The Marvel universe is comprised of many creatures, from humans to aliens, celestial beings, gods, and robots. Robots in the universe are designed and built to cause massive destruction across various planets, including the infamous line of mech giants known as Sentinels.
The Sentinels were created with the purpose of hunting and killing down mutants. They are armed with different weapons, have various abilities to fight, can take flight, and have the capability to detect mutants even from a long distance. In Marvel Snap, Sentinel has an ability that can be quite useful in terms of swarming your locations or hands with more cards.
Marvel Snap Sentinel abilities, explained
Sentinel is a two-cost, three-Power card with the ability that reads “On Reveal: Add another Sentinel to your hand.” It has an ability that is quite useful in the early game: Sentinel can be used to fill the locations with decent three-Power units, as well as increasing the size of your hand, which can boost the Power of other cards in the game.
You can get Sentinel as soon as you start the game, making it a staple card for players who haven’t yet boosted their Collection Level. The next question, then: How do you build a deck around Sentinel?
Strategy and best combos for Sentinel decks in Marvel Snap
Sentinel’s effect is more of a general ability that allows the player to draw more cards to hold in their hand, as well as providing more possible units that can be played to swarm locations relatively cheaply.
The Collector can stack plus-one Power every time a card enters your hand outside of drawing, which works perfectly in tandem with Sentinel’s card generation. Sentinel’s ability greatly boosts his Power, since the Sentinel copy did not come directly from the deck.
Devil Dinosaur is another card that benefits from Sentinel thanks to its Ongoing ability to gain plus-two Power for every card in your hand. After playing Quinjet, the Sentinel copy added to your hand will cost one less, so playing the former is a good option if you want to swarm the locations with cheaper-cost Sentinel clones.
The best Sentinel decks in Marvel Snap
Sera Control
Sentinel is a staple card in a Sera Control deck. While there is no direct synergy with the main cards in the list, especially in activating the effects of cards, it is a great cheap-cost location fodder that can contribute to creating Power in locations, something Sera needs to excel.
Sera is the main key to unleashing this deck’s full potential. She has the ability to lower the cost of your cards in hand by one, making it possible to play multiple cards on turn six. As for your potential massive Power sources in the deck, you can include Angela, who gains plus two Power every time a card is played on the location where she is placed, Bishop, who gains plus one Power every time you play a card, and Hit-Monkey, who gains plus two Power for every other card you played on the same turn you play him.
Mysterio is there for possible multiple plays on turn six, which can significantly boost the Power of Bishop and Hit-Monkey, while Scarlet Witch can change a location when played to better suit your active cards in the location. Killmonger can be added to potentially destroy all one-cost cards from both sides, evening out the field early on and paving the way for your Sentinel army to arrive unobstructed.
Kitty Pryde’s bounce effect is vital as another alternative Power source for the deck, as well as to spam Angela’s Power-stacking ability. Cap off the deck with Shang-Chi, who can destroy your opponent’s cards with nine or more Power, and Enchantress to remove the Ongoing abilities of the cards where you will play her.
Win condition cards for this deck
The win condition cards for this deck are:
- Sera
- Angela
- Bishop
- Hit-Monkey
- Shang-Chi
- Enchantress
Sera is the heart and soul of this deck, so it should always be your priority to play her on turn five or earlier. Angela, Bishop, and Hit-Monkey are your massive Power sources in the deck, while Shang-Chi and Enchantress’ disruption prowess can be converted as an offense for your side.
Basically, the Sera Control deck relies on the toolbox abilities of its cards to adapt to almost any situation, so be wise on the timing of playing your cards to give your opponent a hard time dealing with your strategy.
Loki For the Win
Sentinel is also a vital card in a deck where Loki deck. Here, the main goal is to build a huge amount of Power on The Collector and Devil Dinosaur, as well as to use cards from your opponent’s deck to surprise them in the late game.
The Collector and Devil DInosaur’s potential Power brings this deck to life. Once again, we include Quinjet, which can make the discounted cards from Loki’s ability cheaper to pave the way for playing multiple cards in the mid to late game.
Aside from Sentinel and Loki, the other cards that can bring other units to your hand aside from drawing them in the deck are Snowguard, Mirage, and Agent Coulson. Snowguard’s prowess in creating the Hawk and Bear cards can be used to either trigger or disregard a location effect, which can be game-changing.
The combo of Kitty Pryde and Angela is there to provide an alternative Power source win condition, while America Chavez is a six-cost, nine-Power card that you will always draw on turn six for contingency.
Win condition cards for this deck
The win condition cards for this deck are:
- Loki
- Quinjet
- The Collector
- Devil Dinosaur
The discounted cards Loki can give you can make a big difference, and playing Quinjet to make them even cheaper should always be your priority. As for The Collector and Devil Dinosaur, they are your consistent Power sources, regardless of what cards you nab from your opponent’s deck.
How to counter Sentinel decks
Sentinel has an On Reveal ability, meaning that Cosmo’s ability to prevent On Reveal abilities from happening in the same location as her is the main counter card for our star. So, be careful in where you should play Sentinel, and always check if there is already a Cosmo placed on any of the locations available.
As for the decks above, both the Sera Control and Loki decks can be greatly countered by Mobius M. Mobius. He has an Ongoing ability that prevents the opponent from decreasing the costs of their cards in any form. This means that the discounts Sera and Loki, as well as Quinjet can provide won’t work as long as Mobius M. Mobius is present. That is why Enchantress and Rogue can be used to enjoy the discounts both of these decks have to offer.
Sentinel decks’ current state in the meta
Sentinel works as more of a tech card in general and not a game finisher for decks. However, the decks above have been doing really well in the current meta, especially with the Loki deck.
When Loki arrived in September as the season pass card, it quickly changed the flow of the meta and made the deck centering around him a top-tier strategy. Mobius M. Mobius, however, can make the deck inefficient in terms of preventing the discounts you can have on the costs of your cards. Still, this deck is a force to be reckoned with.
As for the Sera Control deck, it has established itself as a consistent meta deck for quite some time already. It may not be as popular as it used to be, but it is still a reliable strategy that can outlast the more popular decks in today’s meta.
