I started playing this little mobile game called Marvel Snap since March 2023 (the Days of Future Past season) and I’ve been quite hooked since! I hit Infinite Rank by my fourth season. I’ve hit Infinite rank multiple times since then, each one with a different deck. Since Marvel Snap is a live service game that is undergoing continuous development, the competition continues to evolve. New cards get introduced in the game, and existing cards can sometimes be changed for better or for worse. As time goes by, these old decks may see significant changes. I’ve decided to write about these decks since I’m a sentimental guy and I want to capture these moments. For August 2024, I went back to a deck that was really hot that month – Sand Drones!

 

Deck Details

Infinite Deck Name: Sand Drones

Season Used: Young Avengers (August 2024)

Deck Description: The general idea of the Sand Drones deck is to first get a Power advantage on one location. Then, play Sandman on Turn 5 to limit both players to one card on Turn 6. Finally, play Ultron on Turn 6 and try to win a second location with his Drones.

 

Deck Breakdown

Card List: Nebula, Spider-Ham, Jeff, Cassandra Nova, Patriot, Makkari, Copycat, Rescue, Klaw, Sandman, Ultron, Red Hulk

Card Roles: 

1. Nebula – Gains Power whenever the opponent doesn’t play at her location.
2. Spider-Ham – Cheap early disruption.
3. Jeff – Movable Power. Can get into restricted locations and bypass Sandman’s ability
4. Cassandra Nova – Tech against Arishem. Great Power if you play her on Turn 3
5. Patriot – Buffs Ultron’s drones.
6. Makkari – Plays itself for free.
7. Copycat – Tech card that works for free.
8. Rescue – Great Power if you play your next card at her location.
9. Klaw – Spreads 12 Power across two locations.
10. Sandman – Restricts players to just one card on the next turn after he is played.
11. Ultron – Fills your other locations with 2 Power Drones.
12. Red Hulk – Alternate Turn 6 play.

 

Key Card Strategies

Sand Drones Combo: Sandman would let both players play only one card the following turn (usually Turn 6 as Sandman is 5-Cost). This makes Ultron a perfect partner as he fills up your other locations with 2 Power Drones with no abilities. Essentially, if you didn’t have any cards in your other two locations, Ultron is equivalent to 24 Power (8 at each location) for just 6 Energy.

 

 

Power Stackers: In my first version of Sand Drones, I kept losing the Ultron location because Sandman and Ultron didn’t have enough Power to win it. To solve for that, I added Cassandra Nova and Rescue. Cassandra is a 3-Cost that gives you 7 Power when you’re able to play her on Turn 3. Against Arishem decks, she can win a location on her own. Rescue is great for playing with Sandman as she becomes a 9 Power card for just 4 Energy, making up for the Power deficit.

 

 

More Power: Four Drones with 2 Power aren’t always enough to win a location, which is why I have Patriot in the Sand Drones deck. With him, each Drone becomes 4 Power and an empty location suddenly has 16 Power after playing Ultron. Klaw works similarly but only for the location to his right – he adds 8 Power to the Drone-filled location.

 

 

Other Notes: Makkari is a 3-Cost card that plays herself for free. She can help fill up the Ultron location after the Drones have been summoned. Spider-Ham and Copycat are cheap disruption cards. Nebula is a cheap source of Power which synergizes with Sandman. Jeff can relocate and also get past Sandman’s restriction. Red Hulk is a good alternate Turn 6 play after playing Sandman, if you’re already winning two locations.

Deck Evolution

What’s Changed in This Deck? This deck got nerfed hard. First, Copycat no longer steals an ability but only copies it. People say it wasn’t a big change but I’ve seen enough shuffle effects happen that moved the opponent’s bottom card and be able to draw Copycat’s victim and even play it. Sandman’s Power was reduced to 6, then his ability was changed completely. Instead of restricting players to just one card the following turn, he now increases costs by 1 (to a maximum of 6). It still works similarly – the only way to play two cards is playing a 3 Cost and 1 Cost on Turn 6. But tech cards like Mobius and Sera can now bypass Sandman.

Conclusion

The first Marvel Snap deck that I had that was competitively decent was Patriot Ultron, but I was never able to take it to Infinite. So I’m glad that, with Sandman’s help, I finally brought Patriot and Ultron, two of my most-played cards in the past, to the promised land. The nerfs to Copycat and Sandman hurt, but I agree that they were necessary. Both cards were too powerful, and there was no way to work around Sandman’s ability before he was changed. A lot of my wins were from retreats, after I had snapped and played Sandman.

After the nerfs, I barely see any Sandman Ultron decks anymore. My Sand Drones deck still sees some use though, as it is really good at fulfilling the Fill All 3 Locations bounty for Alliance points. This deck had its moment in the sun, and now it is back to being a lower tier deck.