Marvel Snap takes us to our first venture into the GRAND ARENA. Here you pick a Champion to represent you and play games of Snap against opponents to emerge a Champion yourself. We’ve talked about the new cards already in the last snappy review here, but we haven’t dived into the new Skills that accompany them. I’m here to help break it down, but I like my card evaluations like I like my Marvel Snap games. Fast! Snappy!
Remember Surge? What if you had it every game?!
Great Skill tied to a subpar Champion
I wish I could play this without Mister Fantastic
I’m actually weirdly interested in Council of Reeds. One of my favourite decks recently was the Ongoing Thanos builds. With the extra Energy we get, Council of Reeds can be played right away on turn 1. Ongoing decks can put out a surprising amount of Power these days. Its main issue is that all its Power is on the board and easily interactable. Between tech cards like Enchantress and your opponent just placing their Power in the right spots, Ongoing decks have little room for surprise plays. Council of Reeds helps with this by giving you cost reduced options to weave into your usual curve.
Keep your gameplay hidden
Get bonus Energy and Power
This card does everything! Just watch out for Alioth!
I actually really like what this card is offering. At its bare minimum it grants +1 Power and Energy and it only goes up from there. Cards like Malekith and Supergiant can increase the amount of Power and Energy you get from this. Force Field costing zero means you can always play it along with facedown cards. The elephant in the room with this card is Alioth. It totally shuts this card and playstyle down to the point of making you think “why bother running this?” My only hope is that Alioth gets banned mid-event. If not, then consider Force Field a 1 star card.
Buff the top card with consistent high power
Use that buff exponentially!
Buff a low Cost card for an explosive final turn
Human Torch First Steps is a great target for buffs. We’ve seen a little of this on ladder since his release. The thing that’s going to push this even further beyond is Flame On being able to copy all those buffs from Human Torch onto a second card. Grand Arena, like other Marvel Snap modes, is about winning two locations. What better way to do that then with two really big cards? Flame On’s issue is going to be the vulnerability of “Green Power.” You are going to want to double Human Torch’s Power as soon as possible, leaving him ready to be hit by tech cards Shang Chi or Shadow King. If you can protect this with Cosmo, I can see this being a very formidable deck.
One of Marvel’s most iconic Skills finally hits the game!
Use this to beat down any card no matter how strong they are!
So here’s The Thing’s Skill card Clobberin’ Time. Out of all the skills this is the one I’m least interested in. Giving +8 Power is a very nice bonus, especially on something you are going to have access to each game. The question I have is, how low do we have to get this to cost to be worth it? If we look at this in conjunction with The Thing’s destroy ability we start to get closer to an interesting game state. There should be no card we can’t destroy with The Thing after being boosted by Clobberin’ Time, so perhaps you’ll want a Fenris Wolf in another location to bring back your opponent’s big beater. If you’ve ever wanted to see The Thing rise to Hulk level stats, this is the card for you!
This one just screams FUN!
Not only can you guarantee all the abilities, but you now can build around it!
Herbie’s abilities already offer a bunch of different deck building hooks, but now with Helpful Assistance you can be sure to hit the ability you want. No longer are you a slave to chance. Personally, the best case for this is with the doubling Power ability. Since you know you get this every game, you can build around taking advantage of it. You already get extra energy from the mode itself, and spreading power through a Rock or buffing other locations will be great incidentals. I’m imagining 20+ Power Herbies and I’m ready for it!
In a mode with no Mobius, cost reduction is king!
Huge Turn 6 swings!
This prebuilt deck is only scratching the surface!
Master Plan is the card to beat in this mode. Without anything stopping your cost reduction and a guaranteed Doctor Doom every game, you will be able to have explosive final turns. Cutting 6-Cost cards in half opens up so many surprising game winning plays. I’m thinking of something like a surprise Blob and Zola combo. The pure stats create a wall that asks your opponent’s if they can get over it. Cards like Master Plan throw off your opponent’s internal math in a big way and I can’t wait to utilize it myself!
The latest boost to Created cards!
Helps turn your random creation low rolls into good rolls
No randomness involved in what gets the buffs!
Someone at Second Dinner must love the Victoria Hand archetype. The latest in our line of good stuff for this deck is the Skill Subterranean Summons. With Mole Man creating Rocks in your hand, this Skill card will not only buff their Power but will make them free to play! Hand buff style decks have never been my forte, but I can see this being a useful piece in something like a Moongirl style deck, especially if you are copying Summons too. I have this rated so highly not because I know what to do with it, but because I can’t wait to see how others crack it.
What do Destroy decks need to be good?
MORE DESTROY!
The new player friendly archetype just got an upgrade!
Maximum Carnage allows you to jump into the arena right away with a deck you already are comfortable with. This Champion and Skill are a combined two sources of Destroy that you get every game. That type of consistency is very important for the archetype. The trick is going to be having enough ways to take advantage of it. With Nimrod being banned, the big thing is going to be Deadpool. Thanks to the extra energy we get, turn 6 Knull and Deadpool will be the common game winning line. As great as that all sounds, I worry that Maximum Carnage won’t be enough Power unless you are always hitting that insane turn 6.
So how did I do? Do you feel armed and ready to take on the challengers? Hit me up on X or down here in the comments and let me know what you think about these new Champion Skill cards and Grand Arena itself! I haven’t been this hyped for a new game mode in a long time! For more Grand Arena tips and tricks check out Scosco’s Grand Arena Strategy Guide here.