Table of Contents
In this week’s Marvel Snap Spotlight Cache rotation, Diamondback headlines as the latest Series 5 card. Nimrod also makes its latest Spotlight appearance, but is dropping to Series 3 next week, and Phoenix Force is making another round in the Spotlight rotation.
Diamondback
Decks with Diamondback
Diamondback is our final new card of the season! She is a 3-Cost, 3-Power card with the ability “Ongoing: Enemy cards here afflicted with negative Power have an additional -2 Power.” This makes her a third Ongoing card that gives enemy cards negative Power.
This is one of the most clear cut cards we’ve had in a while. Negative Affliction decks are very meta right now, and this card fits right into those shells. She can make Man-Thing theoretically -16 Power (maximum) to enemy cards, and U.S. Agent -20 Power. Her ability is limited to only one specific location, but her Ongoing text let’s her give a huge Power swing without setting her up early game (like Scream).
Possible Meta Deck
I agree with popular consensus that Ajax and Scream are likely to be Diamondback‘s best two decks. This deck is the Ajax list that just wants everything to have negative Power. Thanks to her low Cost, you can play Ajax on turn 5, then Diamondback on turn 6 with Hazmat or U.S. Agent. This effectively let’s you turn a -4 into a -12 with Hazmat.
Negative Power cards have good substitutes and re-trigger options now, so you have plenty of sub options available. Spider-Woman can help swing you a location, Grand Master can redo an On Reveal, and Juggernaut can move cards into undesirable locations. You can also run Luke Cage if you want to tech against yourself or mirror matches. If you are missing several cards, you can morph into a High Evolutionary deck and keep Ajax and Diamondback as your core cards.
Low CL Decks
CanadianAlfredo
So this deck uses a second Series 5 card, but one that every new player should unlock as soon as possible anyways. High Evolutionary makes most of your no ability cards turn into cards that give negative Power afflictions. Since the game starts you with all but one of the evolved cards, it makes for an easy deck that Diamondback can slot into. If you are wondering why Storm is there, you can play Diamondback, Storm, Spider-Woman on curve, which should be plenty enough Power to win one location. You then could finish with a discounted Abomination to your next best location, or an Evolved Hulk.
Fun Diamondback Deck
CanadianAlfredo
Here’s a fun idea: Put Diamondback into Cerebro-3 with other cards that give negative Power! The deck leans heavily onto Bullseye littering the board with Negative Power, but Scorpion, U.S. Agent, and Red Guardian can also help. Ideally, you can discard Swarm and few times, use Bullseye, then play Cerebro, Diamondback, and all bunch of Swarms to secure the win.
Mystique doesn’t have to copy Cerebro every time. She also works with U.S. Agent and Diamondback to take advantage of abusable locations. You risk it for synergy with no Luke Cage, but you can use him as an alternate if there is a card you’re missing. I wouldn’t even attempt the deck if you don’t have Bullseye though.
Diamondback Prediction
I think it’s pretty clear Diamondback will find at least one good home. Between Ajax, Scream, and High Evolutionary, negative Power decks just got yet another option to improve consistency. It is worth noting that Luke Cage single-handedly ruins Diamondback (just like all negative Power cards). Over the next couple of weeks, be prepared for Diamondback to feel really bad as every deck techs against you with Luke Cage.
Aside from a temporary uptick in counters, I think Diamondback will settle into a healthy position within the meta. Definitely a good card to pickup if you have the cards to build those meta decks, but not mandatory since she is limited in her range of decks usage. Overall, a good pickup in my opinion.
For a detailed breakdown and review on Diamondback, check out our strategy guide below:
Nimrod and Phoenix Force
Decks with Nimrod
Since Nimrod is about to drop to Series 3 next week, we’re doing this a little different this time. Both Nimrod and Phoenix Force don’t see a ton of meta play, but they do work together in their own deck.
Kirallas
If you haven’t tried the deck before, these two cards give you two separate play lines. Line 1, destroy a move card, revive it with Phoenix Force, and move it around for value. Line 2, Shuri into Nimrod into some destroy cards. It’s two simple, telegraphed plays, but they can still be effective.
If you need some alternate card ideas, Symbiote Spider-Man and Nico Minoru are not critical to this deck. Players often swap these card slots out with Atuma, Destroyer, Doctor Strange, and even Galacta. The rest of the deck is all pretty much core cards since you are running two styles of cards to get two different lines of play.
den
For an alternate deck (that doesn’t have Phoenix Force), this Galactus deck uses Nimrod to secure your win. If you manage to get Galactus to trigger, Nimrod will move to his location after being destroyed. This is particularly helpful if you got the trigger purely because of priority, so you need that last second Power bump without another turn to play. Alternatively, you can play the Nimrod into destroy route, or Black Panther into Arnim Zola.
Both Nimrod and Phoenix Force are fun cards that are very Collector’s Token friendly, especially with Nimrod moving to Series 3. They unlock new deck archetypes, so they are more than luxury cards. With that said, they aren’t meta-defining or auto-includes in decks, so you don’t have to have them to be meta competitive. I would recommend players pick up any card that unlocks new decks for them to explore, but you have a good bit of flexibility this week on how to get them.
Spotlight Variants
If you already own the cards the Spotlight Caches offer, one of the variants below will take its place! If you own none of the cards, the variants will appear after you open all four caches. Spotlight Variants are time exclusive to their release week and will not be available again until further notice.
If any of these Spotlight Variants feel like a must have for you, make sure to Cache In if you have enough caches saved to guarantee the pull!
Should I Cache In?
My recommendation this week is an obvious Hoard Your Caches. It’s Series 5, 4, and 3 all in one cache. It isn’t much value, and all of the cards have some pretty strict usages. I do think all 3 cards are good in their own right, but they aren’t worth the resources of spending 4 keys on.
I know I have recommended hoarding for quite a few weeks lately. If some of these upcoming Spotlight Caches remain the same, there are some stellar weeks back to back that you will need your keys for. With a Series Drop a few weeks out as well, now is a good time to gather your resources and prepare for solid value. If you are itching for new cards, you can get plenty in the upcoming new game mode Sanctum Showdown!
More Content