The Best Post-Patch Deck For Each New Card – December 7, 2023

Tuesday, December 5th might be remembered as the day America Chavez was finally changed and Marvel Snap returned to twelve cards decks once again. This was arguably the biggest change to happen on this day, but there were a lot of other avenues to explore. Plenty of buffs happened in that same patch, alongside the release of Sebastian Shaw later that same day.

While this was, in my opinion, an ideal start to the season because it created a very welcome chaos to make the early race to Infinite a little more interesting, I also understand how these shake ups have created some confusion. There’s even some frustration among those those who couldn’t find their comfort deck and started losing cubes as they kept trying different brews.

In this article, I’d like to help those players. I will review the best performing deck for each recently changed, buffed, or released card, meaning we have to talk about Sebastian Shaw, America Chavez, Ravonna Renslayer, Black Knight, Stegron, and The Phoenix Force. Yes, all of these cards have shown up during the first days of the season and posted impressive performances, although the amount of games isn’t very high so far.

We’ll have to wait a bit (probably until the end of the week) to know exactly which decks might leave their mark on the Hellfire Gala season. Until then, let’s have a look at how these new or recently improved cards fare in their first few days on the job.

Sebastian Shaw Pushes a New Silver Surfer Deck

Silver Surfer Sebastian Shaw

Created by den

, updated 5 months ago

2

2x Collection Level 18-214 (Pool 1)

3x Collection Level 222-474 (Pool 2)

5x Collection Level 486+ (Pool 3)

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

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

2.8

Cost

0-
1
2
3
4
5+

2.6

Power

0-
1
2
3
4
5+

I was afraid the comparison with Werewolf By Night would be too much for the new Season Pass card. I thought we would have to wait for a big nerf to the card to see Sebastian Shaw emerge as a solid 3-Cost that you wanted to build a deck around. The community, however, has disagreed, and many decks have emerged around Sebastian Shaw with most of them including it in a Silver Surfer core.

You might see America Chavez in those decks to truly emphasize on the buffs you can grant your cards. Some players have also tried Absorbing Man to copy Daken or Brood, or Gladiator as another strong recipient of all the buffs. Still, the best performing list so far has been using Shadow King and Rogue for disruption, which indicates that the deck might not be ready to go all-in on a points strategy and still needs to respect the potential of other decks.

Then, instead of trying to win two lanes through sheer point development with Sebastian Shaw, Daken, or Brood (the three highest potential cards in your deck), you are able to rely on your counter cards to take a lane back from your opponent. With Sera on Turn 5, you are able to get two 3-Costs plus Shadow King on Turn 6, which allows you to remove the added power on any lane and then play your buffed card or Silver Surfer.

So far, it doesn’t seem like the deck has revolutionized the Silver Surfer archetype, but it seems to be a promising new take. It’s at least fairly easy to understand compared to the Move variant, which was the dominant one at the end of the last season.

Ravonna Renslayer Benefits Both Mister Negative and Darkhawk

Ravonna Negative

Created by den

, updated 5 months ago

1

7x Collection Level 486+ (Pool 3)

3x Series 4 Rare – Collection Level 486+ (Pool 4)

1x Recruit Season

1x Starter Card

4

Cost

0-
1
2
3
4
5+

1.8

Power

0-
1
2
3
4
5+

Ravonna Darkhawk

Created by den

, updated 5 months ago

0

2x 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)

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

1x Starter Card

3.5

Cost

0-
1
2
3
4
5+

0.9

Power

0-
1
2
3
4
5+

Ravonna Renslayer was already a staple in Mister Negative decks, so it is no surprise to see the deck do well with a bonus two power added to the card. Nothing much has changed in the deck; it still uses the same synergies around Black Panther, Iron Man, and Knull to build some power. There’s not much to report about this, then, except we have a good reason to monitor how Mister Negative is doing in the near future.

When it comes to the Good Cards archetype, on the other hand, things are a little different. Ravonna Renslayer brought a flurry of card possibilities along for the ride and is pushing a different deck from what we knew last season. We already knew the 2-Cost had a nice synergy with Darkhawk and Mystique since it allows you to play both in the same turn (similar to what Zabu does). The main difference, however, is that Zabu pushes for a deck built around 4-Cost cards and Ravonna likes to travel with a different entourage. Iron Man is a given, and it could even be considered a Good Card on its own with Mystique in the deck – especially because you can play both at the same time with Ravonna on the board. The Goblins are both strong here, too. They open some disruptive patterns that allow you to keep your Darkhawk or Iron Man safe in your hand until the very last turn.

The more surprising inclusion is Arnim Zola. It has good targets in Iron Man, Darkhawk, and even Rockslide if you already have Darkhawk (and Mystique) on the board. However, it is unclear whether the card is that important in the deck; Ravonna only allows you to play it one turn early, and there are basically zero cheap cards to pair it with in the deck. You have the ability to go Iron Man into Arnim Zola and have a flexible Turn 6, though, and that might be a very nice setup to abuse.

This was still the best performing build using Ravonna Renslayer, so the surprise of Arnim Zola might have played a role in its performance. Otherwise, this feels like a flexible slot that you could work with here.

America Chavez Remains a Lockdown Staple

America Chavez Lockdown

Created by den

, updated 5 months ago

1

1x Collection Level 1-14

3x Collection Level 18-214 (Pool 1)

1x Collection Level 222-474 (Pool 2)

1x 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

3

Cost

0-
1
2
3
4
5+

3.1

Power

0-
1
2
3
4
5+

Although the card has also been quite popular in the Silver Surfer archetype, the distinction of the best deck using America Chavez goes to Lockdown. The deck is still basically using its old version from before the patch. To be honest, I was surprised to see the card in Lockdown at first; I thought it was just a few players keeping their old build and testing it for testing’s sake. However, with Onslaught added to the mix (a card that only works with Ms. Marvel), I felt like the use of America Chavez was deliberate.

After trying it for myself, I actually saw some nice upsides to the new 2-Cost card because there are a few great targets for the buff in this Lockdown deck. First, Nightcrawler and Jeff the Baby Land Shark are obviously perfect. Their ability to move makes that extra two power flexible to contribute to any lane you need it. Second, Storm and Professor X are also good recipients since the opponent rarely expects them to be at four or five power (meaning it could ruin what they had prepared to play around).

America Chavez doesn’t seem necessary for the deck to function, though. It fits here as a potential pleasant surprise when it lands on the right target, and it represents a [2/5] card, which is pretty strong as a baseline. I imagine it is a flexible slot in the deck alongside Onslaught. Either way, it seems to be a nice contributor until another card that is able to bring more value to the Lockdown synergy is found.

If you want to explore another Lockdown build, Stegron also posted its best result as a [4/6] with that archetype. My immediate guess would be to see the card as a great follow up to Storm, just like Juggernaut is in the Silver Surfer archetype. I’m curious to see whether Aero could be used in this deck since it could also remove whatever the opponent played on the Flooded location (if you have priority going into Turn 5).

Stegron Lockdown

Created by den

, updated 5 months ago

0

1x Collection Level 1-14

2x Collection Level 18-214 (Pool 1)

2x Collection Level 222-474 (Pool 2)

2x Collection Level 486+ (Pool 3)

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

1x Starter Card

3.4

Cost

0-
1
2
3
4
5+

3.8

Power

0-
1
2
3
4
5+

Black Knight Keeps Discard Dracula Relevant

Black Knight Discard

Created by den

, updated 5 months ago

0

3x 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)

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

3.5

Cost

0-
1
2
3
4
5+

5.7

Power

0-
1
2
3
4
5+

America Chavez‘s change was considered to be a major blow to the Discard deck, and many anticipated the archetype would disappear following the patch. While I don’t know if we can call this deck the same as the previous Discard Dracula iteration, we can still find the core elements of the previous build here: Morbius, Dracula, MODOK, and Apocalypse. It’s easy to recognize where the idea comes from, but there are quite a few differences from the Discard Dracula we had come to know. Indeed, Black Knight‘s influence in this deck is real; it allowed The Infinaut, Black Cat, and even Ghost Rider to make it into the list, as well as Zabu now that it makes sense with four 4-Cost cards included.

Game play wise, I don’t expect this deck to be much different from the classic Discard Dracula build. The key turns should remain similar with Morbius, Dracula, and MODOK dictating your next move if you have Apocalypse in hand. The change of pace comes from what you do when those cards aren’t available to play; you can still develop an insane amount of power using the synergy between Black Knight, Lady Sif, Ghost Rider, and The Infinaut, which potentially leads to two 20 power cards on the board by the end of the game. Also, it’s important to note that you can still do the same trick with MODOK in order to discard your hand on Turn 4, pass on Turn 5, and drop The Infinaut on Turn 6.

In this whole mix, Black Cat, Hellcow, and Blade simply look like solid discard utility cards that provide some support to the main synergy. I would expect these as the flexible slots if you wanted to adapt the deck with different cards, but Zabu synergizing with the Ebony Blade pushes you to look for 4-Cost cards. I’m curious about the impact that some other discard cards could have with only Hellcow as a truly random ability here. It feels like even though you still want to discard a lot to make sure Morbius and Dracula will be major threats, this deck can also leverage the other components to create points. It isn’t entirely centered around mass discarding like the previous Discard Dracula deck was.

Phoenix Force Takes Advantage of Multiple Man

Phoenix Force

Created by den

, updated 5 months ago

1

3x Collection Level 18-214 (Pool 1)

4x Collection Level 486+ (Pool 3)

3x Series 4 Rare – Collection Level 486+ (Pool 4)

2x Series 5 Ultra Rare – Collection Level 486+ (Pool 5)

3

Cost

0-
1
2
3
4
5+

3.1

Power

0-
1
2
3
4
5+

This isn’t a new deck by any means. Outside of Iron Lad replacing America Chavez for consistency, The Phoenix Force is rocking the same deck it has been for the last few months (with the addition of Nico Minoru, of course). The important thing about this deck is its change in performance now that Multiple Man is totally exploitable when you revive it with The Phoenix Force. You could only move one Multiple Man in the past, which forced you to use Move cards in order to spread your power across the board. Now, the deck might have unlocked the easiest Snap in the game with this patch.

Simply put, when you manage to get your eight power Multiple Man on Turn 4, you can create a second one on Turn 5, which grows to four by Turn 6. That’s already 32 power that you can spread across your lanes as you fit, and you still have your full energy available on Turns 5 and 6.

When that kind of high roll happens, it’s easy to second guess the use of Nimrod, Human Torch, or Arnim Zola in the deck, and that’s only fair. However, if this barrage of Multiple Mans is met with a quick concession from the opposing side, it doesn’t happen often enough for the deck to build a high Win Rate (in addition to Shadow King sometimes being a party pooper).

You’ll want to look at the other ways of spreading power across your lanes for when Multiple Man doesn’t show up. If you really wanted to invest into that one precise combo, we could discuss cards such as Forge, Hulkbuster, and even America Chavez since there are plenty of great targets in this deck. To find some room, you could cut Nico Minoru, Deathlok, and/or Iron Lad depending on which card(s) you think provides the least flexibility to the archetype. Also, if you are seeing a big increase in the amount of Killmongers (a logical consequence of Sebastian Shaw making Silver Surfer very popular), you might want to consider Dagger instead of Human Torch.

Closing Words

The season is still very young, and there is always a chance that bots have helped boost the numbers of these decks. Nevertheless, there must be some power to these since they all averaged over one cube per game. That is an impressive feat, even over a small number of matches.

Apart from Lockdown (which was already an established deck), most of the lists I discussed today are proactive and looking to develop their strategy rather than counter anything specific. This is completely normal right now, as the combination of a new season, a new card, and a big balance patch makes it much harder to devote your deck to any counter play. A few cards like Shadow King and Rogue should remain very useful, and they’ll slowly find their way into more decks to counter the popular synergies among the best proactive decks.

Once this phase starts kicking in and more flexible decks emerge, the the meta should move quite fast and look more like what we should expect for this season. Until then, I’m very glad to see all of these cards seeing play in different decks. It makes the game look and feel more fun as a result.

I hope you are also having your fair share of entertainment playing Marvel Snap, and may you be inspired by a few decks we discussed today. Otherwise, feel free to share your own brews, and give some of your ideas to others in the comments.

As usual, find me on the Marvel Snap Zone community Discord, or follow my Twitter page where I share decks and biased opinions about the game.

Good Game Everyone.