Best Thena Decks in Marvel Snap

Releasing alongside Gilgamesh in Spotlight Caches to kick off the Celestials’ Finest season in Marvel Snap is Thena. Yup, if that sounds suspiciously like the Greek goddess Athena, you’re not far off the mark. Here are the best Thena decks in Marvel Snap.

How Thena Works in Marvel Snap

Thena is a 2-power, 1-energy card with an ability that reads: “After each turn, +3 Power if you played (exactly) 2 cards.”

This means if you play three cards, you will not receive her buff. If you play only one card, she will also not get a buff. However, you can play Thena first alongside another card to gain the +3 power.

It is not an On Reveal or Ongoing effect, so it cannot be countered by Cosmo, Enchantress, or Rogue.

Thena is most comparable to something like Angela, as she must be on the board and have cards played to increase her power. However, the two cards played to buff her do not need to be in the same lane as her, like Angela.

If you activate Thena twice, a 2-cost, 7-power card isn’t bad.

Best Thena Decks in Marvel Snap

Thena is obviously best played with many small cards to trigger her effect multiple times. As a result, she pairs extremely well with cards such as Kitty Pryde, which you can play repeatedly throughout a match alongside a second card. In fact, I would be surprised to see a Thena deck without Kitty Pryde in it.

First, I believe she’ll fit well enough into the Silky Smooth style of deck, which combines several movement cards with the likes of Hope Summers and Elsa Bloodstone, such as this:

• Kitty Pryde
• Angela
• Thena
• Kraven
• Jeff!
• Silk
• Elsa Bloodstone
• Hope Summers
• Nocturne
• Spider-Man
• Vision
• Red Hulk

Click here to copy the code from Snap Fan.

If you do not have Nocturne, you can replace her with Polaris. However, other expensive cards such as Jeff!, Elsa Bloodstone, and Hope Summers are integral to making this list work.

Playing Angela or Thena on turn 2 will guarantee some sort of scale that you can then add to with the likes of Elsa Bloodstone. This deck also has several 3-cost cards, making it so you can play two cards on turn 5 more often than not if Vision isn’t the best play. However, Hope Summer ties Thena together by adding a way to gain the energy required to play Kitty Pryde alongside Vision and Red Hulk on the final turns. If triggered three times after being played on turn 2, Thena becomes a beastly 10-power card.

It’s quite difficult to theorycraft a deck that makes the most of Thena, as she’s a terrible draw late in the game. That said, the one deck that loves terrible draws is Loki, so along with several low-cost cards, Loki makes for a decent place for her. Let’s take a look at another one of the best Thena decks in Marvel Snap:

• Kitty Pryde
• Quinjet
• Snowguard
• Angela
• Thena
• Cable
• Jeff!
• Elsa Bloodstone
• Agent Coulson
• Hope Summers
• Shang-Chi
• Loki

Click here to copy the code from Snap Fan.

You can swap out Nocturne if you don’t have her for another tech card like Cosmo. However, Hope Summers and Elsa Bloodstone are once again integral to making use of Thena.

In this deck, you’ll want to get Quinjet and Thena down early before playing Loki on turn 4, allowing you to possibly play massive cards two at a time to increase her power further. If Thena is drawn on turn 4 or later – by far the worst outcome for her – you can whisk her away with Loki for something hopefully better. Otherwise, try to stack a lane to get the most out of Kitty Pryde, Angela, Elsa Bloodstone, and Hope Summers.

Related: Best Sasquatch Decks in Marvel Snap

Best Thena Counters in Marvel Snap

You likely won’t have to hard counter Thena; that said, an early Sandman (and if reactivated by Odin) limits both her and the entire deck she’s likely in. Otherwise, if you keep running into very large Thenas, chop her down to size with Shadow King or Shang-Chi. Easy!

Who Is Thena?

If you had the misfortune of watching the Eternals MCU film, you likely remember that Angelina Jolie played Thena in the movie. In the comics, she’s an Eternal, which basically means she’s a superpowered human with superpowered everything: flight, invulnerability, stamina, and so on. She also has a wealth of powers, such as teleportation and energy manipulation. Thena got her name after her father, another Eternal, formed an alliance with the Greek pantheon that saw the Eternals acting as representatives on Earth, meaning Thena adopted the image and name of Athena. Her storyline often revolves around her love interests, most notably Kro, a member of the Deviant race that opposes Eternals.

Is Thena Worth Your Spotlight Cache Keys or Collector’s Tokens?

As she stands now, Thena is quite a difficult card to recommend. If she’s drawn and played early, she presents a problem for every turn after, as you might skip better plays to raise her power; on the other hand, if she’s drawn late, it is much more difficult to play her alongside another card. That said, if you can get her to about 7 power without hampering your deck’s gameplan, she isn’t a bad inclusion, though something like Lizard or Jeff! comes with far fewer downsides. I would personally wait on Thena, hoping that she’ll get a small buff to bring her up a few points in base power.

And those are the best Thena decks in Marvel Snap.

Marvel Snap is available now.