What 10 Hours of Playing Conquest Have Taught Me

Conquest has been everything I wished for in Marvel Snap, and a little more. Obviously, we lose the super quick games we can get done in a few minutes, instead we plan for 15 minutes per match (on average). Already, I have seen many people report this is not how they wish to play the game, still favoring the short, fast-paced matches on ladder. Outside this more restrictive time constraint, I have a hard time finding bad things to say about the new mode.

The Proving Grounds league is perfect to experiment with your decks. While you might still earn a few medals on the way, basically it is the unranked mode a lot of players were asking for. Then, for those who enjoy a challenge, you can spend your tickets and go in the Silver and Gold leagues, where game have more stakes to them.

Although the mode has only been out for a couple of days, I have spent a lot of time playing Conquest. Much more than I spent on ladder lately, as ten hours would be closer to my weekly time, rather than a couple of days. During this time, I have collected Infinity Tickets, and played a lot of proving grounds with wacky decks. I faced a lot of the best decks in the game, and the most surprising builds I had seen in a while. Lastly, I had a lot of fun, playing games I really did not care about the outcome. Or played seriously, looking to clean the Gold league and get myself more Infinity tickets.

In this article, I’d like to share my experience of what these first ten hours of playing Conquest mode taught me. I believe it can help a few people out there, either to perform better, or just stop feeling bad when they don’t.

Proving Grounds is the unranked mode we asked for

While I completely agree with the criticism of the mode being more time consuming. I believe it is only true in the Silver and Gold leagues, where you have to pay something in order to enter the match. While in Proving Grounds, you can queue a match, play the first round, and retreat if you’d like. It probably will be a little longer than a ladder match as you have to press a couple more buttons to forfeit, but it’s pretty similar in the end. Also, you didn’t have to pay a cube in order to play that match, and gave your opponent some medals for their troubles.

Yes, this is probably the biggest upside for anyone tired of the anxiety which comes with playing ladder. When you queue a Conquest match, losing does not cost you anything, making the Proving Grounds league the unranked mode of Marvel Snap.

On Thursday, I played a lot of Proving Grounds, looking to refine a Galactus deck after the card got changed in the last patch:

Galactus Junk

Created by den

, updated 10 months ago

0

3x Collection Level 18-214 (Pool 1)

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)

2.9

Cost

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5+

1.7

Power

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While I do believe the deck has some potential, and I ended winning more than I lost at the end of the day. My first dozen games were messy, as I was exploring the build more than really playing it to win.

If I had to do this on ladder, as it was the only way to test a deck up until this point, I probably would have quit on it eventually, tired of losing cubes on this idea. Instead, I took my losses and kept working on the deck in the Proving Grounds league, where losing doesn’t impact me at all. This way, I could tinker with various iterations, learn more about the deck potential and matchups. More than anything, I never felt frustrated all day long, because I didn’t have this reminder at the end of every game “Hey, you lost some cubes”. If my opponent snapped, I could stay in the game. If it felt like snapping, I could do it as well. At worst, I was giving my opponent some medals, while I was gaining information.

By the end of the day, I even used a few of the Silver Tickets I collected to test the deck in a higher stake environment. Once again, I ended the day with the memory of my new Galactus idea netting me two Gold Tickets, while I have no idea what it cost me to get them, simply because it didn’t cost me anything.

I’m an Infinite rank player, and I usually get there on day one of the season. So you might think, “why does he care about losing cubes ?”. I really don’t, to be honest. Nevertheless, it’s become an unconscious mechanism after years of playing ranked modes in various card games. I will compare my starting and finishing rank with the deck, which will impact my appreciation of the deck in some way.

It is unfortunate, but this how we are wired for the most part. We will remember the loses, particularly the crushing ones, more than the wins. As such, playing ladder will always come with a bit of frustration and anxiety, as we have to bet a cube to queue a game. In Conquest, I am not betting anything, except my time, so the frustration and anxiety won’t touch me, I got nothing to lose, even unconsciously.

Silver, Gold leagues are the ranked mode we asked for

For the same reason proving grounds are perfect to test new ideas, the higher leagues are superb to see how good a deck really is. Indeed, when you play on ladder, you can always compensate the losses through playing more. If you started with a three game loss streak, just play until you get a three game win streak. Ladder does not limit you, nor stop you at any point to look back on your performance. Conquest will. Of course, you can always queue a new Conquest run after you lost the previous one. However, there are more definitive breaks in Conquest compared to ladder, which makes it much easier to take a step back and think about our results.

Also, the time investment which could be a problem previously now becomes a good thing. Indeed, nobody wants to look at one or two games in order to assess the strength of a deck. In Conquest, even if you lose your first match in the silver league, you probably played three to eight games against the same opponent. It might not be a big sample size, but you should already have an idea how whether you like this match up or not, alongside play-patterns which worked against them and those which didn’t. The same applies to your opponent. As you played more rounds, they might have tried to put in various uncomfortable spots, and showed you some of your deck’s limitations.

Lastly, because we are playing in leagues you have to commit something, a ticket, your opponent should take the match more seriously. On the other hand, I doubt every ladder opponent you queue into is focused and looking to win at all cost, especially if you are not in a rank where most players look to reach Infinite by season’s end. In that regard, I would say ladder is likely closer to Proving Grounds than it is to other leagues. Except for the last 20 ranks maybe, which tend to be more competitive as one has a goal there, so could be related to the Silver, maybe Gold league.

Invisible Sera

Created by den

, updated 10 months ago

1

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)

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5+

2.8

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5+

This is a deck I was confident in, as I played it in the past with great results. Nevertheless, it’s been a while since I had a reason to play it seriously, in a high stakes environment. Well, I wanted to check if the deck is still relevant in the current metagame, so I took it for a spin in the Gold league.

Through my three matches to grab an Infinity Ticket, which took approximately 40 minutes combined. I learned much more than I would if I took the deck for a spin on the ladder for two hours. Indeed, if I were to remove the opponents testing a new deck, those watching a movie on the side, and those I blindsided with my unorthodox Sera build. I doubt I would have 40 minutes of quality gameplay to save from those two hours of play.

Conquest is so flexible!

Something I hear a lot in the comparison of Conquest and ladder play is how much time available you need to play Conquest. I agree, one game is much longer to play, but I’m not sure reaching a certain goal is. In reality, ladder is the ultimate time demanding mode, because you have nothing telling you to stop, unless you got where you wanted, or an outside reason arose. For example, how long does it take to reach Infinite for the average players? An hour a day? Two hours a day? So, 30 to 60 hours total during the month?

I’m pretty sure you have a better chance to get similar rewards, and will improve much faster at the game too, if you invested this time in conquest. Let’s imagine your goal is to go all the way, claiming the win in the Infinity league. You would have to win eleven matches for this to happen, with a battle mode match representing about 15 minutes on average.

Now let’s compare, would you rather play an hour of ladder, or three to four Conquest matches per day?

• Ladder gives you absolutely no guarantee of any reward whatsoever. Conquest will give you some medals for every win. If you only played Proving Grounds four times a day, you probably would have enough crowns to buy whatever you like in the rewards shop at the end of the month.
• Ladder will always push you to focus on your goal, even if you just want to complete your quests for the day. Conquest allows you to play for nothing if you’d like in the proving grounds league, while you would still collect tickets to use on a day you feel rested and ready to compete.
• Ladder demands you to reach a certain rank to obtain a certain reward. Conquest lets you pick the reward you like with your crowns.
• Neither of the modes give you any guarantee to reach your goal by the end of the month. However, ladder will reset you based on your end rank, while Conquest will restart you at ground zero next month.
• Ladder rewards past rank 50 are more appealing than the rewards in the Conquest Medal Shop.

In the end, apart from ladder dropping you back only 30 ranks while Conquest sets everyone back to square one, Conquest has many more benefits compared to ladder play, particularly in regard to being guaranteed to get something for your trouble.

I guess in the end, the perfect mix is to rank up the ladder, up to the rank you know it would require too much time and effort to go further. Then, turn your attention to Conquest to maximize the rewards you get for your time over a month. Also, because the Infinity league is only available for the last week of the season, mixing ladder and ticket collecting for the first part is likely optimal.

Nevertheless, I like the fact you can use Conquest to have a precise goal, or just make it a season long quest to collect enough crowns to grab the rewards you like. Compared to ladder, where you have to post a positive cube average to get rewards, Conquest feels a little more flexible as a mode.

Conquest will make you a better player

Currently, Evolved Lockjaw is the deck to beat in Marvel Snap. It is the best deck in the game in the eyes of many, and one of the most popular archetypes as well. However, you can climb the ladder while losing every single game against it, simply retreating for a cube when you meet one. As long as you beat the other decks to make up for the inevitable loss you suffer against Lockjaw, you should be able to climb the ladder. In that sense, ladder is much more permissive regarding what deck you can play. In Conquest, you probably need to have a plan against the current dominant deck if you plan to reach, and beat, the higher leagues.

Evolved Lockjaw

Created by den

, updated 11 months ago

4

1x Collection Level 1-14

1x Collection Level 18-214 (Pool 1)

1x Collection Level 222-474 (Pool 2)

7x Collection Level 486+ (Pool 3)

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

1x Starter Card

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Down the line, this could lead to a lot of frustration, as the same deck keeps gatekeeping you from reaching your goal, pushing some to quit Conquest. I believe this is one of the limits of this mode, and could eventually make it look much worse than it really is. Every time one deck will be above the rest, Conquest will make it much more apparent than ladder, creating frustration that much faster as well.

However, Conquest might also push you to adapt, and take on challenges you would have never considered when solely playing ladder. In the end, taking the one cube loss against Evolved Lockjaw probably is the best thing you can do currently, and the deck isn’t popular enough to truly prevent you from climbing. Yet, because this is not an option in Conquest, you will be forced to either learn the intricacies of the Lockjaw mirror match, or find a decent counter to it to maximize your shot to beat the Infinity league.

Funny thing is, the Conquest mode is also the perfect environment to test your strategies against Lockjaw. Simply play in proving grounds until you feel ready to test your idea in higher stakes games, just like we discussed earlier in this article. Indeed, whenever you meet a Lockjaw player during your testing, take the game seriously to see if your idea works. On the other hand, when you are facing another archetype, you can snap aggressively, leading to a much quicker match, with the possible rewards of some crowns.

While it is easy to focus on the frustration of being eliminated by yet another Evolved Lockjaw deck. It is important to notice Conquest gives you all the tools in order to prepare, rehearse and take on the challenge of trying to counter the best deck in the game. Even if you don’t make it, you still worked on your skills, and became a better player. On the contrary, the ladder strategy of just losing one cube and climbing on the back of the rest of the popular decks, probably kept you in your comfort zone, limiting your skill improvement in the process.

Closing Words

There is a lot more I could have talked about in this piece. For example, how Conquest is basically the only mode available once you hit Infinite on ladder. I could have also touched to the fact the silver and gold league are easy enough to reach to have a nice little diversity in the potential opponent you get matched with.
The negative sides also might have been developed more. Such as the stupid amount of Lockjaw decks I faced because some players are already trying to farm crowns, when the mode is out for less than a week already. Please, let’s stop this trend of snapping on turn one and quitting if we lose the first round. I am not playing Marvel Snap for digital currency, but because I like to play the game itself.

Overall, I really enjoyed my first ten hours of conquest, and firmly believe the mode is the best one to play in Marvel Snap right now. There is something for everyone, from the player looking to test a deck without risking losing anything, to the avid tryharder, in search of a bigger challenge than just reaching the Infinite rank. Also, Conquest will help you figure out more of the snap mechanic, the core of the Marvel Snap gameplay.

Play Conquest, you won’t regret it.

For more discussions, you can 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.