This December, Marvel Snap’s season is themed around the infamous Hellfire Club. This elite and influential group of mutants is often associated as an adversary of the X-Men. Its leader, Sebastian Shaw, is the season pass card for the Hellfire Gala season.
As a mutant, Sebastian Shaw can absorb any form of kinetic and thermal energy, mainly from blasts. He uses this ability to increase his strength, speed, and stamina, and can even send the blasts back in a more powerful manner. In Marvel Snap, he has the potential to become an absolute force when it comes to gaining a lot of Power.
Here are the best Sebastian Shaw decks in Marvel Snap.
Marvel Snap Sebastian Shaw abilities, explained
Sebastian Shaw is a three-cost, three-Power card with an ability that reads “When this card permanently gains Power, gain +2 more Power. (wherever this is).” This ability alone is indeed powerful enough to produce a relatively cheap-cost card but has a lot of potential to become a massive Power source. Given the right cards that can synergize with it, Sebastian Shaw is surely a new threat that can be a meta card.
You can add Sebastian Shaw to your collection as the season pass card this December for $9.99, or you can get the Premium+ version for $14.99. Grabbing the season pass guarantees you will instantly have Sebastian Shaw.
Strategy and best combos for Sebastian Shaw decks in Marvel Snap
There are a lot of possibilities with Sebastian Shaw since there are various cards in Marvel Snap that can permanently give other units additional Power.
Forge can give a permanent plus two Power bonus to the next card you play. As for Shuri, she doubles the Power of the next card you play as well. Silver Surfer, on the other hand, gives plus two Power to all of your three-cost cards, which includes Sebastian Shaw.
Nakia is a great card since she can give plus one Power to all of your cards in hand, while Okoye gives plus one Power to all cards in your deck. In addition, destroying Nova will grant plus one Power to all of your cards in play. As for Iron Heart, it gives plus two Power to three random cards that are played already in your locations. Some of Nico Minoru’s spells also give a permanent Power boost to your other cards, making it a potential booster for Sebastian Shaw in the process.
Luke Cage can help Sebastian Shaw against the threat of Shadow King. The former prevents cards that are placed in the same location as it from having their Power reduced, while the latter brings back the Power of cards that are placed in the same location as it to their base Power. Cosmo is also another backup card to protect Sebastian Shaw since it prevents the On Reveal ability of Shadow King from activating as long as it is played before.
What are the best Sebastian Shaw decks in Marvel Snap?
Sera Surfer
The first deck in this list is the Sera Surfer package. Here, the strategy is simple: Play as many three-cost cards as possible to be boosted by Silver Surfer on the final turn. This can become more feasible with the help of Sera, which is your must-play move on turn five (or possibly earlier).
Sera lowers the cost of your cards in hand by one. Using it on turn five can pave the way for playing up to three three-cost cards on turn six. Swarming locations with a bunch of three-cost cards with various abilities that can mostly adapt to the current board scenario of the opponent is the key to making the Sera Surfer engine work.
Aside from Sebastian Shaw, the other three-cost cards you can use in this deck are Brood (for instantly filling up a location with multiple three-cost units), Cosmo (for On Reveal disruption), Killmonger (for killing all one-cost cards in play, including Nova, which is also in this deck), Nakia (for boosting your cards in the hand), Werewolf by Night (for permanently gaining Power every time you play On Reveal cards), and Maximus (for its high-Power stat line as a three-cost).
Goose is there to provide a mini lockdown package since it prevents both players from playing cards that cost four or more in the same location as it. Cap off the deck with Forge, which gives a permanent plus two Power boost to the next card you play—ideally Sebastian Shaw or Brood.
Win condition cards for this deck
You can consider snapping if a majority of these cards are already in your hand:
- Silver Surfer
- Sera
- Werewolf by Night
- Cosmo
- Brood
- Maximus
The combo of Silver Surfer and Sera is the heart and soul of this deck. So, it should always be your priority to bring out Sera on turn five, then Silver Surfer and two other three-cost cards on turn six. This is the ideal play for this deck in every game.
Werewolf by Night can potentially stack Power whenever you play cards with On Reveal abilities. Cosmo, on the other hand, can disrupt On Reveal abilities, and it can protect your cards from threats such as Shadow King, Shang-Chi, and Alioth. Brood’s swarming ability is great for reaching your full potential in terms of Power, while Maximus can instantly boost a location because of its seven-Power stat.
Sera Control
Another deck where you can use Sebastian Shaw is in a Sera Control deck. Here, you can use multiple cards with toolbox abilities, while Sera is present to possibly give you the chance to play more cards by turn six.
Angela, Bishop, and Hit-Monkey are your main Power sources for this deck aside from Sebastian Shaw. All of these units stack Power through different conditions but require playing other cards to trigger their abilities. Mysterio can help in this case since his ability to create up to two illusions of himself counts as separate plays. This can greatly boost the Power of the three Power sources, especially Bishop and Hit-Monkey.
A combo with Killmonger is also present in this deck, as well as Nakia’s Power-boosting ability. Kitty Pryde is there to spam the Angela effect, while Elsa Bloodstone gives plus two Power if you play a card to fill the location where it is placed. Finish the deck with Shang-Chi, which is a unit that destroys all of your opponent’s cards with 10 or more Power in the same location you play it.
Win condition cards for this deck
Aside from Sebastian Shaw, the win condition cards for this deck are:
- Sera
- Bishop
- Angela
- Hit-Monkey
- Elsa Bloodstone
- Shang-Chi
Sera is a must-play on turn five. Bishop stacks plus one Power every time you play a card, Angela gains plus one Power when you play a card in the same location as it, and Hit-Monkey stacks plus two Power for each card you played during the same turn that you played it.
Elsa Bloodstone’s potential Power boost is essential since you will most likely fill up the location where she is placed on the final turn. As for Shang-Chi, its destruction ability can be converted to offense for your side.
Shaw Good Cards
The last deck on this list is the package that involves the use of Darkhawk and the good cards that support it. There is no definite winning strategy in this deck like Galactus or Lockdown decks. Its capability to adapt to possible setups, however, is the key to making this deck work—all while making Darkhawk the main offensive option for this strategy.
Darkhawk gains plus two Power for every card in your opponent’s deck. Of course, its best pals Korg and Rockslide are there to add unnecessary rocks to your opponent’s deck, boosting Darkhawk’s Power in the process, as well as possibly disrupting your opponent’s setup.
Nebula can be added to build up your early game, while Nico Minoru’s toolbox of spells can be beneficial, especially in certain scenarios your opponent is setting up. Jeff the Baby Land Shark, on the other hand, is literally unstoppable when it comes to moving or playing it in any location.
For your mid to late game, you can use Ms. Marvel, which gives plus five Power to its adjacent locations where cards have a unique cost. Iron Lad is also useful since it is a four-cost, six-Power unit that can copy the text of the top card of your deck. As for Doctor Doom, its classic ability to create two five-Power Doombots in each other location can be game-changing.
Finish the deck with Nakia for added Power boost and Zabu, which can lower the cost of your four-cost cards in the hand by one.
Win condition cards for this deck
The win condition cards for this deck are:
- Darkhawk
- Werewolf by Night
- Ms. Marvel
- Doctor Doom
- Jeff the Baby Land Shark
Darkhawk is the main Power source of this deck, while Werewolf by Night is the secondary. Ms. Marvel’s potential Power boost can be big, so you should always check if there would be units in your adjacent locations that would overlap in terms of being the same cost. This will always ensure that Ms. Marvel’s boost can be procured most of the time.
Doctor Doom creates units, so it can place Doombots in unplayable locations. Jeff the Baby Landshark, on the other hand, is unstoppable and can be game-changing.
