Marvel Snap’s February 2023 seasonal meta has been dominated by MODOK, which implies discard decks have by no means been extra in model.
Many Snap decks fall into one in every of three archetypes: ramping as much as a giant combo or card on flip 5 – 6, establishing tempo early to take management of the tempo of the sport and lock down some areas, or countering your opponent’s massive combos or playing cards. Discard decks are likely to fall into the primary one — the playing cards you’re enjoying usually lead up to an enormous play on flip six. However there are a number of completely different variants of discard decks to pay attention to.
I feel the present best option to divide discard decks is into two classes: “Hela decks” and “Apocalypse decks.” A number of Snap gamers are acquainted with Apocalypse decks — Apocalypse is a strong card in Pool 1, and could be a cornerstone for early decks. With the addition of MODOK to the sport, Apocalypse has seen a resurgence in Snap, as the 2 playing cards have pure synergy collectively. MODOK discards your hand, and Apocalypse needs to be discarded, so it’s an amazing match for a powerful flip six.
Hela is newer for lots of gamers, because the card is gated behind Pool 3. Hela decks have a better ceiling than Apocalypse decks, however a decrease ground, due to the inherent randomness of the impact: Hela resurrects each card you discarded this sport in a random location. There’s a certain quantity of randomness to which playing cards you’ll be able to discard every sport, after which there’s the difficulty of the place they get performed. However for those who handle to discard numerous highly effective playing cards earlier than you play Hela, your likelihood is fairly good you’ll like the top end result.
Let’s begin with a rundown of among the greatest playing cards to pay attention to within the discard rotation, earlier than moving into the Apocalypse versus Hela of all of it.
Good playing cards for discard decks usually
- Woman Sif: A 3-cost, four-power card, Woman Sif is extraordinarily helpful due to her impact, which discards the highest-cost card out of your hand on reveal. By taking out a great quantity of the randomness inherent to discard decks, you’ve extra management over your endgame — you possibly can mainly assure discarding your Apocalypse or a high-value card you wish to resurrect with Hela with Woman Sif.
- Morbius: A two-cost, zero-power card, Morbius beneficial properties two energy each time you discard a card. In case you have a deck constructed round discarding as many occasions as doable, Morbius might be the uncommon two-cost card that wins you a lane by itself. A good warning, although: Morbius’ impact is an ongoing one, which implies it may be nullified by Enchantress or stolen by Rogue.
- Dracula: A four-cost, zero-power card, Dracula discards a card out of your hand on the finish of the sport and takes its energy. Top-of-the-line playing cards in Snap, Dracula can simply win a location by itself when you’ve got the appropriate deck for it — both discarding an Apocalypse one ultimate time and taking up its energy, or discarding a card like The Infinaut and gaining 20 energy with out having to fret in regards to the “you possibly can’t play a card the flip earlier than” situation. Additionally in Dracula’s favor: the impact shouldn’t be ongoing (subsequently it’s proof against Enchantress), and because it occurs on the conclusion of the sport, it’s Shang-Chi-proof as nicely.
- Sword Grasp and Hell Cow: These two aren’t essentially a combo package deal, however they’re good for a similar purpose — they’ve excessive energy for his or her prices. Sword Grasp is a three-cost, six-power card that discards a random card in your hand, whereas Hell Cow is a four-cost, six-power card that discards two random playing cards in your hand. Typically talking, I feel these playing cards are higher in Hela decks, the place you’re making an attempt to discard a ton of playing cards (whereas in an Apocalypse deck you’re making an attempt to discard one card repeatedly), however they’re strong in each decks and will help you win lanes whereas additionally pursuing your final win situation.
Good playing cards for Apocalypse decks
- Colleen Wing and Swarm: A combo package deal, you’d positively wish to take these two collectively for those who resolve to incorporate them. Colleen Wing’s impact is the alternative of Woman Sif’s, discarding the lowest-cost card out of your hand on reveal. Swarm, a two-cost, three-power card, creates two zero-cost duplicates of itself when discarded. So for those who play Colleen Wing with Swarm in your hand (when you don’t have any different two-costs or one-costs), you’re assured to get two free playing cards. It may not sound like a lot, but it surely may make all of the distinction on flip six, when you possibly can play a six-cost and two extra playing cards. These playing cards are much less good with a Hela deck, since you need Hela to resurrect extra highly effective playing cards.
- Lockjaw: Playing cards performed on the identical location as Lockjaw will likely be changed by one other card in your deck. This occurs after their “on reveal” impact, so you possibly can play lower-power discard playing cards like Blade, Gambit, and Woman Sif, make the most of their discard impact, after which additionally substitute them with (hopefully) a higher-power card in your board. This works significantly nicely with Colleen Wing and Swarm, as you need to use your zero-cost Swarms on the Lockjaw location as nicely.
Good playing cards for Hela decks
- Jubilee: Your Hela deck goes to incorporate too many highly effective playing cards to play, so that you’ll wish to introduce different methods to place them on the board. Jubilee, who performs an extra card out of your deck, is a good way to herald a shock highly effective card, and will help you keep aggressive for those who don’t draw Hela.
- Ghost Rider: Ghost Rider performs a card you discarded already — consider it as a mini-Hela. A terrific combo is to play Woman Sif on flip three (discarding one in every of your massive playing cards) after which Ghost Rider on flip 4 (enjoying that exact same discarded card).
- The heavy hitters: A very powerful a part of a Hela deck is all the large playing cards you wish to get resurrected. It’s the same old suspects; any card with a excessive energy will do the trick: The Infinaut, Giganto, Magneto, Loss of life, and Hulk all match the invoice. However for those who’re in search of one thing a bit extra attention-grabbing, Captain Marvel is one other enjoyable one to incorporate.
- Invisible Girl: A Hela deck might be straightforward to learn, and when you begin discarding some main playing cards, a well-placed Cosmo or Shang-Chi can mess your entire day up. Invisible Girl will help you conceal that data till it’s too late, and leaves room so that you can play MODOK with Hela, since MODOK’s impact gained’t happen till after the sport if performed behind Invisible Girl. Even with out Modok, you need to use Invisible Girl for a few of your different discard results (like Hell Cow) to ensure you don’t by chance discard Hela.
The most effective Marvel Snap discard decks…
…when you’ve got MODOK:
The deck: Morbius, Swarm, Colleen Wing, Lockjaw, Moon Knight, Woman Sif, Sword Grasp, Dracula, Hell Cow, MODOK, Apocalypse, America Chavez
The purpose: Dracula wins one lane by discarding Apocalypse after the sport is over, and also you win one other lane by a mix of Morbius, MODOK, and your different high-powered playing cards. Your third lane is for Lockjaw to play as many discard results as doable. America Chavez is right here as a security valve, particularly for those who don’t draw Apocalypse.
Alternates price contemplating: Gambit, Wolverine
…for those who don’t have MODOK:
The deck: Zabu, Woman Sif, Sword Grasp, Jubilee, Ghost Rider, Hell Cow, Captain Marvel, Magneto, Hela, Giganto, The Infinaut, Loss of life
The purpose: Get as a lot of your big playing cards on the board as doable. Woman Sif and Ghost Rider are an important combo, and Jubilee additionally helps. However the principle factor is discarding your massive playing cards with Woman Sif, Sword Grasp, and Hell Cow, in order that Hela can revive all of them on the finish. One necessary phrase of warning: Be cautious of enjoying Jubilee earlier than enjoying Woman Sif or one other discard card, except you have already got Ghost Rider in your hand. Drawing Ghost Rider with Jubilee is a surefire option to have a nasty time with this deck.
Alternates price contemplating: Morbius, Dracula, Hulk, Invisible Girl
Lastly, listed below are some newbie discard decks for gamers not but in Pool 3.
The most effective Marvel Snap Pool 2 discard deck
The deck: Blade, Iceman, Ant-Man, Nightcrawler, Swarm, Morbius, Wolverine, Sword Grasp, Bishop, Woman Sif, America Chavez, Apocalypse
The purpose: Discard Apocalypse as many occasions as doable, or Wolverine and Swarm for those who can’t. Bishop or Morbius can win you your non-Apocalypse different lane, relying on whether or not you’re drawing your discard playing cards or your good one-cost playing cards.
Alternates price contemplating: Sunspot, Yondu, Angela. When you’re in Pool 1, you’re higher off ready to get extra items earlier than enjoying a discard deck. Strive enjoying one in every of these newbie’s Marvel Snap decks as a substitute.
Completely happy discarding!