Spotlight Cache Week of February 7, 2024: Are Supergiant, Zabu, and Darkhawk Worth It?

Welcome back to our new weekly series Cache-ing In! Each week, we break down what cards will be available in the new Spotlight Caches, as well as the Spotlight Variants! The goal is to help you determine if you should “Cache in” for the content, or hoard for a better week.

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Spotlight Cache Week of February 7, 2024

This week, the featured cards will be the new Series 5 card Supergiant, as well as the return of Darkhawk and Zabu!

Supergiant

Variants

Supergiant

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

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

view card details Start a deck Decks with Supergiant

Kicking off the newest season Black Order, as get the new Spotlight Cache card Supergiant! Supergiant is a 4-Cost, 5-Power card with the ability “On Reveal: All cards played next turn don’t reveal until the game ends.” This is the newest tech card added to Snap designed to disrupt turn 5 plays, or occasionally turn 4 plays when Zabu is in play. This means Supergiant can interrupt Leech, Sera, Professor X, Black Panther combos, destroy decks using X-23 to play Deadpool and Knull on turn 6, Annihilus, and more.

One way you can utilize this tech card to your advantage is in a lockdown deck. Since Professor X saw his nerf, Supergiant opens the door for a new way to lock out your opponent. If you have priority going into turn 5, you keep priority since cards don’t reveal. This means you can play Alioth on turn 6 and destroy all unrevealed cards from turns 5 and 6 on a location. If you were able to successfully lock a location down with Storm, this combo can single-handedly win you the match.

Supergiant Lockdown

Created by den

, updated 3 months ago

0

1x Collection Level 1-14

1x 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)

3.5

Cost

0-
1
2
3
4
5+

4

Power

0-
1
2
3
4
5+

Another way to use Supergiant to your advantage is in a Hela Tribunal deck. Supergiant serves 2 functions in this deck: to allow you to play Hela before MODOK on turns 6 and 7 if you fail to draw Invisible Woman, and to protect Limbo from being removed on turn 6. These plays both assume you use Magik and play Supergiant on turn 5.

Your weakness here is if your opponent plays Supergiant on turn 4, making your turn 5 Supergiant useless. It’s important to highlight here that MODOK can’t be played after Supergiant if you want Hela to activate, due to the fact that Supergiant’s ability prevents MODOK’S reveal until the game is over.

Hela Tribunal

Created by den

, updated 3 months ago

0

1x Collection Level 18-214 (Pool 1)

2x Collection Level 222-474 (Pool 2)

3x Collection Level 486+ (Pool 3)

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

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

1x Starter Card

4.8

Cost

0-
1
2
3
4
5+

6.5

Power

0-
1
2
3
4
5+

Supergiant looks like an interesting tech card, but her impact on the meta is difficult to predict. With the way Alioth currently works, this could easily bring Alioth back into a popular place in the meta since he can potentially remove 2 turns worth of plays.

Outside of that, Supergiant may be a mid card. Her usefulness can be heavily dependent on the matchups she faces, and her stats aren’t very strong to keep a good tempo. Supergiant does finally give a tech option to players who are frustrated by Leech or Sera, but will a deck she’s needed in have space for a [4/5] if her ability doesn’t also benefit you? If she finds a good home though (like Lockdown) where her disruption can both benefit you and hurt your opponent, she could easily warp the meta if other decks can’t adapt.

Zabu

Variants

Zabu

On Reveal: Until the end of next turn, your 4-Cost cards cost 1 less.

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

view card details Start a deck Decks with Zabu

Our second spotlight card this week brings the return of Zabu! This card has been around for a year now since his launch as a season pass card, and he is still relevant as ever. Zabu can open combo opportunities, make awkward draws more playable, and allow you to add more 4-Cost cards to your deck. Most often, you will want to include Zabu in a deck with 3 or more 4-Cost cards. This Sera Control deck is no exception.

Zabu allows you to play both Shang-Chi and Enchantress on turn 6 without the need for Sera. If you do play Sera, you can play these cards and Ms. Marvel for 2 Energy a piece! This allows you also to play Legion and a 4-Cost card on turn 6. This can also simply increase your flexibility in reacting to your opponent’s plays, which is the main appeal for playing control.

Sera Control

Created by den

, updated 3 months ago

0

1x Collection Level 18-214 (Pool 1)

2x Collection Level 222-474 (Pool 2)

4x Collection Level 486+ (Pool 3)

2x Series 4 Rare – Collection Level 486+ (Pool 4)

3x Series 5 Ultra Rare – Collection Level 486+ (Pool 5)

3.3

Cost

0-
1
2
3
4
5+

4.4

Power

0-
1
2
3
4
5+

Besides Sera Control decks, Zabu is most seen alongside…

Darkhawk

Variants

Darkhawk

Ongoing: +2 Power for each card in your opponent’s deck.

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

view card details Start a deck Decks with Darkhawk

Darkhawk joins as the final Spotlight card this week. This card has been a long standing “Good Card” since his release, only seeing a dip in play during Blob‘s reign of terror. Darkhawk is most often played in decks with Zabu to increase flexibility and tempo. The Darkhawk package usually includes Korg, Rockslide, and Black Widow. Darkhawk and his accompanying package often appear in a number of “good card” decks.

After Annihilus released, Darkhawk decks merged a bit with junk decks to basically annoy your opponent with things they don’t need while you slam down big power. This deck shows those two packages merged together. Zabu also is mixed into this deck to help with your Darkhawk, Sentry, and Shang-Chi. If you gain priority with these big power plays, you have Alioth to shut down any retaliation.

Good Cards Darkhawk junk

Created by den

, updated 3 months ago

0

1x Collection Level 18-214 (Pool 1)

1x Collection Level 222-474 (Pool 2)

5x Collection Level 486+ (Pool 3)

2x Series 4 Rare – Collection Level 486+ (Pool 4)

3x Series 5 Ultra Rare – Collection Level 486+ (Pool 5)

3.3

Cost

0-
1
2
3
4
5+

3.9

Power

0-
1
2
3
4
5+

To summarize both Zabu and Darkhawk, these two cards have been meta staples for a long time and are definitely worth owning. They make great decks for both the ranked ladder and Conquest, and they both are in a solid balance position (making them unlikely to be changed).

Spotlight Variants

If you already own the cards the Spotlight Cache offers, one of these variants will take it’s 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, with no estimated time on when they will be available again. So, 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.

The widely popular In-Hyuk Lee begins his month if Spotlight features with this Supergiant variant!

This Tribute take on Darkhawk is by artist Miguel Mercado, who currently has only 2 other credits in Snap (with one being Hellfire Gala Forge).

This Zabu variant is from the very pricy artist Kai Lun Qu. I say pricy, as all of his variants are either from bundles or Spotlights, making them resource intensive to collect.

Should I Cache In?

This week, the value is a bit lower as only the new card, Supergiant, is a Series 5 card. Zabu and Darkhawk remain in Series 4 currently. Zabu and Darkhawk are definitely meta defining cards that have stood the test of time across numerous meta. Supergiant looks strong, but may struggle to keep her place in the meta depending on what decks rely on their turn 5 plays.

My recommendation this week is simple: Cache in if you want Supergiant. Supergiant looks like a card you want in your collection to keep up with the meta. Similar to how Mobius M. Mobius will pop in and out of the meta depending on what is popular, Supergiant will likely make appearances when certain decks that utilize turn 5 heavily become overly popular.

Newer players will also greatly benefit from the added Zabu and Darkhawk, but the majority of the playerbase likely have these cards since they have been around for a year now.

Wrap Up

Do you think Supergiant will be a good card? Will you be Cache-ing In this week? Let us know in the comments!

For the full schedule, check out our guide below: