Now a Pool 3 card, Shadow King was one of the highly regarded drops of Marvel Snap in 2023. On paper, the card seems to be a regular On Reveal with a Cost of 2 and Power of 3. However, his ability to set all cards’ Power to their base makes him one of the best counters in the entire game.
In this guide, Marvel Snap fans can learn how to assemble the ideal deck for Shadow King and how to play him to reach Infinite Rank.
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The Best Deck for Shadow King
Considering its On Reveal effect, Shadow King works best in an Ultron-Patriot deck. To assemble this lineup, players should pair Shadow King with Ultron, Patriot, Kitty Pryde, Angela, Lizard, Killmonger, Mysterio, Sera, Hit-Monkey, Luke Cage, and Blue Marvel.
Card | Cost | Power |
|---|---|---|
Shadow King | 2 | 3 |
Ultron | 6 | 8 |
Patriot | 3 | 1 |
Killmonger | 3 | 3 |
Luke Cage | 2 | 2 |
Sera | 5 | 4 |
Kitty Pryde | 1 | 0 |
Angela | 2 | 2 |
Lizard | 2 | 5 |
Mysterio | 2 | 4 |
Hit-Monkey | 3 | 2 |
Blue Marvel | 5 | 3 |
Here’s how each card synergizes with Shadow King:
- Ultron: Adds 8 Drones to the board that can be buffed with Patriot and Blue Marvel.
- Patriot: Gives +2 Power to no-ability cards (in this case, Drones).
- Blue Marvel: Gives +1 Power to all cards on the board.
- Luke Cage: Protects friendly cards’ Power against Shadow King’s effect.
- Lizard: Brings 5-Power to the board at a low Cost. (Must be protected with Luke Cage.)
- Shadow King: Debuffs all cards in his lane unless the friendly side is protected with Luke Cage.
- Mysterio: Adds two copies of him to other lanes.
- Kitty Pryde: Returns to hand at the end of each round with +1 Power.
- Angela: Earns +1 Power each time Kitty Pryde (or other cards) are played to her location.
- Sera: Reduces the Cost of all cards at hand by one. Her effect is Ongoing.
- Hit-Monkey: Gains +2 Power for each card played in his turn. (Synergizes with Ultron’s Drones.)
- Killmonger: Destroys 1-Cost cards, opening more space on the board when undesirably clogged.
How to Play Shadow King
The thing with Shadow King is that it affects both friendly and enemy cards. So, when playing him, two things must be considered: 1) Will the debuffed friendly cards conquer the lane? And 2) Can friendly cards be protected against his ability?
Ideally, players should play Shadow King only when Luke Cage is on the board. This will negate the negative aspect on the player’s side while afflicting the opponent with a maximized debuff.
Here are some reliable combos for this Shadow King deck:
- Play Shadow King into Lizard and Lucke Cage. This will take away the opposing buffs while retaining Lizard’s Power.
- Clog lanes with Ultron and buff the Drones with Patriot. Ultron’s eight Drones can get up to four Power after a Patriot-Blue Marvel combo totaling at 16 per lane.
- Unclog lanes with Killmonger. For a change in strategy, destroy 1-Cost cards with Killmonger. This will reset the board for the most part, allowing for counterplays.
How to Counter Shadow King
Shadow King’s On Reveal effect can be countered with Cosmo. However, other ideal cards to play against his decks are Wave and Loki. These characters lead to provide more intricate counterplays, vital against Shadow King lineups.
