This is Noh-Varr. His name is Marvel Boy. I’m going to let him take it from here.
Guardians of the Galaxy (2020) #1, writer Al Ewing, line art Juann Cabal, colors Federico Blee
That basically covers it—a triple-helix DNA, gene-spliced Kree-cockroach supersoldier heartthrob from another dimension is all. He’s been an Avenger, a Young Avenger, and dated Kate Bishop as well as Hercules.
Honestly? What more of an intro do you need?
Oh, yeah. What does he do?
It’s appropriate to say that for a hyper-competent character that does a lot, Marvel Boy is also a hyper-efficient card that does a lot. Each turn he’s on the board, he’ll give three 1-Cost cards +1 Power— making him a potent scaling threat for any deck that can get three 1-drops on the board as soon as possible. The earlier you can maximize Noh-Varr, the more potent he is; potentially, if you drop a 1-Cost on Turn 1 and two more on Turn 2, a Marvel Boy played on 3 will spiral well out of control, netting you 14 points of power for 3 Energy: something any opponent will find difficult to outpace.
Marvel Boy (2000) #1, writer Grant Morrison, pencils J.G. Jones, colors Matt Milla and Avalon Studios
The obvious second step is to fill the remaining 11 slots in the deck with 1-Costs for maximum Marvel Boy— or, at least, it’s mine. But there’s some consideration as to what support he’ll need, both at the 1-Cost level and others.
They might be amicable exes, but Kate and Noh-Varr still work great together— as do slightly more unlikely partners like Hood, Squirrel Girl, and even Thanos. Generating 1-Costs is particularly valuable to Marvel Boy, who puts you on a clock to reach his maximum output per turn as soon as possible. Kate gives you two 1-Cost arrows, and you can play the following turn, while Squirrel Girl immediately puts Marvel Boy at max capacity. Shanna comes slightly later but is a similar instant activator. Thanos is his own synergy, determining a completely different direction for the deck, but the Stones provide ample ammunition for Marvel Boy to accumulate stats and do his thing.
One part of Marvel Boy’s value is that his power will be spread out across multiple 1-Costs, making it more difficult for targeted tech cards like Shang-Chi or Shadow King to take those stats off the board. The glaring exception, of course, is Killmonger: an indiscriminate board-wipe that threatens the Kazoo decks of yesterday and the Marvel Boy decks of tomorrow. If you plan to double down on Zoo synergies through the Kree wunderkind, you might consider Caiera— a card often overlooked because even decks like Bounce that use 1-Costs won’t find the protection worth playing an unwieldy 3/4.
However, if your deck is going to go all in on 1-Costs, it might be worth the investment.
And, of course… at this point in the game, there is such a suite of 1-Costs to go all in on. Marvel Boy’s big design hook is how open the space is for deckbuilding interaction—the 1-Cost theme is reminiscent of Ka-Zar, of course, but the sheer ceiling and possibility of defining a deck around a single Cost remind me of Silver Surfer. The possibilities are endless…
So let’s see what we can cook up.
Guardians of the Galaxy (2020) #2, writer Al Ewing, lineart Juann Cabal, colors Federico Blee and Guru-eFX
Genetically Engineered Kree-Cockroach-Squirrel Super Zoo
The starting point will be the modern Kazoo list— carried by the relatively recent Season Pass powerhouse Gilgamesh. We’re still working with that shell and its inherent synergy with Ka-Zar and Blue Marvel; Marvel Boy here is going to function as a secondary win condition, one that isn’t necessarily so dependent on hitting the best curve-out with Gilgamesh and one that’s also a bit more resilient to hate cards like Enchantress and Rogue. Marvel Boy also buffs Gilgamesh and gets brought to his full growth rate immediately via Squirrel Girl and Shanna. A Kate Bishop inclusion rounds the synergy out, slightly lowering the deck’s curve to accommodate Noh-Varr’s more time-sensitive effect and giving the deck a ton of utility.
Young Avengers (2013) #4, writer Kieron Gillen, line art Jamie McKelvie with Mike Norton, colors Matthew Wilson
He’s A Bouncing Baby Marvel Boy
Marvel Boy has one thing over Ka-Zar, Blue Marvel, and other Zoo enablers: his power is a permanent buff attached to the target— letting you manipulate the recipients and distribute power more easily. This Bounce shell runs a sufficient density of 1-Cost targets, and the Iron Fist/Human Torch pair will sometimes benefit extra from Marvel Boy’s running buff. Bounce lists are always evolving, with plenty of variations and synergies that Noh-Varr will slot right into, so this is a great place to experiment: you might consider disruptive options like Iceman and Spider-Ham, other big stat payoffs like Thena or Rocket Raccoon, or even more experimental options like Bast and Mysterio. Get crazy. Get weird!
Marvel Boy and The Infinity Stones
And yeah, Thanos is in there somewhere, too. This takes your classic Thanos shell and uses Marvel Boy as a stat turbo-booster alongside the usual cast of efficient and powerful cards. Because the main synergy is between Noh-Varr and the Stones, you won’t need to devote too much further deckbuilding concentration to him, instead rounding out with whatever mix of stat efficiency and tech cards you like. The odd inclusion like Nightcrawler can help smooth out Marvel Boy and Cull Obsidian’s consistency, but like the Bounce list, the archetype’s nature means it’s ripe for exploration and experimentation— Marvel Boy’s job here is to put out an explosive amount of stats to help the rest of the deck’s top end seal the deal.
Looking Good!
Noh-Varr is launching with two snazzy variants: a psychedelic Second Dinner commission from veteran Snap artist Flaviano Armentaro serves as his Spotlight variant and an existing cover from superstar artist Kris Anka is slated for Super Rare down the line. Both are terrific— and while Marvel Boy isn’t exactly the most marquis, well-known character out there, he’s got plenty more appearances and existing covers than some of the more obscure characters we’ve seen hit Snap. I bet we'll see Noh-Varr in some different new looks sooner than later— if you haven’t noticed, on top of all the gene enhancement and combat efficiency, he’s not exactly hard to look at.
Verdict
On paper, Marvel Boy’s a card as crazy-good as the character is crazy-awesome— and there’s good reason to believe the hype. We’ve seen scaling threats as recently as Thena put the meta in a chokehold, and Marvel Boy’s flexible ability to distribute his power makes him difficult to deal with. The ceiling of +3 Power per turn is formidable, and there’s precedent for pretty much any instance of +3 Power in Snap being incredibly strong. The only caveat is the obvious weaknesses that Zoo shells inherently have; I suspect a slightly rocky start as everybody packs their Killmongers for launch week, forcing possibly suboptimal protection like Caiera into lists. Over time, though? Marvel Boy feels like a safe bet for anybody looking for the Next Competitive Thing.
Further cementing this as a competitively reasonable investment, Marvel Boy’s Spotlight week is launching with two heavy hitters: Blob and Red Hulk. Both have seen better days, but only as the direct result of multiple nerfs for being too darn good—and they both still see play in decks looking for huge 6-cost threats. If you want to amplify your collection, this is a good Spotlight to shoot for.
And for anyone else on the fence? Have you been paying attention to the guy? C’mon.
