Looking forward into 2023, what better way to start off the year than a fresh Marvel SNAP season! I'm going to forego the long start of season warnings that I've listed in the past new season posts. Instead, the quick version is this simple sentence: Reminder that your season pass will restart, so if you want to get some final rewards, do it before the new season begins!
Now, before we get into the new season stuff, let's talk about the elephant in the room for a bit - collector's tokens. I said before, and I'm gonna say it again: I think it is in your best interest to save tokens whenever possible. If you really want a card, buy it...otherwise, just save. Hopefully we will get some information about how cards downrank soon, but until then, saving tokens feels smart to me. On the topic of downranking, I am personally also saving credits for the last week or 2 of the season, with the hope of spending credits right after a fresh downranking, making it so cards I open on the track are more likely to be fresh into their given pools rather than right before they downrank (I'd rather my pool-4 open be a just-downgraded from pool-5 rather than a card that downranks to pool-3 less than 1 week later). Up to you what you do, of course.
I have maybe had a minor change in my outlook on collector's tokens...I still have some doubts about the system, but I want to highlight the positive here -
The meta feels far more diverse than any other card game I've played. Yea, we aren't all about to have every new card on the first day they release...but there's something good about that, isn't there? It's cool to see that some people have Darkhawk and others (self included) do not. I know, everyone is going to respond and say that Leader and Leech are everywhere and that's just the worst! Well, I disagree. If Leader were deleted overnight, the meta would be overrun with turn-5 Wave into Death + Aero on turn-6. That sounds way worse to me. Leader is quite easy to beat, in my personal opinion. I'm fairly certain that I could make a pool-1 deck that would just walk all over every Leader deck...but enough with that. The new cards we are expecting (not 100% confirmed outside of battle pass) in January are:
Zabu is the new season pass card. In addition to the base version, you will get a variant for Zabu, a variant for Storm, and a variant for Kazar...and of course, you will get a better deal on gold than if you buy it in the shop and other perks as well (card back, bonus credits, random variants, etc).
Zabu
Zabu is the season pass card, and it seems to be quite a banger! I'm going to try something a little different with this article - let me know if you like the format or hate it. The reality is the game is a little bit different than it has been, with collector's tokens being what they are. Rather than list a deck that happens to use 3 different collector token cards, I'm going to list ideas that have merit to be included within a Zabu deck.
Before I get into different ideas, let's start with some math. We draw 9 cards in a typical game. If we play Zabu on turn-3, then take full advantage of the cost reduction, we can play (2) 4-drops on turn-4, (2) 4-drops on turn-5, and (3) 4-drops on turn6. Playing these 7 cards plus Zabu leaves us with 1 card in hand.
If we add Sera to the mix, we can now play the same (2) on turn-4, Sera on turn-5, and now (6) 4-drops on turn-6...that's 10 total cards. Oops, we didn't draw that many cards. Yes, Sera's cost reduction should stack with Zabu's, making 4-drops cost a single mana. As such, I think Sera is a generally good inclusion in the deck...of course, this is a little worst versus Leech or Leader, but not much to do other than mention it and move on.
Now, it's worth noting we will not always have Zabu on turn-3 and/or Sera on turn-5. As such, there is value in finding cards other than 4-drops to include in your Zabu deck.
So, onto various builds for a Zabu deck:
- Darkhawk deck. Yea, he's a pool-5, sorry. The first (hopefully obvious) inclusion is Rockslide. In an average game, Darkhawk is a 7-power unit. Rockslide pumps this to 11, while also being a perfect card to drop on turn-4. On the topic of including lower mana drops, I would personally add Korg to the deck as well. He can fill for 1 mana on turn-5 if we miss Sera, be played earlier in the game, or even being an effective [1/4] as a turn-6 draw if we also hit Darkhawk. Black Widow could be considered as well, though I think she's worse (costs 1 more and only gives the benefit if player before turn-6, whereas Korg still gives benefitt on turn-6).
- Shanna / Ka-zar. Another pool-5, one of the new ones listed above. If we assume 1-drops are 2-power on average, Shanna ends up being a [4/8], which is fine. We can add Ka-zar to the deck, being an effective [4/7] with Shanna alone (while also gaining value from numerous locations). If we wanted to combine this with the Darkhawk deck, we also see overlap with Korg. Since we've already mentioned 2 different pool-5 cards, we can throw in another with Dazzler (can be seen above as well). If we use Shanna to get a 1-drop in each lane, she is worth 4 slots across the 3 lanes alone. Add that to the 8 other cards we draw in a game, and Dazzler's Ongoing is in fact turned on.
- Absorbing Man could be quite good here, if we are running other On-Reveals, obviously. There are a lot of options, but something to keep in mind. We are not running him as a crazy blowout play, but just for solid value.
- Hellcow and Strong Guy. Hellcow makes it quite likely to have Strong Guy turn on, almost regardless of locations. Ghost Rider could be included as well, if desired.
- Dracula and Chavez. Chavez makes us more likely to hit our Zabu and/or Sera, and she's a great discard for Dracula. Do not run this along with Strong Guy.
- Enchantress, Shang-Chi, Super Skrull. These are the tech options to be played on turn-6, if that's a route you'd like to go. White Queen makes some sense in this list, just to have knowledge of what your opponent is likely to do on the final turn. Typhoid Mary could fit in with Enchantress.
- Other cards worth considering, though not necessarily together: Jubilee, Wong, Jessica Jones, Rescue, Shuri.
- Moon Girl could have some merit, played on turn4 after t3 Zabu? Realize we may overfill hand if this is played on turn-4 after turn-3 Zabu, and remember she copies leftmost, so be careful.
Now, a few cards that I want to warn against.
First, Mr. Negative - I really don't see it...Darkhawk is a great hit for Negative in general, but does nothing here. Wong will save 1 mana? Which doesn't seem worth the [4/-1] when Zabu/Sera do it anyway...I dunno.
Second, Namor and Warpath. I do not think either of these line up with a gameplan we are interested in...we want to be flexible and likely playing into all 3 lanes.
Third, Spider-Man. I love the card, but he's only good if played on turn-5 for us. If we are not running Sera, that's a decent reason to play Spider-Man, but just realize that there may be games we are let down quite a bit when we draw and/or play him on turn-6.
Fourth, Crystal. Just don't. A turn-5 Zabu isn't anything special. A turn-4 "refill" isn't happening (even if you play Zabu on turn-3 and Crystal + another card on turn-4...by turn-4, you've drawn 7 total cards and played 3, meaning you are trading your 4 cards in hand for 3 different cards while playing a [4/4]. This is not where we want to be.)
There are still unmentioned cards, but they seem obvious and not that interesting to consider!
Unlike some other season, if you are sitll in pools 1 and 2...Zabu is just not good for ya, sorry!
I know I said I'm not going to make decklists, but I will make the 1 that I would play IF I had all the cards and wanted to try something out!
I like that there's a lot of interesting interactions and different things that can be done here - Jubilee helping hit Hellcow if needed for Strong Guy, perhaps even two or 3 times with Wong and Absorbing Man. Shuri gives options on where we want to sac and gain power. It just overall seems interesting to me. Is it the best list? Surely not.
The other pool-5 cards.
3 cards have all been mentioned now - Zabu, Dazzler, and Shanna. It is worth mentioning a few things now. First off, Silver Surfer should be entering pool-5 this month. I think Silver Surfer is an awesome card, but if you want to spend just a little money and get the best value you can within Marvel Snap, you may want to consider buying the season pass before it rotates. I personally just treat it like a cheaper MMO sub, which I've purchased a ton in my lifetime.
Past that, there is a Shanna/Kazar deck that exists outside of Zabu. I expect this deck to be quite real (though obviously countered by Killmonger).
BUT THAT LAST CARD, WHAT DOES IT DO?!
Sauron
I know some people are excited about this card. I'm personally not as it has no real interesting deckbuilding to go with it. Put in bad Ongoings, tada! It's a good addition to a Zero deck - though worth mentioning it doesn't get rid of On-Reveal downsides (Maximus, Destroyer, Sentry). The obvious inclusions of Red Skull, Typhoid Mary, and Ebony Maw will be great...and I think Ebony Maw is the one most worth mentioning, that it allows you to also play him AFTER turn-3. It's also nice that it just hits whole hand and deck!
(Note: If you try to use this on Electro with the hope of getting the On-Reveal but not the negative Ongoing, I regret to inform you that Sauron removes ALL abilities, so this will not work!)
With all of the above, realize that we are simply expecting the pool-5 release cards (1 per week AFTER the first) to be Dazzler, Shanna, and Sauron. We could be wrong, and we do not know the order if we are right. So take all of this with a grain of salt!