Snappy Review - Arachnid Anarchy
Hey everyone! This time we’re doing things a little differently. That’s right, we’re going against the norm. Down with the established protocols! Instead of our usual 5 Star rating system we are kicking it up a notch and going all the way to 10! Now stand back and be blown away by all the new cards. Let’s go through them at the same pace as my Marvel Snap games. Fast! Snappy!
Great move card, but might be too balanced for this era of snap
Alright so why aren’t I as hyped about this as everyone else. On the surface this card seems like it should be great. It can move on its own, it’s stealing Power, what’s not to love? Well you see there’s another 3-Cost card that scales its Power when it moves and it’s so much better than this one. As long as Human Torch doubles its own Power, this card will always be seen as lesser. Spider-Punk may even be not as good of a choice for your move deck than Dagger. Currently we are in a metagame where you want to be multiplying your Power as fast as you can, but when we go back to a slower pace, this card gets much better.
For a more in-depth look at Spider-Punk, check out the preview article here!
Just the biggest guy imaginable.
Wins 1 lane no problem, but has the classic snap problem of needing to win 2
Wow now this is some card text. I may be severely underrating this card. There’s some funky things going on under the hood here that may not be apparent at first glance if you are unfamiliar with how the Merge keyword works. The key thing to note is that this happens any time this merges, not just through its On Reveal ability. Agony, Hulkbuster, even Blob! You can get this guy up to some comically large numbers.
I won’t spend much more talking about Man-Spider since I already had this great article about it here! Check it out for all my thoughts on it. Spoiler I think this card is great!
Fair max Energy ramp in a time where we have lots of max Energy options
Another card that’s getting a bunch of community hype that I’m not a fan of. There are so many ways these days to get extra Energy, that Superior Spider-Man almost doesn’t feel worth it. While he has arguably the simplest condition to meet, that very condition makes deckbuilding awkward. The kind of stuff that enables him as early as turns 1 and 2 are not the same things you want to be ramping into on turns 5 and 6. In a world where decks are evolving around synergies and combos, Superior Spider-Man is left alone without a clear deck.
Another first week card, another preview article! If you’re looking for another opinion on Superior Spider-Man check it out here.
Let’s one of your cards do whatever a Spider can
I really want to like this one. What’s more iconic and cool than a Spider’s Web Sling? It just seems too slow. I almost wish it was like Spider-Man and immediately moved something. This isn’t a knock against collectable skill cards. I actually think those are cool. I have a theory about them. They are only good when they are helping you cheat on Power or Energy. Unless you are specifically moving a move scaler with this (and lets be real its gotta be Human Torch) then you aren’t gaining any Power and are actually wasting Energy.
Not much effort required to turn this into one of the biggest 2-Cost cards in the game
How many times do we think we will be able to move this guy? 3? 4? 2? Best case dream scenario is a 2/10? I like that. It’ll fit nicely into those old Silky Smooth style decks. The ones where you are playing down a bunch of cheap moves and finishing with a Hydra Stomper. This kind of value based point system is what people tend to think of as “Fair Snap”, but it tends to fall behind when everyone is doubling and quadrupling power fast (looking at you, Deadpool and Human Torch). We just had last season’s Zombie Mister Fantastic who was evaluated as basically a 2/8 and now we have the same situation with Ezekiel Sims. Is Ezekiel Simms another case of this or do the move synergies elevate this card into being more than the sum of its parts?.
Use this to double up on a specific lane winning card
On my initial read of this I thought, “oh this is bad. Why do I want to repeat a card in the same lane?” But then someone said the simple words “Cerebro 3” and now I see the vision. If you’re a Cerebro Enjoyer this is probably a pick up for you and that alone is gonna make this worth more than some of the rest of stuff in the month Other than that I can’t imagine it does more for copying strategies and something like Jocasta for activates or Mystique for ongoings.
A complex puzzle with a prize that could be worth it
Did Second Dinner get Nicholas Cage to design his own card? Because this is a weird one. I have heard very mixed takes on Spider-Man Noir. It was for worst card of the season back when it was a 4/4 in the datamines, no doubt about that for me. However, now that it’s a 4/6 I’m seeing people start to get the wheels turning in their heads.You might think the extra Power doesn’t matter since his ability is looking at Cost not Power, except you do need to also be paying attention to the Power that you’re putting on board.
Playing a bunch of squirrels or Mysterio illusions to satisfy his condition leaves you with very blank board powerwise while simultaneously filling up your species. Now that Spider-Man Noir has 6 Power and the thing you’re dropping down has 8, you are getting 14 points of Power for only 4 Cost. Is this enough to make building around Noir a good idea? I’m not sure, I tend to think no but I also wasn’t impressed with Wiccan at first. What if this is the second coming of Wiccan?
I can’t believe they are making this. I’m very into these kind of easy to sneak in tech cards
Let me wax lyrical about this card for a second. I love 1-Cost answers especially when they don’t take up space on the board. I can solve a problem that’s in front of me and not have to commit to that lane. It easily fits into energy curves since it has such a low cost, allowing you not to waste energy when draws get awkward. Not to mention synergies with stuff like Zombie Scarlet Witch and Werewolf by Night. I’m very excited about how this is going to help decks.
Now, this doesn’t mean it doesn’t have any downsides. Not every deck will be able to freely use 1 energy to not put any real power on the board. It is also prohibitive on what it affects since it’s only 3-Cost cards or lower. It’s not Power based like Red Guardian is. It’ll affect a different suite of cards than him, with some overlap. This isn’t enough to make me doubt Deafening Chord however, just want to point out how it’s not perfect.
Did I mention it’s a Series 4 card? Super cheap!
A symmetrical card that you certainly want to make asymmetrical
I just have one word for you guys. Mobius. This card is going to be Mobius‘s new best friend. Instead of being paired with the randomness of Pixie you can now pair Mobius with Hydro-Man and know for sure that the next card is going to cost 1. It comes with its own new randomness, not knowing what the next card of your deck is (no, I’m not suggesting we play Howard the Duck). Knowing that your draw isn’t subject to a random Pixie number like 3 or 5 or whatever is going to be great, especially when Mobius is keeping your opponent’s card at their original cost. Not to mention Hydro-Man at 8 Power is very impressive. You’re definitely not losing momentum by playing him on curve.
You’re gonna find this thief sneaking into every deck you have
They really know what they are doing, leaving this card for the last week of the season. Probably the most anticipated card I’ve seen everyone talk about Prower is arguably the best version of a “Kate Bishop type card” that they could print. The design to make them skills as opposed to cards that stay on the board is huge! Not just for Prowler, but also for cards like Werewolf by Night or Zombie Scarlet Witch, which are really big right now. You don’t even have to fulfill the condition to make them 0-Cost for them to be good.
That being said, let’s clear up this little bit of misconception. The cost reduction only happens at the same time as the On Reveal. I’ve seen a lot of people are confusing the text to be like Miles Morales. Unfortunately that’s not how it works. That means we’re looking at cards that can move on turn 2 if you wanna play this on curve. That’s a very small list. We’re basically looking at Nightcrawler. I wouldn’t even worry about that. I would just go with the one cost version of them and still be very happy.
So how did I do? For more detailed analysis on each card be sure to check out our New card Previews coming out at the beginning of each week all month long!
This is also the last chance for your ratings and comments to make it into this month’s Snapcheck! Check out the introduction to Snapcheck here. We would love to see all your comments and ratings on the new cards! Let us know down below what you think of the new cards coming this season!