Thanos – The Solution to the Meta Became Its Biggest Problem

Thanos went from a card in Marvel Snap that was considered terrible, to the terror of the meta, a card that it’s hard to imagine being dethroned without a rework. How did this “Big Bad” grow from an afterthought to a problem while leaving a trail of nerfed cards in its wake?

Variants

Thanos

At the start of the game, shuffle the six Infinity Stones into your deck.

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

view card details Start a deck Decks with Thanos

Card Meta History

Thanos was released alongside the first batch of Series 4 and Series 5 cards, in a pack of about 18 cards, notably including Shuri, She-Hulk, and Darkhawk. Thanos was dubbed a “Big Bad”, one of two released alongside Galactus. Both were considered novelty cards, with Thanos thought to mostly be a bad Zoo card. He was fun tier, but a meme.

Well, a streamer named ElitexHassa didn’t believe that. As a member of the KMBest Discord, he convinced a group of top players, including the then-new to Marvel Snap content LambySeries, that what Thanos needed was Lockjaw and Quinjet. This was a free huge card engine, and, right after Zabu was nerfed, it became thee ultimate meta thing to do, even above the fabled pre-nerf Shuri Red Skull combination.

This deck was the top of the meta, but limited at least somewhat because there were so few high-cost cards really worth ramping into. The deck ran Magneto and She-Hulk with old America Chavez as a way to draw more consistently. It focussed on 5-cost cards though, with Blue Marvel, Devil Dinosaur, original Leech, and Aero all making it difficult for your opponent, especially since Time Stone meant you could cheat out those cards early even when you didn’t see Lockjaw.

Eventually, half the deck was nerfed. Quinjet no longer worked with stones. Lockjaw became once a turn. Leech wasn’t an on reveal so its early play into Lockjaw was no longer a threat. She-Hulk lost a power. The Space Stone no longer allowed you to move a card anywhere. Eventually, America Chavez and Aero were changed, too. This version of Thanos was thought to be dead.

4. MODOK Season Infinite Deck (KM Thanos)

Created by PulseGlazer

, updated 11 months ago

0

2x Collection Level 18-214 (Pool 1)

3x Collection Level 222-474 (Pool 2)

5x Collection Level 486+ (Pool 3)

1x Series 5 Ultra Rare – Collection Level 486+ (Pool 5)

1x Recruit Season

3.8

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4.6

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But the next month, Thanos was meta again, this time with Lamby’s Valhalla build. It wasn’t incredible, but using Beast and Valkyrie, it was able to challenge and beat the power of the then meta-defining Shuri Red Skull. It also introduced Lockdown into the list, using the original Spider-Man with Professor X to clear a location. Again, cards were changed – Beast to a 3-4, Spider-Man re-worked, and an extra negative power on the Hood. Thanos was left behind again, this time for a few months, from around June until Summer.

Lamby Valhalla

Created by PulseGlazer

, updated 1 month ago

0

4x Collection Level 18-214 (Pool 1)

1x Collection Level 222-474 (Pool 2)

6x Collection Level 486+ (Pool 3)

1x Series 5 Ultra Rare – Collection Level 486+ (Pool 5)

3.2

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0-
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2.5

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During the summer, Thanos was again a forgotten archetype, but as Bounce was nerfed, a power vacuum occured, and our friend W had an amazing Thanos deck waiting in the wings to take over numerous tournaments and, eventually, the ladder, too.

Thanos Control

Created by den

, updated 9 months ago

1

4x Collection Level 18-214 (Pool 1)

1x Collection Level 222-474 (Pool 2)

3x Collection Level 486+ (Pool 3)

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

1x Recruit Season

3.9

Cost

0-
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5+

3.8

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0-
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5+

By adding Psylocke to the list, W was able to consistently get the control of Professor X. Six-cost cards were all but abandoned, as Iron Lad finally appears as a way to get more chances at a Professor X or Spider-Man lock. The Spider-Man change (along with Soul Stone no longer drawing a card) finally pulled Thanos back, and it remained a good, but mostly dormant deck as Loki reigned supreme, a card that ate any Thanos for lunch.

The Card Now

Then Marvel Snap released Blob. The original Blob is easily the biggest card in Marvel Snap, and it absolutely loved using Thanos to keep powerful cards in the deck. Since Blob’s release, Thanos has remained near the top of the meta, but its dominance truly started in January, the month after Blob, when Loki and The Collector were finally separated.

Variants

Blob

On Reveal: Merge cards from your deck into this until it gains 15 or more Power. Ongoing: Can’t be moved.

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

view card details Start a deck Decks with Blob

Blob allowed Thanos to go taller than anything, and since it was so powerful, it created a new type of Thanos – one that cheated out huge power. Since power cheat was on the menu, Lockjaw was back.

For a while, it felt like several card releases per month were pushing the Thanos archetype. First, Skaar became a card that was easy to make cheap in Thanos since it was going so tall and, at the same time Caiera was released, making it so that both Skaar and Blob were immune to Shang-Chi.

February saw Thanos atop his perch, even as Blob was nerfed since the release of Cull Obsidian made Skaar even better. Corvus Glaive gave Thanos access to a cool and powerful build with a Hela package, and, as tournaments return to Marvel Snap, Thanos was on top of the world. Variations that ran Lockdown cards like Professor X and Alioth also joined the fray, winning another large tournament.

Finally, Lockjaw was nerfed once more, and soon after, so was the Time Stone. Thanos might have been brought in line, but Hope Summers just replaced Lockjaw, and Mockingbird is so good in the build that even Skaar was cut. Caiera was also long gone, as there weren’t enough Shang-Chi‘s to beat the deck, so Mobius M. Mobius became the tech of choice for Loki and opposing Mockingbird.

The Brilliance of Thanos: It’s the Gems, Stupid

The power of Thanos is that his Infinity Stones allow you to run an extremely high curve. The early game is covered with both draw and utility, so the later game can be dedicated to putting a ton of power all over the board. The stones get you ahead early, and then powerful, ahead-of-curve tempo cards can keep you ahead.

Marvel Snap has released two cards that lock in victory when you go into late turns ahead.

Variants

Blob

On Reveal: Merge cards from your deck into this until it gains 15 or more Power. Ongoing: Can’t be moved.

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

view card details Start a deck Decks with Blob

Variants

Alioth

On Reveal: Remove the text from all unrevealed enemy cards here.

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

view card details Start a deck Decks with Alioth

When you’re ahead by enough, Blob is just the biggest single play in the game outside of a Hela highroll. His power allows him to lock in a victory in a way that few other cards can. Of course, by running Alioth, Thanos can proactively stop an opponent from competing for power or use the card instead to protect a big lane from cards that can stop it, whether Shang-Chi, Hela, or The Living Tribunal.

The Future of Thanos

Thanos is pretty easily the best card in Marvel Snap, and the center of the best deck. This isn’t inherently a problem – something needs to be best, though Thanos has kept his crown for three months now, and had it for around four months in the past of Marvel Snap, leaving it as the longest reigning king of the meta ahead of Loki.

Variants

Loki

On Reveal: Transform your hand into cards from your opponent’s starting deck and give them -1 Cost.

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

view card details Start a deck Decks with Loki

There’s likely only one card in each of the next two months that makes Thanos better though, and those two are debatable. Red Hulk gives Thanos access to another huge 6-Cost card, making the deck harder to beat, while Sasquatch can pretty easily be a 3-10 if you drop a few stones the turns prior, synergizing amazingly well with Mockingbird.

Variants

Red Hulk

When your opponent ends a turn with unspent Energy, +4 Power. (if in hand or in play)

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

view card details Start a deck Decks with Red Hulk

Variants

Sasquatch

Costs 1 less for each card you played last turn.

None

view card details Start a deck Decks with Sasquatch

Thanos may not get a ton of new tools for the next few months, but it has so many old tools that even great cards for the deck like Skaar and Professor X are being cut.

Series 5 and Nerfs

Beyond being stale for being atop the game for so long, Thanos has another huge issue: it’s wholly inaccessible to anyone who’s not game complete.

Thanos

Created by PulseGlazer

, updated 1 month ago

0

1x Collection Level 18-214 (Pool 1)

2x Collection Level 222-474 (Pool 2)

2x Collection Level 486+ (Pool 3)

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

6x Series 5 Ultra Rare – Collection Level 486+ (Pool 5)

4.3

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0-
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5.3

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Thanos, a Series 5 card, is run with Jeff the Baby Land Shark, Mockingbird, Cull Obsidian, and Blob. That’s five Series 5 cards in the deck – six if you decide to run Alioth, too. There’s also Mobius M. Mobius, a Series 4 card, and Hope Summers, the current Season Pass card. So few of these are accessible from the Spotlight Cache system that it’s impossible for a newer player to reach the best deck.

Nerfing and removing some of these cards from Thanos won’t work. Caiera, Skaar, and Corvus Glaive are yet more Series 5s that would just replace much of the current crop.

No, there’s no real solution here outside of a pretty severe nerf.

Conclusion

Thanos is the best card and thus the best deck in Marvel Snap. It has been for around half of the existence of the game and is now, currently, the undisputed #1 deck. Cards in and around Thanos have been nerfed numerous times. The deck currently features an unconscionable number of Series 5 cards, making it entirely new player inaccessible. For the good of the game, it’s time for Thanos to go.