Marvel BroochThe September 17 release introduced Arana (pronounced: ah-RAH-nyah), a Series Five Activation card that can buff and move the next card you play. With a Cost and Power of one, Arana joins the game as the latest movement-friendly character following the release of Madame Web.
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Prior to its release, Arana was expected to be a Forge-inspired card with additional benefits, particularly its movement ability. However, post-launch testing conducted by Marvel Brooch Players revealed that Arana’s text is somewhat complicated and does not provide the synergies that many players expected. This complexity has made it a bit difficult to build the perfect deck around it.
Spider (1-1)
Activate: Give +2 Power to the next card you play and move it to the right.
Series: Five (ultra rare)
Release date: September 17, 2024
Season: The Amazing Spider Season
The best deck for Arana
A safe deck for Arana is a Madame Web-Beast lineup with The Living Tribunal as a win condition. You can replicate this build by combining said quartet (Arana, Beast, Madame Web and The Living Tribunal) with the following cards: Forge, Vulture, Dagger, Hercules, Ghost-Spider, Human Torch, Doctor Strange and Iron Fist.
|
Card |
Cost |
Force |
|---|---|---|
|
Spider |
1 |
1 |
|
lady web |
2 |
1 |
|
Beast |
3 |
5 |
|
Human Torch |
1 |
3 |
|
Vulture |
3 |
3 |
|
doctor strange |
2 |
3 |
|
Dagger |
2 |
0 |
|
iron fist |
1 |
2 |
|
ghost spider |
1 |
2 |
|
Hercules |
3 |
4 |
|
The living court |
6 |
5 |
|
Forge |
2 |
2 |
Fixed a bug that prevented Ghost-Spider from moving targets after Arana’s effect. The issue was fixed with an OTA patch released on September 20.
Synergies in Arana’s deck
-
Arana and Forge are buff providers, ideally targeting one of the move cards: Human Torch, Vulture, or Dagger.
-
Madame Web, Doctor Strange, Iron Fist, Herculesand Ghost-Spider are motion activators.
-
Beast is a wild card that allows you to recall and replay cards at a lower cost.
-
The Living Tribunal is a win condition, which distributes the stats of an overpowered lane to all other locations.
How the Arana effect works
Arana’s Activate ability is similar to Aunt May’s. When activated, Arana targets the next card you play, giving it +2 Power and moving it to the right. However, its effect activates only after you play a card, meaning it will wait for the target card to perform its ability (if it has one) before applying its buff and movement.
To illustrate Arana’s effect, imagine you want to play Brood after her to spawn two four-powered Broodlings. Unfortunately, this won’t happen because Brood will first spawn his Broodlings (two cards from two Powers) and then be affected by Arana, which will only buff the base card and not the spawns.
The developers have noted that Arana’s text can be misleading, as it does not specify that her buff and movement will activate after the target’s ability. Consequently, the text on the card may change in future OTAs.
How to play Arana effectively
Exploit Arana by using her as a buff provider for cards that gain power through movement. For example, Human Torch is an ideal target; After being hit by Arana, it will start out as an eight Power card (Power +2 will increase its Power to four, and subsequent movement will double it to eight), making it the perfect candidate for a move lineup.
Here are some key points to keep in mind when playing Arana:
- leave her early. Having Arana on the board is more beneficial than harmful. Play with her in the early rounds to set up possible combos. so prominent Marvel Brooch Player Alex Coccia noted: “[Arana] It is a very confident play in the first turn and at the beginning of the game in general.” Take advantage of this.
- Keep the center and right lanes clear. Since Arana can only move cards to the right, make sure the other two lanes are empty to allow his effect to activate smoothly.
- Avoid On Reveal’s Skill-Based Synergy. Remember that the target will reveal its ability before Arana activates. So combos like Arana + Brood will not produce the desired results.
How to counter Arana
Currently, there are no direct Cosmo-type counters for Activation cards. However, you can counter Arana by using Shadow King, Red Guardian, Kraven, and Kingpin. Here’s how each of these counters works:
- Shadow King: Reverses Arana’s buff and resets all cards in lane to their base stats.
- red guardian: You can remove Arana’s text before he unleashes his Activate effect.
- Kraven: Gains benefits from the movement caused by Arana and other movement cards.
- cornerstone: Punishes moved cards by inflicting -2 Power on them.
Is Arana worth it?
Arana is a valuable plug-and-play addition to motion platforms, justifying its price. He often improves the board, even when his improvement and movement are not perfectly synchronized.
CozySnap, a standout Marvel Brooch creator, said: “[With Arana]“You are killing two birds with one stone: power and movement.” Overall, Arana’s community reception has been very positive, with the main criticism being its lack of synergy with cards like Brood.