Marvel Snap’s finest discard decks and the way to play them (MODOK or not)

Marvel Snap’s February 2023 seasonal meta has been dominated by MODOK, which implies discard decks have by no means been extra in fashion.

Many Snap decks fall into one in all three archetypes: ramping as much as a giant combo or card on flip 5 or 6, establishing tempo early to take management of the tempo of the sport and lock down some places, or countering your opponent’s massive combos or playing cards. Discard decks are inclined to fall into the primary one — the playing cards you’re taking part in usually lead up to an enormous play on flip six. However there are a couple of totally different variants of discard decks to pay attention to.

I feel the present best strategy to divide discard decks is into two classes: “Hela decks” and “Apocalypse decks.” A number of Snap gamers are aware of Apocalypse decks — Apocalypse is a strong card in Pool 1, and is usually 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 ideal match for a powerful flip six.

Hela is newer for lots of gamers, for the reason that card is gated behind Pool 3. Hela decks have the next 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 should you handle to discard a variety of 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 a few of the finest 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 typically

• Woman Sif: A 3-cost, four-power card, Woman Sif is extraordinarily priceless due to her impact, which discards the highest-cost card out of your hand on reveal. By taking out a very good quantity of the randomness inherent to discard decks, you could have 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 features two energy each time you discard a card. If in case you have a deck constructed round discarding as many occasions as potential, Morbius will 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. The most effective playing cards in Snap, Dracula can simply win a location by itself if in case you have the fitting deck for it — both discarding an Apocalypse one remaining 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 just isn’t ongoing (subsequently it’s resistant to Enchantress), and because it occurs on the conclusion of the sport, it’s Shang-Chi-proof as properly.
• Sword Grasp and Hell Cow: These two aren’t essentially a combo package deal, however they’re good for a similar cause — 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 attempting to discard a ton of playing cards (whereas in an Apocalypse deck you’re attempting to discard one card repeatedly), however they’re stable in each decks and might help you win lanes whereas additionally pursuing your final win situation.

Picture: Second Dinner/Nuverse

Good playing cards for Apocalypse decks

• Colleen Wing and Swarm: A combo package deal, you’d positively wish to take these two collectively should you determine 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 should you 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 won’t sound like a lot, however it would possibly 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 similar 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 exchange them with (hopefully) a higher-power card in your board. This works significantly properly with Colleen Wing and Swarm, as you should utilize your zero-cost Swarms on the Lockjaw location as properly.

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 a further card out of your deck, is an effective way to herald a shock highly effective card, and might help you keep aggressive should you don’t draw Hela.
• Ghost Rider: Ghost Rider performs a card you discarded already — consider it as a mini-Hela. An awesome combo is to play Woman Sif on flip three (discarding one in all your massive playing cards) after which Ghost Rider on flip 4 (taking part in that exact same discarded card).
• The heavy hitters: Crucial a part of a Hela deck is all the massive playing cards you wish to get resurrected. It’s the standard 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 should you’re searching for one thing a little bit extra attention-grabbing, Captain Marvel is one other enjoyable one to incorporate.
• Invisible Lady: A Hela deck will be straightforward to learn, and when you begin discarding some main playing cards, a well-placed Cosmo or Shang-Chi can mess your complete day up. Invisible Lady might help you cover that data till it’s too late, and leaves room so that you can play MODOK with Hela, since MODOK’s impact received’t happen till after the sport if performed behind Invisible Lady. Even with out Modok, you should utilize Invisible Lady for a few of your different discard results (like Hell Cow) to be sure to don’t by accident discard Hela.

The very best Marvel Snap discard decks…

…if in case you have MODOK:

Picture: Second Dinner/Nuverse through Polygon

The deck: Morbius, Swarm, Colleen Wing, Lockjaw, Moon Knight, Woman Sif, Sword Grasp, Dracula, Hell Cow, MODOK, Apocalypse, America Chavez

The objective: Dracula wins one lane by discarding Apocalypse after the sport is over, and also you win one other lane by way of 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 potential. America Chavez is right here as a security valve, particularly should you don’t draw Apocalypse.

Alternates value contemplating: Gambit, Wolverine

…should you don’t have MODOK:

Picture: Second Dinner/Nuverse through Polygon

The deck: Zabu, Woman Sif, Sword Grasp, Jubilee, Ghost Rider, Hell Cow, Captain Marvel, Magneto, Hela, Giganto, The Infinaut, Loss of life

The objective: Get as a lot of your big playing cards on the board as potential. Woman Sif and Ghost Rider are a vital combo, and Jubilee additionally helps. However the primary 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 vital phrase of warning: Be cautious of taking part in Jubilee earlier than taking part in 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 strategy to have a foul time with this deck.

Alternates value contemplating: Morbius, Dracula, Hulk, Invisible Lady

Lastly, listed here are some newbie discard decks for gamers not but in Pool 3.

The very best Marvel Snap Pool 2 discard deck

Picture: Second Dinner/Nuverse through Polygon

The deck: Blade, Iceman, Ant-Man, Nightcrawler, Swarm, Morbius, Wolverine, Sword Grasp, Bishop, Woman Sif, America Chavez, Apocalypse

The objective: Discard Apocalypse as many occasions as potential, or Wolverine and Swarm should you 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 value contemplating: Sunspot, Yondu, Angela. For those who’re in Pool 1, you’re higher off ready to get extra items earlier than taking part in a discard deck. Strive taking part in one in all these newbie’s Marvel Snap decks as a substitute.

Pleased discarding!