanes.
We also play Wave and Death as a strong back up plan that still synergizes with our other Destroy effects. This version is running Taskmaster over Arnim Zola due to the energy cost (we can run it alongside Demon on turn six if we miss on our other effects, for example).
SafetyBlade
The first of two Galactus decks, this one focuses on buffing Nimrod with Shuri and then hitting it with Destroyer or Galactus, preferably on turn five.
We carry the usual Death and Knull to use as potential finishers, but Nimrod may help the back up Destroyer plan be more consistent and put significantly more power into Knull for turn six.
SafetyBlade
The second Galactus deck focuses more on the final turn. We use the Goblins to lock out our target lane as much as possible and play Nimrod on (hopefully) the left most lane. Then we can Galactus to the right and Nimrod should copy twice and fill the Galactus lane with a minimum of 15 power.
The problem with this version is predictability; the game plan quickly becomes too telegraphed and is then easily countered, so proceed with caution.
SafetyBlade
This may end up being a first week meme, but we couldn’t not feature a card with 5 power without considering Cerebro 5! This version tries to Wave our Nimrod into play on turn four. We can then use Deathlok to copy it immediately or Magik to buy us some time, following with Doctor Doom and/or Cerebro + Mystique. The rest of the deck focuses on the best five power cards and tries to keep the curve low so we can play as many of them as possible.
SafetyBlade
This version combines Nimrod with both a Deadpool and a Black Panther shell in order to provide redundancy for our combos. This allows us to play an early game of buffing and destroying Deadpool, then transition to either Nimrod or Black Panther being buffed on turn five for Arnim Zola.
Remember, Venom can activate Nimrod‘s ability on turn six and also keep some power on the location.
SafetyBlade
So what if we want to do all the things? This deck tries to make that happen. We have: Deadpool available alongside Forge for early game buffing and destroying; Shuri for Nimrod and some mid/late game destruction; Magik to extend the game and allow turn six Knull game plans; and Taskmaster to copy any one of our big cards. This may be trying to do too much, and we might find that we want Wave and Death back in this list.
Who is Nimrod?
Nimrod is a sentient, self-replicating robot from a dystopian future (Days of Future Past) where mutants have been hunted to near extinction. Nimrod was created by the Sentinels as an extremely advanced prototype to track down and eliminate mutants. During a sabotage attempt on Nimrod, Kate Pryde was killed and Rachel Summers was sent to the past. Nimrod then traveled back in time to eliminate mutants before they became a threat to his dystopian future.
Nimrod possesses advanced artificial intelligence, vast technological capabilities, and the ability to adapt to any situation. He can analyze and replicate any mutant power he comes in contact with, making him an almost unstoppable force. He is also incredibly durable, with a self-repair system that allows him to regenerate from almost any damage.
He later merges with the remains of the Master Mold and to become Bastion. He has also been reincarnated in various different forms, every time returning with one singular goal: eliminate all mutants.
Good Luck Have Fun and Stay Safe!
Nakia is also a potential avenue to buff nimrod
Love Cerebro 5, that is creative.
My plan is below, you can use Deathlok and Venom to buff up Wolverine and look like a standard Destroy deck or on turn 6 to Nimrod if Galactus doesn’t show up. Shuri is for Nimrod.
https://marvelsnapzone.com/decks/galactus-as-a-finisher/