The Best Marvel Snap Decks
Welcome to our best decks tier list where I try to cover all of the best decks in Marvel Snap.
In this article, I’ll be covering what I believe are the best decks in the meta, and potentially some honorable mentions.
The patch update has finally shaken up the meta, for better or for worse. A good amount of things have been changed, and the meta is looking quite fresh. Even still, some decks survived the nerfs better than others.
Here’s a rundown of the recent Patch:
- Thanos: 6/11 -> 6/10
- Space Stone: On Reveal: Next turn you can move 1 card at this location. Draw a card. -> On Reveal: Next turn, you can move one card to this location. Draw a card.
- Quinjet: Now reduces costs to a minimum of 1.
- Red Skull: 5/15 – Ongoing: Enemy cards at this location have +2 Power -> 5/13 – Ongoing: Enemy cards at this location have +1 Power.
- She-Hulk: 6/10 -> 6/9
- Aero: 5/7 – On Reveal: Move all enemy cards played this turn to this location. -> 5/8 – On Reveal: Move the last enemy card played this turn to this location.
- Mystique, Absorbing Man, and Taskmaster – These cards now require the previously played card to be in play in order to copy its attributes. Here are their updated templates:
- Mystique: On Reveal: If the last card you played has an Ongoing, copy its text. (if it’s in play)
- Absorbing Man: If the last card you played has an On Reveal, copy its text. (if it’s in play)
- Taskmaster: On Reveal: Set this card’s Power equal to that of the last card you played. (if that card’s in play)
- Morbius: Morbius’s Power no longer updates in-hand or in-deck, only at a location.
- Knull: Knull’s Power still updates in-hand, but no longer updates in-deck.
- Widow’s Bite (text-only): While this is in your hand, cards in your deck cannot be drawn. -> While this is in your hand, you can’t draw cards.
Let’s get into the tier list.
Table of Contents
- Shuri Zero – S
- Thanos Lockjaw – A
- Thanos Zoo – A
- Thanos Death – A
- Galactus – A
- Doom Wave – A
- Electro Ramp – A
- Bounce – A
- Sera Control – A
- Darkhawk Dino – A
- Lockjaw Thor – B
- Dino Good Cards – B
- Junk – B
- Lockjaw Discard – B
- Sera Surfer – B
- Patriot – B
- Negative Zabu – B
Removed Decks
Nimrod Galactus / Nimrod Destroyer: Nimrod seems to have found a permanent home in Galactus decks. It gives the deck more flexibility whether it wants to Galactus on turn 4, 5, or 6. There are still Nimrod decks without Galactus (with more Destroy cards), but we don’t have them in our tier list for this week.
Toxic Sera: Toxic Sera was a great way to counter Thanos decks. With Thanos likely being less popular, a more generic Sera deck will likely perform better.
Baero: While Death Wave is still a strong combo, and arguably in B tier, Doom Wave is honestly more consistent and simpler. No need to destroy cards and you can just play for priority.
Dino Good Cards: Dino was propped up a lot by Aero on turn 6, and without that play, Dino only decks definitely suffer. As such, Dino is much stronger when combined with Darkhawk, rather than in it’s own deck.
Ongoing Destroyer: While this is a great budget option, it just doesn’t compete against the rest of the meta decks.
Disclaimers
For most tier lists, I will try to avoid being too predictive or showing personal opinions/tech options I may choose to run. However, for start of seasons or after big balance changes, the tier list will be mainly predictive. We will be sure to update regularly to keep up with meta shifts once things begin to settle.
Furthermore, the order within the tiers are somewhat ordered, but also shouldn’t be looked into too heavily. As we refine the list, we’ll try our best to order within tiers.
Decks in the Honorable Mention Tier are usually brews from high elo players or content creators. These decks attack the meta in some way, but aren’t present enough in the meta for me to reasonably tier. As such, I’ll be putting them at the bottom in their own tier. Decks that include new cards also will be in Honorable Mention until I can get a good read on their meta relevance.
Credits to marvelsnapzone for their deck builder and images sourced from their website.
Lastly, there are many more deck archetypes that we would consider to be “tier 4” or “tier 5.” We are deciding to omit these decks as many of them mainly Series 3 only decks or aren’t quite powerful to be put onto this list.
Shuri Zero – S-Tier
Shuri Zero Decklist:
- 1-cost: Zero, Sunspot, Titania
- 2-cost: Armor, Lizard
- 3-cost: Cosmo
- 4-cost: Shuri
- 5-cost: Task Master, Captain Marvel, Red Skull, Aero
- 6-cost: She-Hulk
Commentary:
Of the decks to get nerfed, Shuri decks arguably got hit the lightest. Red Skull was changed to 13 Power, but his downside is now only +1 to enemy cards. Against a full location, this is functionally the same thing (30 Power – 8 vs 26 Power – 4). While Zero + Red Skull isn’t as strong, the strongest play line was usually Shuri into Red Skull, and Zero is mainly used early for priority.
We expect Shuri Zero decks to still be very strong, as the nerfs were quite light on this deck. The nerf to Aero also is huge for this deck. Task Master + any 1-Cost on the final turn can avoid Aero, making this deck even more resilient to counters.
Replacements:
Aero is definitely one card that can looked to be replaced as she was nerfed. You can also look to play into the Sauron package, switching out a few low cost cards.
- Typhoid Mary
- Sauron
- Ebony Maw
Thanos Lockjaw – A-Tier
Thanos Lockjaw Decklist:
- 1-cost: Sunspot
- 2-cost:
- 3-cost: Wave, Lockjaw
- 4-cost: Shang-Chi
- 5-cost: Devil Dinosaur, Leech
- 6-cost: Thanos, Magneto, The Infinaut, Doctor Doom, She-Hulk, America Chavez
Commentary:
Thanos got a lot of changes with this patch. Space Stone was changed, and Quinjet no longer reduces the Stones to 0. Even still, this archetype will likely still be strong, just not as overpowering as before.
It will be interesting to see if this deck will remain in S Tier, but for now, I’ll be moving it down to A Tier.
Replacements:
The main function of this deck is to play lots of big cards along with cheap cards, so you can mostly swap missing cards with whatever big boys and girls you have.
- Blue Marvel
- Wasp
- M’Baku
- Vision
- Captain Marvel
Thanos Zoo – A-Tier
Thanos Zoo Decklist:
- 1-cost: Ant-Man, M’Baku, Quinjet
- 2-cost: Armor
- 3-cost: Mister Fantastic, Lockjaw
- 4-cost: Ka-Zar
- 5-cost: Blue Marvel, Valkyrie, Leech
- 6-cost: Spectrum, Thanos
Commentary:
Previously, we showed a Thanos Zoo deck that also made use of Lockjaw. With Quinjet nerfed, we’re expecting Thanos Zoo to play without Lockjaw.
This deck was previously made by Den over at MarvelSnapZone, and was an idea from before the Lockjaw days. There’s a lot of location lockdown and low power cards to fill up the board with power.
Replacements:
- Armor
- Daredevil
Thanos Death – A-Tier
Thanos Death Decklist:
- 1-cost: Sunspot
- 2-cost:
- 3-cost: Lockjaw, Wave, Killmonger
- 4-cost: Shang-Chi
- 5-cost:
- 6-cost: Odin, She-Hulk, America Chavez, Magneto, Thanos, Doctor Doom, Death
Commentary:
This version of Thanos is a slightly different take on the Lockjaw variant. The deck still looks to cheat out a lot of powerful cards, but it also runs Killmonger and Death. Killmonger lets you free up space on the board, and you can play Death on many occasions, or cheat her out with Lockjaw.
On a personal note, I played a variation of Thanos Death without Lockjaw to hit Infinite both in February and March. The Stones provide a ton of utility, and you can play out Death quite easily with additional cards like Carnage. (Don’t put Carnage in a Lockjaw version though).
Replacements:
If you take out some of the 6-costs and Lockjaw, you can look to play a more traditional deck with other Destroy and Stone synergy cards.
- Carnage
- The Hood
- Angela
- Bishop
- Valkyrie
Galactus – A-Tier
Galactus Decklist:
- 1-cost:
- 2-cost: Wolverine, Daredevil
- 3-cost: Wave, Electro
- 4-cost: Shuri
- 5-cost: Nimrod, Hobgoblin
- 6-cost: Knull, America Chavez, Galactus, Destroyer, Death
Commentary:
With the addition of Nimrod, Galactus decks have a lot of flexibility in their plays now. They can play a usual Galactus gameplan, or they can Galactus on Turn 6 to synergize with Nimrod.
You can even do well without Galactus and play with Shuri, Nimrod, and Destroyer for a final 35 point board. There’s more avenues this deck can go down, which makes it a strong pick this meta.
Replacements:
- Doctor Octopus
- Spider-Man
- Yondu
- Cloak
- Ebony Maw
- Shang Chi
Doom Wave – A-Tier
Doom Wave Decklist:
- 1-cost: Sunspot
- 2-cost: Scorpion, Lizard
- 3-cost: Storm, Mister Fantastic, Wave
- 4-cost: Shang-Chi, White Queen
- 5-cost: Aero
- 6-cost: Doctor Doom, America Chavez, She-Hulk
Commentary:
Doom Wave is a series 3 only deck that is very strong and simple to play. It’s essentially the new “good cards” deck. The deck looks to gain priority, play Wave on 5, and finish with a She-Hulk + 1 play.
This deck is also one of the few decks that can utilize Aero well post nerf. With Wave active, you can know when your opponent can only play 1 card, making Aero a perfect counter in this situation.
Replacements:
You can honestly run any card that is a strong tempo play to gain priority.
- Iceman
- Jessica Jones
- Odin
Electro Ramp – A-Tier
Electro Ramp Decklist:
- 1-cost: Sunspot, Ebony Maw
- 2-cost:
- 3-cost: Electro, Wave
- 4-cost : Jubilee
- 5-cost: Sandman, Aero, Leech
- 6-cost: Doctor Doom, Odin, America Chavez, Magneto
Commentary:
Electro Ramp is another solid deck choice, as there are a ton of decks that look to swarm the board on turn 6. While this deck does struggle into Shuri, it can still do very well against other decks.
The deck also still uses Aero very well as Sandman means only 1 card can be played.
Replacements:
Here are some options you have for this deck. You can swap out some of the big cards, but Doom and Magneto are arguably the two best 6 drops in the game currently. You can also lower your curve a bit so you have strong cards to play on turn 2 as well.
- The Infinaut
- Scorpion
- Lizard
- Professor X
- Daredevil
Bounce – A-Tier
Bounce Decklist:
- 1-cost: Iceman, Bast, Korg, The Hood
- 2-cost: Beast, Black Widow, Falcon, Angela, Mysterio
- 3-cost: Bishop
- 4-cost : Darkhawk
- 5-cost:
- 6-cost: America Chavez
Commentary:
This Bounce decklist was made by Jeff Hoogland, and the additions of Darkhawk and Bast were very smart choices. Darkhawk synergizes well with Korg, and Bast buffs up just about every card in the deck.
While this deck mainly preyed on Thanos decks (bigger Darkhawk), the deck still is very strong overall.
I’m not too confident where to place this deck, but the deck does do a lot of powerful things.
Replacements:
Without Bast and Darkhawk, the deck suffers a lot. But without them, you can look to use more Bounce synergy cards like:
- The Collector
- Devil Dinosaur
Sera Control – A-Tier
Sera Control/Miracle Decklist:
- 1-cost: Nova
- 2-cost: Sentinel, Mysterio, Lizard, Armor
- 3-cost: Bishop, Mister Fantastic, Cosmo, Killmonger
- 4-cost: Shang-Chi, Enchantress
- 5-cost: Sera
- 6-cost:
Commentary:
Sera Control is always a strong and consistent archetype. If the meta is fresh, having all the answers is usually a decent strategy.
While Sera Control might not be the strongest deck, it can win you a lot of cubes when played well. There are lots of variations that Sera decks can take, but this is just the baseline deck list for Sera Control.
Replacements:
- The Hood
- Carnage
- Scarlet Witch
- Rescue
- Zabu
Darkhawk Dino – A-Tier
Darkhawk Dino Decklist:
- 1-cost: Korg, Quinjet
- 2-cost: Zabu, Sentinel
- 3-cost: Mystique
- 4-cost: Darkhawk, Shang-Chi, Moon Girl, Rock Slide, White Queen
- 5-cost: Devil Dinosaur
- 6-cost: She-Hulk
Commentary:
Darkhawk and Devil Dinosaur are two of the strongest cards you can play on 4 and 5 respectively. Their ongoing abilities allow them to reach extremely high point thresholds. While they are counterable with things like Enchantress or Rogue, this deck still can simply outpower lanes.
With Moon Girl, Quinjet, and Zabu, you have a multitude of ways to discount your cards, allowing you to make a big push on turn 6 with your big hitters.
Replacements:
A lot of the cards in the deck synergize well, but you can look to replace some cards like She-Hulk, or cut the Dino + Sentinel to fit more cards for Darkhawk synergy.
- Agent Coulson
- Cosmo
- Black Widow
- America Chavez
- Enchantress
Lockjaw Thor – B-Tier
Lockjaw Thor Decklist:
- 0/1-cost: Wasp, Sunspot
- 2-cost
- 3-cost: Lockjaw, Thor
- 4-cost: Jubilee
- 5-cost: Leech, Vision, Jane Foster
- 6-cost: The Infinaut, America Chavez, Doctor Doom, Magneto
Commentary:
All things considered, this deck didn’t get hit by the Quinjet nerf. Lockjaw and Leech is still a strong combination, but this deck has lost a bit of favor in the meta.
Even still, it’s a strong Series 3 only deck that can still compete with the top decks.
Replacements:
- Dracula
- Aero
- She-Hulk
Junk – B-Tier
Junk Decklist:
- 1-cost: The Hood, Titania
- 2-cost: Angela, Daredevil, Viper
- 3-cost: Debrii, Killmonger, Green Goblin, Polaris
- 4-cost: Shang-Chi
- 5-cost: Aero, Spider-Woman
- 6-cost:
Commentary:
This deck was made by Specimen and Freddybabes, and was mainly used to counter Thanos decks. While Thanos will make up less of the meta, the deck still can do well by flooding the opponent’s board with junk.
The Aero nerf definitely hurts this deck, but there is still enough decent disruption. The issue is mainly when you simply can’t put enough power on the board, and your junk doesn’t line up well.
Replacements:
- Absorbing Man
- Spider-Man
- Sentry
Lockjaw Discard – B-Tier
Lockjaw Discard Decklist:
- 1-cost: Sunspot
- 2-cost: Morbius, Swarm, Colleen Wing, Wolverine
- 3-cost: Lockjaw, Sword Master, Lady Sif
- 4-cost: Dracula
- 5-cost: M.O.D.O.K.
- 6-cost: Apocalypse, America Chavez
Commentary:
Discard saw a lot of experimentation early on in the February season, but it is definitely falling off. Decks can either go with Lockjaw or with something like Collector to ramp up with your discards.
Unfortunately, for a Lockjaw deck, Thanos is simply better (even Thor is better), and Leech also ruins your day. If your opponent plays Leech and you play Modok, you’re basically screwed.
Replacements:
As I mentioned, you can replace Lockjaw with Collector to play more into discarding and ramping up power. There are also some other Discard cards you can run to surprise opponents, switching out something like Sword Master or Wolverine.
- Collector
- Wolverine
- Gambit
Sera Surfer – B-Tier
Sera Surfer Decklist:
- 1-cost: Nova
- 2-cost: Lizard, Scorpion
- 3-cost: Brood, Killmonger, Cosmo, Juggernaut, Silver Surfer, Polaris, Mister Fantastic, Storm
- 4-cost:
- 5-cost: Sera
- 6-cost:
Commentary:
Silver Surfer continues to be a decent deck, and this version looks to leverage more disruptive effects to stop opponents. Cards like Juggernaut and Storm make it difficult for the opponent to play, and cards like Polaris and Killmonger can further disrupt your opponent’s plays.
I think everyone can agree that Surfer decks are past their prime. Surfer was nerfed quite heavily, but the deck still does have some legs.
Storm and Juggernaut are effective disruption tools, Cosmo is a strong tech card, and you can still slam enough points on the board to be decently competitive.
Killmonger is quite important for challenging Zoo decks when they don’t draw Armor, and Mister Fantastic gives you a bit of reach into locked down locations.
Overall, the deck is still solid and flexible, but past its prime.
Replacements:
The most flexible slots in this deck are the 1 and 2-cost cards, Nova and Scorpion/Lizard. You can also swap out Juggernaut and Polaris for other cards based on what you have.
- Iron Fist + Vulture
- Domino
- Goose
- Rogue
- Maximus
- Patriot + Cyclops
Patriot – B-Tier
Patriot Decklist:
- 1-cost: Misty Knight, Squirrel Girl
- 2-cost: Shocker
- 3-cost: Brood, Cyclops, Mystique
- 4-cost: The Thing
- 5-cost: Blue Marvel
- 6-cost: Onslaught, Ultron
Commentary:
Patriot is one of those decks that simply won’t go away. For players that have smaller Series 3 collections, Patriot can be a great deck with a few pieces.
The deck’s gameplan is also very simple. Flood the board with points. While Patriot can fall at the hands of cards like Enchantress or Rogue, if they don’t have the specific tech for Patriot, they need to overpower your board of efficient buffed up vanillas.
Patriot is a simple deck that’s been around for a while. You can combine Patriot and Surfer to make a hybrid-esque list as well. While Patriot is consistent, it doesn’t always outperform the big hitters like Shuri and Thanos. Even still, if your opponent doesn’t have answers, the deck can help you consistently climb.
Replacements:
- Cosmo
- Wasp
- Doctor Doom
Negative Zabu
Negative Zabu Decklist:
- 1-cost:
- 2-cost: Zabu, Psylocke
- 3-cost: Ironheart, Mystique
- 4-cost: Mister Negative, Wong, Shuri
- 5-cost: Iron Man, Magik, Taskmaster, Black Panther
- 6-cost: Arnim Zola
Commentary:
This deck has been experimented with after the changes to Zabu. Now that Zabu only costs 2, it becomes another way to cheat Mister Negative on turn 3, much like Psylocke. This makes the deck a bit more consistent, and there’s a ton of good Negative cards to play out.
While this deck can make very powerful plays, it’s just less consistent than a Zero Shuri deck. While you may get big wins every now and then, the deck lacks consistency. It is also quite prone to disruption, although you can try to play around it.
Replacements:
- Wolfsbane
- Blue Marvel
- White Tiger
Methodology
We’ve tried our best to evaluate these decks based on a few key factors:
- Overall Win %: This looks to see simply how often a deck wins. It doesn’t matter if you only win 1 cube a game if your win % is 70%. You can simply spam games to Infinite.
- Consistency: Consistency is quite hard to determine for Snap due to the snap mechanics. You can always retreat and make up for it if what your deck does is extremely powerful, albeit difficult to pull off. Even still, being able to enact a similar game plan repeatedly leans to an overall smoother climb.
- Flexibility: For Marvel Snap, flexibility is somewhat equivalent to “surprise factor.” A deck is flexible if you have a multitude of options that your opponent cannot easily counter/predict. This means you aren’t always enacting 1 gameplan every game, but can adapt based on the situation.
Note: For numbers like win %, we would like to credit sources like Snap.fan and Marvelsnap.pro for their statistics and tracking.
Conclusion
This wraps up our Marvel Snap Tier List for the “Days of Future Past” season. While the list isn’t too different from before the patch, there are a good amount of small changes.
Thanos decks will likely be more varied in their strategy, and Aero will definitely be much less prevalent.
Stay tuned as we update this tier list as more time passes.
Good luck on your climb and snap away!
If you haven’t yet, be sure to check out our other resources for Marvel Snap. These can help you wherever you are in the Collection Track.
Good luck in your games, and thanks for reading!
