Free Pizza: Daredevil-Crimson Twilight season

 Hit my free pizza pretty early! 

went a little rogue and built a Wolverine Horseman of War deck instead of capitalizing on the new Daredevil season. Storm Horseman of Famine was both surprisingly good and frustrating, as the +2 could be immense, but the setback was no joke. That card really needs to be in a Hi Evo style deck.

Living the dream was having Mother Askani split Wolverine of course, and adding something like 35 points to the board. And while this deck did the lion's share of work getting me to 90, I also had a nice little backup deck. 

This deck has one severe weakness: it needs priority. If you get and keep priority by turn 3, you can do very silly things. Frequently, Wilson Fisk comes down on turn 3 and that can lock in Askani'son or Iron Patriot, and from there cards like Viv, Rocket and Groot and Alioth come in incredibly useful. 

How Long Does A Joke Last

 It's a legitimate question. 

Marvel Snap introduced "Arena Grande", a limited time game mode inspired by Deadpool's comic antics. With "wacky" pre-made decks to play, it became clear rapidly that the destroy deck (the one highlighting Deadpool) was the best deck to play. 

Ha-ha. You think you have options but it's really just Deadpool doin' Deadpool stuff.

Very droll, yes? 

But it isn't fun.

So I said so on Reddit. And was soundly rebuked for my take because I was "complaining about a gag game mode".  

Yes. A gag game mode they expect people to play for two days, with a reward track, in an environment that is deliberately skewed and unfun.

So: I don't care if it's supposed to just be a joke. The joke goes too long.

I don't care if it's free. Free means that it doesn't eat my time.

I don't care if it's easy. Easy doesn't equal good. 

I don't care that other people don't like my take. 

I care that they fucked up the one thing this game is supposed to do before all other things: Be fun. 

Jokes only last until the punchline. No punchline lasts 48 hours. 

Free Pizza: Guardians Vol 2

 I used last month's tech to beat this month's tech.

Ghost is the flex slot, but this is what I ran when the new Proscenium location was hot. I am not above taking advantage of a good thing.

The other thing I'm not above is finding ways to double up on Shang-Chi. With so many players utilizing the new Star Lord and Fang Foom, being able to take out 2 or 3 characters can really change the game. Absorbing Man can also repeat Shou-Lao's ability, which is not to be overlooked!

However, right now the meta is adapting with a TON of Stardust, so be careful about adding Scarlet Spider. 

Marvel Snap: Dragon Season-High Voltage

I was hating this version of High Voltage. It seemed TOO high variance, but I believe I have found a cure:

The odd thing is, I haven't changed this deck much in a year. I think Armor is now Mad Thinker but aside from that, this is what made High Voltage bearable for me.

I also got my Free Pizza, grinding it out with a High Evolutionary deck. Nothing special there: I was mostly trying to stay ahead of any Shou-Lao The Undying decks. Once I did that, I crashed hard on ranking, messing around trying to do dailies. 

I know, I know: I should've been in Conquest mode but eh. It's just a game!

Free Pizza: Weapon X Season

I hit my free pizza really early this season and I am pretty certain I did it by preying on the metagame. 

Everyone was pushing destroy hard so I dove into Mr. Negative. 

The changes to my current list are: -Killmonger, - Knull, + Iron Man, + Gorr. 

That said: Knull might've been a better choice, given the amount of destroy running around. 

The point is: I used the meta to my advantage and hit my goals, so now I can just mess around!

Free Pizza: Arachnid Anarchy season

I have not been enjoying this season of Snap: by nerfing clog decks to make sure people are encouraged to play move, there has been a real lack of deck diversity in my games. Shadow King has become what feels like the sole tech card to make an impact. 

When the meta becomes stale, and they don't want you to use a bunch of tech cards to get out of your problems, what do you do?

Get weird.

This started off as something I had to use for bounties- that the auto-generator made of all things!- and became my ride or die for the season. Ghost was my piece of tech but at this point I think I'd rather have Shang Chi or Shadow King. 

The Red Shift/Agatha tech is pretty good but what shocked me was how reliable the deck was. You always have to run the numbers when playing Corvus Glaive, and sometimes you just don't make it-but like I said: I hit free pizza with it. That's not nothing. 

I'm going to take the rest of the week of: it's Thanksgiving and I hope everyone enjoys the holiday. Cheers! 

Free Pizza: Visions of the Future

This was a LOT of fun. I hit my Free Pizza this month on the back of two decks, which I am enjoying quite a bit of. I hope you find some inspiration in these, because I've had a great time playing them.

While this says Auto-Air Walker, I just didn't change the name after messing around with it. 

This deck wants to use the destroy package to ideally trigger Air Walker into Morgan Le Fay. Moira X isn't necessary but IS a but of fun in this deck, potentially setting up multiple Morgan triggers. But even if Morgan isn't used, there's a nice destroy backup: The Thing First Steps and Lady Dethstroke can flip lanes, which can't be overlooked.

I didn't build this entirely from scratch; Uncle Ben is a character I added after seeing someone with a list online, for example. But it's been pretty neat to play with and it definitely pushed me up in the ranks. 

This next deck I'm really proud of: 

I started off using Viv Vision as a card in a move deck, and she was terrible. But once I shifted the deck to a Sebastian Shaw- boost deck it came alive. Frankie Raye Nova and Nakia are flex slots: Frankie is a fun card to pair with Sasquatch, and Nakia really could be something better. Red Guardian is probably a better choice but all in all; this is fun! 

Free Pizza: Fantastic Four season

 I got there with this:

I have to admit, I had a lot of fun working the last few ranks with this deck. It offered me the consistency of reliable powerhouses like Collector and Dinosaur, with some random bonuses from the Shield package. 

But...I am starting to wonder what the future of Snap is. The playerbase has had a lot more to complain about lately, than celebrate. The squeeze for money seems to be in, instead of building an exceptional experience for people that makes some of the money instead of a miserable grind that tries to make all of the money.

I haven't quit--the new season has started and I really like what Galactus: First Steps adds to the game-anytime they make "lanes matter" cards like Iron Patriot, I feel like there's a good strategic element being brought to the game. 

But...the enthusiasm for play has started to wane and it's a bummer. 

More is Too Much

 This season of Marvel Snap has been a mess. 

First; every since the Golden Gauntlet 2 (which was entertaining as HELL to watch the finals of), there's been a mild Thanos/Arishem/Agamotto meta, where you throw ALL THE CARDS in your deck, which I haven't been able to beat even with cards like Cassandra Nova and Darkhawk.

When the tech cards no longer keep the meta in check, you have a problem.

What's created more outrage among the community though has been the tweaks to the High Voltage. 

Effectively; the mode does three things:

First, it adds random "charged" cards to your deck, making every deck an Arishem one.

Second, it offers a random "overdrive" ability which triggers if enough charged cards are played. Sometimes it's beneficial, as when you can earn double credits for a win, but it also includes "Cull all the weakest cards" or "transform all the charged cards" and you just have NO idea what you're going to get. 

And third, the visual effects of all these things-charged cards, the overdrive trigger-crates this visual mess that just makes the whole board difficult to track.

Making things worse by far are two other things-cards they didn't ban before the mode started, then had to fix 24 hours later (which, kudos here but a card like Gorgon should NEVER have been allowed).

However, the real chafing has been in the store; the communication about the funds players get, and the cost of the new cards. 

New cards that are kinda assy; Kid Omega and Cobra are baffling to me. On top of that, the price to get them is brutal. Players are supposed to get something like 500 "charge" points a day to help us afford these things but that wasn't communicated to the playerbase well at ALL. 

And these changes come to a game mode that people loved once upon a time! Now people are just frustrated and angry about all these things. 

Adding more to the mode didn't really help.

However, I want to say that: I get it. I'm a homebrewer, both of beer and Magic decks and I understand that people like to tinker with things! And this is a temporary thing as all things are in Marvel snap. 

But dang did this one not go well

Marvel Snap: Masters of the Arcane

The new cards this month!

Merlin, the card for the month feels like a fun boost for the small decks archetype. I think it's going to provide a lot of interesting versatility while ALSO having the problem that randomizer cards have. Some moderate variance for fun times. 

Morgan Le Fay-does this card have a home? It's an interesting twist on Ghost Rider, but because she returns cards to hand, how much help is that? She's interesting, to be sure! At the very least, she could remove the drawback of having Corvus Glave discard Hela.

Jennifer Kale is fine. You play her anytime before T5 and you get a boost; I think this is a solid card that you'll be happy to see more often than not. Not sure that she's a Series 4 card though. 

Nicolas Scratch is a card I didn't understand until I saw it in action. The bonus happens whenever you play a "spell" like Merlin's Incantations or Agamotto's Ancient Arcana (or the upcoming effects from Clea & Dormammu). But because the card says "skill" I had no idea what that meant. Seems like there's going to need to be some wording cleanup. 

The Ancient One is absolutely cracked. Get it; the ability to duplicate ongoing abilities from Blue Marvel to Goliath is too strong to ignore. 

Nightmare has been the hype card of this season; everyone is expecting it to do insane things with Sauron decks. I don't think that's going to be true; I think the RNG is too  high for this to be consistently good. When it hits, it'll be a lot of fun but what I think Nightmare is mostly going to do is make players think extra hard about how to play their cards. 

Clea provides an interesting tool-I like the 'boost' decks that use Forge, Nakia, etc but now there's a little affliction added in. I don't think she's great but she's not bad. 

As for Dormammu, this one will likely spawn a new deck, some kind of destroy offshoot. Worth getting just for that: new archetypes always find interesting ways to evolve the game.

As for the game mode rewards (and yay, High Voltage is coming back) 

Cobra seems like a very niche card. How often will it be useful? It's not like Victoria Hand/SHIELD decks are running wild. Seems like a solution in search of a problem. The stat line isn't anything to write home about either. 

And Kid Omega's ability seems odd-do we need another take on Venom? But free cards are free!

Free Pizza: New Mutants Season

 I feel like this one came a little later in the season but, I still hit free pizza! 

While typically I am not a fan of Arishem decks because they are too chaotic, chaos seemed to fit very well in a meta full of Thanos decks. Color me surprised! That's emphasized all the more by the use of Loki. Having to suddenly play someone else's deck means knowing what the metagame is like and how decks basically function. 

I believe I saw a version of this on Snap Judgements and I wanted to play something that wasn't Thanos, a deck I just never seem to be comfortable with. Remarkably, this deck did the work! It needed me to play very smart; Arishem can throw a lot of different cards at you. Knowing what cards do and how they work is really important. 

But I got there, and that's always nice. 

Free Pizza: What If...?

I managed to get my free pizza pretty early in the What If...? season, and while I got to the finish line on an old reliable, the workhorse for me was a metagame call.

Here's a Cassandra Nova & Darkhawk deck. I know people like to try the "hawks and rocks" deck combing Darkhawk and Devil Dinosaur, but I always found those two cards to be pulling in different directions. One or the other, not both. Even when that deck was the hotness, I felt it was a poor choice and filled with bad design. 

However, with Thanos being everywhere (a deck that runs an additional 6 cards) and Arishem always being present in a meta where people just don't know what they're going to do, I felt it was time to hit 'em where they live. 

I love hitting 'em where they live. 

Free Pizza: Prehistoric Avengers

 With some challenges this season, I took advantage of a Khonshu meta and got my Free Pizza with this

Why this? Because I can use Mystique to copy Cosmo and shutter the on reveal actions of the discard decks. Blanking two lanes is pretty strong. 

I also used an affliction deck to climb most of the way there and here's what that looked like:

This list isn't ideal but there's potential there to develop. 

What I've found challenging is where to place cards-Laufey, USAgent and Man-Thing all have the potential to dominate their lanes when combined with cards like Diamondback or Spider-Woman but they don't all play nice together. 

Which I suppose is thematically appropriate! But it makes for some pretty wild swings in gameplay. 

Sanctum Showdown

We got a new game mode for Marvel Snap: Sanctum Showdown. After putting in just under a week into it and getting what I wanted, here's my takeaway.

It's fine. 

The new take on the game is an interesting one, where locations matter for points and the game doesn't end on turn 6-but rather the first player to 16 points. 

It's also a bit grindy, as you need a "scroll" to enter and while if you win you keep your scroll, if you lose there goes your scroll. And with scrolls being handed out at what feels like a paltry 2 per 8 hours losing feels like a pretty big punishment.

That said, if you remember to play for points, it doesn't seem to be too restrictive. And since you take points with you, win OR lose, players want to exploit the system for points. 

So the gameplay mode does change things up in interesting ways. And I firmly believe that if you play it smartly and with some consistency, you'll get the three new cards, no problem.

But the grind IS a thing and the gameplay doesn't change things up quite enough; the best deck to be running was quickly discovered (Bully move, then Guardians) and a meta that is solved is rarely a good one. 

To the devs' credit; they nerfed things so Bully move couldn't wreck the day and Guardians has counterplay.

Which is why I run this: 

It's been a fun deck to play, with some surprising wins! It can struggle when locations add cards, like Central Park, but all in all I am having a good time with it.

Free Pizza: Brave New World

 I finally got over the hill with my Black Knight deck but the deck that got me into the neck of the woods was a Namora one!

I had the idea awhile ago; Agony & Hulkbuster to suit up a character and then use the Wong/Namora/Odin combo to really blow things up. However I didn't have a Namora at the time-but Rebecca did and took on the challenge of making the deck a thing. That means I have her testing to thank for this build. She was the one who came up with Sebastian Shaw, which was such an obviously good idea I almost smacked myself for not coming up with it. 

It's definitely a bit of a meme--I've even titled it "The Meme Is Alive" since this pic-- but it's been fun to play! Captain Marvel is probably the weakest link in the deck, which is strange to say but I just never want to play that card. Rescue might be a better option, since once the Ironheart goes down, I usually want to play multiple cards in the same lane. 

Colossus became important because it was too easy for an opponent to Shang-Chi a lane but otherwise it's been a pretty fun lark! 

Free Pizza: Dark Avengers Season

 I got my free pizza with this: 

Initially found at the MarvelComp subreddit, compliments to user Decent-Cold862 for the idea. 

I didn't change anything; I was just intrigued by the notion of a Werewolf by Night deck being decent! 

I still don't like the Bast/Agent Venom combo much: too often I found those cards shrinking Beast or Agent Venom and the power boost given to the other cards felt minimal. 

However; it worked: I hit level 90. So maybe it is just good to get out of my comfort zone and play something different. 

AC/DC

 High Voltage is the newest format in Marvel Snap and this one is great. 

If you haven't heard about it yet, here's an overview in written form but the quick and dirty is; 

Games are only three rounds, and you get increasing amounts of energy each round.

Now, there were some red flags for me before I started playing High Voltage; a new card was part of the winnings and there was a new currency (volts) to earn. I was worried that this would turn into a massive grind, the way Deadpool's Diner did. 

I am very pleased to let you know that High Voltage is a TON of fun (again).

The games are very fast. Losing doesn't incur a penalty; you get volts if you win, and you get volts if you fulfill bounties. That's it-losing doesn't mean you lose volts. Playing at a steady rate will eventually rank you up to the rewards. There's zero drawback to play that I can tell and because the games are risk free, here's a great chance for players to just mess around. 

On top of that, if you lose, you just bounce to the next one. Lingering isn't the point.

So maybe y'all can stop with that Odin/Mystique/Gambit/Wong nonsense. 

Free Pizza:: Venom Season

 

Sometimes, you gotta play dirty.

Hela is certainly making a run for 'best deck in the format' right now so to hell with it, let's play. 

Why? Because I couldn't find anything interesting or fun to do. That's a drag but when that's a drag, fuck it, let's just win.

My little note of cleverness was to sub out Moon Knight (which was getting me more often than it should) with Sword Master and add in Spider-Woman as a target specifically for it. I'm sure someone else did that--or maybe I read someone else doing it. Either way; the deck carried me well from low 80's into the 90th rank.

Now I'm fucking around and the meta seems very screwy but not in a fun way. We'll see what we see in the coming weeks. 

Free Pizza-Spider Season

This is probably the fastest I've hit Free Pizza in Marvel Snap. I won't say it was easy, but the idea was remarkably effective.

The deck idea from Reddit user wu11 and is showcased here. I wasn't seeing enough Arishem decks to keep Cassandra Nova in there; Rogue and Killmonger both did stints in the deck before I settled on Killmonger being more useful.

The use of Symbiote Spider-Man into Black Panther then Zola was the real win condition, but if Negative hit, a flipped Iron Man that got Zola'd backed up by Mystique, with a Knull to offer some extra power? The possibility for extra lines to win was extremely flexible and made for a deck that offered me a lot of opportunities. 

I've gone back to a Cassandra Nova/Darkhawk deck, as apparently my meta has now flipped TO Arishem decks and suddenly messing with them is Very Important. 

Still, I enjoyed this take on Mr Negative, the excellent use of Symbiote and getting to chill for the rest of the season. 

Free Pizza-Young Avengers Season

 This season was a bear. I felt like I just couldn't find a good deck or a rhythm with the ones I knew well. The meta game felt all over the place, and sometimes I just had RNGesus tell me to get screwed. 

I did have some very memorable moments, like this:

Full kudos to my opponent there. I love it. Plus I continued robbing Tribunal players of cubes with a turn six Enchantress. 

But damn, do my decks always seem to need Enchantress. 

I did earn my free pizza though on the last weekend and I did it after the Attuma tweak. Something about that deck hummed. 

Is this good? Will I keep it?? No idea. This deck doesn't have a name yet and this would be my third destroy deck. I'd almost rather incorporate something into a deck I already have--but I had a bounty on getting wins with Armor and Attuma in the same deck. 

I got that bounty and suddenly found myself hitting rank 90 after languishing in the 80s most of the season. 

Destroy is still a pretty good deck and Killmonger has become pretty important against the Marvel Boy decks. 

Which is a little bit of a shame: I think the Marvel Boy decks are pretty neat! But they seemed to lead to a metagame that I couldn't get my head around. I had a lot of fun with Ultron decks though-they did a bunch of work for me...until they didn't. 

Similarly, I had some success with a deck using Cassandra Nova and Ajax or Darkhawk: for a hot minute my meta seemed to shift to all Arishem all the time. 

You can mess a Arishem player UP with a Cassandra Nova played on turn 3. 

But I made it, and I'm glad I did. Whew!