Will Self Be Asked To Kill?
Warlock is set to debut in Marvel Snap tomorrow as the latest Series 5 card. For those unfamiliar with Warlock, he is technically an alien who crashed on Earth near Professor X's mansion and had the opportunity to interact with the New Mutants and the X-Men. Warlock is technically a "Technarch," which can be complex if we delve into the lore. Instead, let's focus on what Warlock brings to the game in Marvel Snap.
Energy cheating has always been effective in Snap, and Warlock is no exception. However, with 3 Energy and 3 Power, Warlock isn't a strong stat stick; instead, he serves as both a combo and economy engine. The concept is straightforward: intentionally float Energy to convert it into cost reductions. This allows you to play powerful cards earlier or to make larger plays later in the game. Warlock works best in decks that can safely under-spend or generate an advantage while passing turns.
Warlocks Friends
When we talk about extra energy or floated energy, Sunspot is the most common partner to include because it means that the energy isn't just floated and wasted; it actually does something. Any deck that wants to actively float energy wants to include Sunspot.
While not closely associated with floated energy, Jim Hammond, in a deck that is dealing with energy and probably wanting to float extra energy, can be a nice early game play.
Just as Sunspot is typically used in a strategy that floats energy, so is She-Hulk because it allows that energy to actually do something instead of just being wasted. So, when potentially making a deck with floating energy as a theme, she is a good inclusion.
These might not be the best friends, but cards that give extra energy allow us as players to potentially float more energy leading to more cards being discounted, so it's possible that these inclusions would be useful.
Warlock Enemies
This is the only card that directly counters Warlock. Sadly, Mobius just takes the possible fun out of a lot of cards because he gets rid of the cost reduction. While he doesn’t really care about the floated energy, he will definitely negate the gains you get from Warlock's activation.
Ease of Use
With an activate, there is always an issue with timing and how to properly use the activation. For Warlock, you want to make sure you activate on the turn that you float the energy. For example, if I want to float 4 energy so I can discount the 4 cards in my hand, I'll make sure to activate Warlock and then leave 4 energy floating or unspent. That should cause Warlock to -1 the cost of the rest of the cards in my hand. This could be useful on any turn, but because Warlock is a 3-cost, the earliest I can do this is turn 4, meaning I won't be able to reap the benefits of his cost reduction until turn 5. Just something to keep in mind. Ok, let's get to some deck lists.
JFSnap’s First Week Decks
WarSwanLock
The first deck that we got here is a Black Swan Moon Girl hand dump type deck that wants to capitalize on floating energy on the last turn to make our hand incredibly cheap while still keeping energy useful with a combination of Warlock, Sunspot, and She-Hulk. While Warlock is not the main engine here, he is definitely useful in making the deck more consistent. Black Swan is vitally important for the final turn to burst as many points as possible, but being an activate herself, she has some limitations. Being able to essentially have 2 of those cards with Warlock as a new card means there are more options to get out the cost reduction engine going.
WarHighLock
I didn’t mention High Evolutinary up above because he isn’t exactly a partner to Warlock. But, Warlock definitely fits into High Evo as a cost reduction enabler, especially in a deck that is designed to float energy. They do make a good duo. High Evo has been around for a long time so there is nothing new to the strategy here, but Warlock allows us to possibly play a lot more cards than before with his cost reduction. Especially if we get some extra energy via Luna or Hope.
The Warlock One
This is mainly an Idea that I got from my alliance member Splat, but I have changed a couple of cards and added Warlock. You end up with a lot of extra and floated energy at some point, so Warlock seems like a natural fit, especially with the amount of 6-cost cards we have that we want to play at the end of the game on turn 7. The main idea, the Fallen One big then slam lots of points via Hulks and the floated energy growing Sunspot and the extra energy growing Jim Hammond, the whole game. It has been a lot of fun, and you'd be surprised at how much power or energy you can get in a single game.
Variants
Warlock is a crazy looking dude who has some awesome variants coming out on release. The Chibi Cyberpunk one is pretty hilarious looking for only 700g, and then Dan Hipp has an unreleased one coming out, so there is definitely something for everyone.
Conclusion
Warlock isn’t for everyone. He’s a niche engine for players who like calculated passes and explosive late turns. But for those who enjoy setting up big plays, he’s one of the most interesting Series 5 drops in months, in my opinion. I also think that he can get a small spot in a lot of different places since a lot of decks don’t always use all of their energy, and even floating 2 energy to get 2 cards reduced in cost would be a nice little bonus. I can see him being a really nice puzzle, but I could also see him being completely useless for a lot of players who don’t really play strategies that would use him.
So honestly, he is a pick up if you want to deck built around him. To me, that makes him a solid 3 out of 5 on my rating scale, and I'd be happy to have him in my collection, but if I don’t grab him, I don’t think I am missing much or anything meta-changing. What is your rating of Warlock, and do you plan on picking him up? Let me know in the comments below!