Meta Monday
Welcome to Meta Monday. This is a new weekly installment where we will discuss the current metagame of Marvel Snap and the different aspects that go into combatting the current metagame. Full disclaimer: this is not a metagame tier list article, nor will it cover conquest specifically. The conquest Meta can differ slightly from the ladder, but this will mainly cover Ladder Metagames. Also, I am not trying to put different decks into different tiers, but we will talk about the decks that are doing well in the game's current state without a tier ranking assigned to them. So, let's get to it!
What is a Metagame?
People who have not spent a good amount of time playing different games with many different strategies are unfamiliar with this word, and some probably do not know what it means in the context of Marvel Snap. So, what is the Meta or Metagame? The Metagame is the best strategy or strategies currently within the game. These strategies can change over time depending on new card releases and patches and usually change from week to week. So when players or I refer to the Current Meta, they are talking about the collection of decks you will probably see being played because that collection is the current best strategy to win players the most games and cubes.
Why is understanding the Meta useful?
Understanding the Meta is all about anticipating what your opponent will do and how to make the best choice to combat the things they can do. For example, If I know my opponent will play a card like Ultron at the end of the game. It is smart for me to save my Killmonger until after he has played the Ultron to maximize Killmonger's potential and most likely negate my opponent's Ultron play by removing any extra power they gain from the bots. If I know what my opponent will play or how they will possibly play their cards, I can make better choices when playing my cards. Meta game also goes one step further by anticipating the possible anticipation of your opponent. So, take our previous example with Ultron and Killmonger. If I was the Ultron player, it would not be an unreasonable assumption to make that Killmonger is a card counter to Ultron. He kills all of the 1 cost bots you just created. Because of this, to make the best plays I can and knowing my opponents might run Killmonger, I will preemptively put Caiera into my deck. This gives me a tool to counter my opponent's potential counter with Killmonger. This is a basic example, but in general, this is the principle applied to most decks when they are being built to be successful. They take the information about what cards most people are playing and then build their decks accordingly. This can be a complete deck change or just one or two cards.
The Current Meta
Now that we have all of the definitions out of the way let's discuss Marvel Snap's current metagame and the different ways that payers are trying to combat and become successful within our current format.
The Meta this last week has been tumultuous, to say the least. The release of Arishem caused a great deal of change in a very short time. Almost a week later, players are still grappling with these changes. This has created a metagame that is ultimately two-sided with a “hidden” Third side. Arishem decks are on one side, and counter decks are on the next side. Hidden slightly are players trying to pray on the Arishem Counter decks, Although this is a less successful venture just because those players still need to contend with the Arishem matchup.
Arishem
Arishem is currently the most popular deck by any metrics. Over the last 7 days, according to our Snap.fan data, his best deck is 21% of the current format. The next closest deck is just a different version of Arishem, sitting around 10% of the current format. So, just with our data alone, Arishem decks are about 30% of the format. That is a lot of Arishem. You'll need to look at and be prepared for this if you are trying to play any game of Marvel Snap. There are countless builds to this deck. Here are the two that are currently the most popular versions, although that doesn’t mean they are the best versions. I have added some suggestions as well.
Arishem 20%
Arishem 10%
The main key to Arishem is that he provides a surprise factor with the randomly generated cards and the addition of 1 extra energy, essentially allowing you as a player to be a turn ahead of your opponent. Arishem has good matchups with most other decks that will go against making it both good and popular. Arishem is also extremely versatile, with no one exact build being the best so far. The randomly generated cards mean that the deck can access any card in the game, although they are not guaranteed anything. Furthermore, Loki helps you eliminate your bad hands for discounted “better” hands, an incredibly powerful tool that’s just the icing on the cake.
To say that this deck has been a little format-warping is an understatement because although we have a lot of data, many players still don't use trackers at all, which would probably boost these numbers even higher.
For better or for worse, Arishem is here to stay at the moment, so it is best to be prepared to face that match-up and think about possible ways to counter or give yourself an advantage.
Arishem Response
The other side of the metagame is currently the response to Arishem. These decks are trying to counter the game's most popular deck to maximize their win potential. The response was pretty swift and didn’t take much thought because Arishem suffers from one simple flaw. He adds 12 cards to the deck, meaning that the simple card Darkhawk is massive without even trying. This has resulted in the Darkhawk package becoming heavily present in any deck that wants to combat the meta.
Because of this one card alone, the meta has become a little Arishem and Darkhawk heavy. Here are 4 different decks that took some existing archetypes and then just fit Darkhawk in to counter the Arishem decks.
Thena Hawk
Loki Hawk
Cerebro Hawk
Negative Hawk
Do you see the pattern? We have the Thena Ravonna deck that now includes the Darkhawk package. Loki has decided to join forces and started slinging some rocks. The response was so drastic that we even have players just throwing a Darkhawk into Cerebro 3. While that might seem a little memeish, the deck was used well in the upper portion of the ladder over the last few days and had pretty decent success. However, the main idea here is simple: to combat the growing Arishem meta, players have resorted to throwing Darkhawk into decks to combat that matchup. This doesn’t always work, but it does give you a leg up when you try to combat Arishem.
The Hidden Ones
The Hidden third side of the metagame is the players trying to use this tumultuous time to their advantage. This is a smaller section of players, but it isn’t the worst idea. Decks that can decently contest Arishem and have a decent match-up into the decks trying to Tech in Darkhawk are bound to do well. Also, decks that can just combo off usually can produce enough power in two lanes to win games. These decks are not necessarily specific to the metagame. Still, because most of the Darkhawk Arishem counter decks have added a Darkhawk package, they tend to run little to no tech cards like Shang-Chi or Shadow King, meaning combo decks or decks that can get big can overpower them when they are not playing against the deck they are designed to beat. This includes but isn't limited to Phenix Force, Destroy, Clog, and some Move clog hybrids.
PF TLT
Stock Destroy
These next two are variations involving clog, which is helpful against most matchups because it is highly disruptive. The move clog deck has been used by Huskypuppies at the upper ranks to good success because it can burst out some major power after locking your opponent's lanes down. But it has some less straightforward play lines, unlike normal clog, so check out his gameplay if you want some tips.
Clog
Move Clog
These decks have good win rates, are good enough into the Darkhawk counter decks, and can overpower or disrupt the Arishem decks enough to stand a fighting chance.
Meta Health
A healthy meta is something that the majority of players want to experience. The definition of a healthy meta is highly debated and can be an entire host of articles. However, a healthy metagame is one where various strategies, tactics, or card choices are viable and competitive, allowing for diverse gameplay and preventing any single approach from dominating. This balance fosters creativity and strategic depth and keeps the game engaging by ensuring no strategy is overwhelmingly superior, thus maintaining fairness and interest among players. Given that definition, the current metagame is not the healthiest since it revolves around one hyper-popular deck and the possible counters to that deck. Hopefully, we can reach a level of balance next week by adding some new cards and card changes, but for now, we are stuck here until players start to innovate away from the two-sided nature of the metagame.
Conclusion
So what do we, as players, do with this information? Well, you can play one of these meta decks and go for it. That is what most people will inevitably do. You can also use this information to build a deck that competes with the decks mentioned in this article. Marvel Snap typically has a fast-moving metagame, but for at least the next few days, we will probably see more of these same ideas. What are your thoughts on the current metagame?