Marvel Snap: Mastering Iron Patriot – Deck Strategies and Counters
Marvel Snap's Dark Avengers season introduces Iron Patriot, a powerful Season Pass card. This 2-cost, 3-power card adds a high-cost card to your hand, potentially with a significant cost reduction. This guide explores optimal deck builds, effective gameplay strategies, and effective counters for Iron Patriot.
The Optimal Iron Patriot Deck
Iron Patriot synergizes best within a card-generation archetype, similar to Devil Dino strategies. A strong deck combines Iron Patriot, Devil Dino, and Victoria Hand with these supporting cards: Sentinel, Quinjet, Valentina, Mirage, Frigga, Mobius M. Mobius, Moon Girl, Agent Coulson, and Kate Bishop.
| Card | Cost | Power |
|---|---|---|
| Iron Patriot | 2 | 3 |
| Devil Dino | 5 | 3 |
| Victoria Hand | 2 | 3 |
| Mobius M. Mobius | 3 | 3 |
| Sentinel | 2 | 3 |
| Quinjet | 1 | 2 |
| Moon Girl | 4 | 5 |
| Valentina | 2 | 3 |
| Agent Coulson | 3 | 4 |
| Mirage | 2 | 2 |
| Kate Bishop | 2 | 3 |
| Frigga | 3 | 4 |
Synergies and Gameplay Tips
- Card Generation: Iron Patriot provides a discounted high-cost card, fueling your strategy. Valentina, Sentinel, Mirage, Agent Coulson, Moon Girl, and Kate Bishop generate additional cards, triggering Victoria Hand's ability.
- Cost Reduction: Quinjet further reduces the cost of generated cards, improving playability.
- Duplication and Copying: Frigga duplicates a card, enhancing Victoria Hand's effect and potentially doubling key abilities.
- Cost Manipulation Protection: Mobius M. Mobius protects against opponent's cost manipulation.
- Win Condition: Devil Dino acts as the win condition, utilizing the generated cards for powerful buffs.
Effective Gameplay:
- Strategic Placement: Deploy Iron Patriot in a lane your opponent is unlikely to contest early to maximize the discount. Consider combos like Ebony Maw + War Machine for lane control, but be mindful of resource commitment.
- Hand Management: Carefully manage your hand size, playing card generators only when you have space. Avoid Agent Coulson if your hand is full.
- Maximize Duplication Value: Use duplication effects like Moon Girl after benefiting from Iron Patriot's discount or other cost reduction to maximize value.
Countering Iron Patriot
Two primary counter-strategies exist: cost manipulation and board clogging. Iron Patriot decks rely on energy and hand/board space. Cards that disrupt these aspects are effective counters.
Strong counter options include: US Agent, Cosmo, Iceman, Wave, Sandman, Shadow King, and even the junk archetype cards like Green Goblin and Hobgoblin. Valkyrie can also be effective against Victoria Hand-reliant decks.
Is Iron Patriot Worth It?
While not a meta-defining card like Arishem, Iron Patriot is a valuable addition for competitive players. However, it doesn't justify purchasing the premium pass solely for this card. F2P players can focus on Victoria Hand, achieving similar card-generation strategies without relying on Iron Patriot.
