Oh Boy, It’s X-Stuff
Oh boy, it’s X stuff, indeed.
If you don’t read comics, you still know that the general gist of X stuff in Marvel is that select people called mutants are granted fantastical powers and forced to fight for survival in a world that hates them, with lots of room for social commentary and analogue about marginalized people and the systems that oppress them.
If you do read comics, you also know that the general gist of X-Men is an ever-escalating convoluted mashup of an enormous cast of characters and obscene amounts of time travel, with more pretzels in the timeline than an Auntie Ann’s at an airport.
Cable (2008) #1, writer Duane Swierczynski, artist Ariel Olivetti
Hope Summers is at the center of one such pretzel—the first mutant born after the Decimation, where Scarlet Witch famously depowered almost every mutant on the planet. Prophesied to be, among other things, a messiah figure to mutant-kind, a massive baby-hunt occurred, with everybody chasing after redheaded mutant baby Jesus, culminating in her being sent to the future under the care of her guardian and adoptive father, Cable (Scott’s sometimes estranged son from an alternate bad future).
Cable (2008) #11, writer Duane Swierczynski, artist Ariel Olivetti
There, she grows up with her grizzled time-traveler apocalypse-survivor dad in an alternate-alternate bad future, watches her adoptive mother die (whom she’s named Hope after), and teeters on a will-they-won’t-they connection with none other than the destructive Phoenix Force, which ultimately forces the conflict between the Avengers and X-Men that our latest Snap season is based on.
The final result? Hope Summers returns in the present as a teenage Omega-level mutant whose mutant power is the manipulation of mutant powers themselves— incredibly powerful, with no upper limit. She can mimic and magnify powers, often bolstering herself with other mutants nearby, and she’s at the center of the resurrection engine that powers Krakoa. She’s also lived childhood in a desolate Bad Future, combat-trained by her dad, the ultimate paranoid-time-travel-soldier-from-a-different-bad-future.
Jean Grey (2017) #2, writer Dennis Hopeless, artist Victor Ibañez, colors Jay David Ramos and Chris Sotomayor
Her resemblance to Jean Grey is a coincidence! (She resents it!) Her affinity for Big !@#$ing Guns is hereditary! (She gets it from her dad!) She has zero compunctions about tact and will headbutt you repeatedly to win a fight!
She is Hope Summers! And she’s ready to break Snap in half!
Avengers vs X-Men (2012) #0, writer Jason Aaron, line art Frank Cho, colors Jason Keith
Rebellions Are Built On Omega-Level Mutant Abilities
Hope Summers’ Snap ability would be flavorful just in its sheer potential and scope— I don’t know that there’s been a datamined card that’s turned more heads, especially in earlier iterations. Now, she’s a 3/4 that gives you +1 energy every time you play a card at her location, turning her into a font of energy once she’s set up. The effect calls forward both aspects of her powers— she draws on the power of nearby allies and uses it to do… well, anything she wants.
Immortal X-Men (2022) #2, writer Kieron Gillen, artist Lucas Werneck, colors David Curiel
Energy ramp in this game is always potent— we’ve seen it used to significant effect, even when stapled onto as strange/disparate an effect as Corvus Glaive. And Hope offers more energy than we’ve ever seen in a card— baseline. She can come down on turn 3 and provide up to 3 energy for each other spot at her location!
But there aren’t upper limits for Omega-level mutants— and that’s true enough here once you start considering the possibilities. Cards that can move like Nightcrawler or Jeff will let you double-dip and free up space at Hope’s location, netting you even more energy when needed— unlike Angela or Elsa Bloodstone. Given how explosive Hope can ramp you, even a bigger card like Vision can come down early and fuel your engine.
For the same reason, cards with bounce effects have a lot of natural synergy with Hope. Not only do they work similarly to help get multiple triggers off of Hope’s location, but they can subsequently use Hope’s extra energy on the next turn— making powerful play lines available much earlier.
But what I like most about Hope is how open-ended her design is— there are many ways to play around her that go beyond existing ramp decks we’ve seen. Every deck would love more energy, and Hope is more flexible and far less debilitating than Electro, Corvus, or even Wave have been in the past. You might use 0-cost cards like Wasp or Yellowjacket to play on turn 3 for a specific curve-out; you might use cards like Sunspot and She-Hulk to utilize that energy less obviously. You might use her to play two 6-drops on turns 5 and 6. Like her powers, her ability is endlessly flexible: it’s simply a question of which deck can use the energy best.
+1 Energy Springs Eternal
Hope Bounce
So my first stop is, obviously, a Bounce shell. It’s possible Hope is, no pun intended, a second coming for this deck— I’m reminded of when Elsa Bloodstone first arrived on the scene, back in Kitty Pryde’s heyday: the name of the game remains to leverage the repeated location triggers with Kitty and company, getting more value than usually ‘allowed’ by “play here” effects.
Of course, X-alum Kitty and Beast join Hope here, along with the rest of the Bounce package; Bishop, Hope’s time-traveling childhood boogeyman from another, another, another bad future, puts in the work alongside Werewolf By Night as the Bounce scalers. The extra energy might make it easier to wring out all the value from cards like Werewolf and Hit-Monkey, who sometimes struggle against the energy constraint on turn 6.
Angela and Elsa are nerfed enough that they might not make the cut; moreover, they vie for the same ‘play cards here’ payoff slot that Hope is filling. (There may be another version of this deck that instead leans into playing Angela and Elsa with Hope, which I’d also be eager to see.)
Immortal X-Men (2022) #2, writer Kieron Gillen, artist Lucas Werneck, colors David Curiel
It’s The Hope That Kills You
Thanos Hope
True to the text, Hope’s just as terrifying in a more villainous shell. Thanos needs a new ramp option in the wake of Lockjaw’s nerf— and lo and behold, here she is! She’s a 3-cost, ramps, and even takes advantage of the Stones similarly.
The deck’s got small triggers for Hope’s ramp, big 6-drops like Blob and Magneto to take advantage of the ramp, and even already ran both Jeff and Vision to synergize with Lockjaw’s similarly location-specific ability. While Hope doesn’t quite duplicate Lockjaw’s ability to churn through the deck, it still might put some of the nefarious plays the deck was capable of back on the map.
Dastardly.
Immoral X-Men (2023) #2, writer Kieron Gillen, artist Andrea Di Vito, colors Jim Charalampidis
WWHSD— What Would Hope Summers Do?
Hope Surfer
A third option remains ever-present: no matter how novel the effect, how limitless the applications, how vast the potential…
3-Cost Card go in 3-Cost deck.
Silver Surfer gets a new 3/4 toy, and as a deck that’s always wanting a little more energy, Hope is a perfect fit. Rather than Sera on 5, we can structure the deck around Hope’s ability to get two turns of 6 energy when played on curve— a magic number for Surfer. The extra energy also gives us more room to squeeze in 1-drops like Nova and Daken’s Muramasa Shard, and in general, clunkier elements like Nakia, Shaw, and Wong might become much easier to use effectively.
There are so many ways to build Surfer, but Hope feels like a great opportunity to try and make some of the non-Patriot pieces work: failing that, I have no doubt she’ll slot into any existing Surfer shell and excel at doing it.
Immortal X-Men (2022) #5, writer Kieron Gillen, artist Michele Bandini, colors David Curiel
Prepare For The Worst, Hope For The Best
Now, there are some things to remember about Hope— as much as you might see her and immediately see infinite energy floating everywhere, there are some things to be mindful of. At a base level, Hope won’t give you any energy until turn 5; drop her on 3, proc her on 4. Similarly, you’ll need to play at her location again to get more ramp— something that might prevent you from just windmill-slamming two massive six drops in a row. There will be more planning than some folks think, ensuring you get the energy for each subsequent turn.
And while her trigger effect leaves her pretty much untouchable to traditional tech cards like Enchantress or Shang-Chi, she can run into trouble against decks that interfere with that trigger. Clog decks might find her lane particularly easy to block up, while cards like Sandman will stop you from using her energy on multiple plays.
This is all to say that while Hope is safe and flexible, she’s a bit different from the max-energy-per-turn our previous ramp options Electro and Corvus Glaive offer— you’ll need to put effort in each turn to get energy out.
Jean Grey (2017) #9, writer Dennis Hopeless, artist Victor Ibañez, colors Jay David Ramos
Pictures of Mutant Jesus
Hope’s entering the game with two variants at launch: a PANDART studio original and an Adi Granov cover from X-Force (2008) #28. The PANDART is the spotlight variant, and it’s in a new style for the studio (part of a series of Spotlight Variants for Pixie, Cannonball, Mockingbird, and War Machine), using some extreme forced perspective and kinetic line work to convey dynamism. It’s reminiscent of someone like Kim Jacinto, and while I’m always a little skeptical of studio work, I can’t deny this set is tight. Take an exclusive peek at it both here in the brand-new unreleased Space Finish!
The other is by comic art veteran Adi Granov, giving our mutant messiah an appropriately deific pose in his trademark polished realism and muted colors. It’s grand, powerful, and a wonderful pull from when Hope was at the center of the X-universe.
Hope’s in a weird spot where, for a moment in the 2000s, she was the most important X-Character, at the center of the mutant race and every event involving them— and afterward, she’s been hanging around at varying levels of relevance, era to era. As a relatively obscure character by mainstream standards, we’ll likely see a good deal of original art for Hope in Snap moving forward, though there are some fun covers that I hope make the cut down the line.
Verdict
Hope Summers feels like one of the safest bets for a playable Season Pass card that we’ve seen in a while— ‘playable’ quite possibly being a massive understatement. Season Pass is already the best value you can get out of the game, disregarding the Pass card completely, and Hope will likely elevate that immensely.
I am excited that another relatively deep cut is getting such spotlight recognition, especially a simultaneously obscure and essential character. She’s an emblem of mutant-kind and the famed convolution of X-Men writing, and I cannot wait to constantly explain her comics-absurd story to folks drowning in extra energy.
X-stuff, baby!
Avengers vs. X-Men: Versus (2011) #6, writer Kieron Gillen, pencils Jim Cheung, colors David Curiel, inkers Jim Cheung, Mark Roslan, and Mark Morales