MARVEL SNAP Explained: Who Is Lady Deathstrike?

MARVEL SNAP’s destroy archetype remains one of the most effective ways of playing the game. Decks of that type revolve around destroying cards on the board either to reduce an opponent’s Power, or to strengthen one’s own cards. Now, Lady Deathstrike is coming to MARVEL SNAP via the Big in Japan season pass, and just like in the comics, she’s looking to destroy the competition. Here’s what you need to know about playing Lady Deathstrike in MARVEL SNAP.

Playing Lady Deathstrike in MARVEL SNAP

A 5-Cost, 3-Power card, Lady Deathstrike’s On Reveal ability causes her to destroy every card at her location with a lower Power than her. While her Cost-to-Power ratio is worse than many other 5-Cost cards, Lady Deathstrike’s formidable On Reveal still makes her a good fit for decks able to take advantage of her ability.

The best decks featuring Lady Deathstrike go one of two routes. The first revolves around trying to buff one’s own cards. For those using this strategy, Lady Deathstrike works well in a lot of standard destroy decks, which normally use such cards as Carnage, Venom, and Deathlok to empower Wolverine, Knull, and Deadpool. She also works well with Daken, a new addition to the game as part of the Big in Japan season pass.

The other route for using Lady Deathstrike involves destroying an opponent’s cards. Due to her high Cost and low Power, players will want to either make her cheaper, stronger, or both. Since Mister Negative swaps the Cost and Power of all cards in his player’s deck, Lady Deathstrike has a lot of synergy with him, making him a natural pairing for her. From there, players can use cards such as Shuri to further buff Lady Deathstrike’s Power. A 10-Power card can take out much of what’s on the board, and if combined with Arnim Zola, an opponent might find themselves with a lot of empty lanes when the game ends.

Regardless of how players use Lady Deathstrike, she’s especially effective against several cards that have been doing well in the current metagame. Iron Man, Mystique, and Dracula, for example, are popular cards, but prior to buffs, they have low Power, meaning Lady Deathstrike can destroy them before they do much damage. Green Goblin and Hobgoblin, who are quite effective, have negative Power, meaning Lady Deathstrike destroys them outright. Finally, she’s a good way to counter decks focused on putting out many cards with low Power, such as those centered on Ka-Zar and Patriot.

Lady Deathstrike can benefit from a few locations. The Peak swaps a card’s Power and Cost, meaning it does what Mister Negative does but for free. She can also be quite effective when played at a location like Mojoworld or The Raft. Since those locations benefit from players filling them up quickly, players tend to use lower-Cost, and thus often lower-Power, cards on them. If played at the right moment, she can potentially clear those lanes out easily.

Like many other cards centered on the destroy archetype, there are several good counters for Lady Deathstrike. Armor prevents cards from being destroyed at her location, which means Lady Deathstrike’s ability won’t work where she’s played. Cosmo also prevents On Reveals from happening. Finally, Patriot and Blue Marvel can potentially make Lady Deathstrike ineffective, as they raise the Power of other cards on the board. Still, the former is likely to still be vulnerable to her due to his low Power.

There are also a few locations that don’t work well for Lady Deathstrike. Deep Space and Knowhere prevent On Reveals from happening at them, while Lake Hellas and Muir Island buff cards, making it more likely their Power will end up higher than Lady Deathstrike’s in the late game. Wakanda also prevents cards from being destroyed at it, having essentially the same effect as Armor.

Lady Deathstrike in the Comics

Created by Dennis O’Neil and William Johnson, Yuriko Oyama, AKA Lady Deathstrike, debuted in DAREDEVIL (1964) #197. Oyama’s father, Kenji Oyama, AKA Lord Dark Wind, invented the process of covering bones in adamantium. Lady Deathstrike developed a grudge against Wolverine after the Weapon X project bonded the metal to his skeleton using her father’s stolen notes. This eventually led to her undergoing a procedure that turned her into a cyborg with adamantium claws of her own.

Lady Deathstrike’s ability in MARVEL SNAP reflects her history in the comics in some key ways. Oyama has generally worked as an assassin or mercenary, much like other cards common to the destroy archetype. Many of those she might destroy, such as Wolverine and Deadpool, are also those against whom she’s had animosity in the comics. Finally, like most other cards in the Big in Japan season pass, Lady Deathstrike hails from the Land of the Rising Sun and is closely tied to Wolverine’s stories.

The various looks for Lady Deathstrike in MARVEL SNAP come directly from the comics. Her main card draws from her most common look, which she donned after undergoing cybernetic experimentation, as revealed in UNCANNY X-MEN (1963) #205. Otherwise, Ario Anindito’s Weapon X-Force variant draws from her time on the Weapon X-Force team, which officially formed in TOTALLY AWESOME HULK (2015) #22. Additionally, Juan Doe’s variant for Lady Deathstrike comes directly from the cover for DEATH OF WOLVERINE: THE LOGAN LEGACY (2014) #4.

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MARVEL SNAP is available now on Android, iOS and Early Access Windows PC!