BY THE HOARY HOSTS OF HOGGOTH—
—are comic histories long and convoluted, man! If you haven’t noticed, one of my greatest joys with SNAP is seeing those histories introduced in glimpses to us via cards and characters. And one such character with a storied background is none other than Clea—Sorcerer Supreme of the Dark Dimension!
Clea has been many things, and she’s at the center of lots of Marvel magical connections, including (but not limited to) daughter to Umar the Unrelenting, niece to the Dread Dormammu, and (of course) protege/lover/ex-wife/wife to our very own Doctor Stephen Strange. (They’re happily married right now, as of writing.)
Strange Tales (1951) #126, writer Stan Lee, art Steve Ditko
She began as a mysterious but unassuming denizen of the Dark Dimension intrigued by a young Strange—ultimately recurring as an apprentice and lover to the Sorcerer Supreme. But true to any comics character who’s been around this long, she’s undergone lots of change and growth, learning more about herself and even stepping out of Stephen’s shadow into her own as a Sorcerer Supreme of the Earth. She’s an iconic character in Doctor Strange history, and one I’m really excited to see come to SNAP.
Strange (2022) #3, writer Jed Mackay, pencils Marcelo Ferreira, inks Roberto Poggi & Don Ho, colors Java Tartaglia
But What’s She Do?
Like many of the accomplished sorcerers and magicians in this season, Clea does lots in the comics. But her in-game effect homes in on her Faltine heritage, generating those iconic Flames of the Faltine every time she gains permanent power in your hand or on the board. Like in the comics, as she grows more powerful, so too does her magic, until she’s strong enough to lay waste to the entire board via Flames, regardless of where her physical body is.
Strange (2022) #3, writer Jed Mackay, pencils Marcelo Ferreira, inks Roberto Poggi & Don Ho, colors Java Tartaglia
Let’s start with the trigger. Clea’s text means that both hand-buffing cards and board-buffing cards will synergize with her, meaning there are two axes that she synergizes with. (Importantly, because it needs to be permanent Power gain, Ongoing buffs like Ka-Zar or Blue Marvel are off the table.) The first hand-buff card that comes to mind is Gwenpool, who manages to be a staple through pure value, but Nakia, Bast, and even Toxie-Doxie come to mind as potential ways to earn Flames without even playing Clea.
However, hand-buff cards have always played second fiddle to board buffing, and for good reason: it’s often much more valuable to be empowering cards that have already been played. Permanent Power buffs can be gotten from metagame regular Galacta alongside other options like Ironheart or Hulkbuster. Marvel Boy stands out as a way to get repeated instances of Power on Clea, possibly turning her into an engine that can really turn up the heat.
Finally, the Flames themselves are cheap cards that can be played without taking up space—meaning they can efficiently scale cards like Nicholas Scratch (who hasn’t really had a reliable, repeatable Skill outlet until now) or Bishop and Hit-Monkey, who always come to mind when 1-Costs come knocking. The Flames are also Afflict synergy, making it possible for some hybrid buff-afflict deck to let Clea empower the likes of Ajax or the High Evolutionary package.
And, of course, all of these synergies come on top of a 1/3's worth in stats for every Flames played. (Importantly, those are stats you can distribute across the board as you please!) Put together, Clea is a potent value engine with a remarkable amount of synergy across multiple archetypes. So what’s the best way to use these repeated Skill triggers to cause havoc on the enemy board?
Doctor Strange (1974) #58, writer Roger Stern, pencils Dan Green, inks Terry Austin, colors Bob Sharen
Quiksilvur’s Day One Clea Decks
Clea? I Barely Know-a!
The first thought, of course, starts with Clea’s trigger—how do we reliably buff Clea? There’s a necessary critical mass of cards needed for her to be reliable, and its smart to err on the side of overabundance to test her ceiling. At the same time, existing midrange shells with both Galacta and Gwenpool have built in buffs and can leverage a spammable 1-Cost skill like Flames. Running Mysterio and Sasquatch lines up well with Forge, while all the skills will give Werewolf plenty of time to leap around. This is likely a safe starting point because the shell itself is stable, with room for answers like Shang-Chi (who could easily be a Mobius or Enchantress) based on threats.
Doctor Strange, Sorcerer Supreme (1988) #40, writers Roy & Dan Thomas, pencils Geof Isherwood, inks Jim Sanders III, colors George Roussos
Spelling Bee!
This second deck might be more of a potential showcase for Nicholas Scratch as it is for Clea; I don’t think Agatha’s poor son has seen any play since his release at the start of the month, but Clea might change that. With both Clea and Merlin offering reliable 1-Cost Skills, the idea is that you can get maximum value out of each cast, buffing the likes of Hit-Monkey and Werewolf By Night alongside Scratch. I’m not sure if Bast and Marvel Boy (and sometimes Nico) are enough for Clea to be reliable, but she’s one of the pieces here working with payoffs like Bast into Mysterio or Black Swan into Hit-Monkey to make your turn 6 plays explosive. It’s possible the proportions may have to be tweaked between payoff and enabler, but there’s something to be said about the 1-Cost package enabling multiple Flames of the Faltine.
Marvel Team-Up (1972) #77, writer Chris Claremont, pencils Howard Chaykin, inks Jeff Aclin, colors Mario Sen
SUPA HOT FLAMES OF THE FALTINE
This last list comes at the hand of our very own editor BEWD, who has cooked up a go-tall On-Reveal list with the Wong shenanigans of old. Ironheart into Wong/Odin has a special place in my heart, and the idea that Clea will function as a threat on the board that you can play proactively early is promising. Wong also doubles up your Flames—and when BEWD surmised that Astral Projection may be suboptimal, my brain immediately went to Joaquin Torres to get quadruple Flames action. Is that a sign that I’m not cut out for the hard decisions in deckbuilding? Maybe. But duplicating Flames is something worth examining, and if not that, another buff enabler may fill the slot.
Strange (2022) #3, writer Jed Mackay, pencils Marcelo Ferreira, inks Roberto Poggi & Don Ho, colors Java Tartaglia & Felipe Sobreiro
Purple’s My Color
Clea is launching with the customary Winking Studios Spotlight variant for the season and Creative House Pocket general shop variant as a second, but there’s also a datamined variant from aruana sick, solidly cementing a precedent for the Dark Dimension sorceress interpreted as anime and anime-adjacent. The Winking Studios variant is more traditionally Fantasy-looking, for those looking for it, too—but if you’re like me, you may be holding out for some of the really terrific art from the comics to come over. I mean, c’mon.
Strange (2022) #3, writer Jed Mackay, pencils Marcelo Ferreira, inks Don Ho, colors Java Tartaglia
Verdict
Honestly, all hype aside, Clea seems like she’ll be a puzzle card that may not find immediate success; she asks a lot to get value out of her, and it may be that meta players will find her more trouble than she’s worth, especially with other less convoluted buff recipients available. However, she’s a card with so many different synergy hooks that deckbuilders may be enticed anyways, and I think any comic fan should get a kick out of playing Flames of the Faltine over and over again, until your enemy’s side of the board is a -12 pile of ash. (It helps if you yell the spell out every time you cast it.)
But regardless of my own excitement, let me know what you think. Does she seem like a hit? Will she land too weak? Are you getting her anyway? I want to hear from y’all! And if you want to believe, bite back the doubt in your soul…
Strange Tales (1951) #127, writer Stan Lee, art Steve Ditko