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Welcome to another Spotlight Cache Showcase! In this article series, we review the contents of Marvel SNAP’s upcoming Spotlight Caches and decide if this is the week you should cash in those hard-earned keys.
This week we’ve got a new Series 5 card, the hyped Arishem, appearing in the box, alongside Series 5 Black Swan and Series 4 Hercules.
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Arishem – A card with Infinite possibilities
Arishem joins Marvel SNAP as the last Spotlight Cache card of the Celestial’s Finest season. It is a MARVEL SNAP card that costs 7 energy and has 7 power. It has the effect: "At the start of the game, +1 Max Energy. Shuffle 12 random cards into your deck.” Its ability resembles what High Evolutionary did last year, unlocking a new way of playing the game.
This new card has hyped the whole community. The unique effect of adding +1 Max Energy from the start of the game is a huge payoff. However, adding 12 random cards to your deck will conspire against any synergies you might want to pull off. Arishem is definitely a build-around card that will shape its own archetype, much like High Evo. There is an obvious synergy with Quinjet, to discount all those random cards and make them a bit better in the void. The problem is how consistently you get to draw and play it in the early game.
The extra energy points us to build something similar to the existing Ramp decks, with bombs and heavy hitters that are good stand-alone cards. While the 12 random cards will make it more unlikely that you get any specific card from your deck, there is probably a correct mix to figure out and pay off more than not. Additionally, this card will make every game feel different, much like Loki does, based on card generation.
Black Swan – Lost in the Zoo?
Black Swan is currently outside of our Card Tier List, given its super low 0.3% Popularity across all ranks. Its stats are almost innocuous, having nearly neutral Avg. Cube rate and a 50% Winrate. Black Swan is most commonly played nowhere… I mean, in Thanos and Zoo Archetypes including Gilgamesh, where it synergizes well with having a bunch of 1-Cost cards.
Who knows if it could be buffed in the next Marvel SNAP OTA patch, what we know is that Black Swan is not the card you are hoping to see after opening a Spotlight Cache.
Hercules – Needing more workouts?
The last card in this week’s Spotlight Cache is Hercules, a Series 4 card currently sitting in D tier with a negative cube rate and winrate, and a meager 1.4% popularity in ranks 70-99. Despite its most recent change in the latest Marvel SNAP OTA patch, Hercules can be commonly found in Move decks where it works well with Dagger, Vulture, and Human Torch.
Move Deck
Much like with Black Swan, I bet every Marvel SNAP player opening Spotlight Caches this week hopes not to see Hercules, but Arishem.
Spotlight Variants
Each week, you have the chance to open exclusive Spotlight Cache Variants for all the cards featured within. These variants can only appear once you own all three cards featured, so you’ll need plenty of Spotlight Keys if you want one from scratch! Spotlight Cache exclusive variants will not be available in-game again until one full year has passed following their release.
Franchesco Tomaselli is this month’s featured artist, and so it’s their Arishem and Black Swan variants you’ll find inside the Spotlight Cache. Hercules receives an imposing portrayal by Jay Anacleto and Richard Isanove. If any of these tickle your fancy, be sure not to miss out!
Final Thoughts
This week’s Spotlight Caches boils down to getting Arishem. The contrast between the returning cards and the new Arishem is astonishing. Black Swan and Hercules are neither staples in their archetypes nor flexible cards. On the contrary, Arishem is a card that will open many possibilities and while it is still unclear its power level, the unique effect makes it one of the most hyped cards during this Marvel SNAP season. So be mindful if you don’t have 4 Spotlight Keys to guarantee Arishem. If you have enough Collector Tokens, this is the time to dodge a risky gamble.
The other factor to consider is the upcoming Spotlight Caches. Next week, with the new season, we’ll see Hydra Bob being added to the game in the same cache as Nebula and the Big Bad Galactus, with Ajax the following week.
But what do you think? Are you using Spotlight Keys to get Arishem or saving it for future weeks? Let us know your thoughts over at @UntappedSNAP on Twitter/X. Alternatively, come and chat with the wider Marvel SNAP Community on our Discord Server!
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