I've got three decks that anyone can play right now in this meta. And no, you don't have to have Tarantula. He's only in these builds because he's new. Let's just talk about the decks.
Aurora Is the Modern Doom 2099
Generic Aurora is where I want to start, because an Aurora style build is basically the modern version of Doom 2099. Spread all the power wide, play one card at a time in certain locations, let things happen, then kaboom, make the chaos happen afterwards. A lot of players already know the Aurora deck, so instead of reintroducing it, I want to hit the specific things that make it really good in the meta we live in.
Item number one: it's a wide deck. Shadow King is obviously one of the most popular and strongest cards in the game, and he absolutely demolishes a lane. If your whole game plan is fragile enough that it lives on two lanes of a ridiculous amount of green power, that matchup can just go wrong, to put it lightly. What I like about Aurora right now is that it presents optionality elsewhere.
Why Tarantula and Kraglin Change the Build
A couple of things in my build might look a little different. First, I'm playing Tarantula. He's an end of turn card, so he's another target for Aurora that you can spread into different locations. With Venus he sprinkles power onto more than just himself, and the bigger benefit is the extra power he places into your hand.
That extra power is why I went with a more power focused investment version by playing Kraglin, and Kraglin is just really, really good. A big downfall of an Aurora deck is that it's very one card per turn, and Kraglin gives that optionality back. There is still so much power as long as you have the Venus line down. It becomes an and or situation. Venus plus Aurora together is fantastic, that's all you need, and big scaling happens. If you only have one of them, it's not the end of the world, and Kraglin is how you optimize those games.
Some pieces are flexible. Tarantula can come out, don't worry, and Iron Patriot is a card you can put into that slot. Marvel Boy is conditional based on what you prefer to do. His downside is that he's a three cost card who wants Venus down to get lots of double procs, but you always want to play Marvel Boy first and Venus second, and that can get a little clunky sometimes in the mid game. That clunk is another reason I really liked Kraglin here. Mercury is just a flavor piece that could be any tech card. It could be Cosmo, and I'd even call Drax's Avatar of Life probably a good tech option in that spot.
Aurora, The Thing: First Steps, and Isca are most likely non-negotiables, at least to me, and I'd probably say Spider-Ham for the main shell. The optimal shell has Venus, because Venus is how you get to the ceiling of power you're aiming for at the very end of the game. Around that core sits a little tech, a little control, and a little unpredictability. Play around with it and have fun with it, because the big takeaway is that it's a diverse deck. Don't feel like there's only one recipe. Whether you just got Aurora and you're piecing a version together or you've been playing it for a while, try the Tarantula variation. He's the new shiny toy, and I think the ceiling goes even higher with him in.
The Missions Shell I'm Not Happy About
I try to always put at least one missions deck in here. Tarantula is just a flavor piece in this one, but if you're doing missions, you're trying to get the Tarantula piece, so he's kind of mandatory if you want the missions done. You can still play the deck without him.
We know this deck. It's the Supergiant, Ozymandias, and Wilson Fisk shenanigans, and it is a boring deck. Where does it actually see an upgrade because of Tarantula? Kraglin and Wilson Fisk are both nine power options. It's just a solid archetype. You are a little bit more fragile with your Shadow King if you're playing the Tarantula line, though, so if you want variations leaning more into Cosmo, sure, go for it. Maybe even Mercury.
This is a missions deck about Spider-Man Brand New Day and Tarantula, and in my opinion it's the best shell for those two cards to be in the same deck. If you can build it, get your missions done, go play a different Spider-Man deck, then go back to your diversity and have fun. Will it actually help you climb too? Honestly, yes. It's just boring.
Let me be really clear: I'm not happy about it either. I'm so over the Supergiant stuff, and I tried looking for other variations, but this really is the best one. And that's not good. I don't know how we make this deck disappear or seem irrelevant without removing an ungodly amount of power off of it, but it's something to be aware of.
The Ongoing Deck Everyone Keeps Forgetting
You're going to look at the last one and call it boring. It's not. People forget how good this is, especially the newer players. Newer players on ongoing decks right now are doing really, really well and climbing really well, because the archetype has a lot of flexibility. It has a lot of tall power. It has a lot of power you cannot Shadow King, and the deck does not care about card order against Supergiant. There's not one conditional win piece in the deck, and there are so many different combinations of win lines. People forget about it all the time, which is exactly why I'm bringing it back to the forefront of your mind. This deck is a real thing with a lot of power built behind it.
You don't have to compete into every single lane with an ongoing deck. You build very narrow. Armor is great right now. Why? People are playing Tombstone and a lot of destroy decks right now. Armor is the tech piece I want here. Mystique can be anything and everything, especially if she can become a Mercury right now. That's an instant snap condition against a move deck, because it immediately becomes a feels bad situation. Your opponent doesn't know what else you have or how you could scale onto it. You don't even have to move the Mercuries. You're fine, and chaos is still going to ensue.
Captain Carter is optional and only here for a little bit of power. Does it need to be here? Not by any stretch of the imagination. Newer players without Captain Carter can run Mojo there. Captain America, everybody has. Cosmo, everybody should have and should play into this deck. Mercury is a flavor piece again because of the move meta. Iron Man and Spectrum are in there too, and while there are variations that aren't rocking Spectrum, it's just a really solid card right now. I could easily see, and I hate to say it, Captain Carter disappearing for Venus and running Spectrum plus Venus to make everybody cry. Maybe go with Mr. Fantastic if you want the simpler route. Sure, do that too.
Why now? In a meta so dependent on tech cards that are straight up removing everything, I'm seeing a little less Cosmic Ghost Rider and a lot more Shadow King, and that's a good opportunity to take advantage of. Rogue doesn't worry me. Enchantress doesn't worry me. My worry is which lane becomes my stack lane on turn three, and once that's decided, yeah, I'm feeling pretty good about myself. It really does feel good. This is a great deck, simple in execution but with so many different options to win, plus forgotten options like how good Armor is in weeks where a card comes out that is a destroy card. That's all you need.
One Bonus From the Snapcast
Those are the three I have for you. There's also a bonus deck I haven't tried myself, one we talked about just the other day on the Marvel Snapcast. Catch that bonus and the rest of my thoughts on all three decks in the original episode.
