What to do with Shang-Chi, Master of the Rings
Everything I'm Excited to Try with the New Shang-Chi Card
Shang-Chi has been one of the most controversial cards since Marvel Snap's inception. His existing card is alternately reviled and relied on as a crutch. Shang's first card has diminished in importance recently – will the new Shang Chi, Master of the Rings prove to be a critical part of your collection?
Does it work like Quicksilver or Agatha?
Unfortunately, the Rings work like Quicksilver rather than Agatha. That means the Rings always start in your hand, but it's not an additional card in the way that Agatha is. The upside is you'll always have reliable access to the Rings. The downside is that it essentially consumes a draw and lowers your odds of seeing any particular other card in your deck. If it worked like Agatha, it would be too powerful and one of the best cards they've ever printed. As is, it has an interesting wrinkle that will occasionally end up being a drawback.
Odds to Any Particular Card from your Deck
| Turn | normally | with Ten Rings |
|---|---|---|
| 1 | 33.3% | 25% |
| 2 | 41.7% | 33.3% |
| 3 | 50% | 41.7 |
| 4 | 58.3% | 50% |
| 5 | 66.7% | 58.3% |
| 6 | 75% | 66.7% |
| 7 | 83.3% | 75% |
Basically, by putting the Ten Rings into your hand, your frequency of seeing any specific card on Turn 1 drops from one third to one quarter of games. The frequency of seeing a card by the end of a game (by Turn 6) drops from three quarters of games to two thirds of games.
It's important to note that this applies to the other piece of the puzzle that you want to draw, Shang-Chi himself. Ideally you'd get the rings down on 2 and him down on 3. You'll have him in hand 41.7% of the time to be able to do that.
This means a couple of things for how we need to play with and build around this card. First, I wouldn't play him in an intricate combo deck that relies on getting one specific card in order to do its thing. Second, build redundancy and back-up plans into your deck.
Key Synergies
Wiccan loves having something always ready to fill in Turn 2. You'll need to either play a ton of 1-Cost cards to make up for their reduced appearance rate, or play Quicksilver. The real question is if it's an upgrade over Domino or not – her 4-Power is healthy and reliable.
Quicksilver ⇨ The Ten Rings ⇨ Shang Chi, MotR ⇨ Wiccan
Magic Rings
The basic Ten Rings is an On Reveal, but the upgrade has End of Turn. This obviously points to Invisible Woman, but also provides utility with Fantasticar and Aurora.
Sunspot ⇨ The Ten Rings ⇨ Shang Chi, MotR ⇨ Invisible Woman
Sunspot ⇨ The Ten Rings ⇨ Shang Chi, MotR ⇨ Marvel Boy + Hydra Bob ⇨ Thena + Jocasta ⇨ Invisible Woman + Prodigy
Ring Around
Extra Benefit from Extra Power
Ideally, we'll get a card out quickly that can benefit from The Ten Rings, even before we upgrade them with Shang-Chi. Sometimes that will mean Quicksilver, Black Cat, Hydra Bob, or Sunspot, but there is a 1-Cost that can further leverage power: Clea. As for higher-Cost cards, Makkari and Adam Warlock are the most interesting cards to buff that are beyond 1-Cost. A buff deck with Scarlet Spider, Sebastian Shaw, or other buff-thirsty cards would love Shang Chi, MotR too.
Clea ⇨ The Ten Rings ⇨ Marvel Boy ⇨ Flames of the Faltine + Shang Chi, MotR ⇨ Werewolf by Night + 2x Flames of the Faltine
A Ring for Clea
As is always important to consider, the Rings do work with the current dominant card.
Wasp + Kitty ⇨ Chavez + Kitty ⇨ The Ten Rings + Kitty ⇨ Kitty + Shang Chi, MotR ⇨ Kitty + Scarlet Spider (or Kitty + Nico + Maverick) ⇨ Shou-Lao + Kitty
Power Rings
Makkari (from hand) ⇨ The Ten Rings
The Rosie
Herbie, FS Human Torch, Viv Vision, Maverick, Sebastian Shaw, Scarlet Spider, Captain Marvel, Danger, FS Thing, and plenty of other cards can get extra benefit from a buff.
Ant-Man ⇨ The Ten Rings ⇨ Shang Chi, MotR ⇨ Omega Red = 29 Power Lane
With the ideal play line, you'll have 29 Power in one lane at the end of Turn 6 and turns 5 and 6 to try to build enough power elsewhere.
Tender Rings
Should You Buy It?
I’m excited to play around with this card. I’m curious to see how bad his downside feels and if it ever feels enough like an upside that the card is worth building around. My instinct is that the payoff is too small for the effort, but he has some really interesting and varied cross-synergies. The environment he’s entering into isn’t going to be permanent. If Shang-Chi can’t force his way into Shou-Lao decks, he’s not going to feel great at first, but Shou-Lao will eventually get nerfed giving Shang-Chi a different metagame to try to find his way into.
