Many of the best decks in Marvel Snap are built around specific combos that the decks can pull off consistently. This usually involves two cards, as anything above two cards can become very inconsistent. One of the best combo enablers in Marvel Snap is Mystique, and she is so strong that she is the only reason a handful of the game's archetypes work at all.
What Marvel Snap decks run Mystique?
Cerebro decks
There are two decks that need Mystique far more than any other archetype in Marvel Snap. The first of these archetypes is the Cerebro archetype. This archetype revolves around its namesake Cerebro and its Ongoing effect of giving your highest power cards two extra power. This effect had led to the creation of decks whose cards all share a Power stat, such as Cerebro Two and Cerebro Three decks.
Where Mystique comes in is best represented in the Cerebro Two lists. In these lists, Mystique has the very obvious target of copying Cerebro, but almost all of these decks run Blue Marvel as well, offering a secondary yet still very powerful effect for Mystique to copy.
If you're looking to give Cerebro 2 a try, here is a deck code for one of the top lists. It contains M'Baku, so for those without this very rare card, the best substitute for him is Iceman:
- eyJOYW1lIjoiIiwiQ2FyZHMiOlt7IkNhcmREZWZJZCI6Ik5pZ2h0Y3Jhd2xlciJ9LHsiQ2FyZERlZklkIjoiTUJha3UifSx7IkNhcmREZWZJZCI6Ikdvb3NlIn0seyJDYXJkRGVmSWQiOiJNclNpbmlzdGVyIn0seyJDYXJkRGVmSWQiOiJEYXJlZGV2aWwifSx7IkNhcmREZWZJZCI6Ik1yRmFudGFzdGljIn0seyJDYXJkRGVmSWQiOiJDZXJlYnJvIn0seyJDYXJkRGVmSWQiOiJTdG9ybSJ9LHsiQ2FyZERlZklkIjoiTXlzdGlxdWUifSx7IkNhcmREZWZJZCI6IkJyb29kIn0seyJDYXJkRGVmSWQiOiJCbHVlTWFydmVsIn0seyJDYXJkRGVmSWQiOiJIb2Jnb2JsaW4ifV19
Related: Marvel Snap balance patch nerfs Leader, adds Friendly Battles
Patriot decks
Much like Cerebro decks, Patriot decks lose a ton of power without Mystique in their lists. Rather than focusing on Power stats like Cerebro, Patriot instead has the Ongoing effect of giving two extra Power to any card with no abilities. This effect is typically geared towards cards like Wasp or Cyclops, but notably will buff any cards hit by an Enchantress or Leech as well.
Like with Cerebro, Mystique usually wants to target Patriot for her copying effect, but the top Patriot lists tend to run Blue Marvel and Iron Man as well, making for two very strong secondary targets for Mystique.
Currently, the best performing Patriot deck is the Silver Surfer version:
- eyJOYW1lIjoiU2VyYSBwYXRyaW90IiwiQ2FyZHMiOlt7IkNhcmREZWZJZCI6Ildhc3AifSx7IkNhcmREZWZJZCI6Ik1pc3R5S25pZ2h0In0seyJDYXJkRGVmSWQiOiJTaG9ja2VyIn0seyJDYXJkRGVmSWQiOiJCcm9vZCJ9LHsiQ2FyZERlZklkIjoiQ29zbW8ifSx7IkNhcmREZWZJZCI6IkN5Y2xvcHMifSx7IkNhcmREZWZJZCI6IkRlYnJpaSJ9LHsiQ2FyZERlZklkIjoiTXlzdGlxdWUifSx7IkNhcmREZWZJZCI6IlBhdHJpb3QifSx7IkNhcmREZWZJZCI6IlNpbHZlclN1cmZlciJ9LHsiQ2FyZERlZklkIjoiQWJzb3JiaW5nTWFuIn0seyJDYXJkRGVmSWQiOiJTZXJhIn1dfQ==
Mister Negative decks
Mister Negative decks are all about picking cards that swap costs to turn them into much more powerful versions of themselves. To that end, successful Mister Negative lists will always include high Cost low Power cards with powerful effects. Because of this, Mystique is an easy choice, as with a Mister Negative flip she becomes a zero Cost three Power card that can copy some of Mister Negative's best supporting cards.
Almost every Mister Negative deck runs both Blue Marvel and Iron Man, and both of these are the prime targets for Mystique's copying effect.
One of the best things about Mister Negative decks is their budget level, as many of these decks only hold Series 3 or lower cards, this list included:
- eyJOYW1lIjoiU3RvY2sgTmVnYXRpdmUiLCJDYXJkcyI6W3siQ2FyZERlZklkIjoiQW5nZWxhIn0seyJDYXJkRGVmSWQiOiJNb2pvIn0seyJDYXJkRGVmSWQiOiJQc3lsb2NrZSJ9LHsiQ2FyZERlZklkIjoiQmlzaG9wIn0seyJDYXJkRGVmSWQiOiJJcm9uaGVhcnQifSx7IkNhcmREZWZJZCI6Ik15c3RpcXVlIn0seyJDYXJkRGVmSWQiOiJSb2d1ZSJ9LHsiQ2FyZERlZklkIjoiTXJOZWdhdGl2ZSJ9LHsiQ2FyZERlZklkIjoiQmx1ZU1hcnZlbCJ9LHsiQ2FyZERlZklkIjoiSXJvbk1hbiJ9LHsiQ2FyZERlZklkIjoiTWFnaWsifSx7IkNhcmREZWZJZCI6IlNlcmEifV19
Darkhawk decks
Marvel Snap's Zabu decks have been a mainstay in the meta since Zabu's release, and the best archetype among them is the Darkhawk decks. Darkhawk is a four Cost one Power card with the Ongoing effect of having two extra power for each card in the opponent's deck. This effect would normally not be powerful, but with the use of Black Widow, Korg, and Rockslide, Darkhawk's Power can reach upwards of 20 Power in some games.
Because Darkhawk's effect is so strong, Mystique coming in for one Energy less to gain the same effect is incredibly strong, especially combined with Moon Girl to copy Mystique for double, triple, and sometimes quadruple Darkhawk effects on the board.
The best Darkhawk deck code can be found here:
- eyJOYW1lIjoiRGFyayBaYWVybyIsIkNhcmRzIjpbeyJDYXJkRGVmSWQiOiJTdW5zcG90In0seyJDYXJkRGVmSWQiOiJLb3JnIn0seyJDYXJkRGVmSWQiOiJRdWluamV0In0seyJDYXJkRGVmSWQiOiJCbGFja1dpZG93In0seyJDYXJkRGVmSWQiOiJNeXN0aXF1ZSJ9LHsiQ2FyZERlZklkIjoiWmFidSJ9LHsiQ2FyZERlZklkIjoiRGFya2hhd2sifSx7IkNhcmREZWZJZCI6IldvbmcifSx7IkNhcmREZWZJZCI6Ik1vb25HaXJsIn0seyJDYXJkRGVmSWQiOiJSb2Nrc2xpZGUifSx7IkNhcmREZWZJZCI6IkFlcm8ifSx7IkNhcmREZWZJZCI6IlNoZUh1bGsifV19
Want more information on Marvel Snap? Check out The best DeathWave deck in Marvel Snap and Marvel Snap – What are Friendly Battles? New PvP mode explained from Pro Game Guides!
A gamer born and raised, Jaret's first two video games were Contra and Super Mario Bros. 3, two games released before he was even born. He attributes these games to his wide-ranging interest in varying genres, and also credits them with his love of gaming in general. This led him to starting a career in video game writing, and now he can be found freelance writing for Pro Game Guides, spending time with his fiancé, playing video games, or reading a good book.