MARVEL SNAP Explained: Who Is White Tiger?

Since the game’s launch, White Tiger has proven herself one of MARVEL SNAP’s most invaluable cards, particularly in decks centered around On Reveal effects. That’s all thanks to her comics-inspired ability, which sees her summon a formidable Tiger Spirit that can give players a power boost at contested locations. With that in mind, here’s what you need to know about playing White Tiger in MARVEL SNAP and how her card draws from the comics.  

Playing White Tiger in MARVEL SNAP

Players unlock White Tiger, a 5-Cost, 1-Power card, relatively early in MARVEL SNAP, with her being earned in the game’s first 14 Collection Levels. While she might not seem particularly strong at first glance, White Tiger has an On Reveal ability that causes her to summon a 7-Power Tiger Spirit card to a different location from the one where she was played. This makes her particularly well-suited to On Reveal decks, and she remains useful even at higher levels of play when properly synergized.

Odin is one of the best cards with which to synergize White Tiger. Also unlocked in the first 14 Collection Levels, Odin is a 6-Cost, 8-Power card with an On Reveal ability that allows him to re-activate the On Reveals of other cards at the location he’s played. This means players can end up with two Tiger Spirits rather than one.

Odin and White Tiger work well with Ironheart, who is a 3-Cost, 0-Power card with an On Reveal effect that boosts the Power of three friendly cards by two. Although players might play Ironheart before White Tiger, they can use Odin to re-activate Ironheart’s On Reveal, potentially buffing the Tiger Spirits in the process.

In Series 3, players unlock Wong, a 4-Cost, 2-Power card with an Ongoing effect that causes On Reveal abilities at the location he’s stationed to happen twice. That means, in an ideal game, players would put Ironheart down on a location on turn three, followed by Wong, White Tiger, and Odin on the same place. Players will then receive six Tiger Spirits, many of which have a chance of being buffed by Ironheart.

Location can also play a key role for making White Tiger as successful as possible. One of the best locations for her is Kamar-Taj, which causes On Reveal effects to happen twice, meaning that she’ll automatically summon two Tiger Spirits. However, when combined with Odin, Wong, and Ironheart, that means pretty much every available location will be filled with powerful, buffed Tiger Spirits.

There are a few other locations that work well for White Tiger outside of Kamar-Taj. Washington D.C., for example, gives cards with no abilities an additional +3 Power. As Tiger Spirits have no innate abilities, any that end up there will get that boost. Additionally, White Tiger’s ability can be used to get cards to locations that might otherwise be unavailable or difficult to access. The Sanctum Sanctorum, Danger Room, and Death’s Domain locations are all examples of places that try and restrict how players put cards on them. Since the Tiger Spirits are added rather than played, they’re able to skirt those restrictions.

Despite White Tiger’s general versatility, there are a few notable counters to watch out for when playing her, both in terms of other cards and locations. At some point in Series 1, players will get Cosmo, a 3-Cost, 3-Power card that prevents On Reveal abilities from happening at the location he was played. This ability completely shuts down White Tiger and nullifies her various synergies. There are also a variety of other cards that can also force an opponent’s cards to move or nullify Wong to stop White Tiger’s synergy from working as well, so watch out for those as well.

In terms of locations, Knowhere and Deep Space don’t allow On Reveal effects to happen, meaning players should pretty much never put White Tiger down on either of them. There are also a lot of locations that may derail the potential flood of Tiger Spirits for which the player is aiming, like Warrior Falls and Strange Academy. It’s possible to mitigate the effects of these locations with cards such as Scarlet Witch or Armor.

How MARVEL SNAP’s White Tiger Draws From the Comics

The specific version of White Tiger in MARVEL SNAP is Ava Ayala. Created by Christos Gage and Tom Raney, Ayala debuted in AVENGERS ACADEMY (2010) #20 and is the little sister of Hector Ayala, the original White Tiger and Marvel’s first Latino Super Hero. Hector gained the strength and abilities of the Tiger God after finding special amulets from K’un-Lun. Like in MARVEL SNAP, these amulets take the form of a tiger head and claws.

Following Hector’s death and the imprisonment of his successor, his niece, Angela del Toro, Ava inherited the tiger amulets, further solidifying the White Tiger mantle’s relationship with their family tree. After spending time at Avengers Academy, Ava joined Luke Cage’s Mighty Avengers. In MIGHTY AVENGERS (2013) #3, Ava struck up a friendship with Victor Álvarez, AKA Power Man, and the two learned how to enhance each other’s chi-based abilities. As a result, Ava was able to summon a tiger spirit to fight on her behalf. This is directly reflected in her MARVEL SNAP ability—and the tigers are even the same color!

Although Ayala is a formidable fighter in the Marvel Universe, her power is lower than that of such other martial arts-based characters as Iron Fist and Shang-Chi, who have 2 and 3 Power, respectively. Part of this is then that MARVEL SNAP puts emphasis on the importance of Ayala’s relationship to the Tiger God, as it’s that being’s abilities that put her at her most powerful. In MIGHTY AVENGERS (2013) #7, for example, she was able to stand toe-to-toe with her allies on that team while possessed by the Tiger God.

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