In the Marvel universe, not all heroes have the right guy mindset type of personality where it is always the positivity and correctness that prevails. Some have a cocky and imprudent personality but still think about the betterment of all. This includes the billionaire technology innovator Tony Stark, famously known as Marvel’s Iron Man.
Iron Man has become one of the most popular Marvel heroes, may it be in the comics or movies, because of his desire to protect Earth despite his unusual and sometimes, arrogant ways. In Marvel Snap, he has a game-changing ability that can turn the flow of a match upside down in a snap.
Here are the best Iron Man decks in Marvel Snap.
Marvel Snap Iron Man abilities, explained
Iron Man is a five-cost, zero-Power card with the ability that reads “Ongoing: Your total Power is doubled at this location.” If you play him, he can instantly make an impact since he can double the overall Power of the location where you will play him. Having a lone card like Spider-Man can already give you 10-Power once you put Iron Man in that location, so strategize properly to build up a ton of Power in an Iron Man location.
You can get Iron Man as a starter card in the game, meaning you can already build decks around him right at the start of your journey in Marvel Snap. You don’t need to spend any tokens just to get him unless you would want to get the Token Shop ultimate variant of Iron Man for 5,000 tokens.
Strategy and best combos for Iron Man decks in Marvel Snap
Iron Man can fit into almost any deck available in the game. His power-doubling ability is a general effect that can greatly affect locations to create enormous Power. But there are some cards that really bring out Iron Man’s potential as an offensive beast which can be unmatchable for the opponent.
Onslaught is a direct partner to Iron Man since he has the ability to double all Ongoing effects of cards in the same location as Onslaught. This means Iron Man’s double-Power effect gets doubled again, potentially making a ton of Power in a single location. Adding more cards to that location could produce more Power which can be hard for the opponent to topple.
The Iron Man and Onslaught location can also be more efficient if you play The Living Tribunal because of his ability to distribute your total Power to your locations equally. This can give you the win on some of the hardest locations in the game, such as Sanctum Santorum (unplayable location), Death’s Domain (destroys all cards that will be played there), Rickety Bridge (destroys all cards if there is more than one card at the end of each turn), and more.
As for Mystique, she can copy any Ongoing ability of the last card you played, so playing Iron Man before her can give you another Iron Man clone which can be played on another location. Mister Negative, on the other hand, can switch the cost and Power of cards, possibly making Iron Man a zero-cost, five-Power card in the process. Bast also synergizes well with Iron Man since she can make the Power of all cards in your hand to three.
The best Iron Man decks in Marvel Snap
Ongoing Party
Iron Man’s main home in Marvel Snap is in a deck that focuses on using cards with Ongoing abilities. The main combo for this deck to work well is the Iron Man, Onslaught, and The Living Tribunal strategy which can make you win locations even if you just play the three cards in a single location.
Cards such as Psylocke and Electro help you to play the three cards of the said combo, since all of them are five and six-cost cards and you need to play Iron Man as early as turn four to make this work. But if you are able to pull off the combo, then it can be really hard for the opponent to match you.
In case you can’t pull the three-card combo, playing a mini Patriot package with cards like Mister Sinister and Squirrel Girl can prove to be an alternate win condition. Playing Patriot with Onslaught can double the power bonus he can give to your cards without abilities. Using Mystique to copy any of those Ongoing abilities could be even more dangerous for the opponent.
Cap off the deck with Sunspot for another potential Power source, Bast for additional Power to your low-Power cards, Iron Lad for a bonus card effect, vision, and a decent four-cost, six-Power unit, and Sera, for lowering the cost of your cards in the hand by one.
Win condition cards for this deck
Aside from Iron Man, the win condition cards for this deck are:
- Onslaught
- The Living Tribunal
- Patriot
- Sera
- Mystique
As mentioned, the Onslaught and The Living Tribunal combo with Iron Man is the heart and soul of this deck. So, it should always be your priority to pull this off since it can give massive Power to all your locations in an instant.
Patriot is the backup offensive engine for this deck, while Sera can help you to do an Iron Man and Mystique play on turn six.
Negative Explosiveness
If you want to use a deck with Iron Man but demonstrate a high-risk, high-reward type of strategy, then a Mister Negative deck could be for you. This deck focuses on using cards with low costs which can take advantage of Mister Negative’s cost and Power switch effect.
Aside from Iron Man staples such as Bast, Psylocke, and Mystique, some of the low-Power cards that you can put in this deck are Ironheart, Darkhawk, and Arnim Zola, with the latter being there for a Black Panther double-Power spread as a backup offensive engine in the late game.
Zabu can be added to lower the cost of your four-cost cards by one which can pave the way for a turn three Mister Negative play. Magik is there for potentially extending the game to a turn seven, and Jane Foster can be used to fetch your zero-cost cards from your deck.
Win condition cards for this deck
The win condition cards for this deck are:
- Mister Negative
- Darkhawk
- Black Panther
- Arnim Zola
Mister Negative provides the key to making this deck work. If you know you won’t be able to draw him on time and most of your cards with low Power are already in your hand, it is best to pivot to another winning strategy.
Darkhawk is the main Power source of this deck thanks to his ability to gain plus two Power for each card in your opponent’s deck. As for the classic Black Panther and Arnim Zola strategy, it is a proven and tested combo that can surprise your opponent in the late game.
How to counter Iron Man decks
Iron Man has an Ongoing ability. This makes him prone to cards that can disrupt this type of ability, including Enchantress, who can remove the Ongoing abilities of all the cards that were already placed in the same location as her, Echo, who can disregard the Ongoing abilities of cards that will be played on the location where you play her, and Rogue, who can steal an Ongoing ability from one of the cards placed on the opponent’s side of the location same as her.
Odin may not be a direct counter to Iron Man, but his ability to reactivate the On Reveal abilities of cards can make him a threat to our hero. When you use Odin to return a card with negative Power back to its original owner, such as the goblin duo of Green Goblin and Hobgoblin, it can be a counter strategy to an Iron Man location. The negative Power of both cards can be doubled this way, making it hard for your side to deal with.
Iron Man decks’ current state in the meta
Both the decks above where Iron Man is included are not considered top meta decks at the moment. They have their own dose of strengths, however, that still makes them playable in grinding the ladder.
The Ongoing deck can produce massive Power on your locations. However, they are very prone to disruption because of the likes of Enchantress, Echo, and Rogue since this deck is heavily reliant on Ongoing abilities.
As for the Mister Negative deck, it resonates with the high-risk, high-reward type of strategy. So, it is a must to know if you can still fight and win the game until the end, or if you should already retreat given that your strategy won’t work as early as possible.
