Marvel Snap: Review of the new April 2023 Pool 5 Cards

Snowguard

Snowguard is the codename of Amka Aliyak, an Inuit from a small village in northern Canada. The character's first appearance was in Champions #19, from 2018, where Snowguard became part of the Champions team, which has several other young Marvel heroes such as Iron Heart, Spider-Man (Miles Morales), Patriot and Ms. Marvel.

Snowguard's powers are linked to the spirit Sila, who bestowed his spiritual magic-infused blessing upon the girl after being saved by her. The heroine can channel the strength and abilities of some animals, in addition to absorbing their physical characteristics, so Snowguard is also a shapeshifter.

Snowguard in Marvel Snap

The character has been faithfully reproduced from her comic book counterpart and while in the hand, Snowguard transforms into a Bear or a Hawk, and it is the player who chooses which of the two forms to play on the field.

Both cost 1 and have 2 power, but have different abilities. The Hawk, when revealed, ignores all Location abilities for the next turn, and Bear, when revealed, activates the effect of the location where it is played.

Review

1-Cost cards don't tend to be broken that often (except for a few like Iceman, Sunspot, and Kitty Pryde), so it's no surprise that Snowguard is just an "okay" card.

However, it brings a new mechanic to the game. Until then, no card had this possibility of becoming two other cards, and the player could choose which one to play. Not to mention that the two animals of which the Snowguard transforms into also interact directly with locations, something unheard of in Marvel Snap.

However, looking closely, Bear and Hawk's abilities aren't as interesting, as both enabling and disabling location abilities affect both players. Imagine the Realm of Death location, where any card that is played there is destroyed.

With the Hawk, on the next turn it will be possible to play a card there without it being destroyed, but the same way you will play, the opponent can also do the same, so the Snowguard loses its shine. In this example I gave, with the Hawk, it is even possible to combine the card with Juggernaut and push the card that the opponent played to another location, but even so, the question remains: is it worth spending 6,000 tokens on a card like Snowguard? The answer is probably not.

In Pool 5 the player can buy Galactus and Thanos, cards that really impact and define the meta and have decks where they are protagonists, so the feeling of spending 6 thousand tokens on them is really worth it. Now, spending that same amount on a card that could easily go directly into Pool 3 is a bit strange, don't you agree?

Jeff the Baby Land Shark

Jeff is a land shark and first appeared in the comics in West Coast Avengers #7, 2019. In the story, Gwenpool adopts the little shark, who becomes part of the Avengers. At one point, Gwen decides to leave Jeff with Deadpool.

Jeff, The Baby Land Shark in Marvel Snap

Ignoring all existing negative locations in the game (including those blocked by Professor X and Storm), Jeff, who is a 2/3, can be moved once to any location you want, and nothing can stop the shark from being moved.

Review

For the first time since the release of Marvel Snap, there will be a card that can enter the location Professor Xavier blocks! It is something unprecedented and very interesting, as it opens doors for more counters of cards that are untouchable to emerge. I've been waiting for some card that counters Dracula! Is that day near?

Going back to Jeff, the Baby Land Shark, in addition to being cute, has an excellent ability. As he has 3 power, I can already visualize him integrating the Cerebro 3 deck, which is one of my favorites in the game.

In addition, Jeff looks like a tech card and serves as a joker card in many decks, because as I mentioned, there are many locations that make it impossible for players to play in them, so as Jeff has a super low cost, it can be the savior of many different archetypes who don't have the tools to get into these bad places.

For 6,000 tokens, is it worth buying the card? If you already have Galactus and Thanos, yes. If you have plenty of tokens left, and you're not interested in those two I mentioned, that's fine too. Now, for most players who are low on tokens, it's best to wait for Jeff to drop to Pool 4 before buying him.

Stegron

Doctor Vincent Stegron first appeared in 1973's Marvel Team-Up #19. He was a scientist who used the formula that turned Dr. Curt Connors into the villainous Lizard, but he mixed the formula with dinosaur tissue acquired in the Savage Land, so he ended up turning into a semi-humanoid reptile. He can also control dinosaurs.

Stegron on Marvel Snap

Stegron is a 4/5 and has the ability to move a card from where it is played to somewhere else. As there is no specification about the moved card, it might be a random card.

Review

As in the video promoting the new cards, there was no demonstration of Stegron in action, I'm assuming that he really moves a random card and if this is confirmed in practice, it's safe to say that of the 3 cards of this new season, he is the weakest.

Juggernaut, Pool 3 card, which costs 3 (1 less than Stegron) moves all cards that are played on his location the moment he is revealed, so it's much better to have Juggernaut in your deck than Stegron, who costs 4 and to have it in your collection you will need to spend 6,000 tokens.

Now I want to hear from you:

Which of the 3 new cards in Pool 5 is the best purchase?

I still think Jeff is the best option, but I'm curious to know your opinion!