Marvel Snap’s Most Wanted
This month’s Marvel Snap Most Wanted list is a little over a week old. That means it’s time for an update with some interesting details on the current list, as well as a Character Spotlight on the most web-whanging, obscure character I’ve spotlighted yet.
I would be remiss if I didn’t start with what Snap.Fan Editor BEWD believes is the most important part of this update: Ikaris-watch! Behind the scenes over the past few months BEWD has been campaigning for one of his most wanted characters - forgotten Eternal, Ikaris. Ikaris remains one of the most prominent MCU characters yet to break the Top 20, despite coming close in the past few seasons. Is that streak about to end in November? Ikaris currently sits at rank 5 on the list, jumping nearly thirty spots since last month! Will this rank hold, or will Ikaris fly off into the sun? Only time will tell. (Or maybe an Eternals sequel.)
Another interesting note on the list is what happens in the wake of the great Spiderpocalypse? That is, when four prominent Spider-Man universe characters graduate into the game. Well, if the vote were to close today, at least two of them would be replaced with a few Spider-adversaries. The Spot and J. Jonah Jameson have found their way into the Top 20. Are Spider-voters shifting their priority to some of the remaining prominent Spider-Man adjacent characters, or are they seeing a bump related to the Arachnid Anarchy season? I’ll have an update on their status at season end.
In a final mid-month update, I want to highlight some of the new additions to the poll. While none of them have cracked the Top 20, a few of them are close. Moondragon is currently ranked 22, with Old Man Logan and Archangel not too far behind. None of the newbies are currently in the bottom 10 (or even close to it) which makes me believe their inclusion on the list was warranted. I am a little bit concerned with the placement of some of the characters at the bottom though. If you consider yourself a fan of the Runaways, Karolina Dean currently sits at 245. If you like the Pet Avengers, Bats (Doctor Strange’s ghost dog) and Huginn and Muninn (Odin’s Ravens) are also both in the bottom 10. If you want to save these characters and haven’t voted yet, you still have time!
VOTE HERE!!!
Charactery Spotlight: Rek-Rap
I want to make all of this month’s Character Spotlight’s all Spidey-themed, but was struggling on which Spider Variant to highlight. Some of them are fairly high ranked on the list, others aren’t on the list at all. Spotlighting Aunt May or J. Jonah Jameson didn’t seem too interesting. I was going to spotlight Peter Parker as a potential card… but then I realized I had it backwards.
Rek-Rap debuted in 2023 and has only appeared in 11 comics over the past few years. He’s been called insane, annoying and ridiculous, and I don’t think he would argue with any of those assessments. But those qualities also make him hilarious, fun-to-read, and filled with potential as a Marvel Snap card.
Rek-Rap’s origin story actually connects to previous spotlight Hallow’s Eve’s origin. Rek-Rap started off as an unnamed Limbo demon, participating in a role-play scenario orchestrated by Chasm as part of an attempt to ruin Peter Parker’s life. This unnamed Demon is saved by Peter Parker and begins idolizing him, referring to himself as Parker-Man.
Parker-Man is laughed at, and has his application to Chasm’s Insidious Six rejected. Dejected, he decides to turn to a back-alley demon who combines a little piece of symbiote with Parker-Man’s Spider-Man shirt. The resulting symbiote fuses with him turning him into the symbiotic Spider-Man amalgamation, now referring to itself as Rek-Rap.
Rek-Rap is basically Spider-Man, but crazy. His name, if you haven’t caught on yet, is because the Insidious Six told him that he “had it backwards” applying to their group as Parker-Man. He has all of the powers of Spider-Man, but refers to them with increasing inaccuracy. Most notably, he doesn’t web-sling, but “web-whang.” He refers to Spider-Man as a “wall scooter.” His catchphrase is something along the lines of “Sprang-a-lang!” and he’s been known on occasion to charge into battle shouting, “It’s Slobbering Time!”
I could write a story-by-story breakdown, but Rek-Rap really only appears in two arcs, and both appearances are fairly brief. Rek-Rap’s first adventure involves him joining Spider-Man in helping the Goblin Queen reclaim limbo from Chasm and Hallow’s Eve. He returns later, in New York City, and teams up with Ms. Marvel to take down Norman Osborn. While in the city he also spends some time with Spider-Man, learning how to be a hero.
Rek-Rap in Marvel Snap
Rek-Rap is an earnest character. He really wants to help, but he’s not quite sure how to be Spider-Man.
My original idea for the card involved generating a Web-Whang spell that worked opposite of Web-Sling, allowing you to move a single card into its location. I ultimately decided I wanted to lean into Rek-Rap’s Spider-Man idolization, but make it a little bit more unpredictable.
Rek-Rap - 2/4 - Game Start: Copy of the text of a card in your deck with “Spider” in its name.
This effect is unique, and stretches the boundaries of anything Second Dinner has actually done in Marvel Snap so far. We’ve had cards like Hulkling that look at groups of cards based on cost. Doom 2099 references one specific card. Sam Wilson also creates a sub-group of “Captains Americas” and Grand Arena’s Hulk Smash skill creates a sub-group of “Hulks”. This looks at a larger group of cards, but the text is still self-explanatory, without over-complicating anything three years into the game’s life.
Rek-Rap tries really hard, but his inexperience makes him less reliable. But there’s always a chance his ability will really pay-off. You can put Rek-Rap in a move deck with a variety of Spider characters, or you could throw him into Arishem for an extra chance of unpredictability. You can also create a deck to target specific cards, only including one other Spider card. Spider-Man 2099, Spider-Woman and Man-Spider come to mind as hyper-specific targets.
I do believe his best use, though, is still in a move deck. The ability to have an extra Ghost-Spider, Miles or Spider-Punk are all invaluable. In a game with so few cards, the ability to duplicate a card in your deck is very powerful. Frigga and Moon Girl are currently the most consistent ways to do that, but Rek-Rap opens up the door to a new way. Here’s a move deck you might be able to use him in.
Rek-Rap Most Wanted
There are currently 12 cards in the game with Spider in their name, so the Rek-Rap pool looks like the following:
If Rek-Rap ever proved to be too strong or difficult to balance, you could also design him to randomly pick a Spider card from this list, instead of a card already in your deck.
Conclusion
So is Rek-Rap a Spiderriffic card? He’s currently ranked 224 on the list, so Rek-Rap can definitely use your love! If you haven’t voted yet, take a few minutes to vote in the November edition of Marvel Snap Most Wanted as the polls will close on Monday November 24th!