Marvel Snap - current season: Guardians’ Greatest Hits

[smithstock]

10 hours ago, Wiper said:

 

A bit worrying that I don't know this having played the game for two months+ now, but... How do you know how many cards they have in their deck? Not being able to see that (or, indeed, my own deck size after the opponent has nicked/destroyed cards from it, or their hand size) has been a bugbear of mine — though not as bad as the inability to check what's in your deck on the fly (e.g. following a "replace your deck with random cards" event). 

Yeah, tap their picture. You can do it on your own deck too, to work out probabilities of cards that haven't dropped yet. 

 

It tells you a lot about their deck and what cards they potentially have. Especially if they are discarding a lot, there's a good chance they have Hera. Or if they play Moon Girl / maintain a large hand - they probably have Dino. 

[Pungee]

I just came up against this card. 
 

 

Maybe I’m misunderstanding how it works but isn’t this obscenely overpowered? 👀

[smithstock]

If you come across an Ongoing deck, it's pretty powerful - but it can also be nullified by Enchantress, Shang Chi (assuming buffed) and it comes out early enough that you have 2 turns to deal with it.

 

You could draw down your own deck for Dino, used Iron Man & Hobgoblin to do a negative debuff etc

[Wiper]

I've faced it a few times, and it's absolutely the funniest against my deck as that has only negative ongoing effects — them dropping it only to see Typhoid Mary (-1 to all friendly cards) and Red Skull (+2 to all enemy cards in the same area) generally leads to a swift retreat from my opponent.

[sammy]

I don’t think I’ve come up against Super Skrull at all, I’ve had it as a drop from Agent 13 but it was useless as my opponent didn’t play any ongoing cards.  
 

I’ve had some nice pulls this week - Ultron, which makes my Patriot deck slightly more disgusting,  and Wave, which seems promising but I haven’t worked out how to use her yet. My luck with the rarer cards has been shite - Maria Hill and fecking M’baku 😏
 

The new season starts tomorrow and I think I’ll be dropping the money on the pass, it’s easily my most played game at the moment. 

[Hamus]

I've really got into this, having only started a week or two back. So I've no idea on all your different decks!

 

Question; am I playing against a lot of bots? Because I keep getting busy and locking my phone and I then reopen the game and it continues.

 

I also usually win, so it seems too easy at the moment.

 

 

[smithstock]

2 hours ago, Hamus said:

I've really got into this, having only started a week or two back. So I've no idea on all your different decks!

 

Question; am I playing against a lot of bots? Because I keep getting busy and locking my phone and I then reopen the game and it continues.

 

I also usually win, so it seems too easy at the moment.

 

 

Yeah - because the matchmaking time is so short (a matter of seconds) - there is a good chance that you can face bots.

I'm currently rolling a Double Death deck (with a 1-cost buff deck as backup). I win more than I lose, it's certainly not a slam dunk but is very effective.

[Hamus]

47 minutes ago, smithstock said:

Yeah - because the matchmaking time it so short (a matter of seconds) - there is a good chance that you can face bots.

 

I played a game earlier where by the 'player' stick three cards in a destroy location. That's not smart.

 

Devil Dinosaur is nasty. I've lost to it dropping a few times.

The card says it adds +2 for each card in your hand, that's not laid out correct?

Because I use a fair few lower cost cards so can end up with maybe only 1 or 2 at the end of the game.

Sentinel can help with that though I guess?

[Stoppy2000]

7 minutes ago, Hamus said:

 

I played a game earlier where by the 'player' stick three cards in a destroy location. That's not smart.

 

Devil Dinosaur is nasty. I've lost to it dropping a few times.

The card says it adds +2 for each card in your hand, that's not laid out correct?

Because I use a fair few lower cost cards so can end up with maybe only 1 or 2 at the end of the game.

Sentinel can help with that though I guess?

Yeah Devil Dinosaur is useful if you've got other cards that add additional cards to your hand. Moon Girl duplicates all the cards in your hand for instance. Sentinel would also work. 

[smithstock]

Yeah for Devil Dinosaur you need stuff like...

 

Mantis, Agent 13, Cable, Sentinel, Moon Girl etc Beast is good for returning cards to hand too. 

 

Also use or win locations that give you extra cards. The Clone locations are great, Luke's Bar returns a card to hand but plays it's effect first etc.

 

Moon Girl is definitely the best though I think, and you have to get used to not necessarily playing cards because that weakens Dino's strength. I recommend keeping 5 in hand where you can, or have 3 remaining after playing Moon Girl. 

 

Discard decks or cards like Moon Knight, Black Widow and Ronan work against players who hoard cards in hand. 

[tobert]

Do ranks drop each season? I am collector level 754 but only rank 18 which feels very low given most on here seem to be around 40.  I definitely feel like I win more than I lose, maybe I should be snapping more? 

[viewtiful jim]

37 minutes ago, Hamus said:

 

I played a game earlier where by the 'player' stick three cards in a destroy location. That's not smart.

Is the zone Deaths Domain?

Depends what cards, as some can be beneficial to burn and especially as that zone locks you out and you need board space.

You can play Electro on it to get the buff (+1 energy power turn) and not the de-buff (only play one card per turn)

sacrificing Psylocke for an extra energy next turn.

You can play Brood there to burn one brood but the other two will spawn in.

Mr. Negative is another one to sacrifice there.

You can also drop Jubilee to play a card there, same thing with Ghost Rider providing you’ve discarded a decent card.

 

[smithstock]

On 05/01/2023 at 10:55, tobert said:

Do ranks drop each season? I am collector level 754 but only rank 18 which feels very low given most on here seem to be around 40.  I definitely feel like I win more than I lose, maybe I should be snapping more? 

Yeah ranks reset each season. I'm collector level 1,400+ now. 

 

I think level 40-50 is probably the top end for a lot of people, unless you have a ridiculous deck (Wong/Mystique/Odin/White Tiger) or cards that can turn the game like Leader.

 

I snap pretty much every game instantly now. It's a risky strategy because if they don't snap you can win 4, but lose 8 if they do. Sometimes I've made the mistake of a last minute snap, only to lose on the final card. 

[Hamus]

1 hour ago, viewtiful jim said:

Is the zone Deaths Domain?

Depends what cards, as some can be beneficial to burn and especially as that zone locks you out and you need board space.

You can play Electro on it to get the buff (+1 energy power turn) and not the de-buff (only play one card per turn)

sacrificing Psylocke for an extra energy next turn.

You can play Brood there to burn one brood but the other two will spawn in.

Mr. Negative is another one to sacrifice there.

You can also drop Jubilee to play a card there, same thing with Ghost Rider providing you’ve discarded a decent card.

 

 

Nah they even dropped Dino in there, it was especially stupid. It was all cards that just ended up being destroyed.

[smithstock]

So folks, I've already mentioned this to @Mitchell and @MardiganX but I wanted to put the Double Death* deck on the radar.

I'm currently rank 27 but someone I know used a similar deck (with America Chavez instead of Arnim Zola) to get to rank 100. I've finished every season at rank ~50 so far with other decks that I don't think have been as fun or have as much potential as this. 

 

*For those familiar with Magic the Gathering, this is equivalent to a black sacrifice deck - hence the backing

 

Deck spoilered:

Spoiler

STRATEGY

So the deck has 3 main strategies - it is fairly straight forward to play but does require some intermediate knowledge of the rules and forward planning:

1. Increase Venom's power as much as possible

2. Reduce Death's energy as much as possible

3. Clone one or both of the above via Moon Girl and/or Arnim Zola

 

The deck is mostly made up of destroy cards or those that have destroy potential. Generally speaking, you'll want to play destory cards as early and as often as possible to buff Death. Then try to stack multiple cards in one location to play Carnage (buffs Death) then Venom (who also buffs Death), ideally in that order. If you have 4 cards in hand, and Death is 3-cost or less and you have Moon Girl in hand - play Moon Girl for the benefit of Double Death on turn 6.

 

Finally, try to keep one location with a single card (ideally Venom) or empty (for Death) in the instance that Arnim Zola can come out, to clone the only card existing in that space. Arnim Zola effectively sacrifices one location, to try and claim the other two on turn 6. Throughout all of the above, make sure to keep an eye on your deck probabilities throughout all of the above to make informed choices based on what has/hasn't drawn.

 

I instantly snap almost every game, and even if I lose - I tend to win more than I lose at a higher gain. This is an excessive example of what's possible when the stars align:

 

Spoiler

 

BENEFITS

- Due to the low cost of cards (i.e. strong energy curve), you'll rarely be in a position where you can't play anything and it also devalues the need for Sunspot

- Because there are multiple strategies, you aren't necessarily beholden to the RNG gods as with other metas- but you might have to change tack part way through a game (more on this below)

- If your opponent is playing a 1-cost clone deck or destroy deck, then that also works to your advantage by buffing Death

- If you come across Leader on turn 6, it can be self sacrifice for the opponent which tends to make them much worse off

- Killmonger is the secret weapon of the deck, especially if your opponent has lined up lots of 1-costs, as well as yourself - insane buff to Death

 

LOCATIONS

I think it's genuinely easier to list the locations that doesn't benefit this deck - shields, deck swaps, Ego automatically playing the deck for you or TVA ending the game early can be a pain. Negative locations initially start painful for low cost cards, but you can power stack Venom and Death to have those locations be more appealing due to higher power. Automatically play a card from hand locations can be hit and miss.

 

- Anything with creatures (e.g. squirrels, raptors, monsters, rocks) is good to buff Carnage or Venom.

- Any destroy locations to buff Death. Copy locations for high power cards.

- Reduced cost / energy gain locations make most of the 1 cost cards free, with the added benefit of them still being 'worth' 1 on the battlefield, so Killmonger can destroy (buffs Death).

- Anything that buffs power will be dominated in late game.

- The Raft is especially good for giving a free 6-cost card (can stack with strategy if you're lucky), line up all your 1-costs and then have preferably Carnage or Venom destroy for best of both worlds.

- Single cards in a location, or preventing cards being played can be circumvented by Arnim Zola.

- Luke's Bar or Cloning Vats is really good for Yondu, play 1-cost, destroy, return to hand, repeat. This is also a great approach for destroying Shang Chi or Armor, and can give you insights into the opponent's deck.

 

DEFICIENCIES

- Armor | obviously almost entirely negates the strategy

- Shang Chi | the core counter when you're buffing one or more cards

- Mantis/Cable | opponent stealing a card that you don't know about, affects your strategy and draw probabilities

- Aero | can be annoying to move Venom or Arnim Zola when you've built up the existing stack

- Wave | Changes card cost to 4 at the end of turn 3, this is okay for Death and Arnim Zola (though too early to max their potential) but terrible for everybody else

- Agatha Harkness | if you get a random drop of this from Agent 13, it's a pain, it's happened to me a few times on turn 1 or 2

- Heimdall | Or move decks in general, tend to have unpredictable outcomes which can affect the intended result for that particular turn

 

IMPROVEMENTS

I'm always keen to optimise decks and I think I have a few suggestions for improving the deck further:

 

1. Swap out Sabretooth for Deadpool = A like for like substitution.

Flattens the energy curve, whilst effectively providing a potential increased damage/destroy benefit for a guarenteed lower cost

 

2. Swap out Agent 13 for Beast = Removes RNG from the hand.

Gives the added benefit of pulling a buffed Venom or isolated Sabretooth back into hand with a reduced cost. Can also be used to counter against cards that move to, or are stuck in, undesirable locations (i.e. shields, negative zones)

 

3. Swap out Elektra for Knull = A wildcard alternative.

Removes a low cost, hard-read card to one with a high cost/high damage potential. It mantains 'max four 1-costs' which is a decent rule of thumb. Although I'm not too sure how often this change would pan out because Knull likely relies on sacrificing Venom in late game (via Carnage / preferably Arnim Zola), which means that it's only going to viable to dominate a single location on turn 6 with Shang Chi and Leader benefitting from it's existance (opponent deck and location dependant)

 

TL;DR

Copy the above deck and have some fun. Use https://snap.fan/ to review the card behaviours above. Kotaku has the Marvel Snap Locations List. The energy curve (aka mana starving / mana flooding) can be read about here: Finding The Perfect Energy Curve

[sammy]

Amazing write up @smithstock!  I’ve just grabbed Death last night after having her pinned in the shop for the past few weeks, and have been running her in this with some good results:

I’m missing Arnim Zola which looks pretty key for your deck, hopefully it’ll turn up soon! 

 

 

[Stoppy2000]

Arnim Zola is a beast. I've been playing with a similar strategy of leaving one card on it's own then playing Zola on the last turn. Often leaves me winning with very few cards actually on the board. 

I'll try mixing it up with this Death deck. 

 

[moosegrinder]

Is Arnim one of those that turns up for like 6k in the token shop? Does anything dictate the price?

[Stoppy2000]

12 minutes ago, moosegrinder said:

Is Arnim one of those that turns up for like 6k in the token shop? Does anything dictate the price?

I think I got him just in the regular way rather than the token shop... I think he would be pricey though. 

[moosegrinder]

Yeah Galactus has just turned up in the 8 hour rollover and he's 6k. It must take a long time to grind that much seeing the pitiful amount you get in a cache IF you're lucky.

[viewtiful jim]

1 hour ago, moosegrinder said:

Is Arnim one of those that turns up for like 6k in the token shop? Does anything dictate the price?

Zola is a series 3 (1000 tokens) but attainable from caches if you’re over 474 collection level.

 

Along with the Venom setup there’s the classic Wong/ Black Panther into Zola Which is heavily telegraphed. Though the one that always gets me is the solitary Devil Dinosaur into Zola. I’ve seen it so many times but still gets me.

[deerokus]

Arnim also fucks with Leader plays quite a bit

[Noopacity]

Was really enjoying this. Had a neat deck that won 8 out of 10, mostly leaning on Professor X to nick a location on turn five then maxing out Devil Dinosaur. Now everyone has death/discard decks and it's hopeless. Haven't got anything to build one out myself, so I might just give up. 

[moosegrinder]

Have you not got Shang-Chi? @smithstock or someone much more competent than I will tell you what the best counters are. All I know is big dude deck= Shang Chi

 

https://dotesports.com/general/news/best-death-decks-in-marvel-snap-and-how-to-beat-them

 

A good way down the page is what to use to counter them. If you're coming up against those decks I'd imagine you have a good chunk of cards.

 

If you've already done all this or just needed to vent tell me to do one 😛

[Noopacity]

15 minutes ago, moosegrinder said:

Have you not got Shang-Chi? @smithstock or someone much more competent than I will tell you what the best counters are. All I know is big dude deck= Shang Chi

 

https://dotesports.com/general/news/best-death-decks-in-marvel-snap-and-how-to-beat-them

 

A good way down the page is what to use to counter them. If you're coming up against those decks I'd imagine you have a good chunk of cards.

 

If you've already done all this or just needed to vent tell me to do one 😛

 Ha, a bit of both! I do have Shang Chi, but I've got limited options to boost enough cards to secure other locations, even if I can get rid of their big cards. Especially at the moment with bloody Lukes Bar. 

[Noopacity]

Looking at the first deck in the link, the only ones I'm missing are Deadpool and Death. Which from observing it are the crucial ones. 

[Harsin]

14 hours ago, deerokus said:

Arnim also fucks with Leader plays quite a bit

Issue with Arnie finishers is that they’re super telegraphed.

[deerokus]

41 minutes ago, Harsin said:

Issue with Arnie finishers is that they’re super telegraphed.

Yeah, you have to have a backup plan really to make it work. Dr Doom or Odin can work depending on what their counter is, but I've had a few people completely scupper my plan with a nice professor X play.

[MalevolentPanda]

1 hour ago, moosegrinder said:

 

 

https://dotesports.com/general/news/best-death-decks-in-marvel-snap-and-how-to-beat-them

 

That first deck, they've got Morbius wrong, haven't they? It gains power for discarded cards, not destroyed ones?

 

I've been mostly playing with a similar deck to that but I've included Moon Girl, which often means you can play Death twice.

[moosegrinder]

Yeah I was looking for the counter more than anything.