I mean who else would you expect to be writing about this card?
Yes, this week, the Junk archetype gets its cheapest clog tool yet: White Widow. Black Widow’s sister is a 2 energy, 2 power card that, on reveal, places a Widow’s Kiss to your opponent’s side of the board. The Kiss is a 0/0 ongoing that gives the card -4 power; however, if your opponent’s lane is full, the power deactivates.
White Widow is featured alongside Series 4 Snowguard and Series 5 Nico Minoru in this week’s Spotlight Cache. This is a very strong week to open if you own none of these cards. Snowguard is a staple in Loki decks and underplayed as a general utility card. Nico is the Swiss Army Knife of 1-drops— not a build-around card, but she enhances every deck she fits in. She is even indispensable in some top meta decks, such as Phoenix Force and Destroy. If you own these cards, there are some excellent Spotlight Variants, and, as you will see, I think White Widow will be worth opening for all on her own.
Why the Hype?
If you have heard anyone talk about White Widow, you have likely heard nothing but praise as another strong tool in Junk (sometimes called Clog) decks. If you have not played much of the Junk archetype, you may ask yourself, why the hype? She seems somewhat counterintuitive; if your deck focuses on filling your opponent’s board, won’t that simply deactivate the value from Widow’s Kiss, and thus detract from the value?
The answer is threefold. First, a way of clogging your opponent’s board is value in and of itself. Even if the kiss is ultimately 0 power, it is a space taken. Clog decks limit your opponent’s options to secure a lane; thus, even if the Kiss is 0 power, it has served an important purpose. This is why Debrii has become a staple in certain types of Junk decks.
Additionally, even if you aren’t going the pure Clog route, some lanes are simply very advantageous to Clog. Adding a card to Angela or Hope Summers' lanes likely limits what your opponents want to do or at least keeps them more in check than if they had free reign. If your opponent puts down an Iron Man, you do not want them to be able to add more cards with power. Thus, adding something to that lane to prevent it from going too tall is advantageous.
Second, this card is now the safest and most cost-effective way to add a card to your opponent’s side of the board. Before, the earliest you could add cards to your opponent's side was turn three with a Debrii or Green Goblin. This assumes a perfect curve; the later you play these cards, the greater the risk you assume since your opponent is more likely to fill a lane permanently or with a movable card like Jeff the Baby Land Shark. White Widow is at worst a 2/2 if the Kiss is deactivated or the opponent’s lane is already full. On turn 5, you can also now play White Widow alongside one of the aforementioned 3-drop clog cards and, with the assistance of Daredevil, guarantee some full lanes.
Finally, some Clog lists use lockdown tools like Storm and Professor X. These lists now have a 2/6, as they are built to nearly guarantee the -4 value. You then simply win a second lane with Cannonball or Red Hulk” simple as that. Alternatively, You can use Professor X in a different lane, then use Cannonball to clear a spot in the Kissed lane to reactivate the -4. Either way, White Widow will be seen in many lockdown lists for this reason.
(I want to note here that my Cannonball article is now vindicated, as he is widely seen as a great card and simply wins games when played correctly, with a near 6% meta share and 54.83% win rate when played as of writing. But I digress!)
The Insectoid and Destructive Elephants in the Room
Full disclosure: This first week of White Widow gameplay will be difficult due to Annihilus's ubiquity. The Hood, The Sentry, and Annihilus form one of the strongest packages in Marvel Snap. That three-card package has been present in many different strong and popular decks, from Supergiant/Ronan decks to Darkhawk decks to everything in between. Naturally, Clog decks run this package, meaning the first week of White Widow’s release will likely be a continual game of “who has priority on turn 5.” Mirrors are going to be a bit of a headache. But who knows? Maybe the Annihilus package gets tweaked during this week’s OTA change. If not, White Widow will feel more like a liability without either Professor X or careful plays.
And we haven’t even touched on how Destroy simply does away with the Widow’s Kiss with Carnage and Deathlok with no consequence. The newly buffed Lady Deathstrike simply deletes both Widow and the Kiss. And she is not even unique to Destroy decks. Expect her to be played more often this first week, and expect many mirror matches or counter matchups. After the dust settles, this card will be indispensable, but the first-week jitters are going to show.
With all of this said, I am still very excited about this card. Let's look at some decks to try out on White Widow’s release!
JimmyDickins Day 1 White Widow Decks
Junkdown
In my opinion, this is the best Junk/Lockdown hybrid currently in the game. The original list was created by YoWoodyMJ, and White Widow slots into here perfectly. Ravonna is a powerful tool in this deck, allowing for cheaper Goblins and an early Professor X, who nearly guarantees the White Widow value. The idea is to win one lane with either full clog or Professor X and the second with Cannonball and Demon on turn 6. Daredevil allows you to make your Goblin plays on 5 to fill a lane completely. If you did not pick up Cannonball, he is core to the list, but Red Hulk might work. This is certainly what I will be running today (I apologize in advance), as Professor X allows you to lock down locations in all the mirrors. This strong deck got another strong card.
Pixie Clog
Pixie and Clog work together well since the Sentry/Anni combo is expensive. Before White WIdow, this deck was surprisingly successful, as you had a way to scam your opponent by having the opportunity to play Sentry and Anni on the same turn. Alternatively, a low-cost Red Hulk is simply too much value not to pass up. The potential for massive discounts on key cards gives this the edge over other clog decks, as the surprise factor is massive.
One combo not to miss in Clog generally is White Widow and Titania together. Before, to clog two lanes of your opponent’s (and often scam them out of a lane entirely early), you had to do it on 4 with Green Goblin. This combo now only requires 3 energy, which is massive. Titania also allows you to keep your Kiss activated, as you can end the game by taking Titania back, which is a 9-power swing in and of itself. Mobius M. Mobius helps maximize Pixie's value and stops Loki decks, which Clog can sometimes struggle against. If you do not have Pixie, you can swap in Jeff the Baby Land Shark for a perfectly functional (and likely still strong) deck.
Bites & Kisses
What's worse for your opponent than dealing with a Widow’s Kiss and a Widow’s Bite? Having to deal with them twice. Bouncing White Widow will likely prove very powerful, and that seems like a natural pairing with Black Widow. This deck may not be stellar on day 1, as Annihilus will be everywhere (and the Bites and Kisses will do more harm than good), but if his play dies down a tad, this deck may infuriate your opponent out of the game. You have your Darkhawk package for raw power late, and, with all the low-cost on reveal cards, Werewolf by Night seems like a natural inclusion. This disrupts both your opponent’s draw and their board, which can be a terrorizing combination, and allows you to go tall in a lane when needed. The build likely needs refinement, but the idea of playing multiple Kisses and Bites seems like a frustrating combination.
Moved with a Kiss
This midrange deck aims to clog a lane but uses the Kiss as bait. Since your opponent will likely want to play cards in the Kiss lane, you can either move cards out of that lane (Polarus, Spider-man, Magneto, etc.) or help them and move them into it for an early clog. It is essentially a hybridization of some early “Mobster Move” decks and Silky Smoove, using the Kiss as bait and ultimately benefiting from moving enemy cards. This can certainly use some refinement, but baiting your opponent with the Kiss is interesting since they will likely be focused on filling that lane even as you disallow that and move their cards all over the board. Decks like this will likely retain the Widow’s Kiss value if played early and give you a wide-open slot if played late.
Kiss the Sand
This deck aims to maximize White Widow value two ways: by limiting cards your opponent can play via Sandman (for early White Widow plays), or simply destroying some cards in a lane via Lady Deathstrike (and playing White Widow later). It includes high-value early plays, Ms. Marvel to pump up the lanes, and some tech with Shang Chi. All-in-all, White Widow as a midrange value card will be underutilized initially due to the Clog excitement. However, building decks to include some ways to clear lanes will make her a good value card generally as a potential 2/6, which only Maximus currently boasts.
Conclusion
White Widow will be a very interesting addition to Marvel Snap, and I think while she is the best card-in-slot for Junk decks, she can also have value outside such decks. She may bring Junk to top-tier deck status, in which case God (or at least OTAs) can help us all. If Clog does dwindle in the meta, she will still be an interesting card to use and build with. Ultimately, I think she is a great addition to Snap, and I do not think you can go wrong by picking her up this week. Let me know your thoughts on her or some deck-building ideas below, and happy Snapping!