The Savage Land season continues to move forward on Marvel Snap, bringing more content each week. The first balance update of the year is also bringing Sauron to the series five cards. As more players manage to acquire the new card, it will be necessary to use it with the best Sauron decks.
Sauron card abilities in Marvel Snap, explained
Sauron is a three-cost card with three power. Its effect is as follows: “On Reveal: Remove the abilities from all Ongoing cards in your hand and deck.” It is available in series five, accessed from collection level 486 or above. It can also be found in the Marvel Snap Token Shop, as long as the player does not have it in their collection for 6000 Collectors Tokens.
Its effect, does not synergize with Electro. Sauron’s text specifies that all Snap cards with an Ongoing effect will have their abilities removed entirely, not partially. While it seems possible to create a synergy with Patriots decks, it can happen that Patriot itself loses its effect, rendering the deck completely useless.
Other cards that have effects other than Ongoing are also unaffected by Sauron, so he can’t remove negative effects from Attuma, for example, as well as the effects that Zero usually removes from Maximus and Doctor Octopus.
Because of this, the best place for Sauron is in Zero-type decks, probably without other Ongoing cards that don’t get better after losing their abilities.
Strategy for Sauron decks in Marvel Snap
The main strategy in Sauron’s decks will be to make the best use of the cards he benefits from. Playing Sauron on turn three will almost always be the best option, as it is either possible to play cards that cost more energy in later turns or those that cost less, and they will continue to be relevant even in rounds where the opponent can play powerful cost cards six.
Since Sauron is removing the abilities of Ongoing cards, the goal will be to add cards with On Reveal effects to the deck that can help the main strategy depending on which one is chosen. Since there is an abundance of On Reveal cards, there are many possibilities. It is important that there is a secondary victory condition for games where Sauron is not drawn, usually secondary cards will be able to fulfill this function.
Best combos with Sauron in Marvel Snap
Cards that have the best synergy with Sauron include:
- Ebony Maw
- Lizard
- Typhoid Mary
- Red Skull
- Shuri
There are currently four cards that benefit from Sauron’s effect and all of them bring a lot of impact to the game, especially without their negative effects. Ebony Maw, Lizard, Typhoid Mary, and Red Skull all have very negative effects on the player, but Sauron ignores them. The simplest is to play Sauron, then Typhoid Mary and Red Skull. These last two guarantee 25 power points that can be distributed in up to two locations. Both Ebony Maw and Lizard become cards with immense power for their costs.
Most of these cards can also receive Shuri’s effect to double their power. Playing Sauron on turn three followed by Shuri allows you to play both Typhoid Mary and Red Skull on turn five, and even if neither is available, Ebony Maw can become a one-cost card with fourteen power.
Both Taskmaster and Arnim Zola are good combos to follow after one of these high-power cards. Arnim Zola can even prevent a Shang-Chi from destroying a player’s card when initiative priority is given.
The best Sauron decks in Marvel Snap
The decks below are suggested decks that may change as more players acquire Sauron and discover new synergies to use with him. Most cards can be replaced by others according to each player’s collection and preference. New cards can also improve how Sauron is used by creating new synergies.
Sauron and Shuri
The main idea of this deck is to add Sauron to a Zero deck. The big goal to win is to build a very powerful card and make sure that its power can be placed in two locations, either with Arnim Zola or with Taskmaster. The best cards to target for Shuri are Typhoid Mary and Red Skull.
It is possible to use Zero when Sauron is not drawn or to remove Titania’s abilities in the early turns. Enchantress is the choice to counter possible opponents using Ongoing cards.
Sauron and Lockjaw
This deck still wants to play the most powerful cards after removing their effects with Sauron, but it also has the possibility to activate Zero’s effect more than once, in addition to being able to exchange it for a potentially more powerful card when played in the Lockjaw location.
In addition, Thor and Jane Foster Mighty Thor form an impactful duo of On Reveal effect. Odin can either activate Mjolnir more than once or be used with Doctor Doom to create more DoomBots, especially when the game has locations where it is not possible to play cards.
Other card combinations with On Reveal effects can be used instead of Thor and Jane Foster, such as Jubilee, White Tiger, Wolfsbane, etc.
How to counter Sauron decks in Marvel Snap
Like Zero, Sauron’s main goal is to unlock powerful cards with negative effects so the most straightforward answer is to use Shang-Chi to destroy them.
Aero can be a great counter, controlling where the opponent plays his card. For example, if after the opponent plays Red Skull, the player plays Aero in the same location, the chances of having a Taskmaster played by the opponent in the same location as Red Skull are high. The important thing is to predict the game patterns to know if what’s on the way is a Taskmaster or an Arnim Zola.
