The First Steps season marches on with a beefy, scaling 3-Cost card. We got our deck engine with First Steps Mr. Fantastic and now First Steps Human Torch is here to put extra power to good use.
Comparables and Strengths
Human Torch is the latest in the long tradition of high power 3-Cost cards. He's most similar to cards like Gladiator and Speed. These are cards that are big enough that they've occasionally made their way into non-synergistic lists as just the beefiest 3-drop available, but they're also shoo-ins within their particular archetypes. This means that Human Torch is going to be best-in-slot in any type of First Steps or end-of-turn-centric deck, while also becoming an optimal choice in Silver Surfer and hand buff decks. Other comparables are Werewolf by Night, Surtur, and pre-nerf Rocket & Groot.
All of these cards can scale enough to justify their energy cost and most of them have an inherent ability to dodge Shang Chi to various degrees while still being potential lane winners, something that is especially valuable in Marvel Snap. Like the cards above, he's a stat stick, not a full build-around. He can fit into a variety of decks, but he's not exactly flexible in that he has his job (win a lane) and doesn't do much beyond that. Torch is another card in this lineage and the best of the current bunch because of his ability to grow so big.
Weaknesses
Torch pretty effectively dodges Shang Chi, but Shadow King can take a bite out of him. Shadow King isn't fully effective against Torch since his ability will still go off at the end of the turn. He's similar to Havok in this way. They both get chopped a bit by Shadow King, but can often provide enough power afterwards anyway. Another strategy for taking down Torch is his own dear sister! Tucking a Shadow King or Shang Chi behind Invisible Woman, as current Sera lists are doing, can take down a big Torch.
His condition to double, having the lane full, will actually prove trickier than people think. You don't generally want to invest four cards into a lane that your big 3-drop is supposed to help win, but cards like Mister Sinister will help, as will generally playing low-curve cards in decks with Torch.
Synergies
Mr. Fantastic: First Steps is going to make an excellent partner, despite having a somewhat low chance to interact with each other, because they share so many common synergies. Silver Surfer is going to love the new Torch.
Early Buffers - Anything that doubles is going to have added synergy with anything that buffs power. Torch is different from cards like Brood or Sebastian Shaw though since you really want to play him out on turn 3 so he can start buffing himself, rather than saving him as a surprise on turn 6. Cards that can buff early are going to work better with Torch than cards that buff late like Gwenpool and Galacta, but he'll still be played with cards like those since they will share synergy with other cards in the deck.
Scosco's Day One Human Torch: First Steps Decks
This week's decks will look a lot like last week's decks! Torch doesn't really usher in a new archetype, rather he's a piece for decks that are already doing well this season. You'll have a choice of how greedy or reactive you want to get, with a balance between power and tech/defensive cards. I've tried to add some more experimental ideas than usual, in addition to the proven concepts, given how easily Torch slides into what's already seeing a lot of play.
Pure Buff Torch
Defence Surfer
Torchin
Johnny & Kitty
Race Car
Zurfer
Variants
Mr. Fantastic: First Steps was easily distinguishable from the existing Mr. Fantastic cards because the actor famously has a mustache. There's no such help here and all of these variants just look like the Human Torch. Speaking of facial hair, when are we going to get a moustachioed Johnny Storm variant?
Final Thoughts
Human Torch scales wildly while dodging Shang Chi. That alone makes his flop potential quite low. What is a little tough about Torch, and this is evidenced in the decks above, he's optimal with particular cards, especially First Steps Mr. Fantastic. It's hard to recommend Torch if you don't already have the cards to build around him. If you already have the season pass card and some of the other key pieces, Torch is a safe buy that will likely have a meta impact.
