Sub-Mariner is garbage.
A few cheeky possibilities still exist, and I do not think every experiment around the card is pointless. The problem is that the worthwhile-looking lines ask for too much work, while the payoffs keep losing ground to other things I could be doing.
Clea Was My Starting Point
I began with a Clea list built around small, repeated +1 increases across the board. I described it as a build-your-own zoo deck. Venus was meant to get more out of those repeated boosts, and Gilgamesh was there to benefit from the accumulated power.
Professor X was one of the parts I genuinely liked. Professor X gave me a couple of different unique play lines.
The more cheeky I made the deck, though, the less likely I was to play Sub-Mariner. That is why I still think this straightforward shell is probably the card’s best home. Even so, a fully loaded Gilgamesh was not doing everything I needed against the combo chaos I was seeing. The list needs more tech, and I am likely to swap Nightcrawler out while I keep working on it.
The deck sat around 50%, and I still planned to keep working with it after testing this card.
I also tried Lockheed because the deck had so many one-cost cards. The larger issue remained the same: I needed another big oomph play.
Hulkbuster Was Not the Right Choice
Sub-Mariner into Hulkbuster felt good when it happened. I am not going to pretend that line had no appeal. Yet I was coping a little with Hulkbuster, and I knew it was not the right choice.
Kate Bishop is probably the better inclusion. I also wondered whether Scarlet Spider might provide the missing oomph. Those are useful adjustments, but they also expose why I am down on Sub-Mariner. I kept reaching the point where another play looked better.
In the lists I tested, those satisfying turns still did not add up to a reason to make Sub-Mariner the center of the deck.
Thanos Is Still Only a Maybe
Thanos seemed to offer a little more flexibility, and I tested a version with Agony, Marvel Boy, and Venus. I said it felt like Thanos might be a home for Sub-Mariner.
There may be another Thanos configuration worth trying, but I did not find a finished answer there. It remained a possibility, not proof that Sub-Mariner had finally found the shell that makes the effort worthwhile.
The Doubling Plan Failed Before It Started
The build I was most excited to play did not work. The doubling line did not produce the bonus card in hand. The timing shuts down the payoff I wanted from that line.
In the interaction we watched, Symbiote Spider-Man did not count as extra power. It merged first, then copied the text.
That is why I call the card garbage. I built around doublings and larger boosts because that was where the exciting combinations seemed to be. The card did not give me those combinations in the way I expected.
Fun Clips Are Not a Good Verdict
Sure, I can go all in on a combo and get a great moment. I can chase the clip. I can make Sub-Mariner do something that earns a "woo" when it happens.
But I work way too hard for it. My comparison was simple: I could play Captain Carter combo, or I could play another deck. That is why I call Sub-Mariner garbage. The card is cheeky and fun, and I will keep having fun with it, but that is the reason to pick it up. I am chasing the cool combo, not recommending it as the stronger choice.
Watch my discussion in the original episode.
