Marvel Snap – Best Decks to Use (July 2023)

Marvel Snap has just had its July 2023 patch and it’s time to take a look at which decks are the best to use. Is High Evo still prevalent post-nerf? The question of ‘what decks are meta’ generally differs from player to player. For example, some people might love playing bounce, while others might find it a bit confusing. It also depends which cards you do and don’t have. All in all, there are a handful of decks that can guarantee you victory regardless of skillset. Some are easier to use than others, but once you get the hang of it, you’ll be winning 8-cubers like it was nothing! If you’re missing a bunch of cards, fear not, for this list includes possible replacements and interchangeable tech cards.

Sera Surfer – A Triumphant Return

The first deck we’re going to cover is ‘Sera Surfer’. This deck has slowly crept up in popularity due to the sheer amount of useful 3-cost drops. What this deck aims to do is to boost said 3-costs using Silver Surfer. On turn 5 you can play Sera, allowing you to play 2 other 3-costs alongside Surfer on turn 6. This can act as an element of surprise as your opponent is unsure which cards you’re going to play. The deck is as follows:

• Nova
• Goose
• Rogue
• Dazzler
• Silver Surfer
• Polaris
• Juggernaut
• Brood
• Killmonger
• Shadow King
• Maximus
• Sera

Sera Surfer deck list.

First of all, the sheer amount of counters in this deck are extremely clutch in countering other meta-relevant decks. For example, Killmonger destroys Kitty Pryde and Nebula. Shadow King is perfect for shutting down Angela, Bishop and any other annoying bounce-related card. Even Rogue is slotted into the deck to rob the effects of Devil Dino, Darkhawk, Iron Man, Morbius and more! In terms of defense, this deck has got it all. 

Slotting in Goose is essential in guaranteeing victory in a lane. You are able to play Brood or Maximus underneath, which then get boosted by Surfer resulting in immense power. This is all while your opponent is unable to play their big 4, 5, or 6-cost plays such as The Hulk or America Chavez. Juggernaut is a really sneaky card as it can push your enemies cards out of a lane, winning you that lane completely. You can even slot Kingpin into this deck for a niche yet fun combo. In fact, all of the 3-cost drops are interchangeable with other 3-costs. That’s the beauty of this deck, you could switch Rogue for Cosmo for example, or even Killmonger for Storm. The re-worked Nakia and newly released Jean Grey are also part of the reason why people have started using Surfer again.

Patriot – Ol’ Reliable

You know what they say, you cannot go wrong with Patriot. Okay, maybe that’s not a used saying, but you know what is used? Patriot. It’s such a simple deck to pilot with the goal of boosting your non-ability cards using Patriot’s on-going effect. Generally, people like to run Iron-Lad in this deck. However, for the sake of the people who do not own him yet, here is a simple deck list to guarantee you success.

• Squirrel Girl
• Mister Sinister
• Goose
• Mystique
• Patriot
• Brood
• Dazzler
• Debris
• The Thing
• Abomination
• Blue Marvel
• Ultron

Patriot deck list.

Goose and Brood make appearances yet again. Goose is included in order to avoid getting Enchantress-ed, however, you can use Cosmo instead if you wish. Brood creates 2 other Broodlings that have no ability and thus being able to be buffed by Patriot. This is the perfect card to fill locations such as ‘The Raft‘ and ‘Mojoworld‘ without sacrificing much power. Of course, the staple cards such as Mister Sinister, Abomination and The Thing are included and serve as a great energy-to-power ratio. You can substitute these cards for Cyclops, The Hulk, or Wasp.

Mystique is there mainly to copy Patriot, resulting in a greater boost for your no ability cards. Dazzler might be a puzzling pick, however, with Brood, Mister Sinister, Debris, and Ultron, you’ve almost always got at least two lanes fully packed. Squirrel Girl helps access locations that are blocked off and Blue Marvel helps to further boost total power across the board. Finally, Debris is used to clog up your opponents lanes with rocks that you can boost on your side.

High Evo – I’m Still Standing

Despite being the victim of a sad yet deserved nerf, High Evo still stands strong in the current meta. In fact, the change to Hulk makes it so that your opponents cannot exactly calculate how much power your Hulk will be. This is because floating turns only adds to Hulk’s power if he is on the board or in your hand. Thus, if you have Hulk in your hand and float a turn, your opponent can only guess if you drew Hulk or not. This adds a whole new element of mind-games and can open the door for some bluff snapping on turn 6. This is the deck list:

• Wasp
• Sunspot
• Shocker
• Cyclops
• Thor
• Lockjaw
• Storm
• High Evolutionary
• Jubilee
• Thing
• Jane Foster
• Hulk

High Evolutionary deck list.

Janejaw by itself is an overpowered deck that substitutes the High Evolutionary related cards for Dracula, Infinaut, Magneto and more. That deck focuses on cycling Mjolnir into Lockjaw multiple times in order to massively boost Thor, so Imagine combining that core play-style with an entirely different archetype that is equally as powerful. This is what High Evolutionary Janejaw is: an unstoppable combination of two deadly decks. On top of that all, throwing down Cyclops after playing Storm, basically guarantees that location for you. There are so many win conditions that it almost makes you feel bad for your opponent, almost. That being said, be on the lookout for cards such as: Shang-Chi, Luke Cage and Shadow King, as they can interrupt the effectiveness of your plays. 

Bounce – Let’s Go Ham!

The notorious bounce is infamously known for being extremely annoying to play against. As a result, piloting the deck is a ton of fun. Many players have lost to this deck so it is without a doubt that this deck is engrained in your memory. This is the ultimate bounce deck list:

• Iceman
• Bast
• Kitty Pryde
• Spider-Ham
• Falcon
• Hit-Monkey
• Angela
• The Collector
• Mysterio
• Bishop
• Beast
• America Chavez

Bounce deck list.

Arguably the most meta deck on this list, the aim is to use Spider-Ham and Iceman multiple times to ruin your opponent’s plans. Doing so not only is disrupts your opponent, but simultaneously feeds your Bishop, Angela and Collector. You can play your 1-cost cards onto Angela, then Falcon them back, allowing you to free up space to further boost Angela’s power. Alternatively, you can Beast back practically any card on this list, supplying you with discounted versions of said Beast-ed cards. Typically, you are looking to dump a lot of power on turn 6. For example, playing Hit-Monkey, Kitty Pryde, and Mysterio. This deck includes America Chavez as a back-up plan if the opponent plays Wave on turn 5. Spider-Ham has been one of the most popular recently released cards and this deck is exactly why.

Destroy – Newly Refined

Classic destroy decks are consistently good decks and seem to always be relevant no matter the meta. They tend to be pretty straight-forward and linear, however, recently there have been some nice new additions to their arsenal. This includes; Phoenix Force, Negasonic, and the buff to Nimrod. A new version of destroy has burst onto the scene full of different play patterns. There is the vertical pattern in Knull, dumping huge power in one lane, or horizontal, utilizing Nimrod’s ability to create copies of itself to spread power across the board. This the the new destroy deck list:

• Nova
• Deadpool
• Carnage
• Bucky Barnes
• Wolverine
• Hulk Buster
• Killmonger
• Venom
• Shuri
• Nimrod
• Knull
• Death

Destroy deck list.

The goal is simple: destroy. There are a few substitutes you can make, such as; Destroyer instead of Death, and Sabretooth instead of Hulk Buster but it simply comes down to which cards you feel the most comfortable using. One thing to look out for is that the deck can sometimes feel a bit clunky due to it being susceptible to a plethora of cards, most notably; Shang-Chi and Cosmo. On top of that, you might find yourself spending too many resources trying to make Deadpool bigger, which can hinder your total power in the other locations. A 4-power Deadpool is still good enough to get the job done alongside a powerful cast of cards. Note that you can use Nimrod and Wolverine to access difficult-to-reach locations.

That brings us to the end of the list of the best decks currently in Marvel Snap. Not only are they fun-to-use, but also extremely effective in netting you those much-needed wins. Make sure you stay up-to-date with the game and its constantly changing meta by checking our Marvel Snap articles. For more information regarding specific card changes, patches, updates or more, simply visit the official Marvel Snap website.