Darkhawk 3x the Value
Darkhawk is ubiquitous with the word value. Ever since the card was released a year ago it has been both meta defining and heavily prevalent in Marvel Snap. It also is a leading actor in some of the Marvel Snap economy controversies. So without further ado here is all about everyone's favorite 4 drop.
Darkhawk is a 4 cost ongoing card that states “Ongoing: +2 Power for each card in your opponent’s deck.” With each deck being 12 cards and the opponent drawing 9 of those cards throughout normal gameplay that means at a base level Darkhawk is essentially a 4/6. As 4 cost cards go, that is pretty on par with others so even the base stats are decent. However, this series 4 card would not be as meta breaking if players just used him for this base level stat. This is where we have to introduce Darkhawk's best friends Korg and Rockslide. Both of these cards add rocks to the opponent's deck. Korg adds 1 rock and Rockslide adds 2. In total, that equals 6 power for your Darkhawk, meaning if you get all three cards on the board you'll have a 4/12 Darkhawk. That's pretty decent, the only other 4 drop that relatively comes close to that amount of power is Ms. Marvel who adds 5 to each location if all conditions are met.
So Why is This Amazing?
If you're just looking at this at a glance, you might think that this doesn’t seem like that great of a trade off. All three cards cost a total of 8 energy to put on the board and you're getting a maximum of 17 power. That isn’t the worst trade off but there is no guarantee that you'll get all three cards on the board. Also, being dependent on drawing multiple cards to help your Darkhawk grow doesn’t feel all that consistent or even that strong. So why is he everywhere? Why is everyone using him?
He is the definition of a flexible value card that, along with his buddies, can slot into most any deck. He synergizes well with many disruptive cards and locations and as an added bonus, he is a 4 cost card that has 0 base power. That means he works well with both Zabu and Ravonna Renslayer, the two cards that lower costs of cards with specific criteria.
Let's take a deep dive into how all of these synergies work to help Darkhawk be the definition of 3x value
The Good
The two cards I mention at the start of this guide along with Darkhawk make up what is known as the Darkhawk package. Rarely will you see Darkhawk in a deck without at least 1 of these buddies and typically both will tag along. In fact, it's these three that make up a pretty versatile shell that can be slotted into many different archetypes adding to the popularity of Darkhawk as a whole.
Not only do Korg and Rockslide add cards to the opponent's deck, they also add a useless rock that can kill an opponent's draw. It is this simple disruption along with adding power to Darkhawk that make them such a good team.
The less obvious friend that has started to make her way into the mix is Black Widow.
She does the same thing that Korg does by adding 2 power to Darkhawk by the end of the game as well as disrupting the opponent's draw. However at 2 cost she isn't as easy to slot into every single deck so she is the least used of the three cards that help buff up Darkhawk's power.
When all three cards are used together Darkhawk ends up with 14 power by the end of the game which is a really good stat line for just 4 power.
While Zabu and Ravonna do not add any additional power they discount Darkhawk to 3 cost which greatly improves his effectiveness in any game of Marvel Snap. At 3 cost, Darkhawk can be played alongside Rockslide on the final turn for a big power swing as well as any number of other tech type cards.
I want to throw a special shoutout to Bast as a card that does help Darkhawk by making his base stat 4/3. Just a consideration when deck building that there is no downside to playing Bast when you have a Darkhawk in hand.
Mystique isn’t necessarily the perfect match with Darkhawk. However, she should be in consideration when deck building because she has the same base stat line as Darkhawk and will copy his ongoing effect for one fewer energy. Take my example of using rockslide and Darkhawk on turn six, instead you could play Darkhawk and then Mystique turn six to have two big cards to finish the game.
Thanos as well is not a match for Darkhawk but when playing against Thanos as a Darkhawk player the opponent has already gifted you a possible 12 extra power before even starting the game. Most of the time when Thanos decks are prevalent in the meta Darkhawk decks are not far behind.
The Bad
There are two cards that are directly blank Darkhawk and those are Enchantress and Rogue. Rogue steals Darkhawk's ongoing ability which is a big power swing while Enchantress just erases all power that Darkhawk has. Both can be devastating to any player that has a Darkhawk on the board.
Shang-Chi is another card that you have to watch out for but he is not an exact counter because he is a 10 power condition that needs to be met first. However, his condition is pretty easily met because if you play Rockslide at all you'll be at 10 power and Shang-Chi will destroy your Darkhawk. However, if you just played Korg or maybe just Black Widow you're in the clear.
These next cards are not direct counters to Darkhawk but they do not help and can considerably disrupt your game plan when you are playing against them with Darkhawk.
Adam Warlock draws your opponent cards if you are not winning the lane he is in, which means that each card he draws is minus 2 power from Darkhawk. Jubilee pulls a card from the deck which is also minus 2 from your Darkhawk and Jane can pull multiple cards from your opponents deck which is just more power taken away from Darkhawk.
Silver Samurai discards the lowest power card from your hand and with Darkhawk's base power of 0 he is a very likely candidate to say goodbye when your opponent plays Silver Samurai.
Deck Building No Goes
These cards, while having their own individual merit, do not help Darkhawk out because they either remove cards from your opponents deck or let your opponent draw cards. Think twice before you pair them together.
The Single Hard Counter
All of the previous cards have been in the game for awhile and are known quantities but this last card that can decimate a Darkhawk is fairly new so time will tell if he can knock Darkhawk off of his throne.
Blob immediately makes your opponent's deck have zero cards. This erases all power from Darkhawk immediately and with Blob being a 6 cost card there is little counterplay to add some power back into the deck. All of the work done by Korg, Black Widow, Rockslide to make Darkhawk come down as a lane winning or potentially game winning card is completely erased after your Opponent plays Blob.
Locations
There are four categories of locations that both help and hinder Darkhawk's performance. Most of the time if you see one of these locations you'll need to immediately adjust or take note and play accordingly to maximize the performance of Darkhawk.
Directly Helpful
These three locations are pretty instant snap locations. They directly add cards to your opponents deck which directly adds power to your Darkhawk. Subterranea is an instant plus 10 power while both Lechguilla and Vibranium mines are plus 6 power for each card your opponent puts there. On ladder, these can be incredibly deadly because your opponent can play into those locations without knowing that you're going to slam a Darkhawk at the end of the game and just ruin their day. In conquest, these locations can lead to instant retreats depending on the round but, if it is round one you can always sneak out big wins for 4 to 8 cubes if you play correctly.
Indirectly helpful
This section is two separate sub groups but here are all the locations and Ill break down the two different groups.
All of these locations help a Darkhawk deck in a slightly less direct way than the previous three. Attilan, District X, The Triskelion, and Time Theater all take draws away from the opponent or make the opponent's deck larger which increases Darkhawk's overall power. However, they come with a downside because it means you might not draw your Darkhawk or it might disappear in the case of District X.
Onslaught Citadel, Kamar-taj, and The Peak all help by not increasing the opponents deck directly but by making Darkhawk easier to play as a 0/4, The Peak, or doubling his power by playing him there, Onslaught Citadel. Kamar-taj is useful in regards to Darkhawk's buddies Korg and Rockslide. Basically if you play those cards there they add double the rocks to the opponent's deck which is double the power for Darkhawk in the end.
Directly unhelpful
There is really only 1 location that is absolutely unhelpful for Darkhawk and that is Lamentis-1.
Talk about a complete gut punch to our favorite 4-drop. It completely erases all his power and he essentially becomes a useless card. However, you could possibly give him some power if played with Rockslide or Korg on the final turn of the game but that just makes him a measly 4/2 or 4/4. Nothing to write home about.
These other locations are still directly unhelpful but not as debilitating as Lamentis-1
Indirectly unhelpful
All of these locations are situationally unhelpful because you as a player have counter play to mitigate the potential for them to harm your game plan.
Essentially, any location that removes cards from your opponents deck takes away 2 power from your Darkhawk by the end of the game. So don’t play cards in Hotel Inferno because while you might destroy a card you don’t want to see, all you're doing is removing 2 power from Darkhawk for each card you placed at that location. Asgard and The Abbey are locations that you can gain the benefit from and are worth the fight over when playing Darkhawk because not only do they limit your opponents resource if you are the player winning their condition but you keep the opponent's deck at the size you want it to be. Asteroid M is one location that I see a lot of players forget about but it will pull your Darkhawk so just be aware.
Special Consideration
I just want to mention that when this location is in your game when you add rocks to the opponent's deck you are actually adding rocks to the deck you draw from so just be aware when playing Korg or Rockslide.
Darkhawk Decks
Enough with all of the explanation, let's get to some of the most popular decks that Darkhawk is featured in and a little bit of why they work well.
Darkhawk Good Stuff
This is probably the most popular Darkhawk deck in the current meta. The main idea is that we have our low cost disruption in Korg, Black Widow, and Rockslide along with 4 cost good value cards like Iron lad, Ms. Marvel, and a 6 cost Doctor Doom. This allows the deck to spread a lot of power over all three lanes as well as include a tech card or two to deal with anything that gets too big on the opponent's side. There are many different versions of this deck that are one or two cards different so I would mess around till you find a list you are comfortable with and run with it.
Darkhawk Dino
This is another example of a Good Stuff type Darkhawk list. Low cost disruption coupled with higher cost good value cards to win lanes. While this deck does spread power you are more likely to use one of your ongoing cards coupled with Mystique to provide big stats in two lanes to win the game.
Bounce Hawk
Bounce Hawk is a popular archetype that includes Werewolf by Night as a second big card with Darkhawk to win you two lanes and ultimately the game. Instead of including Rockslide this deck includes Black Widow and Korg with Falcon and Beast to bounce them back to your hand to benefit from their disruption and Darkhawk power bonus multiple times.
Darkhawk Black Bolt Stature
This deck is a variation of the Darkhawk Bounce deck featured above that includes the small Black Bolt Stature package for some more cheap stats. Again, here we have not included Rockslide for just running Korg and Black Widow with the idea that we can bounce them back to our hand to be played again. With the addition of Stature and Black Bolt we are less explosive turn six than the pure bounce deck but, with an overall higher base power level we have a slightly better late game draw then the pure bounce deck.
Darkhawk Junk Bounce
This is a fairly recent version that includes 3 separate packages to get the job done. You have Werewolf by Night with low cost on reveal cards to help buff as well as Beast to bounce them back to your hand and reuse them. Darkhawk plus his duo of friends are included as well. Added bonus that these cards benefit from being bounced back to your hand as well because they just buff Darkhawk even more. Then you have a small Annihilus package with The Hood and The Sentry. All three of these packages in combination are a very potent mix for high value and power in a deck as well as providing complexity to any game by being a little unpredictable.
Deck Conclusion
These are just five decks that include the Darkhawk package. There are any number of variations on these decks with many cards being removed and replaced day to day. Honestly, any deck that has 3 slots to use up can benefit from Darkhawk and his friends. That’s what makes him so useful because at the end of the day all you want is stats in a lane and your opponent to have less stats. Korg, Rockslide, and especially Darkhawk provide a simple way to accomplish this task.
Bonus Controversy
Back when Marvel Snap experienced regularly scheduled series drops, Darkhawk was a card many people were looking forward to dropping into Series 3 which would essentially make him free to the majority of players. However, just when Darkhawk was going to drop to series 3 there was a game announcement about flexible series drops and Darkhawk remained in series 4. He has since remained in series 4 and as of this moment there is no news as to when he will drop or if he ever will. To add fuel to the fire a bundle including Darkhawk was released shortly after called Not Quite A Bird.
This bundle was not good value at all. At $30 with very little resources besides the variant or maybe the card itself if you didn’t own Darkhawk it was nowhere close to an efficient money purchase. Yet, in the shop it was labeled at 3x value and no one could understand how it could possibly be marketed that way. If this wasn’t a pay to win idea then I’m not sure what is. It left a bad taste in many players' mouths and a bad look for the game during that time. So is Darkhawk himself 3x value? Maybe they were making a joke that with Darkhawk you have a package that is 3 cards so there is your 3x value. Either way, Darkhawk is at the center and sometimes viewed as the best example that Marvel Snap could be pay-to-win.
Final Thoughts
Darkhawk is a fantastic Marvel Snap card. His simple concept and ability to synergize with many cards that are both fun to play and interesting to deck build around make him very popular and competitive at the same time. As far as I can see, he is going to be relevant in the Marvel Snap metagame for a while and knowing all the information above will only enhance your use of him.