Alright, let’s talk about U.S. Agent in Marvel Snap. Picked him up recently, maybe from a cache, don’t quite remember. Looked at the card text: 4-Cost, 4-Power. Ongoing: 4, 5, and 6-Cost cards here have -3 Power. Seemed… okay? Kinda weird, honestly.
First thought was, how do I even use this guy? He nerfs big cards, including potentially my own. That seemed like a big downside right off the bat. My gut reaction was maybe slot him into some kind of deck that doesn’t run many big cards itself. Maybe a zoo deck? But he costs 4, that’s a bit late for zoo usually, and 4 power isn’t exactly winning a lane on its own.
Trying Stuff Out
So, I just threw him into a deck I was already running, I think it was some kind of Sera Control thing. Figured maybe I could drop him late on turn 6 with Sera’s discount, maybe mess up an opponent’s big play. Seemed like a plan, right?
Played a few games. It was… messy. Dropped him on turn 4 once because I had nothing better. Immediately regretted it when my Typhoid Mary later landed in the same lane. Whoops. That -3 hit hard. Another game, I played him on turn 6 with Mysterio and Hit-Monkey. It worked okay-ish, the opponent had a big Devil Dino in that lane, so it softened it up. But it felt very situational.
Realized pretty quick he hurts me just as much, sometimes more, if I’m not careful. If I play my big cards first, then drop him there? Bad times. If I play him first, then my big cards have to go somewhere else or take the hit. Made positioning really awkward.
Focusing the Deck
Okay, back to the drawing board. Decided maybe I needed cards that benefit from him, or cards that could mitigate his downside for me. What about cards that set power? Valkyrie? Could be interesting. Play U.S. Agent, then Valkyrie everything to 3? But wait, his effect is Ongoing. So my other big cards would become 3, then immediately drop to 0 if they cost 4+? That sounds terrible.
Tried pairing him with Spectrum. Maybe an Ongoing deck? But he doesn’t have Ongoing himself to get buffed. He just sits there, making my Destroyer or Namor weaker. Didn’t feel right.
What about just using him purely defensively? Maybe in a junk or clog style deck? Send trash over, then play U.S. Agent on their side with Annihilus? That seemed too complicated, too many moving parts needed.
Where I’m At Now
So after fiddling around quite a bit, I’ve kinda settled on him being a tech card. He’s not something I build a whole deck around. He feels like a specific answer to specific situations.
- Good against Shuri decks if you can guess the lane.
- Decent against decks stacking one lane with big boys like Red Skull or Infinaut.
- Pretty bad if the opponent spreads their power out.
- Requires careful placement so you don’t kneecap your own strategy.
I’ve slotted him in and out of a few decks. Sometimes he wins me a lane I had no business winning by shrinking their giant card. Other times he’s a 4-cost brick in my hand, or worse, I play him and immediately regret it because I needed that spot for my own big card later.
Honestly? He feels awkward. Very specific use case. Needs careful planning, more than many other cards. I’m still not totally sold on him being amazing, but I guess he has his moments. It’s more work than you’d think to make him not screw you over. Still playing around with him when I feel like messing with people, but he’s not a core card for me right now. Just another tool, sometimes sharp, sometimes dull.
