One of the most unique cards added toMarvel Snapin recent months is High Evolutionary, which brought a brand-new twist to the game by unlocking the hidden abilities of cards that previously had none when shuffled into a player’s deck. While pastMarvel Snapadditions have had huge effects on the meta, none were quite as revolutionary as High Evolutionary. As a result, High Evolutionary decks have become very popular amongMarvel Snapplayers, and their presence throughout each rank of play means players will want to know just how they work and how to counter them.
From a lore standpoint,High Evolutionary’s role in the Marvel universemakes hisMarvel Snapability a perfect fit for the character. The High Evolutionary’s obsession with trying to rapidly advance the evolution of different species led him to develop a race of advanced humanoid animals known as New Men, which he placed on a parallel version of Earth he created called Counter-Earth. With this evolutionary advancement being the goal of his comic counterpart, it makes sense that theMarvel Snapincarnation of High Evolutionary would seek to advance the capabilities of other cards within the game.
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Breaking Down Marvel Snap’s High Evolutionary Deck Archetype
On his own,Marvel Snap’s High Evolutionary cardisn’t that impressive with a Power of 4 coming at a Cost of 4, but the real power of High Evolutionary comes with the seven other cards whose abilities he unlocks when added to a deck with them. These seven cards include Wasp, Misty Knight, Shocker, Cyclops, The Thing, Abomination, and Hulk, each of which has no ability without High Evolutionary in the deck. As such, this deck archetype revolves around bringing out the potential of these seven cards using the abilities granted to them by High Evolutionary.
The majority of the new abilitiesMarvel Snap’s villainous High Evolutionarygrants these cards involve inflicting negative Power on opposing cards while utilizing the player’s unspent Energy each turn. Cards like Wasp, Cyclops, and The Thing all inflict negative Power on enemy cards under various conditions, such as Cyclops' evolved ability that inflicts two random enemies with -1 Power when the player ends their turn with unspent Energy. Other cards like Misty Knight and Hulk help increase the player’s Power when left with unspent Energy at the end of a turn, and Abomination gets his Cost reduced for every opposing card afflicted with negative Power.
With these abilities in mind, there are a few cards common to High Evolutionary decks that, while not granted new abilities from the card, synergize well with the cards that do gain new abilities. Since the player will want to end most of their turns with unspent Energy when possible, Sunspot can be a useful 1-Cost card to play since he gains Power equal to the amount of unspent Energy at the end of a turn, and Spider-Woman and Scorpion can be great for inflicting more cards with negative Power. Additionally, anotherMarvel Snapbig bad Thanospairs well with this deck since the 1-Cost Infinity Stones he creates can be useful for managing Energy usage each turn.
As the match goes on, players will want to ramp up their play style by inflicting enough cards with negative Power while ensuring most turns end with unspent Energy so that on turn 6 they can play Abomination for 0 Cost as well as a Power-boosted Hulk for a dramatic momentum swing. The major downside to this deck is that an opponent with Luke Cage can stop players in their tracks since his ability prevents friendly cards from having their Power lowered. However, the cautious High Evolutionary player can prevent Luke Cage from ruining their strategy by utilizing the abilities of cards like Rogue or Enchantress who can deal withMarvel Snap’s Ongoing cards.
Marvel Snapis available for PC and mobile devices.
