Table of Contents
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.
We also now feature the other two existing cards in more detail in a separate guide, not just the new one! The goal is to give you a tutorial on how to use the card most effectively in an everchanging meta, as well as help you decide if the card is worth the tokens or if you should pick it up during a Spotlight Cache week! Check them out below:
Spotlight Cache Week of May 21, 2024
This week, the featured cards will be the new Series 5 card Namora, as well as the return of Series 5 cards Black Knight and Skaar!
Namora
Decks with Namora
Our new card for this week is Namora! She is a 5-Cost, 6-Power card with the ability “On Reveal: Give +5 Power to each of your cards alone at another location.” A point to note with this card is that it is On Reveal, NOT Ongoing. This means she often won’t combo with 6-Cost cards like Orca.
I think Namora is simply Doctor Doom with more restrictions, more risk, and all for 1 Cost less. By making a lone card have 5 more Power, you are begging to lose by Shang-Chi. Doctor Doom adds the same amount of Power, only needs the space to activate, and doesn’t put cards into Shang-Chi territory. She does have combo potential with Wong and Odin, but I don’t see it becoming the next top deck. With Junk being a solid archetype, Namora‘s ability may not even get a chance to trigger.
Possible Meta Deck for Namora
CanadianAlfredo
This deck aims to grow your low cost cards like Armor and Colossus, or protect one costs with Caiera. Using Wong and Odin, you can get potentially +15 power to each of your lone cards, making a threatening presence. It also opens the secondary options of the classic white tiger on turn 5 play, or simply Doctor Doom after Namora.
Low Collection Level Deck
CanadianAlfredo
In a similar vein to the last deck, you want to use Iron Heart, Namora, and Odin to give extra points to your lone cards. You can surprise your opponent by flooding a location with Storm, but not play any new cards to the location. Instead, buff it or add Power with White Tiger or Nightcrawler.
Fun Namora Deck
CanadianAlfredo
This deck steers away from the typical combos like Wong and Odin. Instead, it uses Invisible Woman to hide your combo. Utilizing Ms. Marvel and Doctor Doom, you can add 15 Power to each location as a surprise Power dump on turn 6! This deck also makes sure to avoid cards that go over 9 Power to avoid Shang-Chi. Once the game ends, your combo will trigger and allow your buffed cards to remain safe.
Overall, Namora simply looks like a Series 3 card that got released too late in the game to launch directly to Series 3 (thanks Spotlight system). What this card needs is an extra ability to the text: “Give +5 Power and can’t be destroyed to each of your cards alone at a location.” This would actually make things interesting, as your opponent can’t simply destroy your big card when it is alone. Until Namora gets a buff like this, I think this is an easy pass.
Check out our strategy guide and more decklists on this new card!
Black Knight
Decks with Black Knight
Black Knight follows up Namora in this week’s cache! He strong discard option for decks that discard big cards naturally and want the extra value. The Ebony Blade is great because it can’t destroy it or deduce it’s Power. It’s basically a better Colossus that can be moved.
Black Knight‘s biggest weakness in the meta right now is the nerf of Zabu. Most decks that wanted an Ebony Blade also ran Zabu for cards like Ghost Rider to get better value. While developers have stated this Zabu nerf is a test to see how 4-Cost cards really perform without a discount, Black Knight unfortunately suffers because of it.
With that said, the card is still playable. This deck uses Black Knight as a way to generate a big turn 4 or 5 play if you have a tough draw. If you discard a big target like The Infinaut, you can discard the Ebony Blade with Dracula while reviving The Infinaut with Hela.
Kingvenom
While Black Knight is a playable card, the Zabu nerf keeps him from being meta relevant. Unfortunately, there are more efficient combos that consistently put out high Power without needing a 3-Card combo to make his ability work. Perhaps when the Zabu test is over, we could see a resurrection of Black Knight!
For a detailed guide on how to use Black Knight, his synergies, meta decks, and more, check out our new Black Knight guide!
Skaar
Decks with Skaar
Closing out this week’s cache is the return of Skaar! This stat stick card used to be a meta card, but has since seen a steep decline in play. Thanos decks, like the one below, used to run Skaar since you frequently play big cards on early turns. After the nerf to Thanos and Time Stone, the deck struggles to get big cards out early unless it draws Hope Summers in time.
den
The only other decks that use big cards in the meta right now are discard decks, which is useless for Skaar. This card could be good in a different meta, but he currently has no real home and doesn’t have an ability worth slotting. If you want a 6-Cost card that discounts itself, play She-Hulk instead. She’s easier to control and is only Series 3.
For a detailed guide on how to use Skaar, his synergies, meta decks, and more, check out our new Skaar guide!
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, and will only be available after 1 full year of time has passed.
After the year, they will be available for purchase, though no mention of cost yet. 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.
This Namora variant comes from artist Alberto Dal Lago. This artist is also the featured Spotlight Cache artist of this season!
This Black Knight variant is artist Paul Renaud‘s second variant added to Snap!
Artist Ron Garney launches the first of his two Skaar variants this week!
Should I Cache In?
This week’s value is on the high end with all 3 cards being Series 5 (and none dropping to Series 4 soon). Black Knight is a fun card with a powerful ability, but he struggles to find a slot in the current meta. Skaar is a card from a meta long passed, though could return if the right deck (Thanos) emerges again. Namora will be fun for some twitch highlights, but likely won’t see meta play while Shang-Chi and junk decks remain popular.
My recommendation this week is an easy Hoard Your Caches. These cards aren’t meta relevant and aren’t worth using caches on. Maybe by their next Spotlight cycle, the meta could evolve enough to make them worth it. In the meantime, this is about as easy of a skip week as you can get.
Wrap Up
Do you think Namora 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:
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