The final new card release of the Marvel Snap Spider-Versus season is none other than Spider-Man 2099. The Spidey of the future gives some serious firepower to the Move archetype, but is it enough to justify its cost of 3000 Collector’s Tokens? To find out, we’re going to break down what the Spider-Man 2099 card does, explore what strategies best suit it, and what decks it can be used in.
Just like last week’s Spider-Ham card (that we highly recommend), Spider-Man 2099 is starting out in Series 4 instead of Series 5 and will cost 3000 Tokens. This is part of Marvel Snap’s efforts to make new cards more accessible to players upon release.
Miguel O’Hara became a very different kind of Spider-Man after his sabotaged Alchemax science experiment miraculously granted him the usual suite of spider-powers but also a pair of vampire-like fangs that allow him to bite and paralyze foes with spider venom. As a more aggressive kind of Spider-Man (as audiences saw in the recent movie, Spider-Man: Across the Spider-Verse), it’s fitting that he has a very aggressive and very destructive effect.
What Does Spider-Man 2099 Do in Marvel Snap?
The Spider-Man 2099 card costs four Energy, has six Power, and features the ability, “The first time this moves to a location, destroy an enemy card there.” Destroying an opponent’s card can be a seriously impactful ability, given the right situation. If, for example, he moves to a location where your opponent only has a single high-powered card such as Devil Dinosaur or Evolved Hulk, he can win the location single-handedly. Then again, because the card he destroys at his new location is chosen at random, he’s far less effective on locations with multiple units. If your luck is bad, then he’ll only remove a small unit, like Spider-Ham or Korg.
The ability to destroy an opponent’s card regardless of its cost and power is quite rare in Marvel Snap, and when we do see it, it’s always offset by specific conditions that make it difficult to use. Spider-Man 2099 is no different. While his card is not the easiest to utilize because it requires a movement enabler, it’s at least more accurate than Gambit and less of a gamble than Negasonic Teenage Warhead.
There are a wide variety of Move cards that can trigger Spider-Man 2099’s ability, including Iron Fist, Ghost-Spider, Cloak, and Heimdall, but being a Move card means his strength will always be handicapped by the inherent weaknesses of the move archetype. Cards need to be drawn and played in a specific order, your entire strategy can be rendered inert by random Locations and opposing card effects that close off lanes or clog the board and make it hard to move cards, and the deck tends to be easy to predict because most Move cards go to the left, most notably the big finisher Heimdall. New Spider-Versus Season Pass card Ghost-Spider helps with that latter point because she can pull left, right, or center, allowing you to play Spider-Man 2099 to one lane and leave your opponent guessing which of the other two he’ll get moved to. It’s worth pointing out that Spider-Man 2099 offers six power for four energy, which is a solid stat line that makes him a respectable card even if you don’t get to trigger the ability.
Spider-Man 2099 may find a home in decks that aren’t pure Move decks. Perhaps he could thrive in a deck with a small move package. The Good Stats archetype could be a good home for him, as Zabu will discount his four-energy cost down to three.
Note that the wording on Spider-Man 2099 could be read in two ways — it sounds like either he triggers only the first time he moves or he triggers each time he moves to a new location. The developers have clarified that he only triggers one time, even if you bounce him back to hand and play him again.
What Are the Best Decks for Spider-Man 2099?
Spider-Man 2099 is a very hit-or-miss card, but when it hits the right target it can be a game-winner, so it’s worth trying him out in a variety of decks.
Classic Move With Spider-Man 2099
To start us off, we’re trying out Spider-Man 2099 in the standard Move build with all of your old favorites. With five different Move enablers, you’ll have plenty of opportunities to trigger his effect. Try to line things up so he lands in your Kraven lane. That way you not only destroy one of their cards but gain 2 extra Power.
Human TorchIron FistDaggerKravenGhost-SpiderCloakSilkDoctor StrangeVultureMiles MoralesSpider-Man 2099Heimdall
Tournament Winning Move With Spider-Man 2099
A recent Marvel Snap tournament saw JungCAT take first place with a Move deck, beating out 147 other competitors. Even though Move is considered a lower-tier deck, this is proof that it can still hang with the big boys when done right. We’re trying out their build with Spider-Man 2099 by swapping out Shang-Chi but Vision could also be an option. By running Spider-Man 2099 alongside Stegron and Magneto, you’ll be messing with their board so much that they’ll never feel like any play they make is safe.
Iron FistDaggerKravenGhost-SpiderCloakVultureMiles MoralesStegronSpider-Man 2099VisionHeimdallMagneto
Good Stats Move With Spider-Man 2099
This deck uses the tried and true (and recently nerfed but still playable) Good Stats skeleton of Black Bolt, Stature, Zabu, and friends with a Move package featuring Spider-Man 2099. The deck aims to out-value the opponent with numerous high-stat cards, and what better way to get ahead than to wipe some of their stats completely off the board?
Iron FistKorgZabuGhost-SpiderVultureDawkhawkSpider-Man 2099EnchantressMiles MoralesRockslideStatureBlack Bolt
Sera Move With Spider-Man 2099
Sera’s Energy-reducing ability helps Move pop off on the final turn, pushing and pulling cards around the board in an unpredictable way. Adding Spider-Man 2099 into the mix has the potential to swing seemingly untouchable lanes back into your favor.
Kitty PrydeNovaAngelaHit-MonkeyKravenGhost-SpiderCloakKillmongerVultureSpider-Man 2099EnchantressSera
Should You Spend 3000 Collector’s Tokens on Spider-Man 2099?
After playing a handful of games with each of these lists, the short answer is no, Spider-Man 2099 is not worth buying.
While Spider-Man 2099 has a very strong destroy effect, a variety of factors stop him from working consistently. Oftentimes we weren’t able to trigger his destroy effect, and even when we did, his random-targeting had him hitting low-value cards instead of big ones. There were some instances where he worked exactly as intended, and those moments felt awesome and rewarding, but they were far and few inbetween. The meta is currently dominated by decks like Bounce and Sera that play lots of small units, so it’s rare to snipe a big card with Spider-Man 2099. The popular High Evolutionary archetype likes to close out games with Evolved Hulk soloing a lane, so you’d think Spider-Man 2099 would be able to take advantage of that, but because you’re often playing him down on turn 4 or 5, it gives the oppponent a chance to play around it.
That’s why we think Spider-Man 2099 is not worth the 3000 Tokens, especially if your collection is still missing much better Series 4 cards such as Zabu, Darkhawk, or Spider-Ham. It’s hard to imagine Spider-Man 2099 becoming a popular meta card seen in the most competitive ranks of the game, so you won’t be missing out if you let him swing right on by. If you’re a Move enthusiast and just want to play the card for fun, then you’ll definitely get your money’s worth in that regard because he is a cool card with a sweet animation that can pull off some seriously satisfying wins (just not often enough).
Joshua is IGN’s resident card game fantatic. He’s played Yu-Gi-Oh! and the Pokemon TCG competitively and regularly reaches Infinite rank in Marvel Snap.
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