As Avengers vs X-Men season wraps up, let's celebrate the team's best member: Rogue! In a recent bracket tournament (on the SnapDotFan discord) full of Avengers and X-Men, the community voted Rogue the very best, edging out Storm in the finals! There are a ton of cool polls to participate in on our discord and some great game discussions, so definitely join and see how welcoming the SnapDotFan community is.
“But wait. You said the best Avengers and X-Men. Rogue is an X-Man. What about the Avengers? Surely Hulk is the best!”
Nope! It's also Rogue! That's right, did you know that Rogue has spent a great deal of time as an Avenger? Following the Avengers vs. X-Men storyline in the comics, she joined up and became a core member of Steve Rogers’ Unity Squad. She even went on to become the team leader for a while.
So let's celebrate the greatest member of both teams! We'll dive into her history in the comics, look at her variants, and analyze her role and future in Marvel Snap.
Last June, Rogue was buffed up one point to 3-2. She wasn't seeing much play, and Second Dinner was looking for ways to incentivize players to consider packing a variety of tech cards instead of just relying on Shang Chi. A couple of months prior, they had buffed Enchantress from 4-4 to 4-6, and she proved so successful that she needed to be put back down to 4-5 after just a couple of weeks. Rogue currently has a reasonably healthy play rate of around 7%, making her the 66th most-played card. This is about the same as Enchantress, but I would argue that Rogue is still underplayed and underpowered. Rogue's play rate is largely being buoyed by one deck: Loki. Furthermore, Loki decks aren't playing Rogue for her utility against ongoing decks. They're only playing her to avoid being crippled by an opposing Mobius M. Mobius. Stealing an occasional Zabu or shoring up the Cerebro match-up is just icing on the cake. Rogue is still too underpowered for players to consider adding her to a deck as a generically good tech card unless the meta shifts dramatically toward a specific ongoing deck being good. Although Rogue felt strong during the Avengers vs. X-Men in-game event, that proves she is too weak right now. It would be nice to see a Rogue that is strong enough to be used by Silver Surfer decks and is a solid card for other decks. Rogue should be buffed to at least 3-3, which would put her level with Gambit stats-wise. I also think that a 2-2 Rogue would be incredibly fun and good for the game's interactivity.
History
Rogue first appeared in Avengers Annual #10 in 1981 (see, her Avengers history runs deep) as a villain alongside Mystique and Destiny. She eventually defects to the X-Men to get help with her powers and their effects. In the tradition of other mysterious Marvel mutants, her true origin story would only later be revealed gradually over the next twenty years or so.
Rogue's mutant power is to absorb memories, powers, and even personality traits or the consciousness of anyone she touches. She only gained her other abilities, like flight and super strength, after an incident when she permanently absorbed Carol Danvers’ (now known as Captain Marvel) powers, which caused great damage to both of them. Her early publication history focuses on her inability to touch anyone out of fear that she will absorb their consciousness, hurting them and causing her to lose her mind. This was played to an especially steamy effect in the 90s with Gambit.
Speaking of the 90s, Rogue's role in the new Disney+ series X-Men ‘97 has been a source of an incredible amount of chatter across social media. In the series' early episodes, a history and connection between Magneto and Rogue is strongly implied, leaving fans who only know Rogue from the classic cartoon aghast. The original comic book inspiration for this is the classic Rogue in the Savage Land story from Uncanny X-Men 269 and 274. In this story, a depowered Rogue has to find a way to survive and eventually has a romance with Magneto. We already have one variant in the game that references this story, the Alex Hurley Ultimate Rogue variant.
We could certainly use more Savage Land Rogue in the game. Especially if it involves the art of Jim Lee. Whether from that Savage Land storyline or from the original trading card (which we thankfully have a variant of), Jim Lee's Rogue has always been a fan favorite and left an indelible mark on those who first discovered Rogue in the Jim Lee era.
Now we need a Jim Lee Savage Land variant.
I'd also love an Age of Apocalypse variant. Joe Madureira’s design for the alternate timeline Rogue was perfect.
Rogue already has so many great variants that it almost seems greedy to ask for more. She may be the character with the best variants in the game. Her base art is solid, and even her Pixel variant rocks! She looks so dynamic with her cute little punch!
She also has the most sought-after Winter Vacation variant.
This is another great variant. The Hellfire variant shows Rogue as the rare Mississippi goth.
We also have amazing variants from fan-favorite cover artists Mark Brooks and Terry Dodson.
The queens of Snap and amazing cover artists themselves, Rian Gonzalez and Peach Momoko, also have wonderful variants. The Momoko is expected to be released in May.
And here is another cool upcoming variant. This one is from a new artist to Snap, Wild Blue, and is expected to be in a bundle.
Suppose you're looking to show off your favorite Rogue variant. In that case, she currently sees the most play alongside Loki to swipe Mobius' ability or in Silver Surfer decks as a defensive tech card. She is also playable in Sera Control and Thanos/Spectrum lists. If you want to try her in something a little more unusual, then here are a couple of… ahem… rogue Rogue lists.
Rogue decks
Ro-going
Mississippi Mud
For these decks, I tried not to include lists that just incidentally use Rogue, opting instead for decks that really center Rogue in their plan and highlight her. In the first list, Rogue helps if we encounter an opposing Luke Cage, but she also allows us to play down our own Luke Cage early. We can then protect him from opposing Rogues by playing other ongoings into the same lane or using our own Rogue to take the Cage ability back. If we can use Rogue to hurt the opponent in some other way, we can then buff her with Spectrum at the end. An opposing Iron Man is tasty, for example. Rogue acts as a fail-safe for the second list if we pull an opposing Iron Man or other strong ongoing with our Doc. It also helps us shut down the occasional opposing Blue Marvel or Ka-Zar that can give this list trouble.
Reading
If you're looking for the very best modern Rogue comics to read, then look no further than the writings of Kelly Thompson (the creator of Jeff!). She wrote the 2018 Rogue & Gambit miniseries and followed it up with the larger limited series Mr. & Mrs. X in 2019. If you're looking for something new, Rogue is currently appearing in the fourth volume of Uncanny Avengers by Gerry Duggan. You can wait until June when Rogue appears in the relaunched Uncanny X-Men by Gail Simone. It should be a great jumping-on point for new readers.
The Future
With new cool Rogue variants coming to Snap, her role in the upcoming Uncanny X-Men relaunch, and the promise of some pretty juicy Rogue-centered X-Men ‘97 storylines, the future looks bright for Rogue fans. But let's all agree to appeal to Second Dinner for a Rogue buff, even if it's just to give her an extra point of power.
