October is in full swing, and the monsters are out, celebrating the Undead Horde season and getting ready for Halloween! This week we’re going to continue our tour of the Legion of Monsters, by taking a look at N’Kantu, The Living Mummy. We’ll take a brief look at his history, and see what kind of card a Marvel Snap Mummy would be. But before we dive into the sands, here’s a quick update on this month’s Marvel Snap Most Wanted!
I’ll start with the most exciting piece of news. There is a shake-up in the Top 20! There are currently FIVE new entrants at the top of the list of Most Wanted characters. I’m honestly a little bit surprised. I thought significant change would happen next month, when a number of the top characters graduate during the Spider-season, but I suppose some of you could not wait to usher in fresh faces. I’m not going to reveal the Top 20 until the season wrap-up, because things may change, but I will share this - one of the new entrants to the list this month is clearly a fan favorite that I overlooked.
Speaking of the new entrants, I’m sorry to say that Manphibian is currently in the bottom 10 and at risk of being cut next month. I thought his monstrous connections might help him out a little bit this month, but it appears that is not the case. My dreams of a weird fish-creature season with Ch’od, Triton and Manphibian are fleeting.
Simon Garth, Zombie, also new this season, and highlighted in this month’s first Most Wanted article is sitting pretty at 83 on the list. That puts him in the top third of the list, which is reasonable for a fairly niche (albeit thematic) character.
Finally, at the risk of spoiling the end-of-month results… Mephisto is still staking his claim at the top of the list. I have put a lot of thought into when (or if) Mephisto will make it into Marvel Snap, and I have a few conspiracy theories that have been brewing in the back of my mind. I’ll save them for this month’s wrap-up article, but there is some evidence that puts into question Mephisto’s ultimate Marvel Snap fate.
If you haven’t voted yet, there’s still time! This month’s poll will close shortly before the end of the Undead Horde season. Take a few moments to vote and let me know who you want to see in Marvel Snap.
VOTE HERE
Character Spotlight: N’Kantu the Living Mummy
If you only knew N’Kantu from his role as a member of the Legion of Monsters, you owe it to yourself to peel back some of the wrap, and learn about the man underneath. N’Kantu was introduced in 1973 in Marvel’s Supernatural Thrillers line of comics. Unlike Simon Garth, who wasn’t always the greatest in life, N’Kantu was the beloved ruler of a fictional African kingdom that was taken over and enslaved by ancient Egyptians. When he tries to revolt, the Pharoah’s wizard, Nephrus, paralyzes him, and begins the process of mummification. Before the process is complete, an earthquake causes a cave-in, killing Nephrus, and trapping N’Kantu for thousands of years. When N’Kantu finally awakens in modern day, he has lost his mind, and begins terrorizing the people of Cairo.
Like I said, N’Kantu’s tale is tragic, and while outwardly scary, he holds on strong to his past, and lets it guide him. N’Kantu is driven towards justice.
Not including Stranger Tales, N’Kantu has had nearly 50 appearances in Marvel Comics over the years, serving mostly as a member of the Legion of Monsters. After an early run-in with Captain America, which ends surprisingly amicably, N’Kantu has various team-ups with The Thing, Deadpool, and both Elsa and Ulysses Bloodstone. With the Legion of Monsters, he also fights alongside Daredevil and Franken Castle.
The Living Mummy, with his long-lived experience, often serves as voice of reason amongst the group, and when he wants to he can be surprisingly well-spoken and compassionate.
One of my favorite finds researching for this article was a bonus story included at the back of Jonathan Hickman’s 2007 Legion of Monsters: Satana story. With both story, and art credits, Hickman retells the origin of N’Kantu, and connects his modern day story to Anubis, the god of death. Plus, there are infographics! Who doesn’t love learning about mummification?
N’Kantu, the Living Mummy in Marvel Snap
Along with Simon Garth, N’Kantu would make a welcome addition to Marvel Snap in a Legion of Monsters season. While reading various stories about N’Kantu, some of the images that stuck out to me most were N’Kantu jumping out to frighten people. When you connect that with his “return from the dead”, I decided I wanted to design a card that could itself return from the dead to frighten people.
N’Kantu The Living Mummy - 5/8 - If this card is discarded, at the end of the game, return it to the location with the fewest total cards.
We already have cards that can return from being destroyed, so I wanted to see if there was room for a card that could return from a different kind of death. The Living Mummy card is a twist on the Proxima Midnight type of card, where they belong in a discard deck, but if you play them out normally, something has gone horribly wrong. I toyed with giving N’Kantu a little bit more power, but when you think about the ease at which you can discard him, I decided 8 was a safer place to start.
The other aspect of this card that I enjoyed is that it forces you to think about the number of cards (both yours and your opponents) in each location. This gives you some control over where N’Kantu pops up at the end of the game, but your opponent can also influence his surprise attack.
In terms of what discard deck this best fits into, it will be strongest in a deck without Swarm, who might take up too many spaces on the board. Instead you probably want to focus on larger discard rewards, like Khonshu, Apocalypse and Dracula. A monstrous crew, where N’Kantu fits right in. Throw in Gambit, Zombie Power Man, and Colonel America and you have yourself a pretty scary deck.
N'Kantu Discard
So what do you think? Does N’Kantu deserve a place in Marvel Snap? In his first month on the poll, The Living Mummy currently sits at 118 - not bad, but room to improve. If you haven’t yet, there’s still time to vote in the October edition of Marvel Snap Most Wanted!
I have an Undead Horde season pass to give away! Create a deck using N’Kantu and link it here, with an explanation behind your thought process on designing the deck. Include your Discord handle and a winner will be decided early next week! That’s a wrap!