Best War Machine Decks in Marvel Snap

Tony Stark’s best bud is finally arriving in Marvel Snap. That’s right, War Machine is here, and with him, a direct counter to lockout-style decks that may bring more balance to the card battler. Here are the best War Machine decks in Marvel Snap.

How War Machine Works in Marvel Snap

War Machine is a 4-energy, 6-power card with an ability that reads: “On Reveal: Until the end of next turn, nothing can stop you from playing cards anywhere.”

This effect is similar to that of Jeff, the 2-power, 3-cost card that isn’t restricted. As Jeff is considered the best 2-drop in the game, you can imagine there’s some hype surrounding War Machine’s On Reveal effect.

War Machine allows you to play into locked-out locations like a Professor X locked lane or one flooded by Storm. Furthermore, he allows you to bypass locations like Sanctum Sanctorum the turn after he’s played. More importantly, War Machine allows cards with play conditions, such as Ebony Maw and The Infinaut, to be played regardless of their effect. Yes, you can drop Infinaut on turn 6 if you play War Machine on turn 5.

War Machine’s effect is not reciprocal, so your opponent cannot make use of it unless they play their own War Machine.

Best War Machine Decks in Marvel Snap

War Machine is a card that quite simply will fit into most decks, much the same way Iron Lad or Shang-Chi can, especially when played in Conquest mode. There are two styles of decks, however, that I believe make for the best War Machine decks in Marvel Snap: a more traditional lockout list and an Infinaut cheat list. Let’s take a look at the former first:

• Nebula
• Echo
• Goose
• Jeff!
• Medusa
• Storm
• Cosmo
• Ms. Marvel
• War Machine
• Vision
• Alioth
• Doctor Doom

Several websites and streamers have theorycrafted a similar list, calling this the “War Lock” deck, though I’ve put my own spin on it by including Echo and Ms. Marvel for further control and power output, respectively. Goose and Storm can keep your opponent out of certain lanes leading into the final turn – unless they play their own War Machine – allowing you to Alioth on the final turn if you have priority, though Doctor Doom is an alternate playline that can also steal cubes. Expect some variation of this deck to become incredibly popular.

Cheating out The Infinaut has been one of the “dream” plays since Marvel Snap’s inception, and with the release of War Machine, it got quite a bit easier to do so. Most people are theorycrafting decks that have you playing Hope Summers into War Machine to drop The Infinaut on turn 6 – or War Machine on turn 5 to drop an Ebony Maw beside The Infinaut. While that certainly seems like a powerful line, I believe that play is way too telegraphed to rely on comply, so a list with Magik and Psylocke package as a backup makes sense in this “War Cheat” deck:

• Sunspot
• Nebula
• Ebony Maw
• Psylocke
• Armor
• Magik
• Caiera
• Hope Summers
• War Machine
• Cull Obsidian
• She-Hulk
• The Infinaut

If the Hope Summers into The Infinaut line doesn’t quite pan out, this list of the best War Machine decks in Marvel Snap has two backup plans: Magik into skipping turn 6 to drop a She-Hulk and The Infinaut on turn 7 or playing Psylocke on turn 4 and skipping turn 5 to do the same. Sunspot becomes integral here as he can absorb quite a lot of unspent energy. Cull Obsidian is a great addition, as he can be played anywhere if War Machine is played or simply dropped behind Sunspot or Nebula.

Related: Marvel Snap Is Better Than Ever in 2024

War Machine Counters in Marvel Snap

Other than sniping War Machine’s On Reveal with a priority Cosmo, there aren’t a lot of counters for this Iron Man lookalike. Perhaps the best counter will be to play your own War Machine, especially if your opponent is playing a lock-out style list; otherwise, Shang-Chi and Alioth can delete some of The Infinaut plays War Machine will telegraph when played.

Who Is War Machine?

You likely know War Machine as a major character in the Iron Man films and a minor one in the Avengers flicks. Also known as James Rhodes, a renowned aviation engineer, War Machine in the comics is one of Tony Stark’s closest friends and has taken over as Iron Man when the alcoholic playboy otherwise couldn’t. His iron suit differs from Stark’s as it has way more heavy weaponry – and thus utility for every situation – which is perhaps where Second Dinner drew inspiration for his Marvel Snap effect.

Is War Machine Worth Your Spotlight Cache Keys or Collector’s Tokens?

Yes, very much so. War Machine, even more so than Mockingbird, is likely the best card released in March 2024, as he opens up a ton of deck possibilities now and going forward. Both a tech card and one to build decks around, War Machine will likely be considered for just about every deck moving forward – unless he gets nerfed in some capacity, which is a definite possibility.

And those are the best War Machine decks in Marvel Snap.

Marvel Snap is available now on mobile and PC.