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 September 2024, I took advantage of a powerful buff with Machine Lock!

 

Deck Details

Infinite Deck Name: Machine Lock

Season Used: Amazing Spider-Season (September 2024)

 

Card List: Silver Sable, Spider-Ham, Howard the Duck, Nightcrawler, Ebony Maw, Goose, Marvel Boy, Storm, War Machine, Legion, Giganto, The Infinaut

Win Condition: Lock locations down with Goose and Storm, play War Machine, then play your cards in the locked down locations.

Card Roles: 

1. Silver Sable – 1-Cost for Marvel Boy.
2. Spider-Ham – Cheap early disruption. 1-Cost for Marvel Boy.
3. Howard the Duck – 1-Cost for Marvel Boy. Gives you intel on your next draws.
4. Nightcrawler – Movable 1-Cost for Marvel Boy.
5. Ebony Maw – Synergizes with War Machine.
6. Goose – Restricts cards to 3-Cost and below at its location.
7. Marvel Boy – Gives your 1-Cost cards +1 Power at the end of each turn.
8. Storm – Locks down one location.
9. War Machine – Allows you to play any card at any location.
10. Legion – Turns the other locations into the same location where he is played.
11. Giganto – Synergizes with War Machine.
12. The Infinaut – Synergizes with War Machine.

 

Key Card Strategies

Lockdown Cards: Goose and Storm are the cards that give Machine Lock the “lockdown” effect. Goose effectively prevents any cards that cost more than 3 to be played in its location. Meanwhile, Storm changes a location into Flooded after two turns, preventing players from playing any cards there.

 

 

Main Combo: The primary combo of Machine Lock is to play Storm, then War Machine, then Legion on the Flooded location that Storm created. With all locations becoming Flooded, your opponent is unlikely to be able to play any cards on Turn 6. This usually drove my opponents to Retreat, so the most I could get out of this was two cubes. Note that you don’t really have to play Legion but War Machine is very important as he allows you to keep playing in the Goose/Storm locations, as well as play The Infinaut, Giganto, and Ebony Maw.

 

 

Marvelous Ones: Marvel Boy and several 1-Cost cards offer both a supplementary or alternate strategy, in case you don’t draw War Machine. You can play your 1-Cost cards either in the Goose location or the Storm location. Then Marvel Boy can keep adding Power to them as the match progresses. Marvel Boy boosting Ebony Maw is usually enough to win a location locked down by Goose or Storm.

 

 

Other Notes: The Infinaut and Giganto are big Turn 6 plays that can really win you games. War Machine lets you play past their restrictions. Without War Machine, it’ll be tough but you can skip Turn 5 and play The Infinaut to try and pull off the victory.

Deck Evolution

What’s Changed in This Deck? Three cards in this deck got nerfed eventually. Marvel Boy and War Machine both had their Power reduced by 1, which was very minor. But what effectively killed this deck is Storm’s change from 3-Cost to 4-Cost. This change means Storm and War Machine no longer play along the curve.

Conclusion

I had a bit of trouble reaching Infinite during this season. However, I learned something from people who hit Infinite early with Symbiote Spider-Man: striking early with a new strategy can get you to Infinite really fast. So when War Machine’s ability was changed from On Reveal to Ongoing, I made sure to take advantage with my Machine Lock deck. I woke up early after the patch was implemented and really invested time in my climb (I started in the mid-90s). By the time of the next season, people already knew how to deal with War Machine decks.

Now I don’t agree with the nerf to Storm. Sure, the Storm-War Machine-Legion strategy can lock out opponents completely on Turn 6, but they can easily retreat. It really wasn’t the synergy between Storm and Legion that worked for me in this deck. Instead, it was the ability to restrict two locations to my opponent while being able to access them with War Machine that was vital. Storm’s nerf has effectively killed this deck, at least for the time being.