So we're going to do something different today - let's look at one of the most prominent and popular decks in SNAP. It's not necessarily the most successful, but it is a deck that pops up pretty frequently due to its accessability. I've also mentioned it a few times plus we've gone over a lot of it's most essential component, so it will be easier to digest.
Without further ado, let's look at a typical
Sera Miracle deck
General GameplanSera Miracle is equivalent to a Blue MtG deck that is loaded with counter spells. It's primarily a reaction based deck that is focused on playing tech cards to shut down an opponent's game plan. The deck is flexible with numerous different subs (based on the flavor of the month, your own preference as well as the availability of what cards you have) so it tends to be a deck that most players can assemble the moment they get out of Pool 2 with a little investment. The major card you will be likely missing then is Sera but the deck is functional without her and you can grab Zabu as an alternative. This deck focuses on last minute turnarounds for the biggest cube gains possible. There are of course fringe cases where you will be playing on curve but those tend to be cases where if you don't stop your opponent right there, you're probably going to lose - Hi Wong.
The deck focuses on having low tempo for most of the game until around maybe Turn 5. The main reasons for this is to keep priority low because you have a lot of tech cards that only work if you go second. Thus, understanding and being able to control priority is key. Sunspot is a great addition here because he covers two of the decks main weakness: 1) it's low power output and b) the tendency to have a lot of float. You're not often running Armor though, so you have to be careful that you don't accidentally Killmonger your own Sunspot. There are ways around this of course - one of the new cards recently released specifically guards 1 and 6 cost cards from destruction. You can easily slot her in to guard your Sunspot in favor of another tech spot. The rest then comes down to Turn 6. By Turn 3 or 4, you need to have a good idea of what the opponent is doing because then you can properly weigh your chances of winning. If you still don't have the tech card in hand drawn, or the opponent isn't playing something you can tech against, you're probably in trouble.
Despite being the namesake of the deck, this deck does function without Sera. It's not as explosive though because despite being available for only 1 turn, that 1 turn lets you dump a huge combination of cards. Sera + Zabu is -2 on Cost for your 4 cost and those 2 costs become 1 Cost. So you can quite literally dump your hand on 6 when the pieces line up. Some variants of this deck also play Magik (this one does) to increase the chances of a Sera draw making for even crazier Turn 7 Turnarounds.
Outside of the deck being low power, it also suffers though from being largely prediction related. Some decks such as Kitty Shuri for example, can both afford to have a couple of tech cards but also can just do their standard solitaire game plan if your opponent isn't interfering and end up with a sizable point count at the end of the game. Not Sera Miracle though. So many of your cards are below par that if you aren't countering something, you're probably just going to lose on straight tempo loss. This deck has a very high learning curve for that reason. You need to be able to predict what the opponent is holding and then be able to play the appropriate counter. You also need to be able to math quickly because that will determine whether or not your paltry output is enough, which sometimes despite countering an opponent's plan, isn't.
Key Cards:The most important cards on this list despite the name of the deck are probably your 4 Costs. Shang and Enchantress can hard counter really greedy play styles and Absorbing Man let's you double up on it. However, the fact that they are all 4s is a FeelsBadMan moment on Turn 6 because you can only play 1. That's why having Zabu OR Sera on field is important. Past that, the rest of the deck is very flexible. Zabu/Sera are obvious additions here to support your 4s going down by 1, but the rest is kind of up to you. This variant I run adds Maximus and Aero for power, but you can also go with something like Ms. Marvel and Gladiator. You can also run stuff like Cosmo, despite being contrary to the deck because Cosmo wants priority instead of not.
General Play Lines:Turn 1: Play Echo/Sunspot in a desired lane. If you don't have the variant that covers your own Sunspot, be very careful because you might blow up your own Sunspot by accident.
Turn 2: Almost always Zabu if you have it. Your 2s are otherwise holds to tech against other cards. SWitch kills bad locations or extremely favourable one for an opponent. Shadow King's power reset is best done at the end of the game. Otherwise, you pass.
Turn 3: Turn 3 is interesting here because like Turn 2, you're probably not playing Killmonger on 3. Some exceptions exist - like blowing up an opponent's Sunspot before you play yours - but you're likely covering a Turn 1/2 play versus actually playing anything on Curve. Magik comes down on this turn if you are running her. You don't have anything to guard Limbo though, so be wary of an opponent cutting off your Limbo.
Turn 4: See above. Turn 3 in that you're most likely covering for a Turn 1-2 play. If you're running Ms. Marvel as an establisher, she'll probably come down here.
Turn 5: This is a critical turn for this deck because unlike decks that don't have Turn 5 as being as important, here, Sera Miracle relies on Turn 5 to set up a Turn 6 play. If you've already played Zabu and want to cover it, the Cosmo variants can place it down to stop an opponent from shutting it down. Otherwise, Sera can be played here as can Aero to redirect an opponent's play and set up a single tech card counter.
Turn 6: Play the tech cards you need to swing the game. Highly suggest you math out what your power totals are and see if it's adequate. If not, you Retreat. If Limbo is on field, then you should play Aero for the redirect or Sera for the end of the game (see Turn 5)
Turn 7: Repeat of Turn 6 more or less. Use Enchantress to stop Ongoing stacks, Shang to kill big bodies, Shadow King to get rid of pump cards, Killmonger for 1 cost hate, etc.
Sample Game to Come!
Recent Posts