In Marvel Snap, some cards are meant to focus on supporting a specific deck archetype or strategy. One of those is Deathlok who enables a certain mechanic which supplements an important role to make the deck he is supporting functional, may it be in the mid or late game.
Deathlok’s ability may seem like a drawback at first glance. But, when used correctly, his effect paves the way for certain advantages, as well as pulling off some of the game’s most powerful combos.
Marvel Snap Deathlok abilities, explained
Deathlok is a three-cost, five-Power card with the ability that reads “On Reveal: Destroy your other cards at this location.” On paper, what Deathlok does is just destroy cards. This can be beneficial if you are playing a Destroy deck, especially if you have cards that benefit from being destroyed. You can also use him to get rid of some unnecessary cards, such as Green Goblin, Hobgoblin, and other card-made units like rocks and ninjas.
You can obtain Deathlok in the early stages of the game. Once you reach Collection Level 18-214 (series one), you may now be able to get the card and it will not cost you any tokens. So, you can already build decks around him as early as possible.
Strategy and best combos for Deathlok decks in Marvel Snap
As mentioned, Deathlok works as a destroy enabler. So, cards that gain advantages from being destroyed are the best choices to work around him. This includes Deadpool, Nova, Wolverine, Bucky Barnes, Sabretooth, and Nimrod. Daken’s Muramasa Shard is also a great target for Deathlok’s destruction ability.
Deathlok can also help cards such as Phoenix Force, Knull, and Death gain their advantages since he can destroy cards once you play him.
The best Deathlok decks in Marvel Snap
Standard Destroy
Deathlok’s main home in Marvel Snap is in a Destroy deck. As a destroy enabler, he makes Deathlok a staple to almost any type of Destroy deck. He is not the main win condition; he is more of a tool to bring out the deck’s strength by using the destruction strategy. Still, there are various cards that somehow dictate the win condition of this deck.
Deadpool and Wolverine both stack Power every time they are destroyed by a card or location effect. Bucky Barnes, on the other hand, creates a two-cost, six-Power Winter Soldier in his place if he gets destroyed. As for Daken, he gives the Muramasa Shard to his user which doubles Daken’s Power when destroyed or discarded. You can also add Sabretooth since he becomes a zero-cost, four-Power card when destroyed.
For your destroy enablers, aside from Deathlok, you can put Carnage, which gains plus two Power for each card it destroys, and Venom, which gains the total Power of all cards that it destroys. Cap off the deck with Shang-Chi to get rid of your opponent’s cards with nine-Power or more on the location where you played him, Knull, which has an Ongoing ability to gain the total Power of all destroyed cards in the game (from your and your opponent’s side), and Death, who is an eight-cost, 12-Power card that decreases her cost by one for each card destroyed in the game (same as Knull, from your and your opponent’s side).
Win condition cards for this deck
The win condition cards for this deck are:
- Daken
- Shang-Chi
- Knull
- Death
Daken is a potential massive Power source in this deck, so destroying the Muramasa Shard should be on top of your mind when using this deck. As for Shang-Chi, the converted offense and possible massive destruction can also boost Knull and Death’s advantages, so find the right timing of when to play him.
Nimrod Destroyer
This variation of the Destroy deck uses a different strategy, which is the combo of Shuri, Nimrod, and Destroyer. These three cards can spread copies of Nimrod with high Power while keeping and maintaining Destroyer who is a total juggernaut in terms of having huge Power in Marvel Snap.
Shuri doubles the next card you will play if you place it on the location where Shuri is played. Combining this ability with Nimrod makes it a five-cost, 12-Power. Destroyer is a six-cost, 15-Power unit that destroys all of your cards once you play him. With Nimrod’s ability to put copies of him in the other two locations when it gets destroyed, you can have at least two 12-Power Nimrods while having a 15-Power Destroyer in the process.
The other Destroy staples that are in this deck include Nova, Wolverine, Carnage, Venom, and Deathlok. You can also put Psylocke for more energy, Iron Lad for vision and added Power and ability from the top card of your deck, Arnim Zola for having more clones on your locations, and America Chavez, who is a six-cost, nine-Power card that you will always draw on turn six.
Win condition cards for this deck
The win condition cards for this deck are:
- Shuri
- Nimrod
- Destroyer
- Arnim Zola
- Iron Lad
- Venom
- America Chavez
The combo of Shuri, Nimrod, and Destroyer is the main offensive engine of this deck. So, it must always be your priority to pull this off to ensure that you will have enough Power in the late game. As for Arnim Zola, he is a good backup in case you need to keep your other cards alive from your locations, and destroying and summoning two copies of a card from one of your locations is your main win condition.
Iron Lad provides decent Power and a bonus ability when you play him. Venom is another great massive Power source that enables the destroy mechanic. America Chavez will always be a good alternative turn-six play if you will not be able to draw and play Destroyer in time.
How to counter Deathlok decks
To counter Deathlok, the best card to use is Cosmo. She has the ability to prevent On Reveal abilities from happening. With Deathlok being a card that has an On Reveal ability means that Cosmo can shut his effect in an instant. So, it is always a must to check whether you or your opponent has Cosmo on any of the locations before playing Deathlok, unless you are using him for his Power and not his effect to destroy cards.
Both the decks above can be countered by Armor since he can prevent the destruction of cards from both sides of the locations as long as he is present on board. The Destroy mechanic won’t take effect if Armor is being played by the opponent, and it can be harder for you to deal with it especially if they managed to protect the cards that you are supposed to destroy.
Deathlok decks’ current state in the meta
Deathlok’s role in the decks where he belongs is more of a destroy mechanic enabler and not a game finisher.
The Standard Destroy deck has already proven its stable stature in the Marvel Snap meta for quite some time. Its effectiveness and consistency to work well against most decks made it a force to be reckoned with, despite the fact it is not considered a top meta deck at the moment. But if you need a reliable engine, you can always use this strategy.
As for the Nimrod Destroyer deck, this is more of an unpredictable version of the Destroy deck. It can adjust to a handful of strategies in the game, as well as the presence of win condition variations that can be the deck’s main overall strength.
