Welcome back to the fourth iteration of Snap.Fan’s “State of the Costs” series, where we discuss how Second Dinner has been treating each of their Cost categories for the past few weeks. So far, we’ve only addressed the Cost categories doing exceptionally well in the meta-game. As we transition into the higher end of the mid-cost phase, it’s time to talk about our first category performing way below expectations until recently.
4-cost cards were previously regarded as the cornerstone of deckbuilding. However, with the change to Zabu and a shift towards playing efficient, low-cost cards, this category fell into a tricky position for several months. Now, with Zabu getting a recent change to a 1/2, which permanently reduces Cost again, things are looking better, but there’s still a long way to go.
4-Cost: A Sudden Renaissance
With the rise in popularity of 3-cost cards in the meta, we saw a considerable decline in the variety of 4-cost cards played at Post-Infinite ranks. As mentioned earlier, the reasoning for this is simple: we’re in a metagame where low-cost cards, particularly in Bounce lists, are dominating because of their ease of use, and 4-cost cards are at that divisive point where they’re neither too big to make a difference nor too small to be plug-and-play. It’s so bad that there are only 3 4-cost cards in the top 30 in terms of popularity, which is worse than any other Cost category.
However, Marvel Snap got a major and much-awaited balance update, nerfing top-performing decks like Clog while buffing Zabu, which was struggling to maintain even a shred of relevancy. After the update, Zabu’s Play Rate soared from the mid-200s to the mid-100s, and while the resulting stats are still a little underwhelming on paper, it’s only a matter of time before people concentrate more on this card and see where he goes in different decks. And where Zabu, a ton of 4-cost cards follow suit.
Looking at the numbers, only 1 4-cost card can always be popular, but I’m surprised it’s not being played AS MUCH. Shang-Chi has been the best 4-cost card for quite some time, being the only card in the game to have 60K+ games played within the last month, dominating the popularity charts. In previous weeks, Shang-Chi was often behind Nico and Cassandra Nova, but with big Power cards storming the meta, he’s regained his top position.
However, we’re beginning to notice that even this behemoth of a card is faltering. Compared to Nico Minoru, the #2 card in Play Rate, Shang-Chi has a 0.07 lesser Cube Rate, demonstrating that Nico is slightly more consistent in her matches. Shang-Chi’s the only card in the Top 10 to have a Cube Rate of less than 0.4, which is a bit of a bad look, especially after knowing his reputation.
Also, because the current High-Infinite meta game is so focused on Cosmo, Shang-Chi’s ability is often invalidated, even when the opponent has a 15+ Power Darkhawk. Hela is the only meta deck he could compete against, and even then, he needs to lose priority. Hela is notoriously known for not having priority in turns since you barely play any cards. For now, it seems the biggest targets for Shang-Chi are Sage, Bishop, Hit Monkey, Dark Hawk, and occasionally Mystique.
After Symbiote Spider-Man climbed back up, many of his decks featured Jubilee to cheat out big cards early or crucial combos. Besides the combo with Symbiote Spidey, she’s usually a must-have with Hela and War Machine, both of which are still extremely popular, and Zabu’s pairing with her can be lethal on late-game turns.
As of now, she has a 12.26% Win Rate to make her the second most popular 4-cost card with the 15th highest meta share overall, and honestly, it's nice to see another Series 2 performing well—we need more accessible cards in the meta, folks!
There has been a massive climb in popularity for our favorite and only 4-cost Activate card: Symbiote Spider-Man. Despite the mediocre Win Rate and Cube Rate, he has shot up the popularity rankings to become the third most popular 4-cost card in Marvel Snap with a respectable 12.2% Play Rate. Why? Well, this card received an extra point of Power a few weeks prior, bringing him to a 4/7. However, it's not just this buff that's made him fearsome... it's the entire OTA and how it buffed Spidey's entire deck.
Even so, Symbiote Spider-Man’s current stats are nowhere near his peak Play Rate of 17.36% during the first week of the OTA mentioned above. While he’s still irreplaceable in the Galactus deck, most players have replaced him for Jubilee following Zabu’s buff. After all, Symbiote Spider-Man’s Cost reduction isn’t as beneficial as a 3-cost Jubilee.
Symbiote Power Galactus
This is Symbiote Spider-Man’s most prominent deck, and as seen, it received buffs to 3 of its cards: Black Panther, Galactus, and Symbiote Spidey himself. Thanks to that, it’s risen to a 3.83% meta share coupled with an impressive 0.49 Cube Rate and 54.83% Win Rate. This deck features several play lines, and with Cosmo being the only popular counter for this deck, it is wild how many win conditions it possesses. The Symbiote-Galactus combo is especially lethal because it can now reach 13 Power instead of the previous 11. While 2 Power may seem insignificant, it’s single-handedly given Galactus a 59.97% Win Rate, making him one of the most successful cards when played.
Rising Stars Among The Category
War Machine has had a fascinating upbringing to be qualified as a "rising star." His subpar entry to the game was quite disappointing, but Second Dinner saved him in one of their recent OTAs when they decided to make his ability Ongoing. After that, the dreaded Storm+War Machine+Legion combo began emerging, completely shutting down the competition. Seeing the monster they created, Second Dinner nerfed him down to a 4/6 from the previous 4/7. However, the numbers show this hasn't drastically affected his Play Rate. War Machine currently has the highest Win Rate when played and the second-highest Win Rate when drawn out of any 4-cost card in Marvel Snap, showing that the aforementioned successful combo is almost always a guaranteed win.
Ka-Zar's popularity depends on the state of 2 decks: Zoo and Patriot. Although players are starting to cut him from their Patriot decks, the numbers show he's a must-have card for Zoo. Of course, as I talked about in previous series articles, Zoo is among the strongest decks in the game right now, which explains why our favorite jungle guy has the 10th best Win Rate so far.
Speaking of cards that fell off and made a comeback, we have to talk about one of the first meta-defining 4-cost cards of Marvel Snap. Iron Lad went from being the best slot-in card at one point to fitting into niche decks that rarely made effective use of him. His Play Rate is affected the most by the meta, and now, with the rise of the aforementioned War Machine deck and the Patriot and Symbiote Spider-Man decks re-entering the scene, Iron Lad's climbed up to a respectable 7.64% Play Rate. Unlike Jubilee, which wants a whole card on the board, you use Lad to cheat a card's ability, and his stronger 4/6 stat line makes him an easy pick for these specific On-Reveal and Ongoing decks.
Despite Agent Venom’s dominance, it’s interesting how Wong has slowly gained traction as the season progresses. Although his popular decks, like Silver Surfer, Arnim Zola, and Namora, aren’t appearing frequently, he’s managed to slot himself into several homes. One of the newer homes is the Symbiote Power Galactus deck I discussed earlier, which has the second-highest contribution to Wong’s 7.3% Play Rate.
This card has been a staple in Low-Infinite ranks, where players sometimes struggle with Symbiote Spider-Man. At higher ranks, he seems to fall short since Alioth and Cosmo are roaming in every corner, but it’s impressive to see Wong surviving in a meta-game that is completely opposed to his archetype.
Underplayed 4-cost Cards That Deserve Your Attention
Wiccan’s been struggling as a 4/7 since his release, and the current meta-game is not doing him any favors whatsoever. Sitting in the Top 90 most popular cards, his deck is in a position where it doesn’t have counters to Hela, Move, and Destroy while also not being tall enough to rival Zoo, High Evo, Arishem, or other meta decks. Although he has the premium stat line, Wiccan’s ability is extremely finicky, with high-rank players still struggling to figure out a deck for him that competes at higher levels. That difficulty has led him to obscurity.
Even with the Zabu buff, Wiccan hasn’t witnessed a massive resurgence, even though you think he would. Unfortunately, as many High-Infinite players highlight, Zabu’s condition of reducing 1 Cost for cards only in the deck makes it highly situational to Wiccan, whose decks rarely use other 4-cost cards that would otherwise benefit from a Cost reduction.
Ms. Marvel and Super Skrull are rare cases where the cards are extremely good but underplayed because of tight deck building. Ms. Marvel is hovering around the extreme lower end in terms of popularity and stats, even though she arguably has the best Power output for a 4-cost card that doesn’t require combo pieces or have any major restrictions.
However, that solo nature is the only reason she’s underperforming; combo decks are among the top in Win Rate, and with Ms. Marvel being a simple brute-force card with a known Power cap, she doesn’t have that “uniqueness” that players want.
Besides her, there’s also Super Skrull, another underrated card with massive potential. Despite the mediocre 3.14% Play Rate, I’m surprised he’s not being used more. Zoo and Patriot, 2 top-performing decks, are highly susceptible to Super Skrull’s abilities. If I had to guess, it’s likely that Skrull’s usability drastically varies in matches—he’ll either have the abilities of several high-cost cards or remain a useless 4/2 for the rest of the game. Still, he and Ms. Marvel can often catch opponents off guard, but perhaps their surprise factor is the only aspect players know them for.
I'm sure we all remember the tyranny of Lockjaw when Thanos was the face of Marvel Snap. With a few nerfs to both cards, their deck faded into irrelevancy and never truly climbed back since. And now, Lockjaw sits at a measly 0.87% Play Rate with an equally low Win Rate and Cube Rate.
When we talk about cards in this category that took a hit to their popularity, Lockjaw tops that list and continues sinking. He shows a problem that many 4-cost cards have: an interesting ability but not worth the requirement and barely impactful if you play it late at 4-cost. Besides him, you have cards like Wiccan, Beta Ray Bill, Leech, Supergiant, and others that suffer the same fate.
Like Lockjaw, Shuri’s had her time in the sun, but her current stats are far below expectations. She has one of the worst Cube Rates and Win Rates in Marvel Snap, mostly because her most popular deck, Nimrod, is getting oppressed by the likes of Shadow King and Cosmo. Her Play Rate’s gotten slightly better after the Nimrod deck saw a considerable spike in popularity with the changes to Destroyer and Atuma.
Were they enough to bring back Shuri and her deck? Evidently not. Her deck is currently undergoing a mediocre Win Rate, which is made worse by the fact that High-Infinite doesn’t report seeing it at all, meaning the subpar stats are coming from Low-Infinite and Sub-Infinite matches.
Many players hoped that Scarlet Spider's release would change the standing of 4-cost cards. After all, he plays as a 4/10 at worst, thanks to his Activate ability, and buffing him up to a 4/12, 4/14, or higher seems pretty easy. His first week, unfortunately, was extremely underwhelming since the card was released. Scarlet Spider's Win Rate and Cube Rate are all ranking in the low 200s. Calling this a disappointment would be an understatement, but the reasoning for his failure is much more interesting.
Some High-Infinite players believe Scarlet Spider was released at a time when the meta favored him the least. At a time when Clog decks are reigning supreme, the last thing you want is a card that fills up your side of the board and at a random location on top of that. Other players think he doesn't fit in a prominent home. Like Quake and Juggernaut, he's "too general" to fit anywhere meaningful. The Silver Surfer deck, the one archetype that buffs cards is also declining in the current metagame because of Cosmo.
However, the recent nerfs to Clog eliminated one troubling deck for Scarlet Spider, making his Play Rate go from 0.72% in the release week to 3.14% now—a massive jump! Nevertheless, I think his initial experience was so underwhelming that players aren’t testing with him as much as they should. And that’s not even mentioning how Scarlet Spider could likely be the biggest benefactor from the Zabu buff due to his crucial synergy with Gwenpool.
With Scarlet Spider, Gwenpool saw a bit of a resurgence in popularity. She's perhaps the only Power-buffing card considered "good" and has a comfortable home in Arishem and Patriot decks. Her Play Rate went from 5.01% to 5.97% fairly quickly, but I believe it's mostly because players previously forgot she existed. The release of Scarlet Spider reminded us she's still around and dishes out impressive, effective Power as a 4-cost card.
Unfortunately, she’s dropped back down to a 4.66% Play Rate, which isn’t a massive decline by any means, but you would imagine a 3-cost Gwenpool with Zabu would be huge. It seems as though Cosmo’s popularity is massively working against Gwenpool, so much so that Zabu’s pairing with her is not enough to make a defining part of the meta.
Misery: Normal Expectations And Subpar Results
Contrary to theories before release, Misery’s been a solid performer in the one deck using her. She’s most commonly seen in Thanos shells and has strong combo routes with The Hood, Nico, Phastos, and a few Infinity Stones. Players expected to see another dangerous combo—Misery and White Widow—but we didn't witness that route with the recent nerf to Widow’s Kiss. Alternatively, there was another potential route with Electro, but we soon discovered that the payoff was not that great.
As a whole, though, she isn’t performing out of the ordinary, and these niches haven’t helped her enter the meta. Although a decent 3.36% meta share, Misery’s suffering from one of the poorest Win Rates in Marvel Snap right now—a miserable sight, pun intended. Like Scarlet Spider, this is another new 4-cost release performing below expectations, and her On-Reveal nature is struggling in a Cosmo-heavy meta. We’ll have to see how she performs for the latter half of the Symbiote month, but the stats currently show that she’s not worth the Spotlight Keys or Collector’s Tokens.
The Fall Of Hela And Her 4-Cost Minions
Most players attributed Hela's return solely to the changes made to Black Cat and Hell Cow. The former's Power buff and the latter's new Activate ability gave Hela more ways to reliably discard cards and resurrect them for a massive Turn 6 play. As such, when the archetype dominated the Mid-Infinite and High-Infinite ranks, it's no wonder that both Black Cat and Hell Cow saw a 10+% Play Rate with a healthy Win Rate to sweeten the deal.
However, with Hellcow’s fateful nerf and the rise of Cosmo, the Hela has been losing traction extremely quickly. Although it’s still popular, it’s nowhere near as dominant at higher ranks because of that one less discard from Hellcow. Currently, Hellcow’s dropped to an 8.54% Play Rate, and Black Cat has dipped into the lower end of 7%.
The Vanilla Stat Line: Is 4/6 Still A Thing?
Unlike previous Cost categories, the vanilla stats at 4-cost cards aren't usually a determining factor for the card. I'd go as far as to say that 4/6 is the relevant vanilla stat line in Marvel Snap since many great, average, and subpar 4-cost cards either have or hover very closely to these figures. This is the first article in our State of the Costs series where the raw Power on a card doesn't mean much, so is this particular vanilla stat line still a thing? Yes. Why? Because it alone doesn't tell us whether the card is good since a card’s value in the 4-cost category correlates to the impactfulness of its ability.
To demonstrate my point, let's look at an example where 2 cards have the same Power output at 4-cost but vastly differ in public perception. I've already gone in-depth about War Machine, so let's talk about White Queen.
As a 4/6, White Queen has largely remained unchanged in her ability. She copies the highest-costing card in your opponent's hand and adds it to yours. On paper, she should make sense in today's metagame—she gives valuable late-game information and lets you know whether your opponent has a Hela, Alioth, or Cannonball—and yet, she has a pitiful 0.57% Play Rate. The reason she doesn't work is because her ability is still useless. Knowing your opponent's play towards the endgame phase is a useless play.
At best, you can retreat early and save yourself some Cubes. At worst, you can copy one of several high-cost cards in your opponent's hand, gaslighting yourself while the opponent has a completely different strategy. She could see more play if she stole the card instead of copying it, but for now, she's a prime example of why 4/6, while still a thing, isn't deterministic enough.
Conclusion
The nerf to Zabu was the biggest blow that could've been dealt to the 4-cost cards, and it’s unfortunate to see his change can’t be fully explored because of Cosmo’s prominence. You’ll notice how many well-known 4-cost cards focused on On-Reveal abilities, like Wong, Wiccan, Gwenpool, and Mister Negative, aren’t being seen in the meta, and it’s almost entirely because of Cosmo. We may perhaps see them get back into the spotlight if that 3-cost pup isn’t so oppressive, but for now, it's apparent that low-cost cards are still the main avenue to gain Power, especially with Agent Venom enabling them to reach those levels.
Looking at the future, this category does seem to be getting some notable cards, according to data mines, namely Laufey and Malekith. Still, as of writing this article, it’s too early to tell whether those two will enter meta-defining territory. From the looks of it, they seem like large-stat cards with strong deck synergy.
We hope you have a better understanding of how 4-costs are doing in the current meta. In the comment section below, let us know what you think this category needs to be restored to its former glory!