Marvel Snap‘s season known as “Big in Japan” is themed around the journey of Wolverine when he traveled and made his way to the land of the rising sun.
New cards introduced this season are all patterned to some of the characters from Wolverine’s Japan arc, including the Silver Samurai, one of his biggest enemies.
In the Marvel universe, the Silver Samurai has the ability to generate powerful energy which he uses to charge his sword as his main weapon of destruction. In Marvel Snap, he is a great card who can pave the way for some creative and destructive combos. So, building a deck with him can be something you might want to try.
Marvel Snap Silver Samurai abilities, explained
Silver Samurai is a four-cost, three-Power card with the ability that reads “On Reveal: Each player discards the lowest-Power card from their hand.” He is a great tech card that can get rid of your opponent’s lowest-cost card, as well as help your side to discard cards that can benefit from his ability.
Silver Samurai will be released as a series five card, meaning you can purchase him from the Weekly Spotlight of the Token Shop for 6,000 tokens. So spend your credits or tokens if you wish to add Silver Samurai to your collection of cards.
Strategy and best combos for Silver Samurai decks in Marvel Snap
Silver Samurai works best for some cards that benefit from the discard ability that he has. This includes Stature, which is a five-cost, six-Power card that can cost one if a card is discarded from the opponent’s hand last turn.
Daken also works well with Silver Samurai, since the one-cost, one-Power Muramasa Shard that Daken creates in your hand can be discarded by Silver Samurai. The Muramasa Shard doubles the current Power of Daken if it gets discarded or destroyed, making him a potential massive Power source in the process.
Another potential synergy that can be unlocked with Silver Samurai is with his archenemy, Wolverine, as well as X-23. The former regenerates himself to a location with added Power when discarded or destroyed, while the latter regenerates herself and gives a bonus plus one energy during the next turn if discarded and destroyed.
As mentioned, Silver Samurai works well with Stature. So, putting him in a deck where Stature shines the most would be very much viable, since this deck composed of good cards has been one of the top meta decks in Marvel Snap for quite some time.
Black Bolt is the original partner of Stature since he can discard the lowest-cost card of your opponent. With the arrival of Silver Samurai, there is now another option to trigger Stature ability, even potentially making it earlier to play Stature in the process.
Daken is also here to serve as another possible massive Power source. Darkhawk, on the other hand, provides consistent Power potential thanks to his ability to gain plus two Power for each card in your opponent’s deck. Of course, his best pals Korg and Rock Slide are also in this deck to give unnecessary rocks to your opponent’s deck while boosting Darkhawk’s Power in the process.
Jeff the Baby Land Shark is there for being literally unstoppable in playing and moving, while Zabu can make your four-cost cards cost one less. As for Spider-Ham, the control prowess he can give to remove the text of your opponent’s highest-cost card in their hand is somehow game-changing.
Cap off the deck with some staple four-costs, namely Shang-Chi, to destroy your opponent’s cards with nine or more Power, and Iron Lad, which is a six-Power card that can copy the text of the top card of your deck.
Win Conditions for this Deck
The win condition cards for this deck are:
- Black Bolt
- Stature
- Daken
- Darkhawk
- Shang-Chi
The Black Bolt and Stature combo is the desired turn-five play and six play for this deck. As for Daken and Darkhawk, both are cheap-cost cards that can produce massive Power if you use their tool cards wisely and with proper timing. Shang-Chi’s destruction ability can be converted offense for your side, so it is best to give your opponent the priority on the second to the last turn to activate his On Reveal effect.
Discard
This is the classic Discard deck that revolves around the mechanic to gain multiple advantages along the way, such as creating huge Power, lowering the cost of cards, and more. Silver Samurai can help unlock those advantages thanks to his ability.
Aside from Daken, the other main Power sources are Dracula and Morbius. The former discards a card and gains its Power, while the latter gains plus two Power for each card you’ve discarded. America Chavez guarantees you will always draw a six-cost, nine-Power card on turn six. Absorbing Man can be added to copy an On Reveal effect, making Daken his best target for a double Muramasa Shard on your hand.
As for your discard enablers, aside from Silver Samurai, you can put the likes of Colleen Wing, Lady Sif, and MODOK. Cap off the deck with cards that benefit from being discarded, such as Wolverine, Swarm, who adds two copies of himself to your hand if discarded but becomes a zero-cost, three-Power card, and Apocalypse, who is a six-cost, eight-Power card that immediately returns to your hand when discarded, as well as stacks plus four Power every time he is discarded.
Win Conditions for this Deck
- Daken
- Absorbing Man
- Dracula
- Apocalypse
- America Chavez
The Daken and Absorbing Man combo can be very lethal. As for Dracula, targeting Apocalypse to be your lone card in your hand at the end of the game would be the most ideal scenario to guarantee at least 12-Power for your side. America Chavez is a great turn-six play too, especially if you discarded your hand cards with MODOK on turn five.
How to counter Silver Samurai decks
Silver Samurai has an On Reveal ability, meaning that the direct counter to him is Cosmo. The latter’s ability to shut down On Reveal abilities from taking place in the same location as her (for both you and your opponent’s side) is big. So, you should always check if there is a Cosmo on either player’s side of the location before actually playing Silver Samurai.
For the Stature Shark deck, one great counter for this strategy is Wave, since she can make the cost of both players’ cards in the hand to four regardless of their original or supposed discounted costs. The Wave effect can prevent you from playing multiple cards in a single turn, so you should maximize your early-game cards to build up enough Power if Wave shows up in the late game.
As for the Discard deck, there is not a major counter available for it at the moment. However, its primary weakness would be its dependence on the Discard mechanic. This means that if you aren’t able to discard your cards, then there is a chance that you might be forced to do a steady and straightforward Power battle with your opponent in the late game.
Silver Samurai decks’ current state in the meta
Silver Samurai is more of a tech card in decks where he belongs. However, his five Power is vital to boost the Power on your locations, especially in the Stature Shark deck which is the more meta deck among the decks in this list.
As for the Discard deck, it is a proven strategy that really works well in almost any meta that was established through time in the game. It may not be on the top decks currently, but the Discard deck is still a reliable choice when it comes to grinding and climbing up the ranks of Snap.
