Introduction
My favorite iteration of the Lockjaw archetype. This deck is very fun to play, and I think it's very consistent too. It feels, in the current meta, underrated, and I want to make it public. You will play with RNG, with rationale, and you will love it.
The main objective of this deck is to spit out powerful cards with stats and abilities that will quickly overwhelm your opponent. Your main weapons will be Thor and Lockjaw - the former as a early pressure tool, and the latter as a lane winner and support for Thor himself. Other than the situational Magneto, you won't have tech cards to go against your opponent's strategy, so you will need to construct your own powerful army with care to become a threat they cannot stop in any way with their own strategy.
As you may know, one of the combos this deck tries to accomplish is feeding Wasp and Mjolnir into Lockjaw. This doesn't mean that you can't win without drawing Lockjaw: Jubilee, Thor, Sunspot and Infinaut could definitely win you some games. Turn 5 pass (+5 power to Sunspot) and Turn 6 Infinaut (+potential Mjolnir for +6 Power!!!) remains a real option that you need to consider everytime there is a chance. I will try my best to highlight common scenarios and also tricky situations where your mind can shine.
Without further ado, let's check the cards included in the deck.
The Cards
Wasp: Great 0-cost card, you will keep this in hand until you will use it for Lockjaw. Alternatively, you may use it in turn 6 for +1. Remember that, in Washington, it is a surprise 4 power. Personally, I like to use it in Turn 3 with Lockjaw immediately, as I want to gather info on my deck as soon as possible.
Sunspot: Flexible 1-cost card, makes Infinaut viable by himself alone and provides constant pressure like Thor. If I have it in my starting hand, I already plan to play Sunspot on a different lane than Thor and Lockjaw, to create pressure on every location. But obviously, this is not a hard rule, and sometimes I do play Thor on top of Sunspot if I think the opponent has a really hard hitting deck so that I need to hit deep and not wide. You will often have spare energy to feed him, so do not undervalue it. Sometimes, only playing Mjolnir in turn 6 and giving +6 Power to Sunspot is the right play.
Iceman: This one might be controversial, but I really like it. It is THE perfect Turn 1 card, able to destroy your opponent's curve just enough for your combo to be unreachable for them. And obviously, if you did not draw this card in Turn 1 or 2, you can feed it to Lockjaw from turn 4 onwards, but do keep track of the order you play cards to Lockjaw. More on this later.
Scorpion: You know what this card does. Now this is, I believe, the most controversial card of the deck - you could argue that we need more high cost cards to exploit to the full extent Lockjaw, and you deserve a detailed explanation. In my experience, I found a 2-cost card to be more useful in clutch situations where I did not enjoy having to feed to Lockjaw a 5-cost like Vision instead of a reliable 2-cost card with a good On Reveal. In fact, Scorpion has actually three objectives: first, to be fed to Lockjaw with an affordable cost. Second, to undermine the opponent's threat with the On Reveal. And lastly, to give some power to Sunspot with the excess energy! And the moments where I lose a lane because Lockjaw pulls Scorpion are not many, as more often than not he will simply pull big hitters later on. If he does not, I did not plan correctly and it is my fault. By the way, Black Widow is another card I tried to slot here with some success, so you could try that one too if it fancies you better, but do keep track of the times where you lost because of 1 power swings and you may eventually reach my own conclusion.
Lockjaw: The king of the deck. Play him on an empty lane to maximise its uses if you can, but do not underestimate the pulls he can give even in a last effort. In fact, always keep in track what he might pull, and what you put back in the deck with him.
Thor: The prince of the deck. Play him on a different lane than Lockjaw and assume he will eventually reach at least 10 Power. Will that be enough to beat a location? Probably not, so you can play him on locations where you already played Iceman, Scorpion, or Sunspot, if necessary. If you eventually play Jane on his lane, it will be very hard for your opponent to win in that location.
Jubilee: Jubilee has a very flexible role - she can be fed to Lockjaw, giving you two cards from your deck for free, or she could be used as a last effort in T4 if you lack an important key for your combo. If by Turn 4, even with Jubilee, you do not have Thor or Lockjaw, carefully consider if you might need to retreat. In any case, she has a liking to pop up from Lockjaw, where she might become a brick with 1 Power, so keep that in mind. Also to note, she has a hidden positive effect: she effectively draws a card, further helping your deck calculations in the late game. This is why I prefer her to Dracula in this deck.
Jane Foster: Known for her powerful ability, she will be able to provide you with the freebies to give to Lockjaw, mainly Wasp and Mjolnir. That's very nice, but do not underestimate her stats, as 8 Power is very good and can give you the right swing in crucial locations or to be played in the same lane as Thor to be truly unstoppable. The match itself will tell you eventually if you need to play wide or not.
Doctor Doom: He is both a nice finisher and a potential feed for Lockjaw in turn 6 in some situations: if you know that he will be replaced by something with more than 5 power, or if you're feeding more cards to Lockjaw (Mjolnir, Wasp...) in the same turn and he might pop up a second time from the other cards and give you more needed doombots. ALWAYS keep in mind that he might pop up any time if he isn't in your hand in any turn, filling 3 spots by himself. Don't screw yourself over and plan accordingly!
America Chavez: This card is perfect in this deck, more often than not you will simply pull it out from Lockjaw or Jubilee for a free +9 Power. In any case it provides better draw consistency and stays out of the way most of the time. Do keep in mind you will draw it on turn 6 if she does not pop up on your field before that, so consider your strategy properly.
Magneto: I really like Magneto, both because he is a nice 12 Power that can always win you the game, but also because he can and will work as your only tech card in the game, potentially countering Silver Surfer, Wong, and especially Cosmo players. To be handled with care, and he will reward you in the right situations. But of course, when he pops up with Lockjaw it is always nice too.
Infinaut: 20 Power, enough said. Whether he pops up with Lockjaw, Jubilee, or your own sneaky Turn 6, you will love this card.
Strategy
As I said, your strategy will be to create an unstoppable army of hard-hitting cards with Thor and Lockjaw.
Your turns 1 and 2 will be straightforward: play what you can. Turn 3 is where the magic begins.
Turn 1: Iceman > Sunspot, if you have both. Sunspot has no upside being played first, but Iceman does.
Turn 2: Either the other 1-cost card, or Scorpion.
Turn 3: This turn is really important for you, and it will all depend on your hand. If you only have either Thor or Lockjaw, play them. If you play Lockjaw, and have Wasp in hand but no Jane, I would argue that playing Wasp together with Lockjaw is the correct choice here.
If you have both Thor and Lockjaw, but no Jane Foster, it is up to you most of the time. If you have Wasp, you may prefer to play Lockjaw with Wasp immediately, but more often than not you may prefer Thor for the reasons explained below. But you may prefer the fact that, by playing Thor last, you are betting on drawing Jane in Turn 4 and playing Lockjaw. Consider your situation and locations carefully.
If you have Thor, Lockjaw, and Jane Foster, the preferred order is T3: Thor, T4: Lockjaw (+ 1-cost card ideally), T5: Jane Foster. Thor has priority because you may manage to draw Mjolnir in turn 4 or 5. And if you do have any cost 0 cards, I would generally suggest to wait turn 5 and play them together BEFORE Jane Foster in the same turn. If you do so, Lockjaw will put back the 0-cost cards in the deck, and Jane will be able to retrieve them back again, thus potentially giving another +6 to Thor and a freebie for Lockjaw on the next Turn.
If you don't have any of these cards but you managed to have Sunspot in a location, you might try a Turn 4 miracle with Jubilee or a good draw. But if by the end of turn 4 you do not have Thor or Lockjaw in game, your options will be extremely limited.
Turn 4, 5 and 6: This is where your calculations will shine - Play what you can where it make sense to do so. It might even be possible that the correct play, with a splendid RNG in turn 4, will be turn 5 pass and turn 6 Infinaut. I cannot provide further details, as your own match will become very unpredictable for us to explore every possibility in a guide. But there are a couple of tools you will need to keep in mind to make this deck truly a beast.
First of all, I will repeat it, as it is important: Don't play Thor in the same lane as Lockjaw. Lockjaw will almost definitely be able to build a good lane alone, and Thor will create pressure on a second one thanks to Mjolnir.
As a further point, but maybe the most important of all, ORDER MATTERS. Whenever you play card to Lockjaw, keep in mind that it might pop up next with Jubilee or another Lockjaw activation. This means that, usually, you want to (whenever possible) give to Lockjaw cards that you will like to have again first, and the junk later. A common scenario is giving Mjolnir and Wasp to Lockjaw in the same turn, for example in Turn 6. Which is the correct order? In a situation where your deck is not empty, consider that the first card will be replaced by anything that is in the deck, but the second card might be replaced by the first card itself. So it depends if you prefer another +6 to Thor, or a +1 Power in the Lockjaw lane with Wasp. More often than not, you will prefer the Mjolnir effect twice, so you should play Mjolnir first and Wasp second.
Always keep track of what is in your deck vs. what is in your hand, at all times. And maybe more importantly, check how many cards you still have in the deck. In later turns, 6 and even 7, you might even have 1 or 0 cards. And the less cards you have, the more predictable for you all of this becomes! Moreover, when you only have 1 card in deck but multiple spots open with Lockjaw, it is basicallt guaranteed to activate a On Reveal effect multiple times. As a tricky example, consider this scenario: You have 1 card in your deck, and two free spots in Lockjaw's location. You have Doctor Doom and Mjolnir in your hand. Your first card played will be switched with the card in the deck, and the second card player will be switched with the first card you played, now in the deck. So you might need to carefully consider which On Reveal effect you prefer.
Mastery over all these tools require patience and practice, but you will come to appreciate it with time.
When to Snap
Of course, as with any deck, this question gets its answer from your own experience alone. And obviously, you shouldn't snap without considering all the locations at play as well.
I tend to snap on T1-T2 if I have a great curve at the start of the game, which usually means a combination of: Wasp, Sunspot, Iceman, Scorpion, Lockjaw and Thor. At least one 3-cost card is required for me to snap, usually. If I have Thor and Jane, I might Snap too.
If I didn't already snap, I will snap at the turn where Lockjaw or Jubilee pull something really impactful for me (like Doctor Doom, or Infinaut) and I can clearly see a path towards victory. Another snap from me is if I am able to play a Turn 5 where I can play Mjolnir into Lockjaw and subsequently play Jane on another location. This allows me to get the Hammer again to be used on turn 6.
Again, this all comes from experience, and you must know when to retreat as well.
You already know this, but to reach Infinite you need to think of Marvel Snap as a big game of Poker. A match in Marvel Snap is a hand, there is no shame in folding if odds are against your favour. Usually, I would retreat if I don't have Lockjaw or Thor out by turn 4 and my hand is full of bricks. It doesn't happen that often, but it might happen.
And more importantly, ALWAYS keep track of what's in your deck, and run the math and probabilities themselves to understand if there will be a way to win. Assume the opponent has access to their most powerful tools: would they be able to win?
Conclusion
No guide is a substitute for first-hand experience with the deck. If you want a good deck that will reward your thought process and probability calculations, give this deck a try. After all, the snap mechanic itself is all about probabilities, so I hope you will find the same knack for this deck. Mastery for this deck is like mastery for the game, it just comes with your efforts.
Just for clarity, as a side note, different people use different cards for this type of deck, like Vision or Odin, and they ditch low cost cards for them - personally, I think that's a mistake. But if you lack Dr. Doom or Magneto, Vision could be a nice replacement, and I wouldn't discourage Hulk either or any card with good stats. Odin provides further flexibility with the hammer, but it's not going to happen as often as you may think, and one hit of Mjolnir is often more than enough. Personally, I don't like the interaction Odin has with Jubilee either, as lane estate will be quite important for your Mjolnir, especially with the doombots that will fill your board. But you're free to try out any combination you like! By giving you this guide I will spoil my own fun, so I hope you will appreciate the sacrifice.
Thanks for reading!