Marvel Snap is full of cheaters
Over time, the number of players who cheat has steadily increased. Also, the developers actively encourage people to cheat and have made it easier to cheat every month. What am I talking about? Energy and card costs.
With the Avengers vs. X-Men season coming to a close, what can we say was the defining characteristic? Undoubtedly, it was energy cheating.
It's almost impossible to have an ‘honest’ game of Snap these days. Most top-tier decks cheat in some way, breaking the rules of Snap to play cards earlier than normal or play more cards than you'd normally be able to.
- Cards that discount costs or give extra energy dominate the metagame
- Some of the worst offenders and their history are discussed below
- Decks featuring these cards are included at the end
Cheating has never been quite as egregious as it is now. The season pass card, Hope Summers, the week 1 release, Pixie, and the Week 2 release, Mockingbird, all give energy or give discounts on card costs. The week 4 release, Warmachine, introduces a novel way to cheat by bypassing not only location restrictions but also card play restrictions. Then we have Utopia, a new location that discounts 3-cost and 4-cost cards. This truly is the season of cheating.
Mugshot Wall
Gaining extra energy or getting discounted card costs used to be rare or have significant drawbacks. Now, it's plentiful, and the drawbacks can be easily mitigated or even turned into an advantage. So, who are the biggest cheaters in Snap? Let’s look at some of the worst offenders and their history. Some were even stronger than they are now!
Zabu
For the more discerning of cheaters, those that consider themselves connoisseurs of cheating. Zabu has long been regarded as one of the best cheater's in the game. 4-costs have powerful effects, so two 4-cost cards on turn 6 can be very powerful. But did you know this card was even more broken on release? Zabu used to cost 3, but gave a discount of 2. 2! Unthinkable! In its current form, Zabu is still one of the most popular and powerful cards in the game, and every 4-cost card that gets added to the game only makes this card stronger. You should be ashamed of yourself for using this card.
Zabu
| Date | Cost | Power | Description |
|---|---|---|---|
| 2024-04-10 |
2
|
3
|
Curr: On Reveal: Until the end of next turn, your 4-Cost cards cost 1 less.
Prev: Ongoing: Your 4-Cost cards cost 1 less. (minimum 1)
|
| 2023-02-06 |
2
|
2
|
Curr: Ongoing: Your 4-Cost cards cost 1 less. (minimum 1)
Prev: Ongoing: Your 4-Cost cards cost 2 less. (minimum 1)
|
|
Released
2023-01-03
|
3 | 2 | Ongoing: Your 4-Cost cards cost 2 less. (minimum 1) |
| 2022-11-03 |
3
|
2
|
Curr: Ongoing: Your 4-Cost cards cost 2 less. (minimum 1)
Prev: If this is in your hand when you discard a card, put that card back and discard this instead.
|
| 2022-05-24 |
5
|
7
|
If this is in your hand when you discard a card, put that card back and discard this instead.
|
Hope Summers
The poster child for a new era of cheating, we’re in uncharted territory here. Most successful as yet another tool for Thanos, it doesn’t end there. Multiple archetypes have welcomed her, giving their decks an omega-level power-up. Not really the Mutant Messiah we were hoping for to save the meta.
Loki
We still don't know what happened at TVA that allowed this card to be released the way it did. Somehow, our timeline didn't get pruned, and we suffered through some of the most oppressive cheating to date for a full season. Instead of initially nerfing Loki, other cards were changed. Ultimately, the hammer fell on Loki, but he is still present. It’s a high-skill cap card, but that doesn’t improve it. It’s still mischievous and deceitful, chicanerous and deplorable.
Loki
| Date | Cost | Power | Description |
|---|---|---|---|
| 2024-01-09 |
4
|
5
|
Curr: On Reveal: Transform your hand into cards from your opponent's starting deck and give them -1 Cost.
Prev: On Reveal: Replace your hand with cards from your opponent's starting deck. Give them -1 cost.
|
| 2023-10-26 |
4
|
5
|
On Reveal: Replace your hand with cards from your opponent's starting deck. Give them -1 cost.
|
|
Released
2023-09-05
|
3 | 5 | On Reveal: Replace your hand with cards from your opponent's starting deck. Give them -1 cost. |
| 2023-08-08 |
3
|
5
|
On Reveal: Replace your hand with cards from your opponent's starting deck. Give them -1 cost.
|
| 2023-07-12 |
3
|
4
|
Curr: On Reveal: Replace your hand with cards from your opponent's starting deck. Give them -1 cost.
Prev: Never gonna let you down.
|
| 2023-06-13 |
1
|
1
|
Never gonna let you down.
|
| 2022-12-10 |
0
|
0
|
On Reveal: Swap hands with your opponent
|
Pixie
On release, Pixie quickly took over as the most-played series 5 card in the game. No small feat for a brand-new card with limited accessibility compared to old cards! However, she quickly tumbled down the ranks and still finds her place. Pixie hasn’t settled into a particular deck or archetype yet, and there’s an inherent potential in any future card releases. Shuffling all the costs is a bit of a gamble, and if you’ve already drawn your cheaper cards, you won’t get as much value from it, but it can still result in some seriously big discounts on cards. This is for risk-takers who love to high roll.
Mister Negative
For many cheaters, this inverted villain is a hero. Able to produce grossly high power totals, the highest in the game, many are drawn to the forbidden fruit that Mr Negative offers. Wise players retreat when this card comes down early. Some are stubborn or bad at math and stay to lose all their cubes or to see the spectacular combos this card enables. Incredibly, he used to be 4 power instead of -1! Swapping cost and power can give you multiple 0-cost cards to play far more cards than an honest person could. Sickening.
Mister Negative
| Date | Cost | Power | Description |
|---|---|---|---|
| 2022-10-04 |
4
|
-1
|
On Reveal: Swap the Power and Cost of all cards in your deck.
|
| 2022-09-21 |
4
|
1
|
On Reveal: Swap the Power and Cost of all cards in your deck.
|
|
Released
2022-05-24
|
4 | 4 | On Reveal: Swap the Power and Cost of all cards in your deck. |
Sera
With only 6 turns in a normal game, spending all of turn 5 to get a discount on turn 6 might seem like a waste or too slow. However, it’s proven to be quite effective, especially in conjunction with other discounters, like Zabu, and running several tech cards to counter the opponent's plays. Sera has found her way into several different types of decks and even her own archetype, adapting and continuing to exist every season. Mostly unchanged, Sera has only received a 1-power nerf. With no restrictions on what gets discounted and discounting everything in your hand, this should be illegal.
Sera
| Date | Cost | Power | Description |
|---|---|---|---|
| 2024-02-20 |
5
|
4
|
Curr: Ongoing: Cards in your hand cost 1 less. (minimum 1)
Prev: Ongoing: Cards in your hand cost 1 less. (minimum 1) +1 Power Couple: Angela
|
| 2024-02-13 |
5
|
4
|
Curr: Ongoing: Cards in your hand cost 1 less. (minimum 1) +1 Power Couple: Angela
Prev: Ongoing: Cards in your hand cost 1 less. (minimum 1)
|
| 2022-11-29 |
5
|
4
|
Ongoing: Cards in your hand cost 1 less. (minimum 1)
|
|
Released
2022-05-24
|
5 | 5 | Ongoing: Cards in your hand cost 1 less. (minimum 1) |
Time Stone
If anything proves the power an extra energy can make in this game, this is it. This seemingly innocuous 1-cost was so problematic it had to be changed to discount a card instead of giving energy.
Time Stone
| Date | Cost | Power | Description |
|---|---|---|---|
| 2024-04-04 |
1
|
1
|
Curr: On Reveal: Give Thanos -1 Cost next turn. Draw a card.
Prev: On Reveal: Draw a card and give it -1 Cost.
|
| 2024-03-12 |
1
|
1
|
Curr: On Reveal: Draw a card and give it -1 Cost.
Prev: On Reveal: Draw a card. Next turn, you get +1 Energy.
|
| 2022-05-24 |
1
|
1
|
On Reveal: Draw a card. Next turn, you get +1 Energy.
|
Corvus Glaive
Good stats for cost, and a downside that gives a huge boost to Hela - what more could you ask for? Honesty, that’s what. The only downside is if you discard Hela, which, depending on whether it's you or your opponent, is either every time or never.
Ravonna Renslayer
If you need further proof of how much the developers support cheating, this is it. Here, we have an example of a cheating card actually getting buffed. Initially, Ravonna wasn't particularly popular, so the buff was justified. But the fact that it needed a buff at all says more about the existing power level than the card itself.
Ravonna Renslayer
| Date | Cost | Power | Description |
|---|---|---|---|
| 2023-12-05 |
2
|
3
|
Ongoing: Your cards with 1 or less Power cost 1 less. (minimum 1)
|
| 2023-10-31 |
2
|
1
|
Ongoing: Your cards with 1 or less Power cost 1 less. (minimum 1)
|
|
Released
2023-09-19
|
3 | 3 | Ongoing: Your cards with 1 or less Power cost 1 less. (minimum 1) |
| 2023-07-12 |
3
|
3
|
Curr: Ongoing: Your cards with 1 or less Power cost 1 less. (minimum 1)
Prev: You know the rules, and so do I.
|
| 2023-06-13 |
1
|
1
|
You know the rules, and so do I.
|
Mockingbird
Thanos players could not believe their luck. It turns out that a free 9-power buff to your deck where you don't have to change how you play at all or change any cards to get the discount is pretty good. So much so that Thanos has successfully shrugged off multiple nerfs and continues to dominate. Will Mockingbird be next? With so many cards being nerfed simply because Thanos uses them, one has to wonder how much collateral damage people's collections will need to take before Thanos gets a rework or major adjustment.
The Hero We Need
Mobius M Mobius
Our hero. Everyone’s favorite jet ski-riding TVA analyst. Keeping the cheaters in check, and for the March 2024 ‘Avengers vs. X-Men’ Season, the most popular Series 4 card for all ranks. Mobius had a brief rework, which caused a bit of an uproar due to the controversial developer comments surrounding it and was subsequently mostly restored. People celebrated the rework. Tell me you’re a cheater without telling me you’re a cheater. Those who stand for truth and justice play this card. Consider yourself an honorary member of the TVA.
Mobius M Mobius
| Date | Cost | Power | Description |
|---|---|---|---|
| 2023-11-09 |
3
|
3
|
Curr: Ongoing: Your Costs can't be increased. Your opponent's Costs can't be reduced.
Prev: On Reveal: Until the end of next turn, your Costs can't be increased and your opponent's Costs can't be reduced.
|
| 2023-10-31 |
2
|
3
|
Curr: On Reveal: Until the end of next turn, your Costs can't be increased and your opponent's Costs can't be reduced.
Prev: Ongoing: Your Costs can't be increased. Your opponent's Costs can't be reduced.
|
|
Released
2023-09-26
|
2 | 3 | Ongoing: Your Costs can't be increased. Your opponent's Costs can't be reduced. |
| 2023-07-12 |
2
|
3
|
Curr: Ongoing: Your Costs can't be increased. Your opponent's Costs can't be reduced.
Prev: Never gonna let you down.
|
| 2023-06-13 |
1
|
1
|
Never gonna let you down.
|
If you can’t beat them... Join them, and then beat them
So you’ve decided you can’t play an honest game of Snap and need to cheat to win. I get it. You’ve tried your best to be a pure Snap player. You’ve moved cards, destroyed cards, and discarded cards. Nothing works, and those swindlers have beaten you every time. There are too many decks to list, but here’s a small sample to whet your appetite as you walk down the dark path. Don’t say I didn’t warn you.
Seratonin
Let’s add as many cheating cards as possible and see what happens. Oh, look at that; it’s completely broken. If you want to max out the power in lanes and maybe hit the integer limit, this is the one for you.
Loki
Here, we have discounting and extra energy—birds of a feather, eh? This is primarily a standard Loki deck, with Hope making things stronger.
High Evo w/ Pixie
Pixie and, unsurprisingly, Hope makes an appearance here. Some versions also run Mobius that not only helps shut down the opponent but also ‘fix’ Pixie, giving you nothing but cards at their original cost or cheaper.
Patriot
You've likely seen so many Thanos decks with Mockingbird you don't need to see another one. So here's a patriot deck instead. With the inclusion of Silver Surfer, it's one of the more honest decks listed. Oh, except for Alioth, but let's not go there. That's a whole different kettle of fish.
Closing Comments
How do you feel about all the cheating in Marvel Snap at the moment? Do you love it? Would you change anything? Let us know in the comments below!