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We’ve been in the same meta for a while now after Second Dinner’s holiday break let the best cards run free, and most of those cards are 4-Costs according to many people. Wiccan, Galacta, and Doctor Doom 2099 in particular have pushed for many archetypes to be built around their unique abilities, so much so that most other decks in the meta pack some sort of counter to them. I could also easily include Iron Patriot, a 2-Cost worth Snapping whenever you win its location, and both Copycat and Red Guardian.
When I read the OTA notes, I was very surprised to see that it was actually their most popular counter card, U.S. Agent, that got nerfed instead of the 4-Cost powerhouses. My immediate reaction was Well, that’s a lot of nice buffs that will go to waste, but then I recalled all the times a mere extra point of power changed the fortune of a card or an archetype and I started to like some of these changes.
I’m still doubtful these are enough to disrupt the supremacy of the strong cards I mentioned earlier, but I’m eager to give them a try. Let’s explore!
Exciting New Archetypes
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Moonstone just released and two Ongoing cards got a buff… it can’t be a coincidence, right? This might need Cosmo for protection, but stacking Mister Fantastic, Moonstone, and Onslaught in the middle location would result in adding 12 (24?) power to the other two lanes. Add in Ant Man for good measure and you’ll also have 32 points in the middle (or 28 if you use the Pymparticle Arrow from
Plus, there’s no need to worry about having enough time or energy to accomplish all this! Wiccan has been allowed to live another day, and that is the perfect support card to make this work.
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Cerebro hasn’t been anything close to competitive in quite some time—even after it got some help in the previous balance update. I don’t know if switching Luke Cage from Cerebro 3 to Cerebro 2 will change much, but there are at least more synergies to explore with this one.
First, I obviously have to talk about Hazmat since it makes an iconic pair with Luke Cage. This archetype also can run Echo, a card that might gain a ton of momentum in the near future with with all the great Ongoing cards. If you also factor in the nerf to U.S. Agent—a key piece of the three power version of the archetype—there is little doubt the future of Cerebro has 2 written on it. Whether it will be good enough is a different story.
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The change to Hela had me confused at first, but it didn’t feel too different from the current Hela lists once I started building a deck.
Death is still an obvious inclusion as the sole 8-Cost in the game. Black Cat and Blink can represent 4-Cost and the 5-Cost, which you can easily double up on with Vision and Jubilee for consistency. I’m not sure how many 6-Cost cards you want, so maybe Vision or a cheaper card can be replaced a card like Magneto or Giganto.
I also went with more discard support since the requirement is a bit more annoying now, and I expect to re-summon fewer cards compared to the old deck.
Sword Master replaces Hellcow since it won’t ever discard Hela, it will often discard a 5-Cost card, it has a great power-to-cost ratio, and there are already plenty of solid 4-Costs in the deck. Lady Sif stays in due to her synergy with Death, but she also makes me want a second 6-Cost target even more. Same for Blade, another staple in the deck.
The two odd additions are Grand Master and Gambit. Destroying the opponent’s cards will make it easier to win with Hela‘s more difficult condition, though, and Grand Master has synergy with Blink, Jubilee, and any other discard ability in the deck. This might not lead to anything, but I think it looks like a decent first try at the new Hela.
Testing Some Power Changes
Curious to know how impactful the extra power to Ka-Zar, Onslaught, and Sentry could be? Here are their best performing decks before the OTA to get a feel:
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Obviously, you can also consider testing Mister Fantastic and Onslaught in any of these decks as well; there is quite a lot going on around the Ongoing synergy at the moment.
Speaking of Mister Fantastic and Onslaught, these two cards already have an Ongoing deck they should help elevate.
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Finally, the buff to Sentry shouldn’t matter much, but it is a good reminder that the Clog archetype is actually putting up some solid numbers at the moment.
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Closing Words
With the Toxic archetype and Scream both nerfed, disruptive decks will clearly feel weaker. At least Clog got some spotlight with the Sentry buff, and that archetype actually has some great potential if the meta returns to a Doctor Doom 2099 based environment. I’m not entirely sure if that will be the case, though, as the buffs to Mister Fantastic and Onslaught should also push other decks that are able to spread power across all locations. The cool thing is the same type of disruption should work against both of those decks.
A bit of a very proactive period should follow this OTA, especially with the newly buffed Ongoing cards and the untouched powerhouses. However, even though I would have liked to see more changes, I believe we have enough tools in the game to limit their ability to develop and keep them in check if need be. I’m curious to see if Hela will return to be anything, while I have major doubts that Cerebro will the the same potential.
Feel free to share your opinions on this OTA in the comment section below. I need to know if I’m alone in thinking that Galacta, Wiccan, Red Guardian, or Doctor Doom 2099 should have at least gotten a slap on the wrist. You can also find me on the Marvel Snap Zone Discord for any questions, or if you’re looking for some personal coaching.
Good Game Everyone.
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