MARVEL SNAP Explained: Who Is Legion?

The son of Professor Charles Xavier, David Haller, AKA Legion, has caused some big problems for the Marvel Universe’s various heroes over the decades, even if his intentions have often been good. Now, Legion is coming to MARVEL SNAP, and his comics-inspired ability is promising to alter the game in some big ways. Here’s what you need to know about playing Legion in MARVEL SNAP and his history in the comics.

Playing Legion in MARVEL SNAP

A 5-Cost, 8-Power card , Legion has an On Reveal that causes him to change every location on the board to the one he was played at. On the surface, Legion’s solid Cost-to-Power ratio coupled with his useful ability makes him a good fit for a wide variety of decks. However, the best Legion decks require careful consideration of how to take advantage of the locations that might come up in a match.

Legion benefits from other cards lowering his relatively high Cost, meaning he’s often more effective in decks with Electro, Wave, and/or Psylocke. Players can also use Jubilee and Lockjaw to get Legion out earlier than usual or to a location that he might have otherwise had trouble accessing. If played early enough, Legion also works extremely well with Storm and can essentially spread her ability to lock a location down across the board.

While all those cards are potentially excellent pairings with Legion, Hot and Featured Locations should have the biggest influence on decks built around him. For example, Legion can be slotted into a deck based around destroy effects when Rickety Bridge, Death’s Domain, or Altar of Death are occurring more frequently to make the cards standard to that archetype more effective. Pretty much any location can work for Legion, provided the deck in which he’s being played is adjusted to take advantage of what’s more likely to come up. Otherwise, Legion can also cause a lot of problems when The Bar With No Name is occurring more frequently, as if played there at the end of the game, he can pretty easily win a match for his player, since that location is won by those with the lowest Power.

Although Legion’s abilities make him formidable, there are a few potentially strong counters to him. The best card to stop Legion in advance is Cosmo, who can be used to keep his On Reveal ability from being activated at a specific location. After he’s in play, Scarlet Witch, Storm, Rhino, Magik, and the Reality Stone can all change locations to something other than what his player thought would work best for them. Additionally, Snowguard’s Hawk and Bear forms can be useful in getting around Legion.

While most locations can be turned to Legion’s advantage, Knowhere and Deep Space prevent his On Reveal ability from working, greatly reducing his usefulness. Players should also be mindful of what deck their opponent is playing, since choosing the wrong location for Legion might accidentally help them.

Legion in the Comics

Created by Chris Claremont and Bill Sienkiewicz, David Haller, AKA Legion, made a cameo appearance in NEW MUTANTS (1983) #25 before officially appearing in the next issue. In terms of his abilities, Legion is a powerful psychic with the ability to warp reality itself. Despite often having good intentions, Haller has on several occasions become an accidental villain due to mental instability resulting from trauma suffered in his youth.

Legion’s On Reveal in MARVEL SNAP is tied to his warping of reality in the comics. During the LEGION QUEST (1994) crossover, for example, the young man went back in time to kill Magneto, hoping that doing so would make Professor X’s dream of human/mutant cooperation a reality. Instead, Haller accidentally murdered Xavier. This change to the timeline resulted in the AGE OF APOCALYSE (1995) story, which explored a dystopian reality in which the titular villain took control of Earth due to Xavier’s absence.

The various cards for Legion in MARVEL SNAP show him wearing his iconic vest and slicked-up hair. The Skottie Young variant in particular features a special nod to the comics. On the card, a mischievous baby Haller has popped the tire of a wheelchair, presumably that of his father. This is a tongue-in-cheek reference to the often-contentious relationship that Haller and Xavier have had over the years, with the two butting heads as recently as LEGION OF X (2022).

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