The king is dead! The king is dead! Long live the new king!
For the first time in Most Wanted history, Mephisto is dethroned from the top of the Most Wanted list. Not only is he no longer the #1 most wanted character, but he’s also sunk all the way to number 8 on the list. The gates of hell have been closed, and Mephisto will haunt our Marvel Snap nightmares no more!
But in his place, a new fiery foe rises… Pyro is now the #1-ranked character! There’s nothing people love more than a cool fire dude. The fire motif in Marvel Snap has shown itself in a few different archetypes. Sunspot and Jim Hammond turn energy into power. Human Torch and Frankie Raye both grow their power with a variety of triggers. Clea and the upcoming Lockheed both use fire to inflict negative power. What kind of firepower would you expect to see from Pyro? (Personally, I’m imagining an Activate card that inflicts negative damage in the lanes to his left and right - an affliction Ms. Marvel that splits Omega Sentinel’s power between lanes.)
Joining Pyro on the list this month are a variety of returning faces, but also some new friends! Making their debut in the Top 20 this month are X-Men allies Longshot, Sunfire, and the aforementioned Lockheed, who makes his debut in just a few weeks. Along with them is Shi’ar villain, Deathbird. A Starjammers/Shiar season is definitely up there as one of my most wanted seasons. (Hmm… is there interest in a Most Wanted season poll one day?)
Here are some other interesting things of note from the list:
- The highest-ranked newcomer from our batch of 15 is Mr. Immortal, who clocks in at number 89. This month’s list of new characters was probably the poorest received so far. There were definitely a few deep cuts in there, but I wasn’t expecting them to place as low as they did, especially among Great Lakes Avengers and classic Guardians of the Galaxy.
- In his final month on the poll, Fin Fang Foom nearly fell off the Top 20 entirely, ending his run at 18, after consistently being in the top 5 for previous months. Similar to Spider-Punk, Noir, and Prowler, I’m noticing a trend of high-ranking characters losing steam just before entering the game. I think this has to do with people wanting to save their “5” votes for a limited number of characters, and prioritizing characters whose entrance to the game is less imminent.
- Throwing that theory into disarray, Lockheed is the highest he’s ever been at rank 12. I ranked him higher than usual myself this month, as he looks to be super fun and flexible to play with.
- Ten of the top 20 characters hail from the X-Men universe. The fans demand more mutants. We’ve had a month of them now, but how long will we have to wait for more?
- Finally, Orrgo is saved! From the bottom of the poll to not even being in the bottom ten. I hope that picture of him last week really did sway a few of you. (And maybe a final push from BEWD as well… Although he forgot to campaign for Ikaris, who dropped down to 48, after being in the Top 20 last month.)
Here’s the complete list!
Second Chance Contest
The second chance contest is officially over. The poll, which was an optional extra at the end of this month’s vote, still had over 140 participants. Thank you to everyone who took an extra moment to try to save a beloved character.
Because I enjoyed the poll so much, and also hate to disappoint people, I’ve decided to add the three highest vote getters back onto the list next month.
They are as follows:
- Dogpool - 16 votes
- Ex Nihilo - 10 votes
- Shathra - 9 votes
Of all thirty characters you could choose from, each one received at least one vote. For the three characters I highlighted with Character Spotlights, Kushala received 6 votes, Ruby Thursday received 5, and Wild Child received 8. I want to think that my push helped them, and perhaps if I do another second-chance vote down the line, they’ll make it back.
The character I voted for was Ex Nihilo - one of my favorite Jonathan Hickman creations, from one of my favorite Hickman runs. If you haven’t checked out his Avengers series leading up to his Secret Wars event, there’s no better time than now.
The Bottom
As I mentioned in the first December post, I’m only going to be removing ten total characters from the list each month. In this case, it appears that three characters will be graduating from the list, resulting in dropping the lowest 7, who are, this month:
- Happy Hogan
- Smasher
- Alex Wilder
- The Wall
- Blackjack O’Hare
- Gentle
- Aleta Ogord
The most surprising thing here is Aleta Ogord, who just entered the list this month. I figured grouping her with Martinex and Charlie-27, who she cameos with in the MCU Guardians of the Galaxy movies, would result in the three of them performing reasonably well. Instead, Charlie-27 came in at 229, Martinex right behind him at 231, and then Aleta bringing up the rear. I’m curious if this was a matter of name recognition more than anything else? Either way, it’s sad to see her go so soon.
Other notable drops include Happy Hogan, who seems inevitable to be in the game, and Alex Wilder from Runaways.
Conclusion
January’s list is coming up soon, and along with new characters to vote for, I’m bringing with it an additional competition between some of your favorite Snap.Fan writers and personalities. I don’t want to give away too much too soon, but I think it will be beyond your wildest fantasy…
As usual, thank you to everyone for voting! I wish everyone a wonderful holiday season and look forward to what 2026 brings for Marvel Snap! Cheers to more characters graduating off the list and into the game!