Sanctum Showdown Banned Card and Location List – Updated

Following the OTA Balance Updates, the new limited-time game mode Sanctum Showdown has also received some updates: 5 additional cards have been added to the banlist, Hot Locations, Featured Locations, and Altar of Death has been disabled.

Check out the full announcement below, and in light of this, our strategy guide will also be updated with better decks!

Hello fellow sorcerers!

It’s been awesome to see the community dive into Sanctum Showdown. We’ve learned a lot from all of you, so we’re going to make a few small updates to the game mode today.

• Disabling hot and featured locations: Madripoor was featured this week, but we’ve updated the game mode to remove future hot and featured locations.
• Banning Altar of Death: We decided to keep a few locations that are hard to contest, but offer other benefits. However, Altar of Death has proven to not be as fun as some of the other ones, so we’ve removed it.
• Banning more cards: While our initial banned list was pretty big, we were really trying to be conservative and avoid banning any cards that might turn out to be enjoyable in the game mode. After seeing the metagame that developed, we’ve decided to remove a few of the cards proving to be head and shoulders above the cut:
  • Cannonball
  • Negasonic Teenage Warhead
  • Makkari
  • Rocket and Groot
  • Scream

The first four probably make sense to everyone, as they’ve demonstrated themselves to be playable alongside any strategy and very impactful in determining the outcome of the game. Scream isn’t as widely useful as the other cards we’re banning, but the Scream deck does eat away at some of the core fun of Sanctum Showdown, which is deciding where to position your own cards. We don’t mind a bit of disruption, but a top deck using it as a dominant strategy is rough. It’s also punishing several other fun and fair cards in the game mode, shrinking the pool of viable choices more than we’d like.

Enjoy exploring the new metagame, and good luck on the journey to Sorcerer Supreme!

Source: Marvel Snap Discord

Complete Sanctum Showdown Banlist

Variants

Annihilus

On Reveal: Your cards with Power below 0 switch sides. Destroy those that can’t.

Series 4

view card details Start a deck Decks with Annihilus

Variants

Cannonball

On Reveal: Move the highest-Power enemy card here away. If you can’t, destroy it with a Rock.

Series 4

view card details Start a deck Decks with Cannonball

Variants

Captain Marvel

At the end of the game, move to a location that wins you the game. (If possible)

Series 3

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Variants

Debrii

On Reveal: Add a Rock to each other location.

Series 3

view card details Start a deck Decks with Debrii

Variants

Dracula

At the end of the game, discard a card from your hand to gain its Power.

Series 3

view card details Start a deck Decks with Dracula

Variants

Galactus

On Reveal: If you’re winning this location and this is your only card here, destroy all other locations.

Series 5

view card details Start a deck Decks with Galactus

Variants

Green Goblin

On Reveal: Switch sides.

Series 3

view card details Start a deck Decks with Green Goblin

Variants

Hobgoblin

On Reveal: Switch sides.

Series 2

view card details Start a deck Decks with Hobgoblin

Variants

Juggernaut

On Reveal: Move away all enemy cards played here this turn. (including unrevealed cards)

Series 3

view card details Start a deck Decks with Juggernaut

Variants

Invisible Woman

Ongoing: Cards you play here are not revealed until the game ends.

Series 3

view card details Start a deck Decks with Invisible Woman

Variants

Kang

Game Start: Replace this with 4 Kangs with text from random cards that Cost 3 or more.

Series 5

view card details Start a deck Decks with Kang

Variants

M’Baku

At the end of the game, this jumps from your deck to your lowest-Power location. (that isn’t full)

Series 3

view card details Start a deck Decks with M’Baku

Variants

Magik

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

Series 3

view card details Start a deck Decks with Magik

Variants

Makkari

End of Turn: Runs from your hand to a random location. (if possible)

Series 5

view card details Start a deck Decks with Makkari

Variants

Malekith

On Reveal: Add a 3-Cost or less card from your deck here, but don’t reveal it until the game ends.

Series 5

view card details Start a deck Decks with Malekith

Variants

Martyr

At the end of the game, move to a location that LOSES you the game. (if possible)

Series 3

view card details Start a deck Decks with Martyr

Variants

Mysterio

On Reveal: Add an Illusion to another location. Activate: Swap Power with it.

Series 3

view card details Start a deck Decks with Mysterio

Variants

Negasonic Teenage Warhead

After an enemy character is played here, destroy it. (once per game)

Series 3

view card details Start a deck Decks with Negasonic Teenage Warhead

Variants

Quake

On Reveal: Swap the positions of the other two locations.

Series 3

view card details Start a deck Decks with Quake

Variants

Rocket and Groot

Moveable once. After your opponent plays a card here, steal 1 Power from it.

Series 5

view card details Start a deck Decks with Rocket and Groot

Variants

Scream

When an enemy card moves, steal 2 Power from it. (once per turn)

Series 5

view card details Start a deck Decks with Scream

Variants

Storm

On Reveal: Flood this location. Next turn is the last turn cards can be played here.

Series 2

view card details Start a deck Decks with Storm

Variants

Supergiant

On Reveal: All cards played next turn don’t reveal until the game ends.

Series 4

view card details Start a deck Decks with Supergiant

Variants

Viper

On Reveal: One of your other cards here with the lowest Power switches sides.

Series 3

view card details Start a deck Decks with Viper

Variants

Altar of Death

After you play a card here, destroy it to get +2 Energy next turn.

released

view card details Start a deck Decks with Altar of Death

• Altar of Death