Introduction
Another season, another deck guide - and this deck is special, I'm very proud of it. This time, we go against the meta completely. Yes, this is the deck I reached Infinite with in this season, believe it or not. Straight from the 70s to 100. But why this deck? Because, plainly, I do not have access to Brood, to Sera, or Leader, or Wong, or She-Hulk, or Death. And I grew tired of Lockjaw.
This deck was out of necessity. But it proves that there is still uncharted territory in Marvel Snap. And most importantly, this deck is FUN. (...for you)
Now, this deck is very strong, because Beast + The Hood + Titania are actually insane together, and disruption stops combo decks completely. Your main objective is to fill as much as possible your opponent's lanes while keeping yours clear and ready for your sneaky turn 6. Be warned: It is not an easy deck to play. You will need to think costantly, but I promise, it is fun to do so. You will need to practice a lot, but don't worry, I will be sure to explain all the tricks you can make with this deck.
Is this deck underrated? Well, it's definitely not used by anyone, but it's hardly overpowered. You do have two simple, common counters: Cosmo and Killmonger. But they are not enough to stop your climb to 100. You will get a lot of +2s, but also surprising +8s because your opponent will not take into consideration the traps in your hand. Honestly, give it a go even just for fun!
By the way, this deck is completely toxic, unfair, and I'm sure playing against it is hell. I can definitely see some cards here getting nerfed, because I can see how sometimes it could be unfun to play against. But that's not our problem now, is it?
The Cards
The Hood: Perfect Turn 1 play. Even better if you have a Viper coming soon. But that's not all: We can always retrieve him with Beast, removing the -2, and play him again if we think we are safe to do so. So we have two opt-outs in our deck, while he gives a very powerful Demon. Give the Demon to Beast.
Titania: She's strong and, if played correctly, basically always safe with a bit of care. You can safely place her in a location where the opponent has at least 3 cards with no worries (as long as you don't send her yourself). You can safely place her last in a Turn 6 with no Priority. And never forget that she can lock an opposing lane in particular circumstances with some smart plays. But her real power is the following: Beast makes her a 0-cost card. In any moment you can always play Titania+Beast and you will safely return to your hand with a cost of 0. And trust me, 0/5 is huge. She can definitely swing lanes in the last turn, and as safe as you can be.
Beast: One of the most underrated card in the entire game, you will learn to love him here. His main tricks will be: pull up Titania, The Hood, and/or Demon to remove a -2 and get 0-cost Titania and Demon in your hand for turn 6. Pull up Debrii, Hazmat, and play them again. Remove your own hazards, like the rocks, from your lanes. Play cards in Shuri's Lab and get them back with double the power. Do some shenanigans with Polaris and Viper. He has many, many uses, and with experience you will recognize his strenghts.
Hazmat: Indeed, you do not need Luke Cage to make her shine. More often than not, your opponent will have more cards than you -> Hazmat good. Her buff to 2-power is appreciated. But ONLY use her when it is sensible to do so.
Mojo: This deck started to climb the moment I got Mojo in it. All the locations will be constantly full, almost every time. He is a 2/8 thanks to that. He can swing lanes with surprise Debrii's - always place him with care. His only enemy is Rogue. Damn you, Rouge.
Viper: Send The Hood. Send Debrii's rocks. Play her in an empty location if you have no targets. Worst case? Send a low power card. Remember that, if you plan to play both her and Hazmat, you should first play Hazmat and then Viper to send the target over to your opponent.
Green Goblin: You know what to use him for. Don't forget his helpful interactions with Bar Sinister, Shuri's Lab, The Nexus, Sinister London, The Space throne, and negative power lanes like The Sewers.
Debrii: Disrupt two lanes at once, great! Snipe the locations you have Mojo in, and where your opponent has already played some cards to create pressure. Want to do it again? Hope you draw Beast!
Polaris: Another underrated card: With her, you can lock specific locations or disrupt the opponent's plans. Your debrii will bring two rocks to your opponent, but sometimes it would be nice to have both of them in a crucial location... Well, Polaris can do that! Of course, she has a bit of RNG involved, so keep in mind what she might bring over her location. In any case, it's a 3/5 in a filled lane.
Shang-Chi: Necessary tech card to punish over-extending opponents. But also, given that your opponent will have not many free spots, you might try a Turn 6 gambit to snipe a powerful opponent if you lack priority.
Doctor Doom: A wide finisher. Always play a match keeping the lanes open for him. When you need to go deeper in a lane, you will drop your prepared 0-cost cards together with him. Plan ahead!
America Chavez: A deep finisher. Always keep in mind you will draw her eventually. And of course, the draw consistency is deeply appreciated.
Strategy
This deck has many different paths that could follow your starting hand. We cannot consider them all here, but we can revisit the overall objective and list some sneaky tricks.
Your objective is to disrupt your opponent's locations thanks to Viper, Debrii, Polaris, Green Goblin, and gain necessary power thanks to Demon, Titania, Dr. Doom, Mojo and America Chavez. Your strategy will vary depending on your available cards, so here are the bread and butters of the deck:
Golden combo: The Hood, Demon, Titania, Beast. If you play Titania and Beast correctly, you will have a clear lane, and in your hand a 0/5 and a 0/6, ready for an explosive and sneaky turn 6. Once you try it, you will never go back. After your disruption in the mid turns, you will know if you will play Dr. Doom with them or America Chavez. Just for clarity, this will be your new best friend:
But if you're not able to do the complete combo, Titania + Beast will always be fine anyway. The Demon is just a little bonus.
Hazmat combo: Send the Green Goblin, the rocks with Viper and Debrii or even the Hood. Hazmat those. Beast takes Hazmat/Debrii again, and fill your opponent's lanes with low power junk. Mojo and Dr. Doom/America Chavez will be really happy!
Complete Lock: Use Debrii, Viper, and Polaris, to fill crucial lanes for your opponent: Snipe Lockjaw, Wong, and locations like The Nexus or the Baxter Building.
Surprise! It's Shang-Chi: No 0-cost cards and tricky situation at turn 6? Consider playing Shang-Chi and powerful low cost cards (Titania, Demon, Hazmat). Thanks to your disruption, your opponent will not have many places to play his strong cards.
Mojo + Debrii = \<3: Your opponent does not want to fill Mojo's location? No problem, here are some rocks!
Now, going into advanced theorycrafting, a good starting hand could be a combination of The Hood, Titania, Viper, Beast, Debrii. For example, here is a fun sequence:
- T1: The Hood in location 1
- T2: Demon in location 1
- T3: Titania, Beast in location 1
- T4: The Hood, Viper in location 2
Now you have a 1-cost demon, 0-cost Demon, 0-cost Titania. Disrupt in Turn 5 and close it in Turn 6. If you cannot afford T4 as previously described, you can always place a little Debrii! Mojo has no hurry either, and you can play it Turn 5 no problem. Turn 6 you will have at least America Chavez, Titania, Demon, ready to be placed where you please!
Of course, if you have Debrii, Hazmat, Viper, Green Goblin, Polaris, you can instead go into sniper mode. Lock specific lanes with Green Goblin, send rocks with Debrii and close with Viper. If they have more cards than you, collect value with Hazmat. Do you have Beast? Great, repeat!
In any case, you will probably play many cards in turn 6. if you're scared of Leader, keep in mind that in most situations your opponent will have less available locations than you. Therefore, play cards in a lowest-power first fashion, to avoid a last turn Leader swing by letting him copy only the weakest cards.
When to Snap
As this is a mostly reactive deck, it will be hard to pinpoint exactly when to Snap. I usually Snap very early when I have a really good starting hand, or I see good locations. And trust me, there are MANY positive locations for you.
If I'm about to completely lock important locations, I will Snap too. I do not usually snap turn 6 when I'm not sure I will be able to win with my power swings.
It is a scary deck to handle, as it is mostly reactive, so you will probably get many +2s before you have confidence in your plays. More often than not, you will not have priority in turn 6 (which helps your Titania and Shang-Chi), so it can be scary at times. But with practice, you will understand when a game becomes Snappable. Trust me, your opponent will very often forget about your 0-cost cards.
I might retreat if I get Cosmo'd early in my Hood lane or Killmonger frees too many locations - but these two situations are not dead ends by themselves. To reach Infinite, you will need to carefully consider if there truly is no way forward: know your opponent's deck flow. This is basically a Control Deck, so once you cannot keep your opponent in check, consider if it's too late to win.
Conclusion
Of course, as with any deck, your experience with it is more important than my written words. This deck can cause some real harm, and completely stop any deck in the right circumstances - which is why, perhaps, it's not a good deck for the health of the meta. So, if anything, highlighting it now might be important to eventually stop its future spread through nerfs. Then again, it's hardly different than a Spider-Man + Absorbing man combo deck. Or maybe it will never be used as much as I think it might be, so no problem.
Concerning replacements: I would have tried She-Hulk if I had her, honestly. You will often have spare energy. But I'm not sure who I would replace for her - Perhaps Hazmat. And if you don't have Hazmat yet, Scorpion is probably a nice addition. Black Widow, again, I found to be too weak. But maybe I'm underestimating her, so feel free to experiment!
If you lack Titania, either give a try to Sunspot to capitalize on excess energy, or Ant-Man. You can definitely run the Beast combo with Ant-Man, to be dropped in turn 6 in a filled location, but keep in mind you will have a max of 4 power and not 5 as with Titania.
If you try this deck, try replacements, and have any suggestions or comments, feel free to write to me here below.
Thanks for reading!