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Werewolf By Night is the latest Series 5 card for the October 2023 Season Bloodstone. It is a 3-Cost, 3-Power card that reads: After you play an On Reveal card at another location, move there and gain +2 Power. Today, we will take a deeper look at the new card and, of course, the best decks to try it out in.
Decks with Werewolf By Night
Series 5 cards can be purchased for 6,000 Collector’s Tokens from the Token Shop initially as a Weekly Spotlight card, or opened as one of the featured cards in the Spotlight Caches that are found every 120 Levels on the Collection Level Track after Collection Level 500 (until the next new card releases the following week).
Strengths and Weaknesses
Werewolf By Night is the final card of the Bloodstone season, and it is one of the most anticipated cards this season. As a [3/3], the card starts below rate, but the effect can have massive implications. Every time an On Reveal effect is triggered, the card not only moves to the location, but it also gains +2 power. With two triggers we are looking at a card that can be three energy for seven power, which is equal to Maximus without the same drawback. Is this enough though to make the card worthwhile, or will the board just be too full for this to get enough value consistently?
Decks with Elsa Bloodstone
The upside is huge here, but it could easily be overhyped. The key point is that the card produces an above-rate value with only one to two triggers. The ceiling may be much higher, but the work required to get to five and seven power is not high. This condition is not hard to meet in many decks; over 130 cards in the game have On Reveal effects, and, yes, some of them you wouldn’t want in a deck with this card, but they exist. This is before we consider the synergy with the Move effect, which can activate both Kraven and Miles Morales and also synergizes with cards like Elsa Bloodstone and Angela. In short, my assessment is that Werewolf By Night synergizes with Marvel Snap decks.
Decks with Silver Surfer
This is not without any downsides, though. One problem the card poses is getting it to land where you need it consistently. This is a “downside” because it requires planning ahead; if you have a lane locked down with this card and it moves out after you play an On Reveal elsewhere, it may be impossible to move the card back. The second problem is that the card will always move if you play an On Reveal; if you play an On Reveal card into a location with two to three cards, it will land in the location and lock the spot until you play another On Reveal at another location. This will ensure the card cannot just be played in any deck, and this downside may be underappreciated. The lack of direct control means you need to keep it moving turn by turn and sequence correctly, and you also need at least two free spots at each location to maintain flexibility.
Decks with Shang-Chi
Decks with Shadow King
Direct counters like Shadow King can be really painful with this card. If the card locks a location, it may be an easy target for Shadow King or Shang-Chi, which costs you a card as well as all the effort you put in to make the card big. This effort is often undervalued, as you do have to be playing a certain way and want On Reveal cards at multiple locations to move the card around. With that comes deck building sacrifices and play sacrifices.
The Verdict
Werewolf By Night is pure numbers, and it is not an exaggeration to point out how the card just synergizes with the game as a whole. Just the amount of On Reveal effects in the game could mean this card will show up in more places than expected.
However, the practical play of the card may prove more difficult than it appears on the surface, and this could limit where it finds success. Location space and the requirement to play into other locations may prove to be bigger limitations than expected.
Even with this caveat, the high ceiling and ease of activation for the card make it worth considering, and it is certainly a card that is expected to make big moves.
Potential Score:
Move
SafetyBlade
One simple direction is to just jam the card in a deck with lots of On Reveal and Movement cards and hit go. This allows you to keep Werewolf By Night moving as one threat while setting up for the other cards like Multiple Man and Dagger to win other lanes. This option is also better on a budget than some of those below, and it may be overlooked for flashier options early on. I think it might prove to be one of the better homes for the card.
Silver Surfer
SafetyBlade
Silver Surfer can make use of Werewolf By Night with some strong 3-Cost movement cards. One concern is including Brood due to the board space limitations for using Werewolf By Night, so instead I included the 1-drop Movement cards to move Vulture as another big threat. There’s also the old favorites, Storm and Juggernaut, that can be effective into some of the midrange style decks that have started to appear more often.
Iron Lad & Alioth
SafetyBlade
This deck looks to combine some elements of Silver Surfer and Movement decks into a deck that can be ahead on priority across the board and then use Alioth wherever it is required. Alioth may or may not be a good synergy; you can play Alioth and have Werewolf By Night move across to that lane. Whether this is good or bad may depend on the situation, but it is a synergy worth trying. If it turns out to be a bad play more often than not, dropping Alioth for America Chavez is likely the correct decision. However, the plan here is to play Alioth and add three power + Werewolf By Night into the lane on Turn 6. This allows you to be further behind and, potentially, not only delete the opponent’s play but end up over the top, which is something they likely won’t be expecting.
Move Control
SafetyBlade
As an efficient card that gets and stays well above rate, Werewolf By Night may synergize well with Wave. In this deck, you want to hit Wave + Goose to lock out your opponent. Your Turn 6 On Reveal here is either Aero or Doctor Doom; both will pull Werewolf By Night to the lane where they are played while having an impact across the board. This division of power around the board may catch your opponents off guard, but you can also just throw down America Chavez and leave Werewolf wherever it is. This creates three very different plays that your opponent needs to play around, which can hopefully lead to lots of awkward moments.
Closing Thoughts
Werewolf By Night has efficient stats for its cost, which makes it a card that has to be respected and that probably requires lots of experimentation. The card does have downsides, but they can potentially be mitigated with how you play. You have control over how the card moves around the board, but it can easily go wrong if you’re not planning ahead (which may lead to lots of frustrating moments when playing the card). The power-to-cost is high enough that it is hard to imagine this card not making an impact.
Good Luck, Have Fun, and Stay Safe!
