Daken: Marvel Snap's New Card and August 2023 Pass Review

Daken, also known as Akihiro, made its first appearance in Marvel Comics in "Wolverine: Origins" #10, released in 2007. He is a mutant, Wolverine's son, and has retractable claws similar to his father, regeneration abilities and heightened senses. His personality is complex, many times anti-hero-like and manipulative.

One of Daken's story most important points involves the legendary sword Muramasa. In Marvel Comics, Muramasa is a fictitious entity which manifests itself in the form of a sword forged from a metal capable of cutting even super-regenerative mutant skin, like Wolverine's.

Daken got directly involved with Muramasa by using pieces of the sword to fuse with his claws, intending to take advantage of them and use them against his own father.

Daken in Marvel Snap

Muramasa Shard

Daken has everything to be one of the best cards included in passes, as it is strong and versatile. To start, he costs 3, so he might show up in Silver Surfer decks. This archetype always uses Killmonger, so it is easy to destroy Muramasa Shard and boost Daken to 11 power at the end of the game, becoming that game strategy's strongest 3-cost card.

Despite being (in practice), a 3/8, Daken has synergy with two archetypes which are always getting new support cards: destruction and discard. This way, Wolverine's son is highly expected to be good, both in his intended archetypes, and other ones, becoming an indispensable 3-drop for any Marvel Snap deck.

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Here we have quite an ambitious strategy with Daken, which, besides bringing Silver Surfer, brings Wong, which will make Daken create two Muramasa Shards in your hand. To activate the shards, we have Killmonger, Deathlok and Gambit, which always wrecks havoc with Wong.

The newcomer Magik comes into the game early, and gives you the time you need to draw the necessary combo pieces, and, as it is a 3-drop, it also gets the buffs from Silver Surfer.

Silver Surfer lists are quite flexible, so there are many other cards which can be replaced. Here, I'll leave some suggestions of great additions to the deck: Goose, Invisible Woman, Jeff, Rogue, Shadow King, Polaris, Storm, Mystique and Brood.

Passes are not only made of cards, aren't they? Many (me included) buy the passes more due to the "exclusive" variants which come with them. This time, in the "Big in Japan" season, besides Daken's mech variant, we also have variants of this theme for Magneto and Iceman.

In terms of quality, there's not much to complain about. Marvel Snap's team always selects arts made by sensational artists which do an excellent job. However, (and here my personal taste will come in), I'm not the biggest fan of giant robots, and I found the variants quite uninteresting. Those who enjoy this theme will love the cosmetics, but my excitement for them is minimal.

For Daken, yes. For the cosmetics, not really - unless you're a big fan of mechs. I think the price for this pass is fair, but costly, so, for me, it is only worth it to buy it when I like everything that comes in it, as I want to feel that I got my money's worth.

Will I be really frustrated for not having Daken, as it seems he will appear in the meta a lot? Yes, but, eventually, I'll get him through other methods. It will take some time, but patience, am I right?

Keep in mind that this is only my opinion, and it reflects my personal tastes, and my own definition of my cost-to-benefit ratio.

Now, I want to know your opinion. Will you buy the pass? Do you think it's worth it? And Daken, do you agree with me and also believe that he will show up in the meta a lot? Leave your thoughts in the comment section!