Mystique is a shapeshifter who has the ability to mimic the appearance and voice of any person, to the point that people can’t distinguish her from her target. In Marvel Snap, her abilities are thematically based on her mutant powers.
Here are the best Mystique decks in Marvel Snap.
Marvel Snap Mystique abilities, explained
Mystique is a three-cost, zero-Power card with an ability that reads: “On Reveal: If the last card you played has an Ongoing, copy its text (if it’s in play).” Her mutant ability to mimic humans serves as the basis for her ability in the game. Playing Mystique is akin to having another clone that mimics the Ongoing ability of the last card you played.
You can get Mystique as a Series Three card once you reach at least Collection Level 486. She is also up for grabs as a free Series Three card from the seasonal rotation, so seize the opportunity when she appears in your in-game shop.
Strategy and best combos for Mystique decks in Marvel Snap
Mystique can work with any card that has an Ongoing ability. You just need to play those cards before you place Mystique in a location to make sure you will be able to copy the Ongoing ability of the first card. Disrupting the sequence of play may prevent Mystique from copying the Ongoing ability of her target, so be cautious whenever you play her.
Some of the cards that work best with Mystique as her target are Iron Man (for doubling the current Power of the location where he is placed), Devil Dinosaur (for gaining plus two Power for each card in your hand), Darkhawk (for gaining plus two Power for each card in your opponent’s deck), Patriot (for boosting the Power of your cards with no text) Blue Marvel (for adding plus one Power to all of your cards on you locations), Cerebro (for boosting the Power of your cards with the highest Power), and Wong (for triggering your On Reveal effects twice).
Hiding Mystique and her target under Invisible Woman’s ability to reveal all the cards placed in the location where you played her prevents cards like Enchantress or Rogue from disrupting the Ongoing abilities of your cards.
The best Mystique decks in Marvel Snap
Cerebro Two
One of the best decks where Mystique can reach her full potential is in a Cerebro Two deck. The strategy here is simple: play the combo of Cerebro and Mystique, which can boost all of your cards with the same Power. In this case, all of the other cards in this deck have two Power, making all of them eligible for the Power boost from Cerebro and Mystique.
Two-Power cards that can be used in this deck are Iceman (to give plus one cost to one of the cards in your opponent’s hand), Nightcrawler (to move to any location once), Goose (to prevent both players from playing cards that cost four or more), Luke Cage (to prevent your cards from receiving negative Power in any form), Scorpion (to inflict negative one Power on your opponent’s hand cards), Brood (to swarm a location with two Broodling clones), Mister Fantastic (to give plus two Power to his adjacent locations), and Storm (to flood a location to prevent players from playing cards there beginning in the next turn onwards).
Cap off the deck with Blue Marvel, who can give plus one Power to all of your cards. Using him alongside the Cerebro and Mystique combo provides an overall plus five Power boost to all of your two-Power cards, assuming that no card or location effect grants more Power to your cards.
Win condition cards
Aside from Mystique, the other win condition cards for this deck are:
- Cerebro
- Goose
- Luke Cage
- Blue Marvel
Cerebro is the heart and soul of this deck. So, it should always be you priority to make sure that it is always present on your locations every game, unless you won’t draw it in the duration of the match.
Goose provides a semi-lockdown option for you, while Like Cage ensures that you won’t be affected with negative Power. As for Blue Marvel, all of your cards will be guaranteed to have a bonus boost of plus one Power.
Negative Surfer
Another deck where Mystique can be used is in a Negative Surfer deck. This is more of a high-risk, high-reward strategy that relies on Mister Negative’s ability to switch the cost and Power of your cards in the deck. However, the Silver Surfer strategy is also included in this deck, paving the way for more possible win condition options.
All of the other cards in this deck have low Power, making all of them benefit from Mister Negative. Aside from Mystique, the other zero-Power cards that you can use are Iron Man and Iron Heart, both of which can provide additional Power-boosting effects to your cards.
As for the Silver Surfer strategy that involves giving plus two Power to your cards that costs three, some of the cards you can use alongside Mystique and Iron Heart are Brood, Wolfsbane (for added Power), Magik (for changing the location to Limbo and extending the game to a turn seven), and Rogue (for stealing an Ongoing ability from one of your opponent’s cards on the location where she is played).
Wong is there as another great target for Mystique, while Zabu can allow you to play Mister Negative as early as turn three. Finish the deck with Bast, who can turn the Power of all the cards in your hand to three, regardless of their original Power.
Win condition cards
The win condition cards for this deck are:
- Mister Negative
- Silver Surfer
- Wong
Mister Negative provides the overall mechanic of this deck’s strategy, so playing him as early as possible can dictate if you can win the game. As for Silver Surfer, he provides the boost that you can have for your three-cost cards. Playing him in a location with Wong can even make the Silver Surfer buff bigger.
How to counter Mystique decks in Marvel Snap
The ability of Mystique is On Reveal. This means that her major counter would be Cosmo since it prevents On Reveal abilities from being activated on the same location as it may be from you or your opponent’s side of the locations. So, it should always be a must to watch out if there is a Cosmo from either player’s side to make sure that Mystique’s ability is triggered. If not, then she will become a useless vanilla card since she has zero-Power.
Mystique is also prone to cards that can disrupt Ongoing abilities since she copies the Ongoing effect of the last card you played.
This includes Enchantress, who can remove the Ongoing abilities of cards that are already placed on the location where you will play her (from you and your opponent’s side), Rogue, who can steal a random Ongoing ability from one of your cards, and Echo, who removes the Ongoing abilities of cards that will be played on the same location as her. These cards can also disrupt the target for Mystique’s effect, and playing her to target an Ongoing card that lost its ability would prevent Mystique from activating her effect.
Cards that can destroy the copied card before revealing Mystique can also be considered counters for her. One of those is Shang-Chi, who can destroy cards with nine or more Power.
Mystique decks’ current state in the meta
Both the Cerebro Two and Negative Surfer decks are reliable engines in the current meta of Marvel Snap. They may not be on top of the meta, however, but the epic plays that they can produce have proven themselves as good decks that can be used to grind the ladder.
