Best War Machine Decks to Try on Day 1 and Strategy Guide: Location Location Location

War Machine is the final Series 5 card for the March 2024 Season, Avengers vs. X-Men. It is a 4-Cost, 6-Power card that reads: On Reveal: Until the end of next turn, nothing can stop you from playing cards anywhere. Today, we will take a deeper look at the new card and, of course, the best decks to try it out in.

Variants

War Machine

On Reveal: Until the end of next turn, nothing can stop you from playing cards anywhere.

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

view card details Start a deck Decks with War Machine

Strengths and Weaknesses

For just four energy, War Machine gives you the ability to play any card into any lane regardless of any restrictions for one turn. This could allow a lot of powerful plays, such as playing The Infinaut on Turn 6 or playing anything into Professor X‘s lane. It is an interesting effect that has the potential to change how we build decks, but is it really impactful? Is it really powerful to play any card without restriction in Marvel Snap?

Variants

Jeff the Baby Land Shark

You can move this once. Nothing can stop you from moving or playing this to any location.

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

view card details Start a deck Decks with Jeff the Baby Land Shark

Locations are core to Marvel Snap, and having control over them and or restricting access to them are some of the most powerful things you can do. Jeff the Baby Land Shark demonstrates this perfectly. With only three power, Jeff has consistently been one of the best cards in Marvel Snap since it’s release. The ability to play without restriction and play into any lane has been enough for Jeff to be featured in many decks already. War Machine is different, however, in two key ways, both of which make him less flexible than Jeff: he is more expensive, and he only enables the effect on the following turn.

These are not insignificant, and they may end up resulting in War Machine not feeling as flexible as Jeff. These limitations also make it clear to your opponent that you can play anywhere the following turn, which removes the element of surprise that Jeff has. These differences mean you may feel the need to include cards that are enabled by War Machine.

Variants

The Infinaut

If you played a card last turn, you can’t play this.

Collection Level 222-474 (Pool 2)

view card details Start a deck Decks with The Infinaut

Variants

Ebony Maw

You can’t play this after turn 3. Ongoing: You can’t play cards here.

Collection Level 222-474 (Pool 2)

view card details Start a deck Decks with Ebony Maw

Variants

Giganto

You can only play this at the left location.

Collection Level 486+ (Pool 3)

view card details Start a deck Decks with Giganto

Variants

Hope Summers

After you play a card here, you get +1 Energy next turn.

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

view card details Start a deck Decks with Hope Summers

Plenty of cards can be considered “enabled” by War Machine. The Infinaut is the obvious the headliner; coming in at 20 power, the ability to play this freely on Turn 6 rivals Blob and could swing lanes alone. The less flashy but more impactful card, though, could be Ebony Maw. At seven power and one energy, you can still play other cards on Turn 6 alongside it, and, if you do play Ebony Maw early on, War Machine allows you to play more cards behind it later on. This double synergy is appealing because you’re less pigeonholed on how you can play the card.

This highlights the potential problem for this synergy: the cards that are enabled are all poor plays without War Machine. You’re locking in War Machine as part of your Turn 5, and that limits how you can play. Hope Summers will help since it can give you extra energy to play The Infinaut and Ebony Maw on Turn 6, though. This negative may seem like it could make the decks too linear and reliant on War Machine, but if the power output is high enough it can potentially still be worthwhile.

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

Variants

Cull Obsidian

You can only play this where you have a 1-Cost card.

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

view card details Start a deck Decks with Cull Obsidian

Variants

Zabu

On Reveal: Until the end of next turn, your 4-Cost cards cost 1 less.

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

view card details Start a deck Decks with Zabu

However, the best application is likely less flashy and less exciting. With Zabu, War Machine becomes a 3-Cost card. This allows you to play him alongside more cards and makes it much easier to fit into your deck. Rather than big flashy cards being enabled, it may be best to enable cards like Cull Obsidian. War Machine can help you play cards that are already within your deck while also letting you play into locked or bad locations (like Crimson Cosmos). The synergy with Cull Obsidian alone may be wort considering, and we could be on the verge of the new 4-Cost value deck.

The Verdict

War Machine debate has been swaying between “it enables crazy combinations” and “it’s just a more expensive, telegraphed Jeff”. However, it is much more than this because it enables solid midrange plays (as well as the ability to play Ebony Maw on Turn 6). The small edges it provides alongside the ability to play Ebony Maw on more turns should be enough to consider this card.

The point that I think is often missed is the package for War Machine doesn’t need to be large. You can include cards like Cull Obsidian, Crossbones, and Ebony Maw and use War Machine as a way to ensure you can get those cards down consistently (while having ways to play them anyway).

All other synergies aside, the biggest restriction in Marvel Snap is not from your opponent, it is the locations. The ability to freely play into some of the most restrictive locations while your opponent cannot just wins games.

Potential Score:

The Infinaut

The Infinaut

Created by SafetyBlade

, updated 1 month ago

1

1x Collection Level 1-14

1x Collection Level 18-214 (Pool 1)

3x Collection Level 222-474 (Pool 2)

1x Collection Level 486+ (Pool 3)

2x Series 4 Rare – Collection Level 486+ (Pool 4)

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

2.8

Cost

0-
1
2
3
4
5+

5.8

Power

0-
1
2
3
4
5+

The Infinaut is the flashy way to play the new card. Here you have a solid early game that supports Hope Summers. As a starting point, Crossbones and Cull Obsidian are the 4-drops alongside Zabu. However, you could look at dropping one or both of them if Ebony Maw alone ends up being enough support. The rest of the shell supports getting ahead and allowing you to play War Machine into Hope Summers on Turn 5. This allows you to get to seven energy and play out The Infinaut with energy to spare for Kitty Pryde or Ebony Maw.

Remember: Hope Summers -> War Machine -> Turn 5 The Infinaut is always an option as well.

Zabu

The Ebony War Machine

Created by SafetyBlade

, updated 1 month ago

0

3x Collection Level 222-474 (Pool 2)

3x Collection Level 486+ (Pool 3)

2x Series 4 Rare – Collection Level 486+ (Pool 4)

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

3.4

Cost

0-
1
2
3
4
5+

5.6

Power

0-
1
2
3
4
5+

The Infinaut is a really bad card if you don’t get exactly War Machine on Turn 5, though. Plus, War Machine on Turn 5 is not the greatest tempo play, so this deck looks to be a lot more flexible by only having two cards that potentially benefit from the effect: Ebony Maw and Cull Obsidian. These two cards can be played out with this deck earlier than Turn 6, and you will have other ways of playing the later turns with Doctor Doom and Magneto. Wave may be greedier than required, but it allows for the Doctor Doom and Magneto finisher (if The Infinaut is everywhere, though, this might end up hurting more than it helps). The plan here is simple: Zabu -> Hope Summers -> stack Hope’s lane play and War Machine on Turn 4 or Turn 5 -> play everything.

Guardians of the Galaxy

Trash Panda

Created by SafetyBlade

, updated 1 month ago

0

1x Collection Level 18-214 (Pool 1)

3x Collection Level 222-474 (Pool 2)

1x Collection Level 486+ (Pool 3)

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

1x Starter Card

3.3

Cost

0-
1
2
3
4
5+

4.4

Power

0-
1
2
3
4
5+

This deck uses the Guardians of the Galaxy for power and War Machine to loosen restrictions on the final turns (if required). Ebony Maw and Iron Lad may have some risk, but this should be avoidable in game if you play around it. The deck has a lot of mobility and aims to limit the opponent while keeping your plays unlimited. On top of all that, you’re still able to drop significant on Turn 6.

Shuri

The Shuri-Naut

Created by SafetyBlade

, updated 1 month ago

1

1x Collection Level 1-14

1x Collection Level 18-214 (Pool 1)

3x Collection Level 222-474 (Pool 2)

3x Collection Level 486+ (Pool 3)

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

3.7

Cost

0-
1
2
3
4
5+

6.3

Power

0-
1
2
3
4
5+

This Shuri aims to have multiple ways of playing out The Infinaut. Hope Summers is the glue that allows you to do one of the following:

• Turn 5 The Infinaut
• Turn 5 skip into She-Hulk and The Infinaut
• Turn 6 The Infinaut and Ebony Maw

The rest of the deck is just regular Shuri things. Nightcrawler can enable Cull Obsidian and Hope Summers as well.

Movement

Magnetic Wars

Created by SafetyBlade

, updated 1 month ago

1

2x 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)

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

2.9

Cost

0-
1
2
3
4
5+

5.3

Power

0-
1
2
3
4
5+

Finally, here is a deck that is looking to really cement the War Machine “package” as Ebony Maw and Cull Obsidian. Here you have a Move package alongside these cards as your power, and you can hold them for the final turns or play them out and still relocate your power to win games.

The Movement cards keep you flexible, but it may be worthwhile trying to fit Shang-Chi or Enchantress for some added disruption.

Variants

Closing Thoughts

War Machine may seem like it doesn’t have a clear home, but hopefully today I helped you understand how that may not be the case. Not only does it have some potential homes, but it also could potentially end up being a requirement in the Marvel Snap meta. But, as always with cards that seem to change the game, proceed with caution.

Good Luck, Have Fun, and Stay Safe!