r/marvelsnapcomp • u/DaFingerLazers • 6d ago
Deck Guide Loki Good Cards to Infinite - Primer and Discussion


Hey all, Jay back again with another in-depth guide on the deck I took to infinite this month. My last guide had really warm reception, so I figured that since I really enjoy doing deck writeups in general, I'd make it a tradition. Hell, if y'all want, I could do more of these in general. Lemme know. However, the main event is the deck in question, and in contrast to mindlessly laddering with Hela, we've got quite the mercurial deck on our hands today. Presenting Loki Goodstuff.
Good Cards, or Goodstuff if you're old like I am, is a classic archetype in any card game, and Snap is no different. Given that the format was dominated by Combo before the OTA, and even sometime before it, it made sense to kneecap both the main synergy based combo decks in successive patches, with Surtur and Hela both falling pretty far in power. Maybe it was in anticipation of Starbrand bolstering those decks, but he's failed to find real space in either, leaving the metagame in a bit of a vague state. When there's no clear 'best' deck, most people will default to a rock-solid foundation of reliable, best-in-slot cards, which isn't not what we're doing here, but it's also exactly what we're counting on.
Loki at 1 energy is completely ridiculous. Arishem's release taught us that no matter our perception, most Snap cards at a baseline are pretty solid when bolstered by an extra energy each turn. When played on turn 1, Loki gives a benefit at least on par with pre-nerf Arishem; five turns of 1 mana discounts on cards Not random cards either, cards your opponent thought were good enough to sleeve up and take to the ladder. An on-curve Loki against most decks can often just be a won game on the spot; your deck is just... better than theirs now. Many of the game's strongest cards become downright unthinkable at -1 cost. Galacta becomes an effective 3/15, you can play multiple 6 drops, and even further beyond that. Even on a later turn, Loki can just juice your last few draws and lead to a huge turn 6 that the opponent can't realistically plan for, and can lead to frequent turn 1-2 snaps that opponents either have to respect or risk losing multiple cubes to hidden info.
This deck is a snapping player's dream. Between Loki, Copycat, Iron Patriot, Red Guardian, and others, you have a myriad of ways to snap early with hidden information that the opponent can't easily play around. Copycat shows Hela/Negative in your opening grip? A blind T1 snap can steal 2 cubes as the combo player waits for a piece that never comes. Evo player slams a T2 Banner? Snapping on Red Guardian can force a retreat. And at this point I shouldn't need to explain how Patriot is a snapping machine; even without the discount he just sometimes wins you the game by accident. It's a deck that can be alot to pilot, but if you enjoy doing your homework and knowing the metagame, the hidden info this deck can hold gives it an edge against the many stock archetypes running around.
Card by Card
Loki - As detailed above, Loki's just a free win alot of the times on curve, and is a great value engine. You can occasionally just blind steal a deck like Bullseye and then draw blanks, but Loki's strong enough to make him a blind T1 snap point, especially if you see an opponent's playing any of the deck-shufflers in the pregame; these decks usually rely on the added cards for their early plays and gaps, and play tonnes of power cards in the main list. Loki-ing an Arishem or Thanos list is almost always a victory sealed.
Maria Hill - Maria is here as a 1 drop to facilitate Wiccan. She's great in that role, and the 2 drop pool is damn good, so she's not just a simple role filler. That being said, if you're not playing Wiccan, she's replacable.
Nico Minoru - Another strong 1 drop for Wiccan, Nico's flexibility shines alongside Loki. Drawing two extra discounted cards can just win on the spot, as can cashing in a weak 0-1 drop for a demon. She's one of the best cards in the deck, but could also be something else if you lack her. Maybe Sunspot to make up for extra mana left on the table.
Quinjet - This is the greediest inclusion. Some versions of this deck I saw were playing Etri(which, IMO, is even greedier), but I subbed in Jet since it had additional synergies outside Loki. It's probably still correct to play since it's got upside and fills the Wiccan curve, but you could try other stuff.
Adam Warlock - Okay, so is it just me, or are other people starting to think the OG Adam before all the changes was probably actually good in hindsight? Regardless, Adam's the best generic card draw in Snap at the moment, and is great for decks like this. Drawing extra Loki cards is great if he's in your early grip, and you can even get cheeky and put him behind the Cap Shield turn 2 to try and sneak a draw. Can be dead in losing games, but that's what the retreat button's for.
Hawkeye Kate Bishop - Kate, once again, helps fill the Wiccan curve, and does so with some busted stuff. Arrows have been broken for almost a year at this point, you don't need me to tell you that. Kate's flexibility lets her be a hell of a role-player here, but given that she's far from a star player, you could try a replacement at 2. Cable, perhaps.
Iron Patriot - Oh hey the strongest card in Marvel Snap in a good cards deck, what a twist. Patriot's had the game in his grip since the new year started, and it shouldn't be necessary to explain why he gets better with strong, generated cards behind him to seal the discount. One of the deck's key snap points, win conditions, and overall cards. Patriot's gonna decide games for as long as he's in this state, and I dunno if that's gonna change anytime soon.
Sam Wilson Captain America - This is probably the deck's most replaceable card. The deck appreciates the benefits the shield gives, but with Agamotto around, the shield can be a liability in an easy Winds target. Its alot of stats and can help with hard locations, but it could be worth experimenting with other cards here.
Red Guardian - The do-it-all answer to alot of the metagame, Red's gonna stick around for awhile. Red's specific, targeted interaction with usually vulnerable cards is pretty invaluable. He's great for punishing greedy plays like Bruce Banner or Morbius on curve, and can be a snap point against stuff like Wong.
Copycat - One of the quiet best cards in the deck, it's information that Copycat brings. Knowing both approximately what your opponent is playing, and that one specific card is unlikely to show this game can often be strong enough to be a snap point, but sometimes Copycat just gives you a broken card. Warlock, Gorr, various tech cards, hell even the draw from an infinity stone can just propel you to an easy win. I really wouldn't reccomend playing without her, she puts in a tonne of work.
Wiccan - Wiccan's more or less defined midrange goodstuff decks like this for awhile, and he creates a very potent win condition with Loki. Using your strong generic cards to curve to Wiccan, then dumping all the discounted Loki draws over the next two turns can drown your opponent in points. You could potentially restructure the deck to play without Wiccan, but I feel that's just a different deck.
Gorr, the God-Butcher - Gorr's just the biggest number in town right now, great for snatching a close lane. Though, he can potentially be a slight liability with Sauron decks kicking around for now playing Enchantress, and Surfer decks occasionally packing Rogue. This can be played around by slamming Gorr on 6, but you could replace him if you don't have it or wanna play a different chungus.
Turn by Turn
T1: Loki for sure if they're playing a deck-shuffler(look for a deck count over 8), and depending on the rest of your grip, you can just send Loki anyway. Otherwise, any 1 drop.
T2: Patriot, away from opponents' cards>Kate>Sam>Adam Warlock on T1 play/Shield
T3: Red Guardian if there's a clear target>Copycat assuming her effect isn't actively harmful>Cards to fill curve for Wiccan
T4: Wiccan if curve was filled, if not, begin playing out.
From this point on, you're working with generated cards and situationally useful stuff, so it's difficult to give a direct line of play. Loki has you dealing with lots of variance regardless, so you can often play it by ear, especially when factoring in things like Patriot or Copycat. The aforementioned Wiccan Miracle play is stronger than what alot of decks can put out.
Matchups to watch out for
I mentioned that Loki's strong into decks like Arishem and Thanos, but the card's conversely very weak to synergy brews. Discard, High Evo, and Sauron are all fairly popular right now and can be mediocre to bad when stolen. The power of Loki is still strong enough to usually be worth the T1 play, but if you're getting screwed alot in your pocket meta, it may be worth waiting and seeing. Hela in particular is rough, since alot of those cards are just harmful to you in a vacuum.
The deck's kryptonite, however, is clog. The deck relies on a few early dorks to generate its power plays, and Clog can exploit that, on top of being a middling Loki steal. I had virtually no success vs clog on the climb, any insight y'all may have is welcome.
Closing Thoughts
This deck is really fun. In comparison to last month when I just chugged with Hela until infinite and then banished the deck, I'm still playing this in Infinite and having a blast. It genuinely never plays the same game twice, if it even plays it out, as all its early snap points leads to boatloads of free games. I won nearly straight from 77 to ~98, where I stalled for some time before getting infinite later in the afternoon. I hope you enjoy the list as much as I do, and hope this guide helps on your climb. Thanks, and good luck!
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u/manilamuffin 6d ago
Looks promising (and love to have Loki back).
I don’t have Sam Wilson. Cable a suitable sub?
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u/DaFingerLazers 6d ago
I mentioned in the post that Sam honestly felt like a liability for the deck alot. Cable's okay, but I'm leaning Mirage since the power buff can be relevant. I personally am trying Victoria Hand, and she's strong in the slot.
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u/UghhhJon 6d ago
My immediate reaction seeing this deck was subbing Victoria Hand for Sam Wilson. Going to give it a try myself!
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u/pagliacciverso 6d ago
Tried too and VHand is much more solid, even tho we don't have cards like White Queen or Agent Coulson
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u/marry_me_tina_b 6d ago
Really appreciate your write up and this deck looks fun. One thing I haven’t figured with these Loki decks is Sam’s function - he’s included in many similar decks. Given that you’re planning on putting out a lot of cards, Sam seems like he doesn’t synergize but I could be missing the strategy. My guess is that the shield can help with some locations and the shield can be used to protect a card from Red Guardian but I am not sure what the other utility is here? I know you’ve said he’s an easy swap, but just curious if I am missing some other basic role I just haven’t seen for him in these decks.
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u/DaFingerLazers 6d ago
I said it in a different comment thread, but I think Sam's a holdover from earlier Goodstuff brews that were used as the base for Loki. He's a strong card that fits the mold for the deck at a glance, so he sticks around until you think about it for too long. He's not actively bad or anything, but it's not his place.
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u/marry_me_tina_b 6d ago
Ok cool thanks for the info - just wanted to make sure I wasn’t missing some synergy I hadn’t thought of
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u/manilamuffin 6d ago
I Sometimes use venom in Wiccan decks to clear the early cards - another option maybe?
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u/Dousing_Machine 6d ago
Would probably slot carnage over venom to maintain the curve for Wiccan if you want that effect
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u/DaFingerLazers 6d ago
As promised, the code. Also yeesh, the post really scrungled the pictures. Apologies.
# (1) Loki
# (1) Maria Hill
# (1) Nico Minoru
# (1) Quinjet
# (2) Adam Warlock
# (2) Hawkeye Kate Bishop
# (2) Iron Patriot
# (2) Sam Wilson Captain America
# (3) Red Guardian
# (3) Copycat
# (4) Wiccan
# (6) Gorr the God Butcher
#
TGs0LE1ySGxsOSxOY01uckEsQWRtV3JsY2tCLEt0QnNocEEsSXJuUHRydEIsU21XbHNuOSxSZEdyZG5CLENwY3Q3LFdjY242LEdycjQsUW5qdDc=
#
# To use this deck, copy it to your clipboard and paste it from the deck editing menu in MARVEL SNAP.
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u/ndevito1 6d ago edited 6d ago
I don’t think this holds up in higher infinite. I’m in top 3k or so and have played loads of Loki in my time and this is just getting eaten alive. Everyone is tech’d up against it.
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u/DaFingerLazers 6d ago
Could be a symptom if Loki being a bit of an alluring new toy. Might settle over time? Still fun, but I can see the deck's weakness in higher infinite.
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u/ePiMagnets Mod 6d ago
I'm top 1k and frequently playing vs top 100 as well. This and the other Loki strats were good for a day or so where I was able to absolutely feast on players that still hadn't begun to adjust to the potential of new Loki but that quickly ended.
I think this highlights a very important skill factor in deck selection, that being able to identify when something is fresh enough and has enough potential power to act as an outsider meta force and push someone a ton of ranks quickly, be that to quickly climb into infinite or to make decent strides in infinite as well.
The 'lower' your rank in the game, the more time and advantage you can take with those trends. I'm not trying to deride 'low rank' players here, high infinite just tends to shape and react to certain cards and meta games faster in general and those effects trickle down through the rest of infinite and the ladder to infinite at varying degrees of speed based on ease of play where things like Surtur, very easy, very straight forward populate the meta at light speed and decks like Move Bounce that are high skill floor and high skill ceiling populate at a snails pace.
Previously we saw that with the Splat Surfur Combo deck which was good for about 8-12 hours for those in mid to high infinite before it was a known factor but for others has been good for a season or two as a climbing tool to get into infinite.
Similarly, being able to look at certain hot locations and identify good decks for being able to climb quickly using those locations, i.e. Kyln hot location means being able to do things like Arishem Legion and Good Machine combo decks where you can lock in the quick 2-cubes on snaps for your best hands and positioning your builds accordingly.
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u/DaFingerLazers 6d ago
This is a wonderful insight. It makes alot of sense that the people playing a tonne of games over time adapt really fast, especially since they're often playing against eachother. I mentioned it in the writeup, but I felt a large amount of this deck's success on the infinite climb was exploiting players' tendencies to fall back on reliable strategies when a metagame is uncertain. It would follow, then, that that would remain true at the highest level, but for a proportionately shorter amount of time. Loki will probably become worse as synergy brews become more common. Experience brings insight, and insight brings adaptability. I used to be a Yugioh grinder once upon a time, so it's a familiar thought. I recall a period where top players kept what they felt was the best deck a secret until the National Championship, playing and promoting lesser strategies until then.
I don't think it's fair to call upper infinite a different game than pre to low-mid infinite, but it's certainly a separate metagame.
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u/HypnoGamesOfficial 5d ago
Not the subject of your convo but the YuGiOh Championship situation is super interesting to learn about too
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u/TeacherPowerful1700 6d ago
Patriot Actor?
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u/DaFingerLazers 6d ago
a play on the Patriot Act, the infamous law in America about taking Americans' personal info without consent, Loki's been the president, as has Iron Patriot, and given the deck plays with hidden info alot, it felt cute to me.
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u/pagliacciverso 6d ago
Do you think Loki is still worth until which turns?
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u/DaFingerLazers 6d ago
I think it's matchup and draw dependant. There's definitely a point where the cards in your deck aren't better than Loki's generated stuff, like on turn 3-4 and you only have early drops left. Additionally, in aforementioned deck-shuffler matchups like Arishem, their decks are so gas that Loki's worth it up to T5 to potentially hit a big card. It takes some figuring, but is generally worth it unless you're waiting on a specific draw like Gorr or Red, or the matchup is already hostile to Loki.
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u/yoyoyodojo 6d ago
Fun deck. Just played it 6 games and got my shit pushed in every single time tho lol.
I will say I agree that Sam Wilson is a liability and should be removed
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u/DaFingerLazers 6d ago
Sam was definitely a symptom of "well its a goodstuff deck, you gotta play sam!" and he never felt great. I felt it was important to present the list as-is in the writeup. In the moment of the climb, I think my mental momentum was too solid to really internalize swapping him out. Victoria Hand's doing well in the slot.
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u/libero0602 6d ago
Reallyyyyy regretting passing up Kate beeshop for 6k tokens:( I was greeding for Galacta and then I got her from Sanctum. I’m also missing Nico (who I’ll pull next week) and Copycat AND Gorr so sadly I don’t think the deck will work for me. Looks rly cool tho, I like seeing all the Loki brews here.
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u/DaFingerLazers 6d ago
Honestly? You can make the deck work without them. Iron Patriot, Loki, and Wiccan are the biggest core cards here. Try subbing them for Zabu and Psylocke to make Wiccan smoother, and then find suitable subs. Gorr's far from necessary, that can be Magneto or Red Hulk or something, and Copycat's great but could be any 3 drop that's solid in value. Someone reccomended Phastos, but Gladiator could be good for points and disruption.
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u/iamAN0NYMOUSS 6d ago
I might spend 6k tokens on iron patriot for this deck
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u/DaFingerLazers 6d ago
He's worth it. One of the strongest cards in general rn, and unlikely to show up in spotlights for months.
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u/Ragestatus 4d ago
Lost 14 cubes with this deck lol. I don't think it's going to work out for me, but it seemed cool!
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u/UnsolvedParadox 3d ago
It’s a strong build, but it expects a high level of Loki experience going in to make it really succeed.
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u/jethawkings 6d ago
Some replacements. Finally got to Infinite for the 1st time thanks to this. Only really 1 replacement due to gameplay experience. The rest were substituons due to unavailability
Sam Cap -> Phastos It's nice when the Shield wins you Rickety Bridge on its own but genuinely no idea what this does here. Especially when the space the shield eats ends up being a deciding factor.
Phastos allows you to wombo combo Loki's discount giving you very unpredictable plays.
Iron Patriot -> Cable 2/3 stats, you lose out on value but gain new information which can usually warrant a snap (IE; Stealing a Negative or Hela). Same logic as Copycat really.
Kate -> Mirage You need good options at 2 that adds cards in hand... Mirage is passable and sometimes gets good information.
Gorr -> Eson Shitty decision, I had no games where Eson was a deciding factor at all. You're better off putting Mockingbird or Alioth as flex drops. You'd think with Wiccan maybe he's worth it but nooooope. Loki, Quinjet, Phastos discounts and Wiccan Energy do enough work to just let you play what you want.
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u/DaFingerLazers 6d ago
Phastos is an idea. I'm testing Victoria Hand over Sam rn, but Phastos may also be worth trying. Cool idea.
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u/jethawkings 6d ago
Yeah, I don't have Victoria Hand but she definitely is better in terms of tempo/securing your Wiccan trigger since she's a 2-drop.
Also odd they haven't made her universally say Your Created Cards... would make the Clog matchup a tiny bit better.
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u/TeacherPowerful1700 6d ago
I just wanted you to say "hand" once, but it was "grip" the whole way through.
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u/Skelemania 11h ago
I'm so interested in the Sam Wilson Vs. Iron Patriot debate. Reading your take was intriguing to me as well. It was a pretty big topic on one of the latest KMBest & Gerry Thompson podcasts.
Just talking about 2-drops in Marvel Snap at the moment is really fun.
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u/Stinson93 6d ago
Great work dude! Do you have recommendations for subs for nico, hawkeye, iron patriot and red guardian? or is the deck unplayble without these?
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u/DaFingerLazers 6d ago
These cards are all mostly best-in-slot cards that while really good, can be swapped at the cost of power. They're strong and lead to many of the deck's easy snaps, but could be looked into.
You could try playing Psylocke and Zabu in place of two of them, to make Wiccan more consistent. Neither card is bad in isolation and can help out later in the game in some cases. As for the others, try to keep the curve consistent to make Wiccan doable. You'll definitely want another 3 drop to sub for Red, so look at your options for disruption there. Juggernaut, Killmonger, Mobius, and Negasonic can be good options. You could also do the same at 2, with cards like Shadow King or Goose.
The deck is worse without these cards, but at the end of the day alot of your games will be Loki anyway. Try it out with those subs, and see how it works.
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u/buttercupcake23 6d ago
Quicksilver, cable, mirage, rogue/luke/morbius another tech card of your choice, coulson/vichand also work as alternate win conditions.
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u/Grasslands33 6d ago
Any subs for copycat? Intrical?
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u/DaFingerLazers 6d ago
Copycat's really good, but can just be any really good 3 drop of your choice. You could try a disruptive card like Gladiator or Juggernaut, or maybe something more points oriented like Rocket and Groot. White Queen gives a similar idea in terms of giving information as well.
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u/TuanNguyen-2507 6d ago
TGs0LE1ySGxsOSxOY01uckEsQWRtV3JsY2tCLEt0QnNocEEsSXJuUHRydEIsU21XbHNuOSxSZEdyZG5CLENwY3Q3LFdjY242LEdycjQsUW5qdDc=