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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.
Spotlight Cache Week of November 12, 2024
This week, we get the newest Series 5 card Malekith! Joining him will be the return of the Series 5 cards Thena and Valentina!
Malekith
Decks with Malekith
Headlining week 2 of the War of the Nine Realms Season is the premiere of Malekith! He is a 4-Cost, 6-Power card with the ability “On Reveal: Add a 1, 2, or 3-Cost card from your deck here. It reveals at the end of the game.” Developers have confirmed you can tap the unrevealed card to see what it is, but your opponent can’t see it. They also clarified that Malekith only targets a card’s original Cost, so you can use a card like Zabu to make cards eligible for Malekith to pull.
Malekith has a fascinating ability with a couple of potential uses. First, he can thin your deck of your early game cards. This can help reduce those feel bad moments where you top deck your low-cost card on the final turns. Second, he can help pull out key cards and hold them until the end of the game. A good example would be Hazmat, Silver Surfer, Sage, or Wolfsbane.
Possible Meta Deck
CanadianAlfredo
This deck takes the classic Silver Surfer list and brings in some lesser-used 3-Costs. Malekith obviously prefers to pull Surfer to maximize late game value. You also are happy to pull Killmonger, Sage, and Iron Heart to give additional Power options. You can utilize Morph, not as a 3-Cost for Surfer, but as a way to copy a potential strong card your opponent couldn’t play. For a more synergistic 3-Cost over morph, you could use Juggernaut. In the same idea as Morph, Baron Zemo wants to activate as late as possible in hopes if bringing out a bigger card.
Malekith also helps this style of deck in a different way. By pulling out your low-cost cards on turn 4, you can thin your deck to search for Sera, Wong, or Absorbing Man. I don’t think this list of cards will be the meta deck by any means, but it highlights some 3-Cost cards that can make Malekith shine.
Low Collection Level Deck
CanadianAlfredo
This is a classic Ka-Zar zoom deck. Malekith can boost this deck by thinning your deck to search for Ka-Zar, Blue Marvel, or Onslaught. He also either pulls a beneficial card, or removes a card that you really didn’t want to play late game anyways like Angela or Ebony Maw.
Fun Malekith Deck
This Ajax deck has a few great targets for this deck. First, you can pull Hazmat to maximize Ajax value. Second, Luke Cage can surprise flip your side of the board by negating any negative Power. You have other pulls as well like U.S. Agent or Red Guardian, but they are more situational. Any pulled cards can help you to dig through your deck for Sera or Ajax.
Malekith Prediction
Malekith looks like a fun new tool for a number of decks to try out. While his usefulness with specific archetypes could be useful, he may end up being a go-to good card for many decks. At a baseline [4/6], summoning a curated card from your deck will often times net you a solid Power output for his Cost. Furthermore, the deck thinning can make high Cost end games more consistent, since you can reduce the chances of top decking your small cards. These 2 factors could really make Malekith be the most under rated card of the season.
We have some great cards releasing this season, but Malekith seems to me like a potential must have card. He obviously won’t slot into every deck, but he looks like a prime contender for numerous “good card” style decks that aren’t heavy on synergy.
Thena
Following Malekith this week is the first return of Thena! This card has proven to be incredibly strong, so strong in fact that she received a nerf to her Power gain. Her play rate has dipped a bit over the past few weeks, but mainly due to a buff in Shadow King. Despite that, she is still a very strong card that drives several decks.
den
Thena has made a strong bond with Agent Venom decks. If you don’t draw Thena right away, Agent Venom can make her worth playing late game. Kitty Pryde is a great tool to ensure you can get 2 cards to play each turn, as well as keep Speed’s Power growing. If you don’t own Speed, Juggernaut is a popular substitute.
Thena has several meta decks that see active use, making her a strong asset for your collection. I doubted this card on her initial release, but she has clearly proven herself to be a great card. If you skipped on her first cache like I did, this is a great week to pick her up!
Valentina
Decks with Valentina
Closing out this cache is the return of Valentina! This card has tried to be usable in a range of decks, but she ultimately is too unreliable. While there are plenty of great 6-Cost cards in the game like Magneto, Doctor Doom, and Alioth, there are also a lot of cards that dilute the pool. Cards like Galactus, Apocalypse, Hela, Helicarrier, and even Blob can make you have a poorly started 4-Cost with an ability your deck isn’t made for.
PulseGlazer
This deck is the latest to try to give Valentina a home. Since Anti-Venom gives you a card with 0-Power, you can add Valentina and Luke Cage to the mix to maximize the potential value. If you can’t draw Cage, that reduced Power can actually empower Ajax for you! This deck is seeing success as an anti-Surtur option, but it has yet to prove it can stand up in a non-Surtur meta.
Valentina isn’t a must have card at this point. Even in decks she finds some usage in, she isn’t required to make those decks function. With that said, if you enjoy unpredictable cards that can high roll, she can still be a fun card to play. Simply put, don’t prioritize her in your collection, but she isn’t terrible to own.
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 only become available again after one full year has passed.
After one year, these Spotlight Variants will be available for purchase from the Daily Offer section of the shop. They will cost 2,400 Gold per variant. 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!
For this month’s featured artist, we have Andrea Guardino releasing their Frigga variant!
ARTTREE STUDIO premiers their first variant with Thena this week!
Eduardo Mello brings us many of Snap’s art, and this variant highlights Valentina’s MCU design!
Should I Cache In?
This week, we continue the streak of 3 Series-5 cards. Thena is a great card that is irreplaceable in a few decks. Valentina is very niche and has no permanent home, but she can be fun as a high roll card. Malekith looks very promising to me, though I’m wary to overhype the card.
This week I recommend you Cache In! Valentina is the only downside of the cache since she isn’t particularly useful. If Malekith pans out to be as good as I anticipate, he and Thena make this week a great value. With that said, if Malekith turns out to be much weaker than I expect, you may want to Hoard Your Caches and simply use tokens on Thena. I am optimistic about the new card though, so I’m pulling the trigger for this cache.
Wrap Up
Do you think Malekith 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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