Meta Monday
Welcome back to Meta Monday! Unfortunately, there has been little change to the overall Meta since last week due to no Balance changes and only a couple of cards that are sadly not meta-defining being added to the game. However, just because there weren’t any big changes doesn't mean we have nothing to talk about, so let's get to it!
The Three Pillars
Currently, the meta is being defined by 3 separate pillars or deck archetypes and the different variations on these decks. There are other options than these three pillars, but for the most part, these are the three main strategies that are being used by the majority of players and are what you will see most of the time when queueing ladder games. Those three are Arishem, Thena Hawk, and Clog. Because we didn’t have a lot of change, I will discuss three different variations for each archetype and how they use the cards within those decks to battle against the other pillars in the metagame. I also will talk about the combo decks that act like a fringe but important category in the meta because while beating the three main pillars is important, you also need to be able to combat combo in some ways or be very aware of your snapping and retreating discipline in those matchups.
Pillar One: Arishem
Unless you have not touched Marvel Snap in the last couple of weeks you are well aware of the card Arishem. This card singly defines the metagame, and like I said last week, until there is a balance change, this is unlikely to change. However, the builds from his first-week release to his second week have changed slightly. Instead of relying heavily on Loki and Blob or Darkhawk, Arishem has evolved and uses other tools to combat the decks trying to attack it. They mainly include Loki because it's a natural fit in a deck that draws predominantly random cards and has extra energy. Still, Arishem has started using other threats to disrupt their opponents, like Doctor Octopus, Legion, Echo, and Leech.
Here are three separate builds of Arishem that are doing great.
Arishem 1
The notable inclusions in this deck are Super Skrull, Legion, and Doctor Octopus. Super Skrull helps combat the Arishem Mirror because instead of providing your own Darkhawk for an opponent to gain when they Loki, you provide a card that can possibly be useless. Super Skrull also helps fight the Thena decks because most of them run copies of Iron Man to go over the top of anything you do. This provides a quick and easy way to take that ability away from them and use it to your advantage. Legion is generally just a sound card to include for possible location scams. Also, Clog has started to use more Magik because there is less Nocturne in the format due to Arishem not running her, and Legion is a good way to get rid of Limbo. Doc Oct is a great disruptor and can clog an opponent's lane early while also disrupting possible combo pieces when a lot of decks require putting certain cards down in a specific order, like Clog move or Mystique and other ongoing cards.
Arishem 2
The notable inclusions for this version are Echo and Leech. Echo is a great 1 cost card to combat the Thena Darkhawk decks trying to win 2 lanes with a Darkhawk or an Iron Man. Being able to funnel a possible Darkhawk to the lane you want or disrupt a potential protective Cosmo is helpful. Special note: because Echo costs 1 energy, it is possible to play both Alioth and Echo at the same time for those games that your opponent is throwing priority to play a turn six Darkhawk and Mystique. Leech also helps to eliminate the Shang-Chi counter for the Blob that you played early, as well as disrupt opponents' use of Mystique to double up on an Iron Man or a Darkhawk. Leech is also good when playing against clog move because it eliminates your opponent's ability to burst out power on the later turns since they will typically keep their move enablers in hand until the end of the game.
Arishem 3
This is more of the standard version from last week with the addition of Gwenpool as just a good value 4-cost card that adds power to your hand. This deck is good but is susceptible to the other Arishem builds because it lacks some of the utility or tech cards other builds are starting to use.
Pillar Two: Thena
Thena decks have been running around ever since her release. They rely on early scalers like Thena, Angela, and Kitty to constantly add power to the board while usually ending with big finishers like Iron Man, Sasquatch, Mockingbird, or Sage. This is where the “fair” portion of the metagame comes from. While the deck isn’t doing anything that prevents the opponent from playing the game or employing a tactic or card that tweaks a fundamental rule of the game like Arishem or Clog does with Limbo, it still dishes out a lot of power.
Thena 1
This does not include Darkhawk, even though most of the Thena decks now do just for the Arishem matchup. Instead, this is banking on outpowering the Arishem deck on pure stats with cheaper threats than Arishem can randomly generate consistently. Gwenpool is a good addition because it helps beef up some of the self-clog within the deck and helps the curve by using all of our energy on turn 5 when we still want to play 2 cards. This also has a good match-up with Clog because it uses Jeff the Baby Land Shark and Nocturne to close off lanes we want to play in later in the game.
Thena 2
This is more of a build that aims to Attack Arishem decks by using Darkhawk and Mystique to win two separate lanes or Iron Man and Mystique. Most of the time, because of the early scalers, this deck has priority, so Juggernaut can help push a potential tech card away from the lane that it was supposed to go into. For example, you can play Jugg on the same lane as your Darkhawk to move away from your opponent's Rogue or Shang-chi before the card flips. Combining this with a Mystique to copy the Darkhawk or playing a Sage is usually game-winning. The clog matchup with this deck can be slightly unfavored just because we don’t have a lot of interaction, and Iron Man, coupled with negative power, usually isn't good. However, it is still winnable due to the high numbers that the early scaling cards can get to, and with most lanes being full, Sage is typically a 3 cost 10 or 12 power card most of the time.
Thena 3
This deck is a slight combination of the two. Instead of including the typical Darkhawk package with Korg and Rockslide, this deck uses the Mysterio and Mockingbird combination to add some additional cheap threats for the later turns of the game.
Pillar Three: Clog
This is probably the most hated pillar by the players and, if not hated, the most annoying. Clog aims to limit the board space of the opponent or control where cards are played and then take care of those locked-down threats by either bursting out power or destroying the threats altogether. Clog, however, is less diverse than the previous Archetypes. The main version is the first deck I will show you, which I also included in last week's article. It involves clogging your opponent and then using a small move package to burst out power in the later turns. This is probably the version that you will see the most of. However, Marvel Snap is a game where everyone has vastly different collections of cards, so other options still are viable and do the same thing.
Clog Move
This is your main version of Clog, which includes a small move package. The main Idea is to limit your opponent's board space with White Widow, Green Goblin, Debrii, and Doctor Octopus and then counteract any possible power the opponent has put on the board with Shang-Chi and Cannonball. Dagger is incredibly useful for creating very cheap power, and it isn’t far-fetched that she reaches anywhere from 12 to 24 power in a single game. As a very specific interaction that pertains to the Arishem matchup, Blob text states that it cannot be moved, so when you play Cannonball and Blob is the highest cost card, it will destroy the Blob every time unless it has lost its ongoing ability for some reason.
Clog 2
This is a different version that is still essentially doing the same thing as the deck above. However, this deck has a Darkhawk included as a general tech card against the Arishem matchup. Sage is your late-game burst of power since most lanes should be full by that point. Stegron, Green Goblin, White Widow, and Doctor Octopus are there to clog things up. Quake is a useful cube-gaining card because she is able to scam out unwinnable situations and steal large amounts of cubes.
Clog 3
This is more of a Clog plus Annihuls idea that is trying to do the same thing as the decks above. However, this deck has many more outs if your original game plan doesn’t work because of Sersi and Annihilus.
Overall, Clog is pretty straightforward, but as I stated above, it is probably the most annoying because it tries to limit your opponents' possible plays.
Combo Pillar
While this is not one of the three main pillars of the meta, it is an important pillar because it is always and needs to be accounted for. After all, these decks are fun, and they can produce a lot of power when left unopposed.
The three main combo decks are Wong-Namora, Phoenix Force, and Negative. All three try to do the same thing: combo off and produce big numbers. They are highly susceptible to tech and disruption, but if left to do their thing, they are devastating.
Wong Namora
Phoenix Force
Mister Negative
Negative is probably the most viable because it includes Darkhawk and so has a favorable matchup against Arishem even if it doesn’t get its combo off whereas the other decks really need to get the combo off to be viable.
Loki Pillar
Notice how I didn’t mention Loki as a pillar? Well, that's because Loki is always there in one form or the other. But mainly, this is because Loki has become an Arishem card. However, there still is a version that has been played in the upper portions of the rankings that does not include Arishem. I believe Sizer has been playing this mainly, and he is currently ranked in the top 50 for this season.
Loki Dino
It brings back a favorite with Devil Dinosaur and includes Darkhawk to counteract the Arishem decks running around. Non-Arishem Loki is a good deck to combat some of what's going on in the metagame because it can include the tech cards you need for your matchups and Loki into decks with great cards to play at a reduced cost. Also, when faced with the typical Loki counter of Mobius M. Mobius, this deck still functions well.
Meta Health
The Meta hasn’t changed since Arishem took over, so it isn’t healthy. There are a lot of decks that people are playing and a lot of variations on those decks. However, there is still an overwhelming amount of Arishem that does not let the metagame breathe as much as most players would like to see. From watching streams and reading comments from lots of Snap players, there is a lot of anticipation for the next OTA, so we hopefully get that breather from the current state of the game. What are your current thoughts on the metagame? What do you want to see changed? Let me know in the comments below.