I don’t really know what MODOK is, and I’m a little afraid to find out. For those Marvel Snap aficionados out there, all you need to know is that MODOK is the next Season Pass card, as part of “Into the Quantum Realm.” This little robot gremlin man – that I have vague memories of playing as in Marvel vs. Capcom 3 – will run you $9.99. He comes with some other goodies, including credits, gold, some flashy card backs, and variant cards for Ant-Man and the Wasp in honor of Quantumania releasing this month. This guide will explain effective strategy for how to use or fight against MODOK decks in Marvel Snap, identifying deck strengths and weaknesses.
Unlike the previous two meta-defining, overpowered Season Pass cards that were Silver Surfer and Zabu, MODOK looks quite a bit more tame, fitting one archetype in particular instead of creating an entirely new one. MODOK is a 5-cost card with 8 power and an ability that reads, “On Reveal: Discard your hand.” After the Into the Quantum Realm season concludes in March, he will be added to the ranks of nigh unobtainable Series 5 cards before being downgraded to Series 4 one month later. Let’s take a look at where he might fit in a standard Series 3 deck, along with some other synergies that you might run into on the Marvel Snap ladder.
Series 3 Strategy and Weaknesses for MODOK Decks in Marvel Snap
While the previous Season Pass cards could slot in comfortably for those still unlocking Series 2 cards (collection rank 486 or below) or have few Series 3 cards, this isn’t really the case with MODOK as his strength relies on synergy with multiple Series 3 cards. In the example below, the two of the four Series 3 cards marked with an asterisk are pretty much mandatory to make him work:
- Blade
- Morbius
- Swarm
- Colleen Wing
- Lockjaw*
- Lady Sif
- Sword Master
- Dracula*
- Hellcow
- MODOK
- Apocalypse
- America Chavez
In this deck, the aim is to win by a big late-game swing with MODOK and Apocalypse while getting some support from early-game cards like Morbius and Swarm. Discarding Swarm and dropping the 0-cost cards he adds to your hand into a Lockjaw lane is a great way to cycle discard effects that buff Apocalypse and Morbius. Morbius alone can win a lane if MODOK is played and discards a small army of Swarms. Pulling bodies such as Apocalypse, America Chavez, and MODOK himself aren’t bad outcomes, either.
The other key card here is Dracula. Playing MODOK on turn 5 ensures that Apocalypse and America Chavez are the only cards in hand on turn 6 (other than possible 0-cost Swarms if you overfill your board). Playing America Chavez — you always draw this card on turn 6 and not before — and letting Dracula gain Apocalypse’s power at the end of the game definitely seems like a potent, if somewhat telegraphed, combination.
A budget version of this deck would forgo Dracula, Lockjaw, and America Chavez in order to play a massive Apocalypse on turn 6.
Many Marvel Snap players have theory-crafted decks featuring Invisible Woman (“Ongoing: Cards you play here are not revealed until the game ends.”) and Hela (“On Reveal: Play all cards you discarded from your hand to random locations.”), placing both MODOK and Hela behind Invisible Woman to discard and subsequently play all your cards after the game ends. While flashy, Invisible Woman is countered heavily by common cards such as Cosmo and Enchantress. Expect any experienced Marvel Snap player to immediately retreat if you throw down Invisible Woman and they don’t have an answer. And if they do have an answer, you lose — neither outcome is great for climbing ranks.
There are a handful of other Marvel Snap cards that MODOK has synergy with for strategy, but it remains to be seen how effectively they will work together. Strong Guy (“Ongoing: If your hand is empty, +6 Power.”) has potential. Helicarrier (“When you discard this from your hand, add 3 random cards to your hand.”) might see some play. If he’s not discarded early or hidden behind Invisible Woman, Ghost Rider (“On Reveal: Bring back one of your discarded cards to this location.”) can grab something big that MODOK discarded. And since the last patch buffed Wolverine, he can function as a decent extra stat dump in a discard deck.
That said, the weakness of MODOK in Marvel Snap deck strategy lies in his relatively hard setup. Discard decks, by nature, rely on luck, which makes me suspect that as of right now MODOK will not be a top-tier, must-buy monstrosity like the recent Season Pass cards (which, rumor has it, will be nerfed soon). However, as the card pool continues to grow in Marvel Snap and Second Dinner adds more discard effects, I expect this creepy mechanical goblin man to become a powerful, deck-defining engine.
