For Marvel Snap’s Spider-Ham, Great Power Comes With Great Utility

With Spider-Ham having swung into Marvel Snap this week, we’re breaking down what the new card does, which decks it fits into, and whether it’s worth 3000 of your precious Collector’s Tokens. Even though Spider-Ham’s ability is strong by itself, it has an unwritten side effect that makes it better than it has any right to be.

Spider-Ham, aka Peter Porker, is an anthropomorphic pig cartoon character who most fans likely met for the first time in 2018’s Spider-Man: Into the Spider-Verse, voiced by John Mulaney, and now he’s making his Marvel Snap debut as part of the Spider-Versus season. He joins the previously released season pass card Ghost-Spider and Series 5 addition Silk.

Spider-Ham’s release is notable for being for the first time a new card has debuted in Series 4 for 3000 Tokens as opposed to starting in Series 5 for 6000. Next week’s Spider-Man 2099 will follow suit and also start off at this cheaper rate. But is Spider-Ham worth buying, even at that discounted price? Let’s dig in.

What Does Spider-Ham Do in Marvel Snap?

Spider-Ham card text: “On Reveal: Transform the highest-cost card in your opponent’s hand into a Pig, keeping its Power and Cost.”

Befitting his silly, prankster personality, the 1 Power/1 Energy Spider-Ham whips out a cartoon hammer and bonks the highest-cost card in the opponents’ hand, transforming it into a Pig with the same stats but no ability.

Spider-Ham’s effect has the potential to be incredibly impactful for a variety of reasons. High-energy cards are usually the big closers thrown down on the final turn in an attempt to win the game with a powerful effect, but Spider-Ham takes the steam out of the opponent’s grand finale. There are numerous popular high-cost cards with game-changing effects that Spider-Ham would love to smack, such as the 5-cost Sera, Black Bolt, Iron Man, and Devil Dinosaur or the 6-cost She-Hulk, Doctor Doom, Apocalypse, Odin, Onslaught, and Heimdall. Hitting any one of these cards is enough to potentially foil your opponent’s plans and cause them to lose the game.

Then again, some high-cost cards aren’t so bothered by Spider-Ham. Magneto and Evolved Hulk have powerful effects, but even without them, 12 power for 6 energy is still a strong play. There are a few cards that actually benefit from Spider-Ham’s effect because it removes their steep downsides, namely Red Skull, Destroyer, and Infinaut. If Spider-Ham were to become a common card in the meta, those cards could be played as a counter. Decks that play off-curve (Bounce, Surfer, etc.) won’t be too hurt by Spider-Ham’s effect because they rely on many smaller cards that combo together rather than a single big finisher.

Some may look to Spider-Ham to counter Galactus, but he may not be the savior you’re looking for. Galactus decks run Death, and at 8 energy she would always be the target of Spider-Ham’s effect, acting as a shield for the Devourer of Worlds. Galactus is further insulated from Spider-Ham’s effect by the fact that Galactus decks often run other 6-cost cards, so even if they don’t have Death in-hand, that cartoon mallet could land on Knull or Destroyer instead.

We’ve seen how oppressive stripping cards of their abilities can be thanks to Leech, but he was at least somewhat balanced with his meager 3 power for 5 energy. Spider-Ham is the same effect, only targeting one card, but in a much more efficient 1/1 package, making him splashable in far more decks. He fills a similar role as Iceman in being a low-cost disruptor and could feasibly take his place in many decks.

Spider-Ham’s Extra Special Feature

While everything we’ve said thus far about Spider-Ham makes him out to be a strong card, we haven’t even discussed the best part yet. When you turn a card into a Pig, you get to see which card got hit. This seemingly small feature actually offers a huge utility bonus.

Marvel Snap is a game about reading your opponent and predicting their strategy, so any extra information you gather during the game is incredibly valuable. Seeing the Pig’d card not only shows you what big finisher you no longer have to worry about but it also effectively tells you what deck your opponent is playing and spoils any surprises they had in store for you. “Scouting” cards like Daredevil and White Queen have been staples in the meta from the beginning largely because they help you make a more informed decision about how to beat the opponent, or when to retreat to conserve cubes, and now Spider-Ham joins their ranks. Notably, Iceman doesn’t show you the card he freezes, which is why Spider-Ham could be seen as the superior disruptive choice.

This factor alone may be what makes Spider-Ham a popular card among competive players. He’s an effective way to both disrupt the opponent and gain key information, and his low cost makes him easy to fit into many decks.

What Are the Best Decks for Spider-Ham?

Now that we’ve covered the theory of Spider-Ham, it’s time to put him to the test. The card is incredibly versatile and can fit into many decks, but here are a few of our favorites that can take advantage of his piggie power.

Sera Control With Spider-Ham

First up, Sera Control. Sera is all about countering whatever the opponent throws at you with the likes of Shang-Chi, Killmonger, and Enchantress, but Spider-Ham “counters” a card before it even hits the board, so he could be a fine addition to the deck. It will be tempting to want to hold Spider-Ham until turn 5 in order to surprise the opponent at the last possible moment, but remember turn 5 is when you play Sera, so be sure to fit Spider-Ham in some time beforehand. Sera lists are flexible by nature so try dropping Nova for Spider-Ham.

• Kitty Pryde
• Spider-Ham
• Angela
• Hit-Monkey
• Scarlet Witch
• Sentinel
• Mysterio
• Bishop
• Killmonger
• Shang-Chi
• Enchantress
• Sera

Bounce With Spider-Ham

Bounce has been a strong meta contender as of late, and adding Spider-Ham will only see Bounce stonks continue to rise. The deck already ran Iceman, so try swapping him out for Spider-Ham. You could also try taking out Falcon or America Chavez instead and run double disruption with both Iceman and Spider-Ham to really give your opponent a headache. Note that if you Bounce Spider-Ham and use his effect again, there’s a chance you could hit the same card a second time, so don’t prioritize bouncing him if there are better options.

• The Hood
• Kitty Pryde
• Bast
• Spider-Ham
• Angela
• Hit-Monkey
• The Collector
• Falcon
• Mysterio
• Bishop
• Beast
• America Chavez

Bounce Disruption With Spider-Ham

While Disruption decks aren’t necessarily at the top of the meta, they sure are fun (and frustrating), and Spider-Ham fits in perfectly. The idea behind this Bounce Disruption list is to disrupt your opponent’s hand so much that they pretty much can’t play the game anymore. We go about this using the likes of Korg, Black Widow, Iceman, and now Spider-Ham to make their life a living Hell, and then rinse and repeat with Beast/Falcon until all they have left is Rocks, Pigs, and tears.

• The Hood
• Bast
• Spider-Ham
• Iceman
• Korg
• Angela
• Hit-Monkey
• Black
• Falcon
• Mysterio
• Beast
• Darkhawk

Evolved Lockjaw With Spider-Ham

Could Spider-Ham make what is arguably the best deck in Marvel Snap even better? The Lockjaw/High Evolutionary deck certainly doesn’t need another tool in its arsenal, but Spider-Ham fits in surprisingly well considering you can drop him on the Lockjaw lane to use his effect and swap him out for (hopefully) a big gun like Evolved Hulk or Doctor Doom. It’s one of the highest performing Spider-Ham decks right out of the gate, according to Untapped.

• Wasp
• Spider-Ham
• Lockjaw
• Thor
• Jubilee
• High Evolutionary
• Jane Foster The Mighty Thor
• Doctor Doom
• Odin
• America Chavez
• Hulk
• Magneto

Is Spider-Ham Worth Buying for 3000 Tokens?

In our brief testing since the card was released less than 24 hours ago, Spider-Ham already feels like a great card that can be easily splashed into a variety of decks. Watching one of the opponent’s most powerful cards turn into a useless Pig is mischievously satisfying, and on top of that it gives you an idea of what deck you’re facing and how to approach the rest of the game. For example, hitting Death on Turn 1 signaled we were likely up against either a Destroy or Galactus(!) deck and put us on high alert. In another game, the opponent played Nova, Sentinel, and Bishop, telegraphing Sera, so we played Spider-Ham on Turn 4 and transformed their Sera into a Pig and the opponent promptly retreated. In scenarios like that where you’re predicting Spider-Ham will hit a specific card, it may be correct to Snap before playing him so you can profit off the opponent’s inevitable ragequit. It’s a gamble that could pay off with some extra cubes.

That said, Spider-Ham doesn’t always provide maximum value, like when the card he hits is too commonly used to let you guess the opponent’s deck, or you hit a middling card that wasn’t going to win the opponent the game anyway. And in those cases, you just played an underwhelming one-power card and suddenly feel like you’re playing from behind.

Still, no matter when you play Spider-Ham, it tends to give you at least some kind of benefit. Playing it early and hitting a good card that gives away what deck they’re playing feels like you’re starting off the game with a pair of unfair advantages, while playing it later lets you disarm your opponent going into the final turn. We can already tell that Spider-Ham will be the source of great deviant joy or extreme aggravation, depending on which side of that cartoon hammer you’re on.

So is Spider-Ham worth 3000 Tokens? Generally speaking, yes. It goes without saying that everyone’s collection is different, so there may be other cards that are a higher priority for you to get at the moment (Thanos, High Evolutionary), but if you have the Tokens to spend, you enjoy playing the types of decks that Spider-Ham fits into, and you’re in the market for a highly disruptive one-cost card, then consider purchasing Spider-Ham. There are currently 11 other Series 4 cards, and of those Darkhawk and Zabu are stronger cards that will likely add more value to your collection, but if you already have them, then Spider-Ham might be the card for you.

Joshua is IGN’s resident card game fantatic. He’s played Yu-Gi-Oh! and the Pokemon TCG competitively and regularly reaches Infinite rank in Marvel Snap.