When players jump into Marvel Snap for the first time, they won’t have immediate access to all cards in the early stages of the game. With it being a live service game that relies on a player’s progress on their Collection Level, cards are unlocked gradually.
Developer Second Dinner, however, is generous enough to make Collection Level the matchmaking basis of the game, ensuring that players with low Collection Levels are being matched with others within the same range.
Marvel Snap card series, explained
Each card in Marvel Snap is classified according to its series. These series of cards are linked to the player’s corresponding Collection Level range. To give a glimpse of how the series classification works in the game, you can refer to the list below.
- Starter Cards – The cards that players can get at the very beginning of Marvel Snap. So far, there are 13 cards available in this tier.
- Series Zero – Free cards that can be unlocked by players once they reach the Collection Level range of 1 to 14.
- Series One – Free cards that can be unlocked by players once they reach the Collection Level range of 18-214.
- Series Two – Free cards that can be unlocked by players once they reach the Collection Level range of 222 to 486.
- Series Three – Free cards that can be unlocked by players once they reach the Collection Level range of 486 and above. Additionally, players may have a chance to get a free Series Three card every season.
- Series Four – Cards that cost 3,000 tokens that can be bought from the Token Shop or Weekly Spotlight rotation, as well as from the Spotlight Caches cards pool every week.
- Series Five – Cards that cost 6,000 tokens that can be bought from the Token Shop or Weekly Spotlight rotation, as well as from the Spotlight Caches cards pool every week.
Best Series One decks in Marvel Snap
Ka-Zar Zoo
One of the most reliable decks composed of starter and series zero and one cards is the Ka-Zar Zoo deck. Here, the strategy used is simple: Fill all of your locations with one-cost cards to be boosted by Ka-Zar in the late game. There are also some great late-game cards that can play major roles to bolster your overall Power in the end.
Ka-Zar is a four-cost, four-Power card with an Ongoing ability that gives plus one Power to your one-cost cards. Maximizing the Power bonus from Ka-Zar involves playing numerous one-cost cards with various effects, including Hawkeye and Rocket Raccoon for added Power, Korg for disrupting the opponent’s deck, Nightcrawler for potential movement, Squirrel Girl for a one-cost swarm, and Yondu for card destruction.
Armor is there to protect your cards, while Angela and Wolfsbane can be your alternative Power sources for the deck. Cap off with the explosive Ongoing duo of Iron Man and Onslaught to create even more Power in your locations.
Win condition cards for this deck
You should consider snapping once these cards appear in your hand:
- Ka-Zar
- Angela
- Wolfsbane
- Iron Man
- Onslaught
Ongoing
This deck focuses on using Ongoing cards which can be boosted by Spectrum in the late game. It may be a strategy that can be disrupted by the Ongoing ability removal of Enchantress, Echo, and Rogue, but the Power and control potential this deck can create is massive, especially in the late game.
The cards in this deck that have Ongoing abilities are Armor for protection to your cards, Mister Fantastic for distributing Power to your locations, The Punisher and Captain America for added Power, Namor and Devil Dinosaur for providing the capability to have a potential lone Power source, and Iron Man for doubling the current total Power of the location where he is placed.
Angela and Wolfsbane provide stable Power options for the deck, while Nightcrawler can be used to surprise your opponent by possibly moving him to an unplayable location. As for Sentinel, he is a great steady two-cost, three-Power fodder who can contribute more Power to a location.
Win condition cards for this deck
You should consider snapping once these cards appear in your hand:
- Spectrum
- Devi Dinosaur
- Iron Man
- Namor
On Reveal
Another deck that focuses on a certain ability type is the On Reveal deck. Here, On Reveal abilities are the name of the game in terms of providing a toolbox of effects. Cosmo could be a big counter for this deck. However, she mainly counters a single location, making the other options for this deck more flexible if played on other locations.
The key On Reveal cards for this deck are Wolfsbane and Jessica Jones for great Power potential, White Tiger for possibly swarming locations with her seven-Power Tiger clones, and Odin, who can re-activate the On Reveal effects of cards that are already placed on the same location where you play him.
Other On Reveal cards comprise this deck, including Korg, Rocket Raccoon, Yondu, and Sentinel. Medusa and Star-Lord, on the other hand, are great On Reveal additions in terms of their possible Power spike abilities. Angela is there as an alternative Power source, while America Chavez is a six-cost, nine-Power card that you will always draw on turn six and not earlier, giving you a steady Power source in the last turn.
Win condition cards for this deck
You should consider snapping once these cards appear in your hand:
- Odin
- White Tiger
- Jessica Jones
- Angela
- America Chavez
Move
The last two decks in this guide are based on two of the most popular card mechanics available in the game. The first one is the Move deck, which relies on the strategy of moving cards around locations to potentially create massive Power on locations while presenting a possible unpredictable strategy that can be hard for the opponent to read.
The cards that can move cards around your locations are Iron Fist, Doctor Strange, and Heimdall. They all have prescribed timings of play, ranging from the early to late game, so be wise about when to use them. Nightcrawler, on the other hand, can move himself any time, but only once per game.
Multiple Man is the best move target for this deck thanks to his ability to leave a copy of himself in the original location where he is placed. Combining him with Hulk Buster can give you a two-cost, eight-Power card that can be scattered across your locations. As for Kraven, he can stack plus two Power every time a card is being moved to the location where he is placed.
General tech cards suitable for almost any deck, such as Hawkeye, Angela, Sentinel, and America Chavez are also in this deck. Cap off with Enchantress, who can be used to remove the Ongoing abilities of all cards on the location where you play her.
Win condition cards for this deck
You should consider snapping once these cards appear in your hand:
- Heimdall
- Iron Fist
- Doctor Strange
- Multiple Man
- Hulk Buster
- Kraven
- America Chavez
Destroy
Last but not least is the mechanic where sacrifice can give you a handful of advantages–Destroy. Here, the aim of the deck is to destroy your own cards to unlock certain abilities for your side, such as creating huge Power on your locations.
Carnage and Deathlok are the destroy enablers for this deck. The former gains plus two Power for each card that it will destroy on the location where it is played. On the other hand, the latter is a three-cost, five-Power card that destroys all cards in the location where he is placed.
The cards that benefit from being destroyed in this deck are Nova, who can give plus one Power to all of your cards, and Wolverine, who is a two-cost, two-Power card that can regenerate himself to a random location while stacking plus two Power every time he is destroyed. As for Angel, he flies from your deck to a location whenever a card is destroyed on one of your locations.
Squirrel Girl is there to create more destroy targets, while Yondu provides a bonus card destruction ability. General deck staples like Nightcrawler, America Chavez, and Sentinel are also used in this deck’s strategy. Finish with the powerful combo of Moon Girl, who can duplicate all of your cards in your hand, and Devil Dinosaur, who has an Ongoing ability to gain plus two Power for each card in your hand.
Win condition cards for this deck
You should consider snapping once these cards appear in your hand:
- Carnage
- Deathlok
- Nova
- Wolverine
- Devil Dinosaur
- Moon Girl
Overall strategy for Series One decks in Marvel Snap
Since using cards from series one and below means that you are still in the early Collection Level range of Marvel Snap, do not be afraid to test and experiment on decks until you find the one with the most suitable playstyle for you. However, the choices of cards are still limited within this stage of the game, and the overall potential of decks can still be strengthened as you grind and reach as high as possible in terms of your Collection Level.
Also, the decks that can be created from series one and below all have a direct and straightforward strategy. So, stick to the main plan and use their prescribed offensive and defensive engines for each game as much as possible. You will then see how to adjust them gradually when you progress on your Collection Level, unlocking more key cards along the way.
