You don’t need to wear a cape to be a hero in the Marvel universe, and nobody embodies that more than Luke Cage. If you fancy building around this powerful character, here are the best Luke Cage decks in Marvel Snap.
Luke Cage is one of Marvel’s first “heroes for hire,” alongside Iron Fist. He gained his superhuman strength and unbreakable skin after being a subject for an experiment when he was imprisoned for a crime that he did not commit in the first place.
With his incredible power and impenetrable skin, you may assume that Luke Cage is an offensive character. In Marvel Snap though, he actually possesses a defensive ability that guarantees the protection of your cards.
Here are the best Luke Cage decks in Marvel Snap.
Luke Cage’s Marvel Snap abilities, explained
Luke Cage is a two-cost, two-Power card with the ability that reads: “Ongoing: Your cards can’t have their Power reduced.” This means that no matter what card your opponent plays, they cannot take away any power from your cards. It also disables any location effects that could negatively impact your cards too.
You can get Luke Cage once you reach at least Collection Level 486 as a series three card. He is also up for grabs as the free series three card during the seasonal rotation. So, you don’t need to spend tokens to get and add him to your collection, as well as a potential part of your decks.
Strategy and best combos for Luke Cage decks in Marvel Snap
With Luke Cage’s ability to protect your cards, finding others that bring out the full potential of the hero for hire is key.
Hazmat is one the best partners for Luke Cage thanks to her ability to remove one Power from every card in play. With Luke Cage on your side, you’ll be able to hurt your opponent’s chances while knowing that all your cards are perfectly safe.
Adding Wong to the mix can cause Hazmat‘s ability to activate twice, while including Mystique can double the damage to your opponent. A cheeky Odin play at the end can also activate the ability one more time to really hammer home your advantage.
Typhoid Mary’s Ongoing ability to give negative Power to your cards in exchange for her four-cost, 10-Power stat line also won’t work if you have Luke Cage. With that in mind, it’s best to protect Cage’s ability with a card like Cosmo so nobody can stop his protection with cards like Enchantress or Rogue. The same goes for Scorpion since his negative power-inflicting ability won’t work even if he does it to the cards of the opponent’s hand.
Man-Thing has the ability to inflict negative one Power to all one, two, or three-cost cards on the same location as it. Spider-Woman also does it, but only for your cards. Luke Cage is beneficial to prevent your cards from receiving the negative Power from the two cards.
The best Luke Cage decks in Marvel Snap
High Evolutionary
As odd as it may sound, Luke Cage can be used in a deck that focuses on inflicting negative Power on your opponent’s cards. With High Evolutionary‘s arrival in May, he quickly changed the meta of Marvel Snap after giving birth to the secret abilities of the game’s then-vanilla cards. These secret abilities revolve around two mechanics: inflicting negative Power on your opponent, and conserving energy to unlock certain advantages for your side.
The High Evolutionary creations that can inflict negative Power on your opponent that are in this deck are Wasp, Cyclops, and The Thing. As for the cards that benefit from having unspent energy during turns, you can use the likes of Misty Knight and Shocker.
Abomination and Hulk are your main finishers for the deck, with the former being a five-cost, nine-Power card that costs one less for each card of your opponent that was inflicted with negative Power. Hulk, on the other hand, has an Ongoing ability where he gains plus two Power in the hand or in a location for each turn that you have unspent energy.
Cap off the deck with Hazmat and Scorpion to deal more damage to your opponent’s cards.
Win condition cards for this deck
The win condition cards for this deck are:
- Cyclops
- Hazmat
- Abomination
- Hulk
Cyclops and Hazmat are your most reliable cards that can inflict negative Power on your opponent’s units, especially with the former since he has the potential to inflict negative Power each turn if you have unspent energy.
As for Abomination and Hulk, they are your main Power sources. Playing them on turns five and six could be the most ideal sequential play in the late game, or better if Abomination could be played earlier.
Toxic Junk
Another deck where Luke Cage can be used is in a Toxic Junk deck. Here, the main strategy is to fill the opponent’s locations with unnecessary cards that can then disrupt their strategy. Also, these cards can be inflicted with negative Power which can act like offense for your side.
Green Goblin and Hobgoblin can both transfer themselves to your opponent’s side of the locations while having negative three and negative eight Power, respectively. As for Viper, she can transfer a random card from your end to your opponent’s side. Some of the best targets for her effect include The Hood and the Void created by Sentry.
Debrii can create zero-Power rocks on each other side of the location (both for you and your opponent). That is why having Carnage is important since it can clean up the junk for your side, especially if you still have rocks, The Hood, or the Void in your locations.
Hazmat, Man-Thing, and Spider-Woman are your negative Power infliction enablers. Finish the deck with Alioth, which can destroy the cards your opponent played on the same location and turn as you played it.
Win condition cards for this deck
The win condition cards for this deck are:
- Hazmat
- Viper
- Sentry
- Green Goblin
- Hobgoblin
- Alioth
The Luke Cage and Hazmat combo is the heart and soul of this deck. As for Viper, targeting the Void created by Sentry with negative 10 Power is the best strategy to ensure that your opponent would have unnecessary units in the late game. However, this is more of a predictable strategy so be wise on when you should play the two.
The goblin duo of Green Goblin and Hobgoblin makes the junk strategy more consistent and easier. Alioth, on the other hand, can guarantee you a win in a single location, especially if you filled up the other locations with junk cards.
How to counter Luke Cage decks in Marvel Snap
Luke Cage has an Ongoing ability. This makes him prone to cards that can disrupt or remove Ongoing effects.
Some of the cards in Marvel Snap that can counter Ongoing effects are Enchantress, who can remove all Ongoing abilities of the cards that are already placed on the location where she will be played, Rogue, who can steal an Ongoing ability from one of her opponent’s cards on the same location as her, and Echo, who can remove the Ongoing abilities of cards that will be placed on her location. You should always watch out for possible disruption to your Ongoing units courtesy of these cards.
For the Toxic Junk deck, the decks that can counter it would be a mirror of itself, as well as the Patriot and Destroy decks. Facing a Toxic Junk deck also puts unnecessary units to your side, and the player with the lucky draw and better setup would always win. Patriot decks, on the other hand, provide a boost to vanilla cards, and the rocks that can be created could be boosted with his effect. As for the Destroy decks, they can get rid of the junk cards that you can create for your side.
Luke Cage decks’ current state in the meta
Both the High Evolutionary and Toxic Junk decks are considered as reliable engines in the current meta of Marvel Snap. Though, they are not regarded as top meta decks since their strategies are a bit less consistent compared to the other top meta decks. Still, using them to grind the ladder can give you wins, especially if you are able to master their strategies.
