Marvel Snap Arthur Pendragon is the Premium Season Pass card for Knights of Avalon, while Merlin of Avalon belongs to the Super Premium tier. They arrived with the November 2026 season, but their abilities fit different decks. Arthur brings Excalibur into play. Merlin puts a powerful card called The Grand Design into your hand.
If you’re thinking about buying a pass, the difference is worth checking first. You don’t need Super Premium to unlock Arthur, but Premium alone won’t give you Merlin. There’s also a Web Shop bonus you can miss if you buy the wrong way or upgrade later.
Marvel Snap Arthur Pendragon: Premium versus Super Premium
| Pass | Card | Ability at a glance |
|---|---|---|
| Premium | Arthur Pendragon | Pulls Excalibur to Arthur’s location |
| Super Premium | Merlin of Avalon | Adds The Grand Design to your hand |
Marvel Snap Arthur Pendragon is a Series 5 card with the On Reveal effect “Pull Excalibur free to here.” The word “free” describes the Excalibur effect, not the price of the Season Pass. Second Dinner identifies Arthur as the Premium reward.
Merlin of Avalon is also listed as Series 5, but is offered through Super Premium. Actual prices may vary by platform or region, so use the price displayed in your game or the official Web Shop rather than relying on an old screenshot.
How Marvel Snap Arthur Pendragon and Excalibur work
Excalibur has the Ongoing ability “Your 4-Cost or more cards have +2 Power.” That makes Marvel Snap Arthur Pendragon appealing when your deck includes enough cards costing four or more to benefit. The +2 is attached to eligible cards, not just Arthur and not just the lane containing the sword.
Before you build a deck around him, check your twelve cards. If most of them cost one, two or three, Excalibur won’t have much to help. If your middle and late turns involve larger characters, the bonus has more chances to make a difference across the board.
Marvel Snap Arthur Pendragon still needs his On Reveal to resolve. Keep lane space in mind and don’t assume Excalibur will always reach the board if something prevents the effect. His reliable job is to give a higher-Cost deck another Power source, not to rescue an overcrowded lane.
Marvel Snap Arthur Pendragon also has a useful card-text connection with Lancelot. Excalibur raises the Power of eligible characters, and Lancelot gives another +1 Power to cards whose Power has increased. That’s a useful synergy to examine, although the actual value depends on the board and current card balance.
What Merlin and The Grand Design do
Merlin of Avalon adds The Grand Design to your hand when his On Reveal goes off. In the November season announcement, The Grand Design is described as costing one less per created card you’ve played, then giving one of your cards at each other location +5 Power when revealed.
Those details are easy to misread. The discount is for created cards played, not simply cards drawn from your deck, and the Power increase targets one card at each other location. It doesn’t say every friendly card gets +5.
That gives Merlin a different deck-building job from Marvel Snap Arthur Pendragon. Merlin encourages you to generate extra cards, play them and spread your board. Arthur wants cards that cost four or more. Neither instruction means you should automatically jam both into the same deck.
As always with a live-service card game, check the current in-game text if a balance update has landed since the season announcement. The announcement tells you what Second Dinner originally revealed; your live client governs a match.
How the Knights of Avalon Web Shop bonus works
Buying Premium or Super Premium directly through the MARVEL SNAP Web Shop adds rewards, including a Series 5 SNAP Pack. Second Dinner gives a clear claim process:
- Log in to MARVEL SNAP during the Knights of Avalon season.
- Open the official Web Shop and sign in with your game account.
- Buy the Premium or Super Premium pass there.
- Reload the game client and claim the bonus rewards.
Be careful about upgrading after you’ve already bought Premium. Second Dinner specifically says that upgrading from Premium to Super Premium will not trigger this Web Shop bonus. If Merlin is the card you want, check the Super Premium purchase option before completing your first transaction.
Which pass is right for your deck?
If your plan revolves around bigger characters getting extra Power, Marvel Snap Arthur Pendragon is the relevant Premium card. Excalibur is simple to understand and can improve multiple 4-Cost-or-higher cards as long as its Ongoing effect is active.
If you enjoy playing created-card engines, Merlin’s The Grand Design is the more distinctive reward. You need to think about generation, your Energy curve and where to put cards across the three locations. Paying for that extra card only makes sense if you actually want to use it.
Remember that Lancelot, Captain Britain, Elder Dragon of the Moon and Sir Percy Black Knight are separate weekly SNAP Pack releases, not pass-tier rewards. Mordred and Knight’s Vow also have their own event routes.
For Marvel Snap Arthur Pendragon specifically, Premium is the tier confirmed by the publisher. Check the current price, decide whether Merlin would earn a place in your collection, and buy through the Web Shop if you want the advertised direct-purchase bonus.
Related Guides
Official source: MARVEL SNAP Knights of Avalon announcement.
