The Living Tribunal Decks to Try on Day 1 and Strategy Guide: Time to Balance the Scales

The Living Tribunal has arrived in Marvel Snap. He has the ability: Ongoing: Split your total Power evenly among all locations. This card has an unique ability which changes the equations required to win the game. However, just how useful is this effect? Does it add value or is it just a gimmick? Today we will review the latest Series 5 card to join the game, the strategies which may find success, and of course, decks.

Variants

The Living Tribunal

Ongoing: Split your total Power evenly among all locations.

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

view card details Start a deck Decks with The Living Tribunal

Strengths and Weaknesses

Right on the heels of one of the most unique cards in Marvel Snap (High Evolutionary), we have The Living Tribunal ready to potentially change the way we play the game once more. In the spirit of a gigantic month, this is has been one of the cards I have wanted my hands on since the days of scouring datamines in the beta. This card has the potential to create a new way to play the game, but is it actually any good? The debate has gone back and forth and I am here to give you a deep dive on this card and see if the effect is enough to win games of Marvel Snap, or if it is just a gimmick!

Immediate thought process is to try and build decks which stack lanes with effects which create a larger number, then spread that power with The Living Tribunal. If you can get combinations of Iron Man, Mystique, and Onslaught onto the board with The Living Tribunal the power will spread across to all three lanes. Going tall like this will need other activators like Wave, Psylocke, or Magik to reach the numbers we need to overpower all the lanes.

Variants

Iron Man

Ongoing: Your total Power is doubled here.

Starter Card

view card details Start a deck Decks with Iron Man

Variants

Wave

On Reveal: All cards cost a maximum of 4 until the end of next turn.

Collection Level 486+ (Pool 3)

view card details Start a deck Decks with Wave

Another way of going tall is just big Ramp cards like Black Panther. If we can duplicate a Black Panther then follow up with The Living Tribunal we can spread the power across the board. The concern with both these go tall strategies is making an early game which supports the power from the big cards at the end, as the ramp cards tend to be lower power.

Variants

Black Panther

On Reveal: Double this card’s Power.

Collection Level 486+ (Pool 3)

view card details Start a deck Decks with Black Panther

Variants

Arnim Zola

On Reveal: Destroy one of your other cards here to copy it at the other locations.

Collection Level 486+ (Pool 3)

view card details Start a deck Decks with Arnim Zola

Remember, you only need to win two lanes to win the game, so it’s more difficult to baseline the target than it might seem. So our target should be splitting the power to about 20 power in each lane to build a deck which can compete consistently. However we may be able to make builds which can split the power lower and win.

It could be that instead of going tall, the optimal way to build with this card is going wide and mixing in some key control tools. Professor X for example could lock the lane down and then we follow up on the final lane with The Living Tribunal. If we have spread power across the board over turns 1 to 3, we then get to push this power to all 3 lanes. This may not seem exciting but playing over-statted midrange cards, then if we lose one lane using The Living Tribunal to divert the power across all three lanes, may prove to be consistent.

Variants

Professor X

Ongoing: Lock down this location. (Cards can’t be added, removed, etc.)

Collection Level 18-214 (Pool 1)

view card details Start a deck Decks with Professor X

Another way of going across the board in a way is Mister Negative. The Living Tribunal itself is neutral to the effects, but other cards like Iron Man are not. So we aim to play multiple of these cards alongside The Living Tribunal. This allows us to not play for one big combo and then abuse the power efficiently over all three lanes.

Variants

Mister Negative

On Reveal: Swap the Power and Cost of all cards in your deck.

Collection Level 486+ (Pool 3)

view card details Start a deck Decks with Mister Negative

We can also now use cards like Crystal post-Mister Negative to draw more of these cards to combine with the Tribunal. This seems inconsistent but you might also find Living Tribunal helps in an unique way here if you only draw enough to go tall on one lane. Tribunal will spread this power regardless of location restrictions and could help you steal games.

Cerebro 6 will also definitely make an appearance from some content creator – not in this article though, sorry!

Variants

Cerebro

Ongoing: Your highest-Power cards have +2 Power.

Collection Level 486+ (Pool 3)

view card details Start a deck Decks with Cerebro

The Verdict

The Living Tribunal presents a puzzle we have not fully explored before, but an exciting one. The effect itself is the limitation though, and when we go through the decks and the range of outcomes it will show how this one has the potential to not hit the levels we need to win games of Marvel Snap consistently.

As you will see from the theorycraft decks featured below, often the card you could eye to swap out is The Living Tribunal. This may be on theme, so the initial evaluation is cautious: A card which may surprise opponents and result in some great plays. However, any card which changes the rules of the match your in deserves experimentation and I recommend keeping an eye on how this one plays out.

Potential Score:

Starter Decks (Theorycraft)

It is time for what you all come here for: the decks. For all the negative press on The Living Tribunal, there is a surprising amount to explore here today. Given how different the effect actually is to how you play though, throughout I have aimed to point out some key break points to illustrate when the card can be of use.

Mister Negative

Safety Tribunal

Created by SafetyBlade

, updated 11 months ago

0

1x Collection Level 1-14

1x Collection Level 222-474 (Pool 2)

6x Collection Level 486+ (Pool 3)

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

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

1x Recruit Season

1x Starter Card

3.4

Cost

0-
1
2
3
4
5+

1.7

Power

0-
1
2
3
4
5+

This one is the starting point. We are going with a high roll style of Surfer Negative. We have a small Zabu package including Jubilee, this is to give us more chances at landing The Living Tribunal on the board. Outside of this we are doing the tried and tested Brood + Silver Surfer plan. Wolfsbane, Wong in one lane with an inverted Iron Man can be +40 power in one lane. If we can split this over instead, combined with power from other cards we can win games we would other wise lose.

In order to illustrate times you may play The Living Tribunal where you may normally lose due to restrictions, consider Storm lanes. Example – 40 divided by 3 = 13. Storm + Juggernaut = 6. We can lose these games against Lockdown and control because we are forced to go tall and I have purposely used a lower number to demonstrate the use case. Otherwise you wouldn’t play the card and stick to plan A.

In testing, it’s more common when this deck does the thing we are hitting 15 to 20 per lane minimum.

Light and Dark

Created by SafetyBlade

, updated 11 months ago

0

7x 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 Recruit Season

1x Starter Card

4.2

Cost

0-
1
2
3
4
5+

2.3

Power

0-
1
2
3
4
5+

This one is more all in on going as large as possible. We have all the greed in this one and the numbers if you can pull off one of the Arnim Zola combinations and land The Living Tribunal are huge. The line you are looking for is Mister Negative on 3, Wong on 4, Black Panther on 4 or 5, play multiple 0 cost cards alongside The Living Tribunal on 6.

Unicorn Priest

Created by SafetyBlade

, updated 11 months ago

0

1x Collection Level 18-214 (Pool 1)

5x Collection Level 486+ (Pool 3)

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

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

1x Starter Card

4.2

Cost

0-
1
2
3
4
5+

2.9

Power

0-
1
2
3
4
5+

So we have two Mister Negative shells. Combining the general ideas from both (have a high roll we can draw to and have a plan which doesn’t rely on Mister Negative) – we have this suggestion. This deck has a few flex slots (one of them is The Living Tribunal itself) and can look at replacing Korg, Iron Lad or Crystal with cards like Bast and Jubilee instead.

The general idea is the same. We want to land Darkhawk, Inverted Iron Man or even Jane Foster Mighty Thor on a lane, hit it with Arnim Zola and play Knull. Noting to pull this off, you often need two of these cards to be inverted. The high roll is hitting Arnim Zola and Knull with Mister Negative then playing Tribunal as well. This spreads a lot of power across the board and usually at least one lane is boosted by an Iron Man effect. The problem here is there is a lot of lines, but when this one does the thing it should be unbeatable.

Lockjaw

Lockjaw Yuck Put It Back

Created by SafetyBlade

, updated 11 months ago

0

1x Collection Level 1-14

1x Collection Level 18-214 (Pool 1)

2x Collection Level 222-474 (Pool 2)

5x Collection Level 486+ (Pool 3)

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

1x Starter Card

4.3

Cost

0-
1
2
3
4
5+

6.7

Power

0-
1
2
3
4
5+

Lockjaw pulling big power can sometimes get stuck in one lane. So another plan to consider is using The Living Tribunal to spread that power. Given the ability of the new Evolved Hulk to grow to 18 power consistently, he would represent 6 power each lane by himself. It seems small but we add this to Thor and Jane – another 6 power, Tribunal, another 2 power then potentially Iron Man landing somewhere and we may have a deck.

One card I would like to fit in but cut for Tribunal is Dracula to help pull the other power out of hand so consider including him over Jubilee.

Shayed Corrects Me

Created by SafetyBlade

, updated 11 months ago

0

2x Collection Level 18-214 (Pool 1)

5x Collection Level 486+ (Pool 3)

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

1x Starter Card

3.8

Cost

0-
1
2
3
4
5+

5.3

Power

0-
1
2
3
4
5+

Thanos builds which could also work as they allow for ways to cheat out the card and play big efficient stats. The goal here is just to dump stats everywhere and anywhere. The downside of this build is we can pull The Living Tribunal when we don’t need them. Wave is key here too. If we Wave on turn 5 and we can either play something big to win the last lane like Evolved Hulk, or when we need to play The Living Tribunal to redirect the power.

Hela

Hela

Created by SafetyBlade

, updated 11 months ago

1

1x Collection Level 18-214 (Pool 1)

3x Collection Level 222-474 (Pool 2)

6x Collection Level 486+ (Pool 3)

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

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

4.5

Cost

0-
1
2
3
4
5+

8.8

Power

0-
1
2
3
4
5+

Hela

Created by SafetyBlade

, updated 11 months ago

1

3x Collection Level 222-474 (Pool 2)

5x Collection Level 486+ (Pool 3)

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

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

1x Starter Card

3.9

Cost

0-
1
2
3
4
5+

7.7

Power

0-
1
2
3
4
5+

Two Hela builds here, with the same plan. We want to discard The Living Tribunal and just let them reappear magically at the end of the game. The benefit here is we don’t have to rely on where the power lands. The downside is the same also, as we limit the ability to high roll where The Infinaut lands. Will be worth trying this though, as a discard effect with The Infinaut and Tribunal should meet 46 power consistently, which is 15 power on each location.

Control

Control

Created by SafetyBlade

, updated 11 months ago

0

1x Collection Level 1-14

2x Collection Level 18-214 (Pool 1)

1x Collection Level 222-474 (Pool 2)

5x Collection Level 486+ (Pool 3)

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

3.1

Cost

0-
1
2
3
4
5+

4.1

Power

0-
1
2
3
4
5+

One of the wilder directions to consider. Here, The Living Tribunal is only played if we fall behind on one our locked lanes and spreading the power will steal the lanes. The make up of the supporting package can change but the core cards are Storm, Professor X and Spider-Man. We are all in on stealing two lanes, playing the high power cards to support across the curve.

I have preference towards the Mister Fantastic and Crossbones combination and recommend trying it but their is room to experiment here. The Living Tribunal is only here as a way of changing the equation on 6.

The Living Evolutionary

Created by SafetyBlade

, updated 11 months ago

0

1x 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)

4x Starter Card

3.3

Cost

0-
1
2
3
4
5+

4.5

Power

0-
1
2
3
4
5+

Here the goal is the same as the current High Evolutionary Lockdown build, but if we keep the total power on both sides low, we can use The Living Tribunal to split the power across, securing lanes that might have appeared lost.

Combo

Black Panther Tribunal

Created by SafetyBlade

, updated 11 months ago

0

1x Collection Level 1-14

1x Collection Level 18-214 (Pool 1)

2x Collection Level 222-474 (Pool 2)

5x Collection Level 486+ (Pool 3)

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

1x Starter Card

4.4

Cost

0-
1
2
3
4
5+

3.7

Power

0-
1
2
3
4
5+

These last two decks are the full combo decks, and honestly, the directions that look the least likely to succeed. This one is trying to make a big Black Panther(s) and use The Living Tribunal to contest all three lanes.

Living Tribunal Onslaught

Created by SafetyBlade

, updated 11 months ago

0

1x Collection Level 1-14

3x Collection Level 18-214 (Pool 1)

2x Collection Level 222-474 (Pool 2)

3x Collection Level 486+ (Pool 3)

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

1x Recruit Season

1x Starter Card

3.6

Cost

0-
1
2
3
4
5+

4

Power

0-
1
2
3
4
5+

Onslaught and The Living Tribunal could make up the top end of quite a few different Ongoing builds. Here we are concentrating our power into an Iron Man lane and then using The Living Tribunal to contest all three lanes. Instead of trying to do all the things, the build featured looks to have Onslaught as your back up Turn 6 play alongside the Omega Red plays.

Closing Thoughts

The Living Tribunal is likely to be overshadowed by the other cards we have had this month. This month has felt like a significant month for Marvel Snap with Iron Lad and High Evolutionary opening up more avenues to explore. The card seems to fall into a tech card role, allowing for you to be in control of how the power is spread out if you need it to.

Although it appears The Living Tribunal does not reach the heights of other cards this month (well except for Howard the Duck), hopefully this article has demonstrated the range of exploration available here is higher than it seems. Over time, the scales may balance for this card.

Who is The Living Tribunal?

Brace yourselves for the cosmic embodiment of impartial justice, the Living Tribunal! In the Marvel Universe, the Living Tribunal is an awe-inspiring and enigmatic cosmic being tasked with maintaining balance and order throughout the multiverse. With an appearance that can make even the most fearless hero tremble, the Living Tribunal wields unimaginable power and acts as the ultimate judge, ensuring the integrity of existence itself. You could describe them as a Big Bad and a Big Good, but they are in fact neither, they are just a card (with tier S variants)

The Living Tribunal possesses immeasurable power, making it one of the most formidable entities in the Marvel Universe. Its abilities encompass omnipresence, allowing it to exist simultaneously across all realities. It can alter reality, manipulate time, and effortlessly traverse dimensions. With its cosmic gaze, the Living Tribunal can perceive the smallest injustices or the gravest imbalances that threaten the cosmic fabric. These include being able to perceive when you were beaten by a high roll which was obviously unfair and unjust.

As the guardian of the multiverse, the Living Tribunal’s primary role is to maintain cosmic equilibrium. It intervenes when cosmic entities exceed their prescribed limits, preventing them from interfering with the natural order of reality. In cases where the balance is at stake, the Living Tribunal dispenses its cosmic judgment, ensuring that justice is served, regardless of the consequences. They ensure you lose cubes when you’re getting to high, they are the ones who make that White Tiger land in the Flooded location.

The Living Tribunal’s decision-making is guided by the principle of cosmic neutrality. It acts as an impartial arbiter, not swayed by emotions, alliances, or personal agendas. While its rulings may not always align with mortal understandings of right or wrong, the Living Tribunal’s purpose is to preserve the balance of the multiverse, even if it means making difficult and controversial choices. Like ensuring you roll District X when you make the silly decision to change decks.

The Living Tribunal embodies the grandeur and mystery of the cosmic realm, a timeless and awe-inspiring force that ensures the delicate balance of existence endures. In its ethereal presence, one cannot help but feel the weight of cosmic responsibility and the unfathomable consequences of disturbing the equilibrium. Usually this manifests as opening a pixel variant.

Good Luck Have Fun and Stay Safe!