Top 5 Series 3 Only Decks!

Hello everyone, and welcome to Top 5! I’m Glazer of Snap Judgments: The Official Marvel Snap Zone Podcast, and every week, we’ll be counting down a different Top 5 things you need to know in, around, and about Marvel Snap! Sometimes this will be silly in nature, but we’ll always have some pearls of wisdom to help make you the best (and best adjusted!) Marvel Snap player you can be! This week? The Top 5 Series 3 Only Decks.

Want some bonus Top 5s? On my YouTube, I have the following:

• Top 5 Conquest Decks by the Stats
• Top 5 Tournament Decks for Conquest Infinity

5. Lockjaw On Reveal

Lockjaw On Reveal

Created by PulseGlazer

, updated 9 months ago

1

1x Collection Level 1-14

1x Collection Level 18-214 (Pool 1)

4x Collection Level 222-474 (Pool 2)

6x Collection Level 486+ (Pool 3)

3.9

Cost

0-
1
2
3
4
5+

6.4

Power

0-
1
2
3
4
5+

Lockjaw is the deck that never dies. Many versions run High Evolutionary, but that isn’t necessary for a winning deck with the card, although a lot of other Series 3 cards are. While the high cost cards get all the attention, the cards that make Lockjaw work are really Wasp, Thor, and Jane Foster Mighty Thor. These three cards in combination are enough power to keep Lockjaw big and retain a powerful board presence.

Sometimes you miss Lockjaw, and Thor is great there, likely into Jubilee. She acts as, essentially, one time Lockjaws, cheap cards that manage to cheat out big power. Iceman is the other card that can just pop into Lockjaw and is here because it can randomly win a game. That spot can go to anything from Nightcrawler to Dracula, though.

Everything else is meant to pop out of Lockjaw or just into play with Jubilee, but one great card for that is Vision. Vision can move right out of the lane and out of the way, allowing for up to 15 power in an unplayable lane when combined with Doctor Doom and Odin.

Odin is not only awesome for Doom here. One of the very best last turn plays is Mjolnir onto Odin (ideally also onto a Doctor Doom or Jubilee. Odin on Mjölnir alone is a 20 power last turn play – 8 for Odin and 12 for Thor. That’s absolutely sick – especially when you get the extra Doom or other Jubilee benefit, as well.

4. Patriot Classic

Skrull Patriot

Created by PulseGlazer

, updated 9 months ago

1

1x Collection Level 18-214 (Pool 1)

5x Collection Level 486+ (Pool 3)

1x Recruit Season

5x Starter Card

3.5

Cost

0-
1
2
3
4
5+

3.8

Power

0-
1
2
3
4
5+

Iron Lad has made people think classic Patriot lists don’t work, but this deck’s win rate remains really high, as do most Patriot builds. Plus two power to your board is just a really strong thing to do! If Enchantress and Rogue aren’t all over your meta, this might be the deck for you.

Patriot on three or four is absolutely the key here. You’d love to follow that up with Mystique, but it’s not a necessity. This version of the deck runs a lot of vanilla base cards so that if you get all of those out with Patriot, you can play Onslaught on him on the last turn to really take your power up a notch.

Other times, you’ll get Patriot, Mystique, and Blue Marvel out – or really just either with Patriot and then Ultron will be the clear last turn of the game play. card name=”Ultron”]’s Drones are anywhere from 3-power with just Patriot to 6 each, at which point, you almost always win.

Finally, Super Skrull is a mirror crusher. One of the ways you lose it to cards like Iron Man and Devil Dinosaur that go way over the top. Well, now you beat those cards. Enjoy!

There’s also a ton of variability in this deck. Cyclops and The Thing are the swing spots and can be replaced with any of the following: Squirrel Girl, Brood, Debrii, Wave, Killmonger, Shang-Chi, or Leech. Feel free to tweak to your preference.

3. Negative Surfer

Negative Surfer

Created by PulseGlazer

, updated 9 months ago

1

1x Collection Level 1-14

9x Collection Level 486+ (Pool 3)

1x Recruit Season

1x Starter Card

3.1

Cost

0-
1
2
3
4
5+

1

Power

0-
1
2
3
4
5+

Negative Surfer has been pushed as a top deck by many, and based on results, it’s not top of the meta, but it definitely deserves a seat at the table.

The deck is relatively simple, focussing on getting out Mister Negative and Magik, giving you at least three turns to draw Negative cards. Zabu is in most of these lists, but Psylocke is at least as good – losing the flexibility of being used twice early by being a far better later draw. Psylocke into Wong for an extra two energy going into the final turns is often game winning.

Beyond that, this deck has two major ways it can win that intersect. Wong into Silver Surfer (sometimes with Mystique on Wong thrown in) is a ton of power that’s hard to keep up with and nearly reason enough to run Cosmo in this meta all alone.

Iron Man reversed is another huge way to win games, especially when copied by Mystique. This play dominates in power and these lanes can still be super buffed by Surfer. Bast even gives you some play if you don’t draw Mister Negative!

All that said, win rates across the game show this deck can be inconsistent. You need to be willing to run early and often when draws don’t line up with this deck. If you do that though, this one is a climber.

2. Surfer Control

Sera Surfer

Created by PulseGlazer

, updated 9 months ago

1

2x Collection Level 18-214 (Pool 1)

2x Collection Level 222-474 (Pool 2)

8x Collection Level 486+ (Pool 3)

2.8

Cost

0-
1
2
3
4
5+

2.9

Power

0-
1
2
3
4
5+

The first important thing to note: I’m not sure if Sera is better in this deck or Spider-Man is. I don’t think anyone really is. Our own Den argues that Sera is better for ladder and Spidey rocks Conquest, and that’s as good as I’ve got.

Whichever you choose, much of the gameplan remains the same here you want to use your cards to control the board- where and how much power an opponent can play. Goose early can make it so a Storm leaves them only one spot to play big cards. Storm with Juggernaut all but guarantees a lane. If they only have one or two places to play, Cosmo can make those plays far less efficient. Are they going wide with one cost cards? Killmonger keeps you in the game. A Taskmaster or Phoenix Force causing issues? Shrink them with Shadow King. This deck has a tool for most scenarios.

You end the game by playing a big power card – Polaris, Brood, or Maximus with Surfer. In the Sera version, you play three of those. Sometimes you forego them for control pieces late, and sometimes a Killmonger getting rid of a Nova and some stuff on their board is also more power for you. As you play, you get used to reading that.

Silver Surfer is rarely the best deck in the game, but a few builds are always in contention.

1. Shuri Red Skull

Shuri Sauron

Created by PulseGlazer

, updated 9 months ago

1

4x Collection Level 18-214 (Pool 1)

1x Collection Level 222-474 (Pool 2)

7x Collection Level 486+ (Pool 3)

3.2

Cost

0-
1
2
3
4
5+

5.2

Power

0-
1
2
3
4
5+

This deck is still just borderline Tier 1. Dropping Shuri into Red Skull into Taskmaster is crazy power. It’s vulnerable into Shang-Chi, but you can often beat Shang by skipping Turn 5 and playing She-Hulk and Taskmaster for a total of 36 power on the last turn of the game.

You also have plenty of extra power to play early, but a lot of that is dependent on seeing Sauron. Sauron gives access to a unconditional 1-7, 2-5, 4-10, and 5-14 – all the best stats in the game. Zero is a backup for one of these cards and works best early for Lizard. It’s good for Ebony Maw too, but there’s often an extra energy floating last turn and, if Sauron was played, that extra 7 is back breaking on the last turn.

Most people cut America Chavez from this deck for Vision or Captain Marvel. This deck is entirely different when it sees Sauron though, as even Shuri into Typhoid Mary is then an excellent play that leaves open plenty of options for the last turn.

The last card to talk about is Enchantress. She’s an amazing free-roll in this deck. You can put Typhoid Mary or Super-Skrull against their Iron Man or similarly powered card then steal the game with a last turn Enchantress along with a Lizard.

Yes, this is the Series 3 deck I think I’d most aim for, but all of these should be good enough to compete at the top end of the Marvel Snap meta!