Best Nocturne Decks to Try on Day 1 and Strategy Guide

I stopped counting how many times I thought: “Damn, if only there was a 3-Cost Nightcrawler or Jeff the Baby Land Shark, just so I could have a flexible card, but with a bit more Power”, and Nocturne is finally answering my prayers.

Variants

Nocturne

You can move this once. When this moves, replace its location with a random new one.

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

view card details Start a deck Decks with Nocturne

Then, let me spoil you right now, I think Nocturne is a great card, simply because it has a shot at becoming this new card you can play in a large variety of decks.

Strengths and Weaknesses

Nocturne has two different abilities, able to move once, but also change the location it goes to into a random new one. Then, we’ll look at the card from two different directions, as decks could be looking for one, the other, or both abilities.

The card can Move

Move cards aren’t doing so well lately, as Junk is a popular archetype, limiting how much space one has to work with. Jeff the Baby Land Shark managed to stay relevant thanks to its unique ability to reach locations with Professor X. However, Vision, and most other move cards, went from one of the most played 5-Cost cards to not seeing play over the course of the Thunderbolts Season.

Variants

Vision

You can move this each turn.

Collection Level 222-474 (Pool 2)

view card details Start a deck Decks with Vision

Then, I’m not sure how good the card will be based on just being able to move, at least in the current disruption dominated metagame. Still, this makes Nocturne an easy inclusion in at least three archetypes based on this ability alone: Move, Cerebro 5 and Surfer Move, if this last one can make a return.

The card can change a location

Almost every deck has a location it doesn’t want to see, or will be happy to deny the opponent one it could have leveraged. Worse case, Nocturne can also be an annoyance to Magik, as moving to Limbo on turn six would end the game, or to Storm, denying the flooded location.

Variants

Magik

On Reveal: Replace this location with ‘Limbo’. Doesn’t work after turn 5.

Collection Level 486+ (Pool 3)

view card details Start a deck Decks with Magik

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

The downside here is, unlike Scarlet Witch, your opponent can see Nocturne in play and anticipate the location change. However, this could open some nice mind games on certain locations, such as Death's Domain, where you play Nocturne on turn three and keep your opponent guessing as to when you will change it to be able to play there.

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

Thanks to this ability, Nocturne can suddenly serve many more decks than just those looking to get a move cards. I can think about decks looking to build an explosive turn six, such as Sera Control, will find utility in Nocturne, to open certain locations or make sure the opponent can’t leverage locations.

Also, Nocturne positions itself as a delightful card to have on Hot and Featured Location days, just to remove that annoying site you didn’t want to have to deal with.

Nocturne can move and change a location

Marvel Snap isn’t only about power, especially in the current environment, where we are leveraging strong abilities to limit how many points the opponent is able to develop. Then, a flexible card, which should be able to contribute in most matches, is as close as it gets to what we are looking for in today’s Marvel Snap.

Move decks now have access to location change, while decks in need of such flexibility also gain a moving card to reposition their points. I feel this where the biggest strength of Nocturne lies, you will play her for one of her two abilities, and will sometimes remember that second portion of text can win you a game.

The competition amongst 3-Cost cards is fierce, but I believe Nocturne has the intangibles required to make the cut amongst those we want to include in our deck.

The Verdict

Nocturne is a card I want to have in my collection. She clearly contributes to certain archetypes such as Move, while being flexible enough to be your default 3-Cost card in a deck you wouldn’t know what to play in that slot.

Potential Score:

Move

Move

Created by den

, updated 15 days ago

0

2x Collection Level 18-214 (Pool 1)

2x Collection Level 222-474 (Pool 2)

1x Collection Level 486+ (Pool 3)

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

6x Series 5 Ultra Rare – Collection Level 486+ (Pool 5)

3

Cost

0-
1
2
3
4
5+

4

Power

0-
1
2
3
4
5+

This has to be the first archetype which comes to mind when you think about a new card with the ability to Move.

The archetype isn’t doing so well lately, but Nocturne can only help bring its stock up, representing another card to use alongside Angela, Hope Summers, Elsa Bloodstone, or Kraven.

Surfer Control

Control Surfer

Created by den

, updated 15 days ago

0

3x Collection Level 18-214 (Pool 1)

2x Collection Level 222-474 (Pool 2)

3x Collection Level 486+ (Pool 3)

4x Series 5 Ultra Rare – Collection Level 486+ (Pool 5)

2.8

Cost

0-
1
2
3
4
5+

3.4

Power

0-
1
2
3
4
5+

Silver Surfer has many builds currently, with the combo-oriented one doing better as of late. Yet, the archetype has a disruptive build already made with Cable, Gladiator, Killmonger, or Shang-Chi able to annoy the opposing game plan.

With Nocturne now in the mix, that decks gains a way to interact with location as well, in addition to a flexible solid target for Silver Surfer.

Cerebro 5

Cerebro 5

Created by den

, updated 15 days ago

0

2x Collection Level 18-214 (Pool 1)

7x Collection Level 486+ (Pool 3)

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

1x Recruit Season

3.2

Cost

0-
1
2
3
4
5+

4.2

Power

0-
1
2
3
4
5+

Cerebro 5 always relied on the move synergy in order to get as many five power cards in play, so Nocturne couldn’t make more sense in the deck. Plus, there is a chance we could get rid of Luke Cage for another card, as we now have a way to remove those annoying locations which afflict negative power to our cards there.

Good Decks

Junk

Created by den

, updated 15 days ago

0

1x Collection Level 18-214 (Pool 1)

3x Collection Level 486+ (Pool 3)

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

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

3.1

Cost

0-
1
2
3
4
5+

3.6

Power

0-
1
2
3
4
5+

I’m using Junk as an example here, but I believe Nocturne could become just a good 3-Cost in the current metagame. Indeed, with the metagame featuring a lot of space limiting synergies, such as Professor X or Doctor Octopus, Nocturne looks like a great option in addition to Jeff the Baby Land Shark to stay flexible, or support our own Professor X. Plus, a lot of those decks also run Magik, which we could punish with the new 3-cost.

I kept Red Hulk in the mix for lack of a better finisher, but Nocturne has the ability to make Magik and Red Hulk a much less popular duo in the near future.

Variants

Closing Words

I really like Nocturne because it fits this strong standalone, yet not broken type of cards I want as many as possible in Marvel Snap. With only twelve cards available to build our deck, the game feels too often about finding the best package of cards to leverage, and limits what we can do around it to the best support cards available.

Then, the more cards with flexible abilities we get, and the more diversity we could see in the deck, even if it is just having to pick from Nocturne, Red Guardian, Mobius M. Mobius, or Hope Summers for example.

At the same time, Nocturne doesn’t feel like a must-own, even if I know I will spend my Spotlight Keys in order to get it. I’m not telling you to do the same, but I believe this is a good option to have in the collection, as we can pull it against various synergies, while just throwing it into a deck we feel isn’t flexible enough, and would be lacking a good 3-Cost.

I’m curious to know what is everyone’s opinion on Nocturne, so let me know in the comment section below. Also, you can reach out directly through Marvel Snap Zone Community Discord, or use my Twitter page, where I share a deck every day, alongside card game related stuff.