MARVEL SNAP Explained: Who Is X-23?

Laura Kinney fans rejoice: X-23 has officially joined MARVEL SNAP as part of the Big in Japan season pass, and she promises to be a gamechanger for the title’s metagame. Thanks to a comics-inspired ability, X-23 fits well in both destroy and discard archetypes, giving both new life in the process. With that in mind, here’s what you need to know about playing X-23 in MARVEL SNAP and her history in the comics.

Playing X-23 in MARVEL SNAP

A 1-Cost, 2-Power card, X-23 has an ability that causes her to regenerate at a random location whenever she’s discarded or destroyed. When that ability is triggered, players get an extra Energy on their next turn. This makes the card a great way to get extra Energy, and the best X-23 decks will take advantage of that ability.

Normally featuring such cards as Wolverine, Carnage, Killmonger, and Venom, destroy decks aim to take out cards on the field of play, with the end goal generally being to put down Death, Knull, and/or Arnim Zola. One of the more difficult aspects of destroy decks is that making the best possible plays often requires having the right amount of Energy at the right time. Luckily, X-23’s ability plays right into the destroy archetype, allowing her player to get more Energy on multiple occasions throughout a game.

Discard decks, in contrast, generally focus on a player getting rid of cards from their hand to empower Morbius or Dracula, who both have formidable Ongoing abilities that make them extremely powerful. While playing X-23 in destroy decks is a bit easier, especially since she her effect can be activated multiple times, being mindful of just when a player is discarding her can yield good results. Such cards as Colleen Wing and Moon Knight can be used to discard X-23 to get that extra Energy at a key moment. Due to her low Power, X-23 also has good synergy with Silver Samurai, who causes both players to get rid of their lowest-Power card and is another new addition during Big in Japan.

One big consideration when using X-23 is locations. Overall, there are a lot of places where she works well. For example, if played on Altar of Death, players would get a bonus 3 Energy on their next turn, which is extremely good. Outside of the Altar of Death, Rickety Bridge, Warrior Falls, Death’s Domain, and Vormir all allow players to activate X-23’s effect in an advantageous way.

Despite X-23 being such a formidable card, there are a few solid counters for her. Armor is the most obvious, since she prevents cards from being destroyed at her location and only has 2-Cost, making it easy to put her down right after X-23. Cosmo, who is one of the most common counter cards in the game, can also be used to prevent On Reveal effects from activating and destroying or discarding X-23.

Although X-23 works well at a lot of different locations, Wakanda prevents cards from being destroyed at it, making games where that pops up much trickier for her. She also can’t be played directly at Crimson Cosmos or the Hellfire Club due to her low Cost. It’s also possible for her to get stuck at a place that stops On Reveals, such as Deep Space or Knowhere, if she regenerates there. This is less of a problem for discard decks, but not being able to get rid of X-23 while she’s on the board may cause issues for destroy decks.

X-23 in the Comics

Created by Craig Kyle and Christopher Yost, Laura Kinney, AKA X-23, made her comics debut in NYX (2003) #3 after first appearing in the X-MEN: EVOLUTION (2000) TV series. Revealed as Wolverine’s clone, and adopted as the daughter of a scientist named Sarah Kinney, X-23 has many of the same powers as Wolverine, including his healing factor. She also has bone claws that are covered in the ultra-strong metal adamantium.

The relationship between Wolverine and X-23 is reflected in the way their abilities in MARVEL SNAP work. Both characters regenerate when destroyed or discarded. In the case of Wolverine, he comes back with more Power, while X-23 generates Energy. This reflects that, while there’s much genetic overlap between them, they’re not the same person and have different skillsets, experiences, and goals. Additionally, like every other card in the Big in Japan season pass, X-23’s history is closely associated with that of Wolverine.

X-23’s various costumes in MARVEL SNAP reflect her history in the comics. Of note are the Rian Gonzales and Emanuela Lupacchino variants, which show Kinney wearing her Wolverine-style costume. In the comics, both Kinney and Logan are currently using the codename Wolverine. The Venomized variant also references a version of Kinney that bonded with a symbiote during VENOMVERSE (2017).

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