Build & Play: The Lockjaw Deck in Marvel Snap

Image: Second Dinner Studios, Nuverse via HGG

Human Made

Penned by Drew Swanson

Drew has been a fan of games since he could hold a GameCube controller. Nowadays, he plays everything from mobile and PC games, to PS5 and Switch.

Reviewed by Benjamin Barr

Certain deck archetypes are highly versatile in Marvel Snap and can work with many different cards, like the Lockjaw deck. This deck type revolves around the ability of the card Lockjaw, whose ability is to swap each card you play at the same location with another one from your deck. This can be used to cycle through your deck and try to pull out high-power cards for cheap.

As such, there are specific cards that work better than others to pull off these combos. Today, we’re going to look at the best cards to include in your Lockjaw deck before going over how to play the deck in Marvel Snap.

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Best Cards for a Lockjaw Deck in Marvel Snap

Let’s take a look at the most powerful cards to put in your Lockjaw deck for Marvel Snap, ranked from least to most useful!

10/10

Giganto

With the goal of cycling through cards in your deck using Lockjaw’s ability to pull high-power cards at a low cost, you’re going to want a number of powerful cards to pull from. Giganto is a great option thanks to its status as a 6-Cost/14-Power card. Typically, it’s ability prevents it from being played anywhere aside from the left location. However, swapping out for it using Lockjaw’s ability negates this requirement. This means Giganto has a lot more potential as it can often surprise players who expect it to be played in the left location. While it doesn’t offer any other bonuses, Giganto is still a solid card to combo with Lockjaw.

9/10

Captain Marvel

While not as powerful as Giganto, Captain Marvel is still a pretty high-power card with and appropriately high Cost. As such, she also benefits from being pulled from the deck using Lockjaw’s ability. One downside to using Lockjaw is that the cards it pulls from its ability have to be played at the same location as Lockjaw. However, Captain Marvel can get around this requirement with her ability. It automatically moves her to a location that would win you the game if possible. This can be a great last-second way to snatch victory from opponents who otherwise think they have the match locked down.

8/10

Psylocke

In contrast to the previous cards mentioned, Psylocke isn’t a card you should try to pull from your deck with Lockjaw’s ability. Instead, she should be played at the same location as Lockjaw as a card that switches with another one from your deck. As a 2-Cost/1-Power card, Psylocke isn’t the best on her own. However, her On Reveal ability grants the player +1 Energy next turn. On Reveal abilities activate before Lockjaw’s ability switches the card out. So you can play Psylocke to reap the benefit of her ability, then swap her out for a potentially stronger card.

7/10

She-Hulk

She-Hulk is a hefty 10-Power card, but comes with a 6-Cost price tag. Luckily, her ability makes it so she costs 1 less for each unspent Energy the turn prior. If you have to skip a turn because you have nothing to play, this can be a great card to have in your hand. She-Hulk can be brought out even easier if she’s pulled from your deck by Lockjaw’s ability. Either way, She-Hulk is a solid card with a lot of utility, making her one of the best Lockjaw cards in Marvel Snap.

6/10

Leech

Leech can be a major problem for opponents in the current meta of Marvel Snap. His On Reveal ability removes the abilities from every card in your opponent’s hand. This can be devastating for their strategy and can give you the upper hand. Leech is a 5-Cost card but only has 3-Power. As such, he is the perfect candidate to play at the same location as Lockjaw on turn five so that his On Reveal ability activates, and then he is swapped out for a potentially more powerful card. Leech can also be a good pull from your deck early on using Lockjaw’s ability. This can make it so that your opponent has to deal with their card abilities being removed earlier in the match.

5/10

Wong

Not only is Wong one of the best Lockjaw cards in Marvel Snap, but he’s one of the most useful cards in the game period. He has the Ongoing ability that allows cards with On Reveal abilities to activate twice when played at the same location as him. Setting up a combo where Wong and Lockjaw are at the same location can be devastating. With this setup, you can play a card with an On Reveal ability, have it activate twice thanks to Wong, then cycle it out for another card with Lockjaw. If that card also has an On Reveal ability, it will be activated twice as well. This strategy can quickly snowball, giving you a major advantage over your opponent. If you can, play Psylocke at this location to gain double the Energy boost from her ability before she is swapped out for another card.

4/10

The Infinaut

As the card with the highest base power in the game, the Infinaut is a must-use card for Lockjaw decks. The Infinaut is a 6-Cost/20-Power card, but its ability prevents it from being played if you played a card the turn before. As such, most instances require players to skip turn five in order to play the Infinaut on turn six. This makes the Infinaut a great partner for Sunspot in most cases since he can benefit from skipping turn five. However, Lockjaw has the potential to pull this card from your deck with his ability, bypassing this requirement. Of all the high-power cards that Lockjaw could pull from your deck, the Infinaut is one of the best.

3/10

Jubilee

With the focus of Lockjaw decks being to pull out the strongest cards in your deck using weaker ones, Jubilee makes the perfect companion. She is a 4-Cost/1-Power card with the On Reveal ability to pull a random card from your deck. This ability works in tandem with Lockjaw as it gives players a chance to pull a strong card when Jubilee’s ability activates. Then they get another chance as she gets cycled out from Lockjaw’s ability. When combined with Wong’s ability, players can have an additional chance at pulling a powerful card like the Infinaut or Giganto.

2/10

Wasp

On her own, Wasp isn’t all that useful. However, she can be the perfect card to feed the abilities of other more powerful cards. What makes Wasp so powerful in Lockjaw decks is the fact that she has a Cost of 0. This means there is no prerequisite for playing her. As such, she is the ideal card for playing after Lockjaw as she could potentially pull a huge card for essentially nothing. After being shuffled out via Lockjaw’s ability, she goes back into your deck meaning you could potentially draw her again and repeat the same process.

1/10

Thanos

The big bad of the Marvel Universe himself is one of the most powerful cards in the game and the perfect addition to any Lockjaw deck in Marvel Snap. Thanos is a 6-Cost/11-Power card, making him a powerful pull for Lockjaw to aim for in his own right.

What elevates Thanos to must-use status is his unique ability that shuffles the six Infinity Stones into your deck at the start of a match. Each of these stones has its own useful ability, but what’s better is they each have a Cost of only 1. This means you automatically have six additional 1-Cost cards in your deck that can be perfect fodder for Lockjaw to help you cycle through your deck for those big hitters. The only downside is that Thanos is one of the rarest cards in Marvel Snap. This means he can be quite difficult for players to acquire. 

How to Play a Lockjaw Deck in Marvel Snap

Now let’s take a look at how to play Lockjaw decks in Marvel Snap!

Understanding the Goal of This Deck

The goal of Lockjaw decks is to trade low-cost cards for high-cost/high-power cards. This is done with Lockjaw’s fantastic ability.

However, as a 3-Cost/2-Power card, you likely won’t get to play him until turn three. While you could save some of your low-cost cards to play when Lockjaw is on the field, there are a couple of good options to play during the early turns of the match.

Sunspot is a solid 1-Cost/1-Power card to play early one. He gains Power for every point of unspent energy at the end of a turn. Otherwise, other 1-Cost cards like Iceman or Nightcrawler are good alternatives to include as they can be versatile while also making for fodder for Lockjaw.

Getting Lockjaw on the Field

Psylocke is great to play with Lockjaw present, but can also be a solid play on turn 2 to give you the chance to play Lockjaw and another 1-Cost card on turn three. After Lockjaw is on the field, your best bet is to try and use Wasp to pull a powerful card like Giganto, She-Hulk, or the Infinaut.

In the event you need to skip a turn, having both Sunspot and She-Hulk in the deck can be beneficial since they both are handy when skipping a turn. Jubilee and Wong are both solid options for turn four since they can synergize well with Lockjaw.

Even better, though, is Wong on turn four and then Jubilee on turn five so that her ability activates twice via Wong before being switched out by Lockjaw.

Use Lockjaw to Bring Out Your Strongest Cards

Leech is a great card to play turn five if not before. Otherwise, Captain Marvel is a great choice that could end up snatching victory from the jaws of defeat.

With all of the heavy-hitting 6-Cost cards in this deck, any one of them that hasn’t been pulled by Lockjaw could be played on turn six. If Thanos is in this deck, turn six is a great opportunity to play him or several of his Infinity Stones in order to try and flood the field at the last minute.

Watch out for opponents playing Sandman, however. His ability limits players from playing only one card per turn which can severely dampen the effectiveness of this deck.

Join the High Ground!

Do you agree with our list of the best Lockjaw cards in Marvel Snap? Let us know in the comments down below! Hopefully you found this guide helpful for playing one of the most popular deck types in the game.

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Happy gaming!