Ongoing cards are among the first cards Marvel Snap players unlock, and they remain viable even at the highest levels of play. You start unlocking show-stopping Ongoing cards as soon as you finish the tutorial, with impactful game-winners like Klaw, Professor X, and Onslaught available as early as series one.
At present, Ongoing decks are performing well in Marvel Snap’s meta, and most use Spectrum as a devastating finisher. Spectrum is a 6-Cost card that gives all your Ongoing cards plus two Power, and everyone unlocks her for free during Marvel Snap’s earliest collection levels, so it’s easy to see why she’s so prevalent.
If you’re interested in giving Ongoing cards a try, we’ve got you covered, as this article will dive into the best Ongoing decks to play in December 2023.
Marvel Snap’s Ongoing archetype, explained
Ongoing is arguably the most straightforward mechanic in Marvel Snap. Cards with Ongoing abilities do exactly what they say on the tin, and provide continuous effects that become active as soon as they’re revealed.
These cards usually apply Power buffs, but often the effects are more interesting. Armor, for instance, has an Ongoing ability that prevents your cards at the same Location from being Destroyed. Cosmo’s Ongoing ability, on the other hand, stops On Reveal effects from triggering at that Location, which can really throw a spanner in the works to disrupt your opponent’s strategy, especially if they’re using powerful On Reveal cards like Shang-Chi or Galactus.
Best Ongoing strategy in Marvel Snap
Playing Ongoing decks in Marvel Snap is simple. Since most of your Ongoing cards add Power to the board and buff other cards, focus on building up Power at one Location in the early game before spreading to a second. That said if you notice you’re falling behind on one Location early on, consider switching to another before investing further. Onslaught is a common finisher that doubles all your Ongoing effects while also adding a sizeable seven Power to the board, so use this to your advantage and try to take your opponent by surprise.
Onslaught’s Citadel is the ideal Location for Ongoing decks, as it doubles all Ongoing effects. If this Location pops up in your game, be sure to use it to its full potential, especially in combination with Onslaught himself for even more Power. Likewise, watch out for the Isle of Silence, as this Location disables Ongoing effects. You should never play your Ongoing cards here, but you can still win the Location with Mister Fantastic, Klaw, and Spectrum.
Best Ongoing decks in Marvel Snap
Spectrum Ongoing
Spectrum has an On Reveal ability that gives your other Ongoing cards plus two Power. That’s a whopping eight extra Power for a Location full of Ongoing cards, which is a highly effective finisher.
Every card other than Spectrum is an Ongoing card, so this bonus is easy to achieve. Your Ongoing cards synergize well with each other, and most provide extra Power in some form, so the strategy is simple: Play your Ongoing cards to their ideal Locations. You should play Ant-Man at a Location you intend to fill, and Lizard at a Location your opponent is unlikely to fill. Always put Mister Fantastic in the middle if possible, and use Klaw to take your opponent by surprise by adding six extra Power to an unplayable or full Location.
Enchantress is the main counter you need to watch out for, as she removes all the Ongoing abilities from cards at her Location. If there’s a chance your opponent’s decklist runs Enchantress, make sure not to overcommit your best Ongoing cards to one Location, or if you do, be ready to preemptively play Cosmo (as long as you have initiative) to stop Enchantress dead in her tracks.
If you don’t have Ms Marvel from last month’s season pass (or from series five), you can swap her out for Ka-Zar or Colossus, as they’re also buffed by Spectrum and Onslaught.
Ultron Patriot
Ultron Patriot is another excellent Ongoing deck worth checking out. While it isn’t topping the charts like Spectrum decks are right now, Ultron Patriot has been a solid mainstay in the meta and likely isn’t going anywhere any time soon.
The deck takes advantage of Patriot’s Ongoing ability that gives your cards without abilities plus two Power. With no-ability cards like Misty Knight, Shocker, Cyclops, and Abomination, all of which have solid Power for their Cost, you can generate surprising amounts of Power across multiple Locations, and there aren’t any complex mechanics or interactions to think about.
Tribunal Ongoing
If you want to play a high-risk, high-reward Ongoing deck that has the potential to be an explosive offensive engine, then creating a deck that centers around the combo of Iron Man, Onslaught, and The Living Tribunal could be your ideal choice.
The Living Tribunal equally distributes your total Power to all of the three locations. Putting it in a location with Iron Man and Onslaught can create enormous Power. The former doubles the current Power of the location where it is placed, while the latter doubles all Ongoing effects of cards that are already placed in the same location.
Since both The Living Tribunal and Onslaught are six-cost cards, you can either use cards that allow you to play six-cost cards earlier in the game, such as Electro and Wave, or extend the game to a turn seven courtesy of Magik. Jubilee, on the other hand, may call a random unit from your deck regardless of the called card’s cost.
As for Invisible Woman, it can protect the Iron Man, Onslaught, and The Living Tribunal setup since all cards that will be placed in the same location will only be revealed by the end of the game. This prevents the Ongoing disruption effects of cards like Enchantress and Rogue. Cosmo is also there to protect your Ongoing cards since it prevents all On Reveal effects from happening in the same location as it.
Ms. Marvel is there to give additional Power to your locations, while Iron Lad provides vision and a bonus card effect since it can copy the top card of your deck. Finish the deck with Zabu, which lowers the cost of your four-cost cards in the hand by one.
