I’m late! I apologize for that but I was deep in the lab, testing theories and formulas to be sure that I could understand each of these new upcoming cards. Let’s stretch those brains and check out the new cards for the Fantastic Four season. I’m here to help break it down, but I like my card evaluations like I like my Marvel Snap games. Fast. Snappy!
I’ve also gathered my own “Council of Reeds” to determine these card ratings. Let’s see what I thought compared to them!
The most flexible card of the season!
Hitting cards in hand is so much better than in deck.
Cards you hold for latter will love either buff.
Having played with Fantastic for the last week I can say this guy definitely meets and beats expectations. One of my most repeated snap opinions is that the later you can allocate your Power, the easier time you will have to win. Mister Fantastic facilitates that both by buffing your cards with more Power or with a reduced cost. You can either sneak in an extra card on the final turn or play the card they were expecting but not at the Power they were thinking of. Sure they can account for a 3/4 Cyclops but they can’t account for the 3/8 instead!
This little guy is quickly becoming one of the best 2-Costs in the game!
Many different synergy hooks
All involving putting points on the board
Herbie has so many different modes and synergies that I won’t spend time going over them all here. If you’re looking for that, you should check out my recent article about Herbie here.
Instead let’s talk about how he feels. In a word? Amazing. While he does have a slight issue with timing the proper mode on the right turn, all his modes work together in your general gameplan of “getting the most points on the board.” His quote unquote worst mode is still a 2/6. Getting to play a great stated 2-Cost with multiple modes of upside is a treat. He reminds me a little of old Sam Wilson where he’s got lots of hooks stapled on to a competitive statline.
Soaring through the screen bringing High Evo back to life
It’s like Surfer for budget cards
Real question is, is this worth $10 to you?
It’s been a hot minute since I’ve gotten to play a High Evolutionary deck and I’m loving every minute of it. There’s something so primal about being able to slam a 20 Power Hulk. Fantasticar helps glue this to the small points package from the early game. Your Misty Knight and Mister Fantastic and even Bruce Banner (when he doesn’t Hulk Out) all hold a lane down so much better when you know they are getting an extra +2 Power at the end.
Yes, Car is a new pass card so it can’t be gotten free-to-play, but I imagine next season this deck will still exist and continue to be a great preinfinite climbing tool. In a few short weeks Fantasticar will be available in the Seasonal Series 4 packs for all the free-to-play players.
This has gotta be the best card of the month
Points that aren’t disrupted by ShangChi
Doubling Power historically very good
This is the one getting all the buzz and for good reason. Silver Surfer decks are already doing really well this meta, and a card like Torch is going to push it over the top. Not only is Torch more Power, but it’s safe Power. You can invest your buffs into him knowing it can’t be hit with Shang-Chi provided you dodge priority for the final turn or stay under his range. Since Torch doubles at the End of Turn, it can dodge tech no matter who has the priority. Outside of surfer, I’m wondering could this replace Cyclops in the High Evolutionary deck? They do similar things without the awkwardness of having to play Cyclops off curve or losing to Luke Cage.
My personal favorite of the month
Truly encapsulates Clobberin Time
This card gives me Cannonball-esque vibes
In a similar vein to Human Torch, The Thing will be able to grow its own Power without being a Shang-Chi target. Playing him on curve gets you a 5/10, generally more Power then you get from a 5-Cost these days. The Cannonball comparisons come from the destroy part of the ability. Filling up the lane is quite a condition but if you can pull it off it should have enough of an impact to win you the lane. Power from tech cards themselves is typically low, look at Shang-Chi. The Thing destroying only lower power stuff can come in handy and end up having a high impact. Cards like Cerebro or Iron Man have abilities that impact the game state without having high Power. This is the kind of stuff you want The Thing to clobber.
Someone has to be the worst and it’s easy to see who it is this season
Not many decks want you to have a full hand, you’d rather just play the stuff
A lot like Nicholas Scratch from last season, Mad Thinker is a 1-Cost scaler for a deck that doesn’t exist. Not many decks want to fill your hand these days. Historically there was the old Loki deck with Snowguard which you would transform into other cards, but that doesn’t exist anymore. How often can you even trigger this? Doing it twice gets you into the realm of 1/5s, which is a good place to be, but is it worth doing? This isn’t even an End of Turn ability so it doesn’t synergies with the other cards from this season. If it was we could make some arguments for Mad Thinker, but as it is this card looks bad. He has been confirmed to be one of the rewards from this season’s game mode, Grand Arena.
Very exciting Series 4 card!
Victoria Hand decks love this type of ability
Remember it says COST not POWER!
I know everyone read this wrong the first time. You don’t get 1/20 Rocks by banishing The Infinaut but that doesn’t mean this card won’t see play. Creating 2 Rocks is going to be great for Victoria Hand decks, which seems to keep getting slow incremental buffs. This card reminds me of something like Kate Bishop. Giving you extra 1-Costs to play not only help smooth out the curve but allow you to leverage 5-Cost finishers as well. Mole Man has been confirmed to be the other reward for Grand Arena. Of the two rewards this is the one you want to get.
I’m not as high on her as everyone else
Doubling anything other than Power has largely been gimmicky
She could be the missing piece for End of Turn decks
A lot of people are excited for her and waiting for her to unlock this “End of Turn” Fantastic Four themed deck. I’m not as optimistic about that. With a 3/5 body she certainly doesn’t seem like she will be bad, I’m more inclined to think that she won’t be very useful. There aren’t many End of Turn abilities that would want to be doubled, and the ones that can do they need it? I’m not sure, but will be happy to see some experimentation. Second Dinner themselves seem to think this Invisible Woman will help Doctor Doom 2099 in particular.
What did you think of our review of the new cards? Does seeing them ignite a flame underneath you? Hit me up on Twitter (link) or down here in the comments and let me know what you think about these Fantastic Four First Steps cards. I don’t know about you but they certainly excite me!
It’s been a long time since I’ve had a season where I feel like I want all of the new cards. We’ll see if they can keep this momentum up in our next Snappy Review!