Marvel Snap best cards: Top 10 must-have heroes & villains
Build a killer deck with kickass characters.
Whether you’re new to the game, or looking for inspiration for a new deck, using some of the best cards in Marvel may help you on the road to Infinite.
Just like any card game, one single card isn’t more important than the overall deck set-up, even if Marvel Snap decks only have 12 cards. However, certain cards are certainly more unique, and more useful, than others
So, with Marvel Snap Spotlight Cache and Token Swap hopefully making Series 4-5 cards more accessible for players, here’s a look at the best cards to pick up in Marvel Snap.
Best cards in Marvel Snap
Based on overall usability and flexibility in decks, alongside uniqueness, these are the best cards you should look to pick up in Marvel Snap right now:
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For more info on why we've picked each of those powerful heroes or villains, keep on reading for our proper rundown of the best Marvel Snap cards.
High Evolutionary
Cost/Power: 4,4
Description: At the start of the game, unlock the potential of your cards with no abilities.
Released following Guardians of the Galaxy Vol. 3, High Evolutionary was one of the most anticipated new card releases, due to his unique ability to unlock special abilities for other Snap cards.
Many of the cards that gain abilities from High Evolutionary can be acquired pretty early on in Marvel Snap, such as The Thing, Abomination, Hulk, and Cyclops - so if you’re looking for one card to pick up from the Token Shop in the early stages to help you compete, High Evo is definitely one to start with.
Works well with: Wasp, Misty Knight, Shocker, Cyclops, The Thing, Abomination, Hulk
Jeff
Cost/Power: 2,3
Description: You can move this once. Nothing can stop you from moving or playing this to any location.
Another Series 5 card, Jeff the Baby Land Shark is high on this list of the best Marvel Snap cards for his versatility. You wouldn’t really want to build a deck specifically for Jeff, but he can easily slot into many decks if you have a free slot.
Jeff’s ability means that once played, he can move to any other location, even if it has been locked down by Professor X, Spider-Man, or Storm, for example. So in a pinch, when your opponent thinks they’ve locked down a lane by a couple of points, Jeff can make all the difference.
Works well with: Professor X, Storm, Doctor Doom
Shang-Chi
Cost: 4,3
Description: On Reveal: Destroy all enemy cards at this location that have 9 or more Power
Another card that slots into most decks, Shang-Chi is perhaps the most essential card in a Marvel Snap collection.
Destroying cards with 9 or more power means he acts as a counter to any decks with particularly beefy cards, working particularly well in Sera Control decks. In fact, just the threat of a Shang-Chi will have an impact on most Marvel Snap players and the overall meta.
He’s also only a Series 2 card, so you’ll likely be able to unlock Shang-Chi pretty early on.
Works well with: Sera, Knull, Killmonger
Galactus
Cost: 6,7
Description: On Reveal: If you're winning this location and this is your only card here, destroy all other locations
Ah, Galactus. The bane of every Marvel Snap player’s existence for a few months earlier in 2023. Even post-nerf, Galactus is still a pretty powerful card in Marvel Snap, and definitely a fun one to pick up if you can.
Galactus decks play around the goal of turning each game into a one-lane battle, often by playing Wave on Turn 3 to allow us to play Galactus on Turn 4.
As Galactus is likely to stick around in Series 5 for the foreseeable future, it’s definitely a card to pin in the Token Shop if it comes around.
Works well with: Wave, Death, Knull
Doctor Doom
Cost: 6,5
Description: On Reveal: Add a 4-Power DoomBot to each other location.
Even with the nerf to the DoomBots, Doctor Doom is still one of the most popular cards in Marvel Snap, being able to spread 13 Power across all three lanes, regardless of restrictions.
Doom isn’t the only 6-Power card you’d want in your deck, but his strengths come through in the versatility, as he is quite hard to counter. He easily fits into High Evolutionary decks, for example.
As a Series 3 card, Doom is more attainable than many cards on this list, and definitely one you should consider adding to your decks if you have the space.
Works well with: Wave, Storm, Odin, Jubilee
Thanos
Cost: 6, 10
Description: At the start of the game, shuffle the six Infinity Stones into your deck
Like Galactus, Thanos is on this list due to the uniqueness of this ‘Big Bad’ card.
With Thanos in your deck, you also gain an additional six cards with the Infinity Stones (each is 1,1) unlocking a host of potential decks for you to try out as part of the separate Thanos meta.
While not as popular as he once used to be following a few nerfs to surrounding cards, Thanos is a great card to play around with if you want to try out some different deck archetypes.
Works well with: Killmonger, Devil Dinosaur, Death, Carnage, Lockjaw
Sera
Cost: 5,4
Description: Ongoing: Cards in your hand cost 1 less. (minimum 1)
Sera makes this list due to the evergreen popularity of the Sera Control deck, regarded as one of the most consistent decks in Marvel Snap.
By reducing the cost of your cards, Sera sets you up for a big Turn 6. With Sera Control, the aim is to give your opponent priority on the final turn, before using the likes of Shang-Chi, Enchantress and Killmonger to turn the tide right at the end.
Works well with: Killmonger, Shang-Chi, Enchantress, Bishop
Wave
Cost: 3,3
Description: On Reveal: All cards cost 4 until the end of next turn.
While Wave may have been higher on this list before the nerf to the DeathWave strategy, she is still a required card for many of the top deck archetypes, including some we’ve mentioned above.
By turning every card into a 4-cost card, Wave has two benefits. First, she can allow you to play your 6-cost card much earlier (see Galactus), unlocking their benefits earlier in-game, and allowing a second 6-cost play on Turn 6. Second, she acts as a counter to decks that want to play several cards on a certain turn, notably Sera Control’s Turn 6.
Works well with: Doctor Doom, Galactus, Knull, Death
Killmonger
Cost: 3,3
Description: On Reveal: Destroy ALL 1-Cost cards.
Like Shang-Chi, Killmonger is a destruction card available in Series 2, so you should be able to unlock him early on in your Marvel Snap career.
Alongside being vital to many destroy decks and other popular archetypes, Killmonger hard counters Kazoo decks, one of the more popular starting decks in Marvel Snap.
Works well with: Shang-Chi, Carnage, Death, Sera, Knull, Nova
Darkhawk
Cost: 4,0
Description: Ongoing: +2 Power for each card in your opponent’s deck.
And finally, another card that has its own deck archetype – Darkhawk.
Darkhawk strategies look to overload your opponent’s deck with more cards (often rocks) to boost your Power, while also frustrating your opponent who has just drawn 3 rocks in a row.
We might have been tempted to put Darkhawk higher, but the refusal to drop him to Series 3 is quite the contentious issue in the community...
Works well with: Zabu, Rock Slide, Korg, Devil Dinosaur, Mystique
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