Marvel Snap has a lot of interesting meta involved in its simple card-dueler, and a lot of its gameplay revolves around the RNG of the three location tiles that are revealed. However, there are many cards based on the enormous Marvel pantheon like Shang-Chi that can completely alter the course of any Marvel Snap match. Players who rely on one-cost cards in their deck will be at the mercy of an opponent’s Killmonger card, for example, while a well-placed and well-timed Hobgoblin card can blemish any plans the opponent had for a certain location.
Likewise, there are many cards with abilities unique to that character’s canonical ability or lore. Uatu allows players to foresee all three locations before the second and third are revealed, Squirrel Girl produces a Squirrel card at each other location, and Uncle Ben produces a Spider-Man card in players’ hands when destroyed. There is no single deck that outplays every build in Marvel Snap, but certain cards such as Shang-Chi wield game-changing abilities that can arguably be seen as overpowered in any circumstance and within any location.
Marvel Snap’s Shang-Chi Knocks Opponents Down a Peg
Though Shang-Chi’s card does not relate to a particular ability that he has, the card is still incredibly overpowered in Marvel Snap. Shang-Chi wipes out all opponent cards at a location that have a power level above nine. Since Shang-Chi only costs four points of energy and has three points of power himself, this is an incredibly effective card for any build. Players can hang onto him until the final turn and put him down on a location that the opponent is winning. If the opponent used Devil Dinosaur, a solo Namor, or any other high-power card, they have a good chance of losing that location after all the effort they put into it.
If the opponent has multiple cards at a location that are above a power level of nine, the result could be devastating. This does require players to have space freed up in a location that they are losing, but the low energy cost makes it worthwhile to keep in players’ hands once drawn. Shang-Chi would be a lot more balanced if the card cost six energy or if the ability also affected the player’s side of the location. The only reliable counter to Shang-Chi seems to be not having cards with high power outputs, but that is unreasonable when having higher power outputs than the opponent is how to win a match in Marvel Snap.
Marvel Snap Locations Can Complement Shang-Chi Further
Moreover, many Marvel Snap locations can pump cards up past a power level of nine, and this becomes a detriment to any players who get hit with a Shang-Chi card at that location. Atlantis gives an extra five points of power to cards if there is only one there on the player’s side, for example, and Shang-Chi could therefore eliminate that one card and win the location.
Certain locations appear more frequently than others, and players can use the information from Marvel Snap’s home menu screen to determine whether they need to switch to another deck or change their current one at all. It is ill-advised for players to build their Marvel Snap decks in precaution of what other players may bring, but Shang-Chi is a daunting card to come across.
This is all before the true mind-game of Marvel Snap’s cube snaps come into play, where players can attempt to dissuade opponents from continuing or upping the rewards. Therefore, Marvel Snap’s entire gameplay loop can aid the Shang-Chi card and mind-games become even more challenging when he is drawn.
Marvel Snap is available now for Mobile and PC.