When Marvel fans think of a patriotic superhero, one immediately springs to mind. But it’s not the most powerful patriotic hero in Marvel snapthe digital card battle that has been growing in popularity since its launch in 2022.
If Marvel snap When players think of a strong patriotic character, their thoughts will likely leap to Patriot. The Young Avenger is a card that entire decks and metas can be built around thanks to its ability, making it one of the most popular cards in the game.
Here’s everything you need to know about Patriot, decks built around him, and how to face him Marvel snap.
Patriot card abilities in Marvel snap
Patriot might seem like a weak card at first glance, thanks to its three energies and only one power. But its true power lies in its ability text.
Elijah Bradley, better known as Patriot, gives all your cards with no abilities plus two power. This includes base cards like the Wasp, Misty Knight, Shocker, and Cyclops, but also multiple cards that appear like Squirrels, Rocks, Doombots, Ultron Drones, and more.
This creates some very fun combinations that Patriot can really wreak havoc with. While easy to counter, you can surprise an opponent with a well-built Patriot deck designed to maximize power in multiple locations.
Patriot strategy in Marvel snap
Patriot strategy is in the ability text. You want to play as many cards as possible without abilities. This means that it synergizes with multiple cards, especially ones that aren’t otherwise used very often, like Shocker and Wasp.
You can either save Patriot for a final turn on turn six to prevent Enchantress or Rogue from draining his ongoing ability, or you can play him early alongside a card like Cosmo to prevent it and turn six for big moves like Doctor Doom, Ultron or Onslaught.
Best combo synergy with Patriot in Marvel snap
Patriot combos with quite a few cards in Marvel Snap. Here are just a few that highlight its capabilities:
- Squirrel Girl
- mysticism
- Mr. Sinister
- brood
- debris
- Ka-Zar
- Blue Wonder
- Doctor doom
- Ultron
- rush
Squirrel Girl is great with Patriot because she drops two squirrels on the other two locations with no abilities, giving you at least three powers for just one energy in each of those locations. Debrii works the same, playing a rock in the other two locations, while Mister Sinister and Brood play their own copies with no abilities.
Mystique might be Patriot’s ultimate combo because it mimics his ongoing ability to grant power to all your non-ability cards plus four, and they can be further boosted by other cards like Ka-Zar, Blue Marvel, or Onslaught.
In the meantime, you can buff any other playable card that doesn’t have any abilities to begin with. The current maps Marvel snap without skills are as follows:
- wasp
- Misty Knight
- shocker
- Cyclops
- the thing
- abomination
- hulk
The best Patriot decks Marvel snap
Default Patriot
| wasp | Misty Knight | shocker | mysticism | patriot | Storm |
| debris | Ka-Zar | Blue Wonder | Doctor doom | rush | Ultron |
This is a pretty standard Patriot deck that most Series 3 players should have the cards for. The goal is to fill your board with cards like Wasp, Misty Knight, and Shocker before playing Patriot on turn three, followed by Mystique on turn four.
After that, you can either use Blue Marvel to buff each card, or Ka-Zar to buff all One-Energy cards and then finish them off by filling the board with Ultron’s Drones, which are all One-Energy.
You can also use Storm on turn three and then forget about that lane for a while, since you can use Doctor Doom or Ultron to play cards with no abilities into it without having to play that lane yourself.
You can alternatively play Onslaught in the Patriot or Mystique lanes to double their duration and give all cards with no abilities plus-fours.
Patriot leeches
| wasp | Squirrel Girl | Misty Knight | mysticism | patriot | debris |
| Shan Chi | thing | Blue Wonder | leech | abomination | Ultron |
One of the most popular Patriot decks on Untapped.gg, this deck is similar to other Patriot builds except it uses Leech to prevent Enchantress or Rogue from playing turn six.
The quickest way to get your opponent to snap when he’s playing a Patriot deck is if he’s holding Enchantress or Rogue with no counters. Both cards take away your ongoing ability, rendering any cards you played pretty much useless without their Patriot buffs.
However, this deck also uses Shang Chi as a fallback to remove any big cards the opponent plays. But the goal is to fill your deck with non-ability cards, play Leech to five to take away her potential Enchantress or Rogue play, and then play Patriot and Mystique together to add a whole lot of power at once.
Patriot Wave
| wasp | Squirrel Girl | Misty Knight | shocker | mysticism | patriot |
| Wave | Ka-Zar | Blue Wonder | Doctor doom | rush | Ultron |
The main difference in this deck is that it uses Wave on turn three instead of Patriot so you can play one of the big cards very early on turn four, like Doctor Doom.
You can fill two lanes with his Doombots, which have no abilities, and then work on buffing them throughout the rest of the game.
How to counter Patriot Marvel snap
As mentioned above, Enchantress and Rogue are an absolute nightmare for Patriot decks. Enchantress removes any ongoing ability from where it was played, while Rogue takes the ongoing ability directly from an enemy card. Both will ruin your day playing Patriot very quickly.
Leech is also a rallying point for players trying to save their best play for round six. If you see the board filled with small cards with no abilities, use Leech on five before they can Patriot and that will really mess up their whole plan.
