Hello and welcome back to Burning Questions, your weekly romp through hot Marvel Snap topics! This week I'll share my opinion on the big batch of new cards, tell you about my current favorite “pet cards,” and give you a bunch of Cerebro decks to try!
1) Are all of the new cards flops?
I have seen multiple people saying they thought some, or even all, of the cards released on Tuesday aren't any good. This highlights something that is very different about the new release schedule as opposed to the single card per week release schedule we had in the past: cards take more time to find their place. When cards like First Steps Mr. Fantastic and Invisible Woman come along, their power level is obvious and you see them everywhere right away.
With cards that are more appropriately balanced from the beginning, it takes players more time to experiment with them and figure out their strengths and best use-cases. That doesn't mean the cards are bad and it doesn't mean no one is going to find the right fit for those cards. Community tournaments like the upcoming Golden Gauntlet tend to accelerate and diffuse new ideas, so I'm looking forward to seeing how the meta develops following that. The other side effect of the new release cadence is we suffer from far less “new card vs hard counters” days, even when there is only one card in a week because players are still circling back to previous releases to test them out.
Here are some thoughts on the new cards:
Viv Vision - Pairs well with Domino, Iron Patriot, and high-tempo cards. Her Power being 2 complicates her quest. She's significantly lower power with start of turn as opposed to end of turn, which had an impact on expectations vs. how she's been received.
Sparky - Absolutely massive power. Has brought multiple versions of move back to the top of the meta. His own low power has not been problematic.
Moira X - There are a lot of different builds out there and Moira is going through what all new build-arounds go through because of that. Some builds are great, some aren't. Personally, I've had the most success with Victoria Hand decks with Killmonger and Lady Deathstrike that allow Moira to be a power spike as opposed to our primary game plan. The best Moira builds will absolutely be discovered, but the optimal 12 hasn't been found yet. I do suspect Death and Victoria Hand will be in that 12.
Omega Sentinel - I was surprised how often I was facing situations where Omega Sentinel was better than Shang Chi. Omega Sentinel’s advantage is that she can always have an impact, while Shang is more dependent on your opponent’s deck. Karima is great in C3, but she'll find additional niches even before Jocasta comes out.
Awesome Andy - Andy might be the weakest of this bunch, but he's not unplayable. There are two places he can fit. First, anything that buffs late like End of Turn decks with Fantasticar can use Andy as additional low-risk, non-interactive power. Second, getting Andy out early in a Namora deck or other type of deck that is trying to buff cards like Frankie Raye or Lasher raises your ceiling. Andy might not be optimal in anything, but if you love the character or his variants you can get some use out of him. I'd love to see him at 2/2.
2) What are your current pet cards?
“Pet cards” is a term I've used in this column quite a bit. It refers to cards that a person particularly likes, regardless of their strength. Sometimes they're underrated gems, other times they're cards with fun mechanics that might not be at a power level high enough that they gain a wide audience. Examples of my personal favorite pet cards are Quake, Invisible Woman, and Captain Marvel. I know someone whose favorite card is Quicksilver, even outside of Wiccan decks. I know another person that just loves to play Orka. (Editor Note: that’s me!) A pet card is just a card that brings you personal joy. Here are a few of my current pet cards that I'm playing more than most people.
Not just good in C2, though he is very good there, Lasher is incredibly fun to pump up and take a giant bite out of your opponent. I played the heck out of Lasher in the last High Voltage (truly a pet card lovers format). I like to play lasher in hand buff decks and Namora decks.
I've seen him called the worst card in the game, but ever since Wombat Combat convinced me to actually try the card, I've fallen in love. Does he do nothing a lot of the time? Yes, but he still provides 3 Power when that happens. But he can absolutely pilfer cubes on occasion and his ability to force a quick retreat from an opponent playing a bunch of created cards always makes me giggle. He's also got quite a few locations that boost him like Monster Metropolis, Bar Sinister, Cloning Vats, and Gamma Lab. He's useful in C3 and he's also a solid, occasional contributor in any kind of control deck.
I was playing a Mirage at 2/2 and I'm playing even more at 2/3. What people miss about Mirage is that your opponent is generally playing good targets for her. Second Dinner has released so many strong 2-Cost cards that decks often run 2, 3, or even 4 of them. We've also gotten sizable buffs to 1-Cost cards with Black Cat and Ghost Spider both being juicy targets. Hydra Bob, Nico, or even something like a Blade that you can play out late, are all solid hits, not to mention all the Demons running around. At this point, Mirage has become an auto-inclusion for me in anything that has Victoria Hand, Quinjet or has good 4 or 5-Cost finishers.
Hey, look at that, they're all 2-Cost cards. And I could have even added cards I love like Mysterio, Iron Patriot, and Peni Parker. After being a kind of dead category for the first year or so of the game, the 2-Cost slot has become the most interesting in the game. I'd love to hear about your favorite pet cards in the comments!
3) Ok, you've mentioned Cerebro several times now. What Cerebro decks are you playing?
I'm not even a traditional Cerebro enjoyer, but the deck is ridiculously strong at the moment. The +3 buffs are nuts. Here are two lists each for C2 and C3 that hopefully have a wrinkle or two you aren't commonly seeing.
C2 Lock
C2 Disrupt
C3 Low Curve
C3 Afflict
Now, let's hop over to the official Marvel Snap discord and grab a couple developer questions and answers!
4) Question
As our resident Master Mold fanatic and big fan of Black Widow, I gotta ask about my favorite mechanic - adding cards directly to your opponent's hand.
These days, we've got a lot of good cards that synergize with created cards, Quinjet and Victoria Hand to name a few, and a couple that tech against them like Gorgon. As we continue getting new cards, how likely is it for us to see more cards that can directly influence an opponents hand and opportunity to draw or benefit from their own card generators?
Answer
I imagine we'll make more stuff like Gorgon and Cobra, but I don't expect to be adding many more cards to your opponent's. It's just not fun enough for either player to want to have a lot of it, given both hand and board have hard card caps.
-Glenn
Scosco's Note:
While I agree with Glenn here that too much of adding cards to your opponents hand isn't fun for either player, there is one implementation of this I’d like to see. I want a design that bounces an opponents card back to their hand from play. Of course, this is incredibly powerful and would have to come with a significant drawback or even turn restriction. Perhaps it could grant your opponent's card extra power or a cost reduction. Perhaps it could only target a low Cost or Power card. Either way, it would be a cool and fun design if used sparingly.
5) Question
Can you share some data driven insight into the best turn to snap? Is it turn two or three? Is snapping early helpful or harmful? Or are cubes won independent of turn snapped?
Answer
Snapping accurately is more important than timing it, but assuming you’re snapping accurately then it’s more profitable to do it early.
Don’t really have any data demonstrating that, since we don’t track game states in a way that would ascertain whether a snap was accurate or not. But it’s sensible that snapping when your opponent has the least information in a spot where you should would pay the most cubes.
Scosco's Note:
The OP is referring to a recent Marvel Snap ad that brings up this question. Of course Glenn is right, snapping well is more important than when you Snap. That being said, players who have trouble climbing are often way too reluctant to Snap early. Snapping early does require certain skills. You need to be able to accurately evaluate your hand and quickly diagnose your opponent's potential output, so snapping early is easier said than done. I believe most players who are unsatisfied with their skill level can benefit from both learning to Snap early and also practicing retreating a lot more often.
That's all for this week! Come find me on Bluesky (@scosco) where I'll be giving out a couple of Season Pass codes this weekend! Tell me about your favorite pet cards in the comments with your discord username for a chance to win some PAX Borders! A winner will be drawn on Monday, September 8th, 2025.