Rogue, Scion of Division: Decks & Tips for the New Card
Living up to her name, opinion on the new Rogue card has been divisive. Is she just a meta-dependent tech card? Or a way to shut down the best strategies in the game. What this article presupposes is… maybe she's both? Here's everything I want to try with Rogue, Scion of Division
Steal vs. Removal
We already have a card in the game that can remove the abilities of 6-Cost cards. Anyone who has been playing Snap for a while has vivid memories of Leech. Leech costs 1 less, so why would Rogue see play if Leech isn't?
First of all, Leech is severely limited by reading “6-Cost cards,” rather than “6-Cost or more,” as I believe he should. Given his history, the devs are understandably wary of buffing the sneaky little Morlock.
Second, and more important for the implications for our new card’s viability, Rogue SoD will frequently hit 5-Cost cards and will occasionally hit cards even lower down the curve. For example, Leech is a completely dead card against something like Silver Surfer or Bounce. Rogue can be disruptive against those decks by stealing the ability of something like Absorbing Man, Stick, or Sera.
How much does stealing matter as opposed to simply removing the abilities of 6-Cost cards. Leech has traditionally been used to limit finishers like Hela. Fin Fan Foom makes a great steal for Rogue, but how often are you going to get value out of the ability you steal. That depends on the meta, of course.
How About Now?
Rogue is a meta-dependent tech card. Cards like that usually end up being worth having in your collection, but not worth going out of your way to get right away of putting precious resources into. You stash them away for the rainy day when you need them. But is that day already here for Rogue?
Among the cards here are the cards that are currently dominating the ranked ladder. Rogue is awfully good against several of them. She won't steal Thanos’ shots, but she can prevent some damaging Turn 6 Thanos plays. Stealing Scorpion’s ability is only valuable to shut down the opposing deck and you won't get a ton of value out of the ability yourself in most decks. Scorpion also get cheated out from the deck rather than played from hand quite often, which Rogue won't help with. A few of the others targets will be killer steals. The big downside to Rogue, though, is she's going to net you one or two cubes most of the time. Any good opponent will retreat when their win condition is stolen. Rogue is no OG Alioth. Her cube equity is quite small, even in a meta she's good into.
The Cost Issue
My main concern with Rogue is her timing. She costs 5 so, unless you're ramping her out, you're not playing her early enough to counter most strategies that rely on 5-Cost cards. Sure, it sounds great to steal the ability of a Sera, but most of the time your opponent will be playing her out on Turn 5. The same is true of Thanos Fractured Frontier, Blink, Jane Foster, and any number of other 5-Cost cards. Does this mean Rogue's best home will be in Ramp decks?
What Decks Need Her?
Like most meta-dependent tech cards, you don't necessarily build a deck around them. You slot them into decks that have trouble beating certain strategies. What decks could use her help? The other place tech cards generally pop up is alongside the already dominant strategies they are meant to curtail. Here are the homes I envision for Rogue.
Scosco's Day One Rogue, Scion of Division Decks
Thanos SIM
If you were counting on this card to hurt Thanos FF, guess again. In any highly inbred meta (think of early Loki, Arishem, or Man-Spider metas), a card like this becomes powerful in exactly the types of decks it's meant to combat. Rogue could help this deck cope with some of its competition like Scorpion, Galacti, or opposing Anti-Polar Magnetos.
Doom Division
Rogue may give us enough match coverage that we can play Legion and her as our luxury tech pieces over Cosmic Ghost-Rider and Sandman. Does she do enough on average against Scorpion to cut Luke Cage? This is one of the few deck for whom Rogue definitely solves some problems.
Ramp Classic
Classic Ramp has had a tough time keeping up with all of the high-powered cards in the game. Can Rogue help level the playing field?
Control R
Rogue on 5 into Jugg on 6 is going to be able to beat quite a few decks. It's a classic strategy in Snap to weaken your opponent's output and then disrupt their placement, and Rogue could be a part of a next-generation strategy in this vein.
Once enough data accumulates, check out the best performing Rogue, SoD decks over on SnapComplete:
Is She Worth It?
Rogue is highly meta-dependent, but we just happen to be in a meta that is pretty friendly to her right now. Still, her actual cube equity is quite low and her ability will only be better than Leech's removal of the opponent’s text once in a while. I think nearly every player can happily live without this card. If you're especially excited for her, go ahead and get her. Maybe you just really hate Zombie Galacti. But don't expect her to be a silver bullet for your climb.
