Marvel Snap - current season: Spider-Versus

[smithstock]

3 hours ago, Noopacity said:

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. 

I haven't got Deadpool (yet) - Sabretooth is the more expensive and less rigid alternative. I'm up to 36 with the deck I posted above.

 

Death is a great card, but there are more powerful cards out there - like Dino, if you focus on stacking your hand as much as possible.

 

I've already noticed a few inconsistencies with Destroy decks. For example:

- Yondu gives +1 destroy buff to Death, but this isn't reflected in the 'Destroy' stat.

- If a location is shielded, this prevents cards being destroyed - but it doesn't prevent that location from being destroyed (i.e. Ruins)

 

Luke's Bar (as mentioned above) is a field day for Yondu and Agent 13 - and you can also buff Carnage with it, if you can move (not play) a card into that location.

[Wiper]

Dino's a far easier card to counter though — he's easy to predict from the enemy not playing much/playing hand-filling cards, often comes out before the final turn, and Enchantress eats his power. Death usually comes out either last turn, for free, with another big hitter, or in concert with an area-denial card to guarantee victory on one lane, and her energy reduction is triggered by abilities that are hard to stop. She was always much more of a pain to deal with for me, whereas DD decks would lose to me about 90% of the time.

[Noopacity]

I don't know if something changed in the last week, like people are just copying decks or death decks are taking over, but I can barely win a game now. Was hitting level 40 and now down to 34, also having mostly given up Snapping. Perhaps just fewer bots... I now realise I loved a good bot.

[moosegrinder]

That's kind of the reason I don't okay very much, I know at some point I'll have to deal with the meta and that's my least favorite part of tcgs.

[viewtiful jim]

15 hours ago, moosegrinder said:

Yeah I was looking for the counter more than anything. 

Other than having the usual Cosmo/ Armour, there’s Polaris to move an opposing 1 or 2 cost card, so you can move the Bucky Barnes/ Carnage to another lane. There’s also Aero on turn 5 to move cards.

 

Other than that there playing Sandman on turn 4 (or 3 with Psylocke) to stop big combo plays.

[deerokus]

It's more that the matchmaking will get harder as you go up the ranks.

[MK-1601]

Just had a hilarious match where I got Super Skrull from Agent 13. Then played Super Skrull + Mystique on Turn 7, both copying their Devil Dinosaur. On Baxter Building. I think they even snapped on the last turn. *chefkiss* This fucking game, man.

 

...

 

I think in addition to the matchmaking and location spotlight, they perhaps regularly change the weight of how far specific cards are shuffled into the deck and % chance of other locations to the spotlight. The really wacky locations (Ego, TVA, Lamentis, Weirdworld etc.) seem to appear much less now.

[deerokus]

I like playing something lame like squirrel girl when I know leader is coming. Falcon is another fun one!

 

I have a deck with arnim Zola, white Tiger, Dr Doom etc. Last game I played there got the location that makes cards cost one less - AND drew Wave early. Dr Doom on turn three is a really good way to annoy the other player 😂

[Hamus]

I had a tie yesterday. Very unexpected!

[The Grand Pursuivant]

When this Rogue flipped over I almost had to change my underwear.

 

[The Grand Pursuivant]

This C2 deck has got me to rank 60 already if anybody wants to know the list. It's so consistent and easy to get 8 cube wins with it because people just don't see it coming. The list I'm playing is definitely the most refined version of it, but almost all of the cards are replaceable. If you've got Cerebro and Mystique, you are good to go.

[Hamus]

I'm really enjoying Killmonger. I fell to him myself and changed my deck out to include him and removed all my (1) point cards.

[revlob]

Patch last night. Didn't know about any of this until I noticed the Nova in my hand had 1 less power than usual, the devs really need to improve the in-game messaging.

 

https://marvelsnapzone.com/marvel-snap-january-10-2023-patch-notes/

 

Spoiler

Balance Updates

CARD UPDATES

 

Aero 5/8 -> 5/7

Developer Comment: Aero’s effect can be a very powerful disruption and control tool. While previously, we buffed Aero up to her current statline, players have since learned to utilize her to great effect, so we think it’s appropriate to reduce her Power a bit.

 

Galactus 6/3 -> 6/2

Developer Comment: Even at the highest ranks of play, Galactus and decks using him are demonstrating concerningly high cube-gain and win rates. Not all of these decks overtly herald his approach, and the range of cards that can complement him has proven wide and difficult for some decks to counter. We’re taking one Power away from Galactus now and evaluating whether or not we should make more meaningful changes to his design in the future.

 

Leader 6/4 -> 6/3

Developer Comment: Leader’s effect is proving to be very frustrating to many players and polarizing in its ability to lock down games and discourage playing some other 6-Cost cards. We are taking a bit of power away from him for now and exploring further changes to the card in the future.

 

Nova 1/2 -> 1/1

Developer Comment: Nova’s effect makes him much stronger than an average 1-Cost card, so we don’t think it’s appropriate that he has the stats of an average 1-Cost card.

 

DRAX 4/4 On Reveal: If your opponent played a card here this turn, +4 Power. -> 4/5 On Reveal: If your opponent played a card here this turn, +3 Power.

 

Groot 3/3 On Reveal: If your opponent played a card here this turn, +3 Power. -> 3/4 On Reveal: If your opponent played a card here this turn, +2 Power.

Developer Comment: We believe the Guardians’ effects create fun moments, but they can feel too sink or swim. We’re giving DRAX and Groot a small buff to their baselines to make them less risky to play and hopefully open them up as more viable contenders in the 3 and 4-Cost slots.

 

Hazmat 2/1 -> 2/2

Developer Comment: While we are aware of the Hazmat combo decks that may feel strong, Hazmat is actually doing fairly poorly overall. We’re giving the decks she enables a small buff with this update.

 

Black Cat 3/6 -> 3/7

Developer Comment: Black Cat sees virtually no play, so we’re giving her an extra Power to make running her more worthwhile.

 

Nakia 3/1 -> 3/2

Developer Comment: We think Nakia’s effect is a fun mechanic to play with, but she’s currently seeing very little success. We’re hoping a small buff will make her a more appealing option.

 

LOCATION UPDATES

Oscorp Tower will no longer swap card sides if Professor X is there

The Raft and Vibranium Mines text-only updates

Warrior Falls will appear less often

 

 

[moosegrinder]

It's on the main 'page' of the app. My favorite part of it is they've finally credited the artists for each card. Seemed weird to name some cards "(insert artist here) Variant" and not have anything saying who did the art on the other cards.

[sammy]

8 hours ago, The Grand Pursuivant said:

This C2 deck has got me to rank 60 already if anybody wants to know the list. It's so consistent and easy to get 8 cube wins with it because people just don't see it coming. The list I'm playing is definitely the most refined version of it, but almost all of the cards are replaceable. If you've got Cerebro and Mystique, you are good to go.

Ooh yes, would love to see the list.

[deerokus]

The new altar of death location is annoying. Had a game with both that and death's domain! Feels like the game is pushing you to use a destroy deck and I don't have a decent one!

[moosegrinder]

Use Armor. Fuck that location.

[moosegrinder]

 

[Hamus]

Jeez!

 

Someone just used Storm (blocks dropping cards from the next turn), but I outpointed her...

 

Then they dropped Dr Doom. What a fucker, seems rather over powered?!

[Wiper]

It's a reasonably effective, but pretty standard combo — Storm + Doom or [that one who fills a column with 1-point cards that are inevitably boosted by Patriot/That Caveman Dude] work together nicely; see also cards who can affect neighbouring columns, or cards that can move. Primarily countered by going very heavily into that lane quickly, or ignoring it and focussing on the two other lanes, which those cards are relatively weak at dealing with.

 

They tended to work poorly against my deck, as having my own Storm, plus Quake and Spiderman in mind meant I could generally mess with their side even more than mine — usual end result would be their board completely locked down on turn 6, meaning I only need to be winning in one of the Storm-ed lanes.

[Hamus]

In this situation the middle lane destroyed every card, and I couldn't move anything.

 

Still learning so we will see!

[Noopacity]

Note to others: make sure you've linked your Snap account to your Google/Apple account before you rage uninstall.... 

[The Grand Pursuivant]

9 hours ago, sammy said:

Ooh yes, would love to see the list.

 

 

This is my current list. I've played a lot of variations but this is the one I'm happiest with. There is an Iron Man variant, but I'm not a fan of it because it's much swingier than this deck (higher ceiling, lower floor) and this version is better against the kind of decks you see from rank 60+. And by decks you see I mean Galactus. I play Hobgoblin/Daredevil pretty much exclusively to counter this deck, as it's the only one that is a guaranteed loss if you can't counter it.

 

The basic theory behind the deck is incredibly simple. You play the most powerful 2 power cards you can in to two locations, then you play Cerebro and Mystique in to a losing location. Assuming you fill up two lanes with 2 power cards (and Blue Marvel, who buffs them all to 3 and then also gets buffed by Cerebro/Mystique) you will have an astounding 56 power that is split perfectly evenly in to 28 power in two lanes. It is ridiculously easy to do that consistently with this deck. Even if you don't draw Mystique, thats 20 in each lane. There are very few decks out there that can beat that, especially as your big power swings don't come until the very end of the game. My favourite thing about it is that it's easy to learn, but incredibly hard to master.

 

It's main downside is that it can be totally ruined by locations that alter the power of cards. The locations that give -1/2/3 are devastating if you get two of them at once, or one of them in tandem with a 'you're not play cards here this game' location. That's why storm is in the deck. In some games you need her. A lot of the bad locations you can handle if there is only one of them. You can ignore it and just play your Cerebro combo in to it to buff the other lanes that don't buff or debuff your cards. I have seen versions that run Luke Cage just for this, but I wouldn't do that even if I owned him. The thing to remember about this deck is that retreating is recommended if you know you are in a bad position. You will get that cube back, just go again. Locations that spawn minions are also annoying, but playable. My only insta-retreat is Monster Island (spawn a 9 cost minion). Just don't bother, you've already lost.

 

Snapping - Two simple rules here. Never snap without Cerebro. Never snap before turn 3. You NEED to see the locations to know if you can win. And by turn 3 you have an idea of what your opponent might be playing and which lanes are contested. If I get to turn 3 with Cerebro in hand, having played on curve and with no bad locations I almost always snap. If I have Cerebro and Mystique in my hand turn 3 with no bad locations I always snap. If I have C/M in my hand turn 3 with one bad location and Storm I always snap.

 

There are 5 pool 3 cards and I would say that 3 of them are essential cards here, with the other two being merely excellent. You need Cerebro, Mystique and Brood. You cannot go wrong with Goose. Daredevil is an excellent card, but only needed in this deck if you are running Hobgoblin, and even then, can be dropped to keep Hobgoblin.

 

Cerebro - Obviously, you need this to make the deck work, otherwise it is a Z tier deck. I do not recommend using tokens to buy Cerebro. It's a great card but isn't very versatile and if you don't like the deck you've just wasted a really rare resource on something that can't really be used elsewhere (Cerebro 3 and 4 are ok, but they're incredibly inconsistent).

Mystique - You need Mystique to combo with the Cerebro. You sometimes combo her with Blue Marvel (or Iron Man, but I'll get to that later as I don't run him anymore).  I would use collectors tokens to buy her regardless of if I wanted to play this deck. She's just great. 

Brood - You need the Brood to ensure you can fill a lane easily. Brood is an S-Tier card in this deck, so he is also worth spending collectors tokens on if you have the 2 cards that enable the other deck archetypes he's amazing in (Patriot and Silver Surfer). If you are missing Patriot and Silver Surfer, he isn't replaceable, but the deck is still playable without him.

Goose - Goose has two functions in this deck. It's primary role is to enable you to play Cerebro in to a lane that cannot be Enchantressed. Enchantress and Rogue are the only counters to this deck, but nobody runs Rogue, and getting hit by her is nowhere near as devastating as being hit by Enchantress. The other reason to run Goose is to allow you to win games when you don't draw Cerebro. If your opponent has an empty lane going in to turn 3 or 4 it stops them from playing big cards to win there late in the game. If you can do a turn 4 Goose/Sinister combo there are very few decks equipped to put more than 6 power in a lane with 3 drops and below. Also, it's good against Galactus. God I fucking hate that card.

Daredevil - Pretty simple one really. Daredevil answers the question 'Can a play a minus 8 card in to an opponents lane before he fills it up and make him lose it?'. The number of times I have played Hobgoblin in to an opponent lane with 3 cards and less than 8 power is unreal. Also, fuck your galactus.

 

The rest of the cards are self explanatory. You want to play cards with strong effects on curve and you want to fill your lanes. They are all pool 2 as well, so the only real decision to make in terms of which card to player is which effect you are looking for. Iceman/Nightcrawler could easily be Korg if you like Korg. I would never run 3 1 drops in this deck though. Killmonger is always a thing.

 

Replacements for Goose and Daredevil go in this order for me: Yellow Jacket > Scorpion > Korg

The best straight up replacement for me is Yellow Jacket. It costs nothing, can't be destroyed and you can play it in combo with Storm turn 3 or Storm and a 1 drop on turn 4 to almost guarantee a winning lane. If you don't have YJ then the next best replacement is Scorpion (who really ruins your day when played against you, but doesn't guarantee a loss). Other than that the rest of the cards are pool 2 and pretty much core to the deck. I had a play around with Invisible Woman to hide early Cerebro but it's not a reliable combo and the effect is pointless to the deck otherwise. Korg would probably win more games on average.

 

If you are replacing Daredevil, then considering removing Hobgoblin also becomes a possibility. That can become Iron Man, or just a 1 or 2 energy card that allows you to flood.

 

The deck is great. When all the stars align you can do things like this:

 

 

72 power in one game. This is the top end, but my god, is it a top end.

[sammy]

@The Grand PursuivantThanks, brilliant write up!  I’m missing Goose and more importantly Brood.  I’d bloody kill for Brood right now, it would slot beautifully into my patriot deck -  as soon as it turns up in the shop I will be pinning the fuck out of it. What would you replace it with? I was thinking Scorpion for some disruption or Mr Fantastic for some reach could work. 
 

edit: reading fail, can see Mr Fantastic is in the deck and you suggested Scorpion! Maybe Wasp is worth a crack as well as a 0 drop, 2 power?

 

edit2: wasp is 1 power, I’m going to bed.

[deerokus]

2 hours ago, Hamus said:

Jeez!

 

Someone just used Storm (blocks dropping cards from the next turn), but I outpointed her...

 

Then they dropped Dr Doom. What a fucker, seems rather over powered?!

 

Doom is a good card but not THAT strong. I use Storm a lot, you can usually expect a doom/Ultron/white Tiger to come later haha.

[The Grand Pursuivant]

1 hour ago, sammy said:

@The Grand PursuivantThanks, brilliant write up!  I’m missing Goose and more importantly Brood.  I’d bloody kill for Brood right now, it would slot beautifully into my patriot deck -  as soon as it turns up in the shop I will be pinning the fuck out of it. What would you replace it with? I was thinking Scorpion for some disruption or Mr Fantastic for some reach could work. 
 

edit: reading fail, can see Mr Fantastic is in the deck and you suggested Scorpion! Maybe Wasp is worth a crack as well as a 0 drop, 2 power?

 

edit2: wasp is 1 power, I’m going to bed.

 

Cards you can try in order of how good I think they are in the deck:

 

Yellowjacket

Scorpion

Korg

Invisible Woman

Yondu

Mantis

Cable

 

With the current hot location, you can also run angel. Play a 1 cost or Mister Sinister in to it, it'll die and you will pull the Angel (thinning your deck) or if you draw angel you just play the angel in to it and spam cards that way.

 

I actually just played a game that perfectly demonstrates how the deck works and how it rewards actually thinking about the game even if you get a bad draw.

 

 

Turn 1, drew Angel, didn't play it in case the new location came down.

Turn 2 nothing. This is a real low roll for this deck. There are 4 other cards we could have drawn to play here.

Turn 3, Storm the mid, it was the -1 power location. He has also played all of his cards here (Hood, Demon, Bucky) so with Brood I know I can beat whatever he plays.

Turn 4, Brood Mid. I also draw the Mystique Cerebro combo so I snap. He has to carnage here or lose the lane regardless of what I play.

Turn 5, Blue Marvel right in to the empty lane. He plays moon girl, I know that devil dino is coming next turn.

Turn 6 - My hand at this point is Cerebro, Mystique, Angel, Mister Sinister and a Vibranium. Normally I would just play the combo, but I don't need power in the mid, and if he plays Dino right I lose. I need to make sure that I can beat his dino, so instead I dump angel and sinister in to the right lane and only play Cerebro and give up the left. If I had played the usual combo on either lane, I would have lost.

[deerokus]

I'm finding Sandman very fun to use against destruction deck people using that new location. I've never used that card much before but you can fuck their gameplan right up.

[The Grand Pursuivant]

14 minutes ago, deerokus said:

I'm finding Sandman very fun to use against destruction deck people using that new location. I've never used that card much before but you can fuck their gameplan right up.

 

Have you managed to do the 1 drop in to Altar in to Turn 2 sandman yet? Because that just happened to me and I let the guy have his cube. What a dirty combo.

[Hamus]

I've just noticed the update notes. 

 

"New starter pack, gives 250 levels"

 

£90.

 

Christ on a bike.

[deerokus]

13 hours ago, The Grand Pursuivant said:

 

Have you managed to do the 1 drop in to Altar in to Turn 2 sandman yet? Because that just happened to me and I let the guy have his cube. What a dirty combo.

Yeah. Its sneaky and I love it.