AlanDood
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5 Min read Welcome back to our weekly review where we’ll be covering Marvel Snap’s latest card, Red Guardian, along with the best decks and synergies. I’ll be covering new deck ideas in this article, but to stay up to date, check out our Full Tier List to see any new meta changes.
Red Guardian is the third Spotlight Cache for April, and he’s an intriguing new tech card. While he may not be as universal as a card like Shang-Chi, he does fulfill a niche in the game.
When he releases, he will be more popular, and players may adjust their decks or their decisions in game. However, as time passes, Red Guardian may become stronger as he’ll be more a surprise tech card rather than the new hot card.
Let’s get right into the guide.
On Reveal: Afflict the lowest-Power enemy card here with -2 Power and remove its text.
First off, we can somewhat analyze Red Guardian as a 3/5. In most cases, he will represent 5 Power with his ability. There are some niche situations where the -2 Power won’t apply, though. If the enemy plays Carnage to destroy the negative Power or have Luke Cage, Red Guardian will then be a 3/3, which is much worse.
In most situations, Red Guardian will be a 3/5, which is competitive with other 3-costs with strong effects like Spider-Man or Polaris.
However, the main draw to Red Guardian is how he can remove the test from the lowest-Power enemy card. Red Guardian will be a strong counter to cards like Dracula, Iron Man, or Angela.
This makes Red Guardian very unique, as he is able to counter a large variety of cards that have no direct answer. In some games, he might remove an effect from a random card that can help you win the game by just an inch.
Because of this, Red Guardian looks to be very unique and potentially powerful.
In general, there aren’t really any archetypes that synergize with Red Guardian since his main role is as a tech card. You can fit him into just about any “midrange” deck for example.
You can cut Mobius and decide to play Red Guardian instead. This may not be ideal depending on the meta, but the point is that he’s a flexible tech option rather than a synergy piece.
Even still, there are technically some archetypes that synergize with Red Guardian.
On Reveal: Give your other 3-Cost cards +2 Power.
Of course I have to mention Silver Surfer in the synergy category. Red Guardian is a 3-cost, so he can find a home in Silver Surfer decks. BUT, he doesn’t really empower the archetype further.
He doesn’t help you put extra power on the board, but he can disrupt your opponent while playing in system. Red Guardian is somewhat comparable to Killmonger. Killmonger was great against Thanos, and Red Guardian could fulfill a similar niche role for Surfer decks.
However, Killmonger was often paired with Nova to further empower cards like Sebastian Stan, Brood, etc. So while Red Guardian is similar, he doesn’t quite replace Killmonger 1 to 1.
In a meta where Red Guardian answers a lot of top meta decks, Silver Surfer can definitely become stronger as the 3-cost Red Guardian plays into Surfer’s ability while also teching for top decks.
Costs 1 less for each enemy card in play that’s afflicted with negative Power.
Another potential synergy is with Evolved Abomination. Since Red Guardian does afflict negative Power, you can discount Abomination by 1 Energy.
However, this style of deck never broke into the meta, and Red Guardian likely doesn’t move the needle enough. Mockingbird is a newer release that is similar, but with an easier condition to fulfill.
Evolved Abomination also forces you to run High Evo, which just a vanilla 4/4 that is essentially useless.
For this section, I’ll be going over some decks that synergize with Red Guardian.
Keep in mind that these decks are all first impressions, so things can definitely change rapidly. As new discoveries are made, I will be updating our full Marvel Snap Tier List, rather than update this article.
Be sure to check it out to see what the best decks are.
Up first, we have a simple Silver Surfer deck that utilizes Red Guardian as a tech card. Instead of Killmonger+Nova, this deck has Red Guardian+Snowguard.
While Killmonger and Nova provide more Power together, Snowguard and Red Guardian are stronger cards by themselves, which is something to note.
The current meta isn’t particularly great for Killmonger, so Surfer might look to run Red Guardian going forward.
Up next, we have an Elsa Silk Move deck that runs Red Guardian as a tech card. This slot could be used for something like Mobius, but depending on the meta, Red Guardian could be a more impactful card.
In the current meta, I would say Mobius is the better card, but Red Guardian can be a good surprise card. Things may also change in the future, so keep him in mind.
Luke Cage technically counters Red Guardian a little bit by cancelling his negative power effect. However, he can make up for it by hitting an impactful card with his text removal. It is still something to consider though, especially if you’re playing a deck with Evolved Abomination.
Another potential counter for Red Guardian are low power cards that don’t mind getting their text removed. If you’re trying to target a specific card, it can easily be blocked by having a low-power card in the same location.
Red Guardian can potentially also be bad against Patriot. If you remove the text on a card, it will become effectless, meaning Patriot will buff it up. In these situations, you’ll need to hold onto Red Guardian to try and remove Patriot’s text rather than a Squirrel or Wasp.
Overall, I would rate Red Guardian a 5/10.
Red Guardian has a very unique effect that can counter a niche subset of cards. However, in the current meta, he likely won’t have a major impact.
Even still, the Marvel Snap meta is constantly changing, so there may be a meta where Red Guardian becomes a staple.
Be sure to check out our Tier Lists for our current rankings on Marvel Snap decks and cards.
Good luck in your games, and thanks for reading!
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