Summary
The discard archetype is present in nearly all collectible card games, but inMarvel Snap, it was one of the most reliable decks you could play, thanks to its consistency. A large part of said consistency wasthe old America Chavez, but when her kit was reworked, the discard archetype felt dead.
Yet Chavez needed the rework so new cards could be introduced, and among them is Miek, a seemingly innocent one drop that, if you discarded anything this turn, moved and gained one power. While it doesn’t make up for the loss, Miek does bring some consistency back and can even get to unplayable locations.
8Blade
A Great Start To The Discard Machine
For Miek to reach high power, you need a lot of discard cards, that way you’ll nearly guarantee something is discarded each turn. While Blade is one of those cards, you don’t want to wait until Miek and Blade are on board, rather you want to wait until the perfect card to discard, since Blade discards whatever you most recently drew.
While you usually want to discard Apocalypse and Swarm, you won’t always be able to manufacture a situation when you do. When playing Blade, just consider if you’ll actually use that card in this game, since if it’s just going to stay in your hand, you might as well discard it.
7Morbius
He Also Gains Power With Each Discard
Morbius, much like Miek, benefits from your own discarded cards, but his ongoing ability makes it so he doesn’t even need to be in play. While this makes him vulnerable to Enchantress (and Shang-Chi, since his numbers usually get high enough), he can add so much power that he’s more than worth it as a two cost.
You do want to be careful to not discard Morbius himself, since he’s one of your lowest cost cards and that’s what Colleen Wing, another key card of the deck, aims to discard. Morbius can win locations on his own, making him ideal for locations that close off or allow for only a few cards.
6Swarm
The Bullets Of Your Discard Gun
The power of the Swarm is that, if it is discarded, two new copies of it appear in your hand, and they cost zero. Keep in mind that the new copies have the same power as the original, so if anything increased or reduced its power, that change will stick.
Swarm works as a continuous source of discarded cards, keeping your hand from being empty. It’s important to always have something to discard, otherwise the abilities of your cards won’t work: without something discarded, Miek won’t move and Gambit won’t destroy anything.
5Colleen Wing
Discarding Your Lowest Cost Card
Colleen Wing seems like a simple enough card, and clearly, you always want to discard the Swarms, but there might be times when you didn’t draw them. This means that you’ll have to risk discarding either Miek, Blade, or Morbius.
It is rare that the lowest cost card in your hand is a three cost or higher, which is why we’re only talking of cost one and two.
Morbius is something you never want to discard, so it’s best to wait for turn four, where you can play both at the same time, and you might even have a better target for Colleen. Between Miek and Blade, if you’re still at the early turns of the match, you’ll get more mileage out of Miek, so he’s better on the board than Blade.
4Gambit
Killer Discards
Gambit is special among your discard cards because, unlike all the others, he isn’t doing any targeted discard, instead it is completely random. It is so because once he discards a card, he then destroys one of your opponent’s cards.
While it is risky to have Gambit on the team, whatever he takes out is more than worth it, so you might want to capitalize on that. Cards like Wong or Absorbing Man go well with Gambit, and not only are you destroying your opponent’s board, but you’re also buffing Miek while doing so.
3Lady Sif
The Biggest Cards Go Down
Lady Sif is very particular on this deck since she depends on one thing: is Apocalypse in your hand or not? This is because not only does Lady Sif discard your highest-cost card, but that’s the only card you want discarded with her, although that depends on the turn you’re on.
Without Apocalypse in hand, you will usually have to choose between M.O.D.O.K. or Dracula. If you have M.O.D.O.K. in hand, you should never play Lady Sif since you don’t have a better play at turn 5. Dracula, on the other hand, isn’t as dependable, so he’s easily discarded, and some lists are cutting him entirely for Daken.
2M.O.D.O.K.
The King Of Turn Five
While discarding your entire hand might seem a bit drastic, it happening on turn five is whatmakes M.O.D.O.K. perfect. While your ideal targets are Swarm and Apocalypse, you’re still ok with a clean slate on turn 6; you might not have a guaranteed America Chavez like before, but you’re still putting eight power on the board.
If you also have Miek in hand, you might want to consider your board. Playing M.O.D.O.K. and Miek on turn six isn’t usually worth it; however, with hard-to-reach locations, it might just be the winning play. Just make sure to have the other locations filled, and you’ll see Miek enter Sanctum Sanctorum without issue.
1Dracula And Apocalypse
You Rarely Play Both
Dracula discards a card in your hand and gains its power, while Apocalypse gains four power instead of being discarded, so you can see why these two cards go hand in hand. In fact, you rarely even play Apocalypse since you’ll likely have Dracula in play.
This is also what makes M.O.D.O.K. so important, since you need a clean hand for ensuring what Dracula discards. As for Miek, do keep in mind that Dracula won’t trigger him, since Dracula’s effect happens at the end of the game; still, both add a lot of power to the archetype and should always be played together.
