How to Play Valentina
Welcome back to our weekly review where we’ll be covering Marvel Snap’s latest card, Valentina, along with the best decks and synergies. I’ll be covering new deck ideas in this article, but to stay up to date, check out our full Marvel Snap Tier List to see any new meta changes.
Valentina is a new card generator being added to Marvel Snap. She thematically is similar to cards like Agent 13, Agent Coulson, etc. Because of this, everyone expects to add her to Loki decks.
While there may be other decks that can utilize her well, Loki will definitely be very popular once Valentina releases.
Let’s get right into the guide.
Valentina Effect
On Reveal: Add a random 6-Cost card to your hand. Give it -2 Cost and -3 Power.
Valentina Analysis
First off, Valentina is a 2/3, which is the standard stat line for a 2-cost card. The main draw of Valentina is her effect. Random card generators are strong in decks like Loki, but Valentina takes it to another level.
There are a lot of very powerful 6-cost cards in the game, and getting one with a discount can be extremely powerful. For example, you might get The Infinaut with a 4/17 stat line. You can skip turn 3, and slam down 17 power in any location. Or maybe you get a 4/9 Magneto. You can play him to disrupt your opponent’s cards while also being safe from Shang-Chi.
However, there are also many 6-cost cards that can be detrimental to you like Agatha, Thanos (a vanilla 4/7), Hela (basically a vanilla 4/3), etc.
Even still, Loki helps you remove the downside of Valentina by being able to replace these cards if they’re not usable.
While she might not do something powerful every game, she helps raise the ceiling of your deck while also giving you snap equity. Your opponent can’t play around every potential 6-cost card you might have generated, giving you an edge.
Cards that Synergize with Valentina
Loki
On Reveal: Transform your hand into cards from your opponent’s starting deck and give them -1 Cost.
Loki has been around for a while now, and while he’s not as oppressive as when he came out, he’s still a strong and consistent deck. Loki preys on “midrange” decks that play quality cards over strong synergy. He gives you discounted quality standalone cards, letting you gain an edge over your opponent.
Generally, Loki will struggle into combo decks that have very high ceilings. The deck doesn’t play enough interactive/disruptive tools, so decks like Tribunal or Hela can go over the top of what Loki can produce.
With Valentina, there is potential for Loki decks to have a higher ceiling, which is a scary thought. While Loki will still have his natural weaknesses, adding more potential to high roll gives Loki decks an edge that they previously did not.
When Valentina releases, I expect a lot of players to be playing Loki again.
Mockingbird
Costs 1 less for each of your cards in play that didn’t start in your deck.
Mockingbird is another card that can potentially benefit from Valentina. If you play the card randomly generated by Valentina, you will be able to discount Mockingbird by 1.
This can help you play Mockingbird for 3 or 2 Energy, which is a very efficient use of Energy. This opens up Valentina to be played in other shells that don’t run Loki, but Loki decks also run Mockingbird.
Devil Dinosaur
Ongoing: +2 Power for each card in your hand.
Devil Dinosaur is another card that synergizes with card generators. Cards like Valentina or Agent Coulson will fill up your hand size while still putting Power on the board.
As time passed, Devil Dinosaur phased from the meta as Loki took over. Even still, Devil Dinosaur is a strong card that can be played with or without Loki.
Valentina Decks
For this section, I’ll be going over some decks that synergize with Valentina.
Keep in mind that these decks are all first impressions, so things can definitely change rapidly. As new discoveries are made, I will be updating our full Marvel Snap Tier List, rather than update this article.
Be sure to check it out to see what the best decks are.
Valentina Loki Angela Deck
This first deck is a standard Loki deck that also uses the Angela Elsa engine. This deck takes out some tech cards in favor of a powerful engine with Angela.
Valentina is an easy inclusion into the deck, replacing cards such as Mirage. Valentina can give you a powerful surprise card on turn 4, or you can even save it for turn 6.
If Valentina gives you an unplayable card like Arnim Zola or Hela, simply play Loki to refresh your hand.
Valentina Loki Tech Deck
This second deck is very similar to the first, except instead of Angela, we run other tech cards. Cards like Cable and Baron Zemo are quite effective into combo/synergy decks, potentially taking away a key piece.
Mobius is also another strong tech card, especially in the Loki mirror. While the deck might not get the same Power as the Angela version, you have more options to disrupt your opponent.
Valentina Dino Deck
This last deck is if you don’t have Loki. You can play around The Collector and Devil Dinosaur instead. While this deck won’t be as strong as Loki, it’s still a decent option for newer players that might not have Loki yet.
How to Beat Valentina in Marvel Snap
Mobius M. Mobius
Mobius is a classic counter to Loki decks, and he also works against Valentina as well. With Mobius, Valentina will no longer discount the random 6-cost card. This means Valentina will only generate a 6-cost card with -3 Power.
With Loki potentially on the rise with Valentina, I expect a lot of Mobius to come back into the meta.
Outside of Mobius, there aren’t too many direct counters to Valentina. You can play decks that try and target Loki specifically, though. As mentioned previously, decks with high synergy like Hela can overpower Loki. Copying cards from a Hela deck is also not very beneficial for Loki, as he can’t play out the large threats as efficiently as Hela.
Should You Buy Valentina?
Overall, I would rate Valentina an 8/10.
I think Valentina is a good card, but her ranking is very dependent on how good Loki is. If Loki becomes the top deck in the meta, then Valentina is an easy pickup.
However, if the meta adjusts to where people are specifically targeting Loki with things like Hela, Mobius, or even Cerebro, Valentina loses a lot of value.
Furthermore, Valentina isn’t a very flexible card. While she can technically be thrown into any deck instead of Jeff, she’s not a key piece to any archetype outside of Loki.
Because of this, her value may drop or rise dramatically depending on the meta. Lastly, if you don’t own Loki or don’t enjoy playing Loki, then Valentina shouldn’t be a priority to pick up.
Be sure to check out our Tier Lists for our current rankings on Marvel Snap decks and cards.
Good luck in your games, and thanks for reading!
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