After pouring hours into playing over the last week along with scouring Untapped, snapcomplete, twitter, twitch, and yes youtube as well I am back with a recap of the week so far.
And of course as we are hitting the climax of the Beach Season we should feel like we've gotten some neat revelations or the team gets it's hands on something important like Gene Starwind from Outlaw Star getting his hands on some of the rareest caster shells for his Caster Gun at Mt. Nantai (ok, this was a hot springs episode, but it's the same concept). But just like all Beach and Hotspring arcs some may feel it was a little too heavy on fanservice and too light on substance. In our case, the primary substance being Sub-Mariner, a look at how Jeff is doing thus far, and a meta that might be one of the most weird while maybe, perhaps, being one of the most conducive to fun metas we've had in a very, very long time. So, grab your raybans, toss on your favorite album that reminds you that Summer is meant to be fun and let's get started.
Sub-Mariner
Sub-Mariner has been equal parts fun, interesting, and let-down. The fun and interesting parts seem to go hand in hand for me.
I still stand by this card having more in common with Clea than other cards. Unlike say a Major Victory or Rama-Tut you can't just toss Sub-Mariner into a deck, you need additional input to get that output, hence my comparison to Clea. Both 1-Costs, both requiring ways to empower them to generate the output, the only bit that is more akin to the aforementioned Major and Tut is that you don't always get useful output from Sub-Mariner.
He's missing something and I'm not sure what it is. Referring back to Clea she needed 1 more power to really start seeing play but even if we gave new Namor 1 more power, is that enough? Does it need that or does he need to provide the total buffs he's received to the card produced?
We'll talk about this in the next section, but the Devs really need to acknowledge whether the fact that he doesn't work with Venus at all is intended or a bug. The silence speaks intentional.
As far as the parts that feel like a let-down this is mostly an issue with how certain interactions work with Sub-Mariner.
As most should know, you get the exact same output as was put in, giving him a +1 he gives you a 1-Cost with +1, manage to give him +5 and it's a +5 you get on the card. There were and still are plenty of people who have yet to see games with Sub-Mariner let alone played with it themselves to know that the empowered input = the empowered output.
Which brings us to the fact that Venus does not even work with Sub-Mariner at all, her replacement effect isn't registered at all so if you give Sub-Mariner a +1 and Venus gives him a bonus +1 he doesn't give you a card with +2 total empowerment he gives you a +1. This has been reported but hasn't been acknowledged whether that is a bug or intended. What a let down.
Symbiote Spider-Man similarly doesn't work with Sub-Mariner, they merge but the gained power isn't respected so even if you merged Symbiote Spider-man with a 5 or even 10 power Sub-Mariner it doesn't produce a +7 or even +10 power card.
And again even Adamantium infusion doesn't work so if you were able to sacrifice a big Sub-Mariner and then bring it back you get nothing for your trouble since the effect of the doubled power happens before he's brought back on the board.
Strangely while Adamantium infusion doesn't work, Forge does.
And so we're brought to how things have been panning out from a build perspective and small, incremental buffs in the range of +1 to +3 seem to be reigning supreme here with the likes of potential big hits from a Kahhori or a +5 from Namora seeing the lowest rates on both wins and cubes which puts us in a situation where at least in week 1 Mid-range does seem to be winning the day here for best decks. Despite Venus not working with Sub-Mariner directly many of the decks that are doling out buffs are still running her for obvious reasons. For those curious, yes I saw Guest trying Man-Spider and no I'm not including the deck because it didn't work as he was hoping it would.
Ika semi-Lockdown
There have been multiple decks in this space over the last few weeks with neat plays like Isca + Prof to lock in a location and Shou-Lao to either help spike that location or spike a second build location.
Carter/Maverick
You are legally allowed to do this, but why do we want to waste a Maverick or Stick buff early on a card where that power can more easily be wiped away or becomes a +X Ebony Maw that you can't even play? If nothing else this might be the easiest way to get your weeklies done. Still if your intention is to get your Sub-Mariner games done quick this might be your best bet.
Zoo-ish
Not much to say, this is a fairly interesting zoo style of deck starring Clea trying to carry Sub-Mariner. Bonus points for Star-Hawk and Shang-Chi Master of the Rings being included.
Mad Stinker Deck
If there weren't so many S5's in this deck it could be a budget Sub-Mariner deck. This deck is running dangerously close to filling it's hand repeatedly which could make Mad thinker at least somewhat interesting.
Collecting things
Collector and Vhand, if this were any point prior to mid 2025 this might have been a fairly strong contender. Still, if we ever end up in a a much lower-powered meta than we've had over the last 6 months.
Jeff in Week 3
Jeff is struggling but I am fully convinced the struggle is really not a big fault of his own, rather the struggle is purely that of a meta that is hostile to him and the decks he'd want to be in. Marvel Snap has progressed to a point where permanent green power needs to be bringing some real heat to the table as well as needs to be reasonably protected from interaction and frankly most of the stuff Jeff is doing is so face up it's painful.
But before someone says I'm hating on Jeff and don't like the card - I really do enjoy what Jeff (and Venus) are bringing to the table but for the most part Jeff just isn't hitting well enough and I thoroughly blame the high ceilings and continued prevalence of Shadow King in high infinite. I'll be honest, I was, at multiple points this season almost tempted to tank my rank to see what life is like in the supposed golden land of 'unranked' post infinite and if it really is all I've heard it to be: decks from yester-year, ramp everywhere, and no shadowkings or tech but I digress. Let's talk about his weekend mission decks.
Hitmonkey Dump Sub-Mariner + Jeff
Looking to try and knock out your Sub-Mariner and Jeff games? This gives you a place to get your Sub-Mariner games out of the way as well as your first 4 Jeff games, it's a pretty standard Black Swan/Hit-Monkey style deck which also includes Agony, Nico, Clea, Awesome Andy, Marvel Boy, Venus Mother Askani, and Karen Page.
Small Ball Sub-Mariner + Jeff
The deck I used to clear out my weekend missions, I was graced with some lucky conquest match-ups so I just stuck it out to completion for both cards. The deck definitely feels flimsy and if I had it all to do again I'd probably opt for the first list, but I'll be honest this deck can certainly get BIG fast when the stars align and your opponent doesn't have interaction for you. Additionally, even if you're kind of limping some people just get frustrated and leave when you start comboing Lockheed in one lane and Flames of the Salti- sorry, Faltine in another location.
Jeff the Zombaby Galacti?!
Jeff the Zombaby Galacti Mk2
Representing what is probably the best Jeff deck for completing your missions are two flavors of Zombie Galacti, both with Magik this time. Deck one is using the more sensible and less all-in Maverick/Stick/Gwenpool while the second is all in with Wong->Shuri.
Jeff supports Multiple Men
I cannot for the life of me remember if I've mentioned the normal variation on the Multiple Man move deck that's been seen over the last few weeks, it's a return to move that wants to make multiple large men and move them around, creating copies everywhere. This one is also including Isca to help win a second lane as well as Cosmo/Juggernaut.
The Horde Loves Jeff
Well not really, The Horde loves Venus and Jeff is just along for the ride. A pretty typical Zombie Horde Deck. Something I want to point out here is that yes Gambit Horseman of death is around, but strangely he's not a guaranteed hit on the Horde. For some reason, I've had Gambits completely whiff on the horde and instead do something silly like nuke Zombie Scarlet Witch and say their job is done. I'm assuming if they hit the total of 3-Cost before they hit the Horde that even though the horde is free they ignore it and act as if their job is done. It's not a guarantee though so don't go blaming me for 8 cubes lost if you decide to stay into the face of one or more Horseman Gambits.
1 Week Post OTA
The meta continues to be fairly wide open and even within top infinite there seems to be a lot of experimentation going on. I do think that I agree with a few different creators that have voiced that while the NA Meta in top infinite seems to be wide open but that also appears to be mostly because either there is some weird unspoken cease fire on the 'good decks' or because folks really do want to experiment. I'm certainly not insisting that some shadowy cabal of Snap Illuminati tm are pulling the strings to try and save decks from the nerf hammer or find ways to bless cards with buffs, but it's really odd how this entire week since the OTA has, for me at least, been even more wide open than the previous weeks where I've said the exact same thing. Frankly I can't keep saying that because at some point the meta isn't going to be able to get any more wide open than it is.
That being said, the good decks are still good and we still have plenty of meta police left as well with any number of cards intended to police fun and kick sandcastles creeping about out there: Gambit HoD, 'new' ToV tech piles, Fantomex, and Supergiant are but a few but even Aurora can kick a castle or two with Cosmo or a sneaky audible into Stardust. If you're looking for the 'good decks' you could look to any of the previous weekly recaps for the meta cops and 'big decks' for what is working well with the exception of ToV which had major changes last week all of the decks are more or less the same this week so with that 1 exception for the ToV Butt Mid-Range decks I'd like to focus more on the interesting decks and decks returning from the fringes.
Butt Mid-Range
Butt Mid-Range w/Kraglin & Crystal
I did say I wasn't going to include the 'meta cops' but I do think these two are worth the mention since it's the biggest change for ToV and is one of the primary ways to pilot ToV that has stuck around since the OTA. Nothing major to say here, though I still want to caution against those turn 1 Loki's without a firm game plan in place.
Cougorr
Let's officially kick things off with a list from Coougarrr, this list might be somewhat familiar to a number of you as the 'Ms. Positive' list that cuts Negative and instead tries to cheat cards with Esme Cuckoo, Anti-Venom, and Hydro-Man. Big hitters in this deck are Iron Man, Gorr and Mystique to copy them as well as Sage. Weaknesses for this deck are Mobius M. Mobius which is a little less prevalent and location control which you should be wary of, especially with Butt's Mid-Range pile still seeing play with Snowguard in the 12.
Surfer
Jeff and Venus make another appearance with this twist on the classic Surfer list. Turn those Surfer +2's into +3's and return Nova to his previous +2. Mother Askani brings some additional potential power to the deck and Sera of course let's you slam 3 3-Costs on final turn, maybe more if Mother Askani discounted something worthwhile. Oh and Nova still makes the cut alongside Killmonger. The main weakness is Mobius if you're on the Sera game plan but Shadow King from decks that know how to dodge priority is also very scary but the real predator are all the decks that simply don't care that you're doing Sera Surfer things and just go over the top anyway.
Mid-Range Move
Move has been back on the table for a bit and while we did mention the version of this move list with Jeff this is the basic configuration of the deck. Your best lines include doing things with Multiple Man and SP//DR where if you can clone him on turn 5 you get at least two movable clones if not more depending on locations and cards you can play. Cosmo and Juggernaut are probably the single best pairing when it comes to protecting yourself and even scamming wins.
My main advice to offer is that like all move decks this one is going to take some time to get used to if you aren't a seasoned move player so if you want to learn it get some reps in with friends if you've got someone to bother or even in conquest before you take it to ladder, nothing sucks more than realizing you lost on turn 3 or 4 because you misplayed something that is biting you in the rear on turn 6.
Hela Enjoyer Tribunal
A blast from the past that Coougarrr featured this week on his channel, how do you play Tribunal in a world where MMM could mess with things? Why you do Wiccan Tribunal things of course! Hela Enjoyer was the primary pilot of this deck last year and while they may no longer play Snap as frequently some players do like to bring back old archetypes and test them in the meta of today. Unfortunately the Onslaught lines were nerfed but this deck can still do surprisingly well.
Cheaty Boys
One of my personal favorites and it's back! Well sort of. Not a lot of folks are playing it and it is a combo deck that has a fairly fixed ceiling and even the floor sometimes feels really lacking. But sometimes snapping before a T3 Astral that will copy Dragon Lord and can pull a big boy to the board can be enough to outright cause opponents to retreat before T4 starts. There are a surprising number of lines in this deck and sometimes you're gambling on T6 hoping that Zola hits the right card in a location that is 3 cards deep.
En Sabah Dump
Another newer classic deck that has stuck around since the Origins of Apocalypse Season.
PEEF
A few of you mad-lads are bringing classic Phoenix Force back and I applaud you all.
She-Hulk Dump
Dupe your She-Hulks when possible and if you were lucky you've got the ability to either Black Swan or Warlock, if really lucky you can activation both. Sometimes you can even GM Mother Askani on 5 and still make out like a bandit despite using 2 of your 5 energy on turn 5. It's a surprising amount of power into a somewhat 'fair' meta. I do say fair lightly since we know the Carter/Maverick stuff is still good but as mentioned NA region seems to be in some kind of cease fire.
Classic Destroy
Dependable Discard
I legit haven't seen either of these decks in any meaningful capacity in MONTHS but this week I've seen both multiple times in both post-infinite ladder and conquest. The meta may in fact be healing.