The Best Cards in Pool 1

The mighty heroes and villains acquired in Marvel Snap form strong decks that build power through the cards available in Pool 1, the first group of characters players can find to build the foundation for their initial collections. Pool 1 has 46 cards, which players start unlocking after upgrading their Collection Level to 18. Until Collection Level 214, cards from this Pool are the only ones that show up through the “Mystery Card” reward in the progression system, except for variants and exclusive characters gained through the purchase of the Season Pass.

The best cards from Pool 1 in Marvel Snap coincide with the stronger archetypes found at that level, mostly seen through Ongoing, Zoo, Move, Control, Discard, and Destroy deck prototypes whose essential cards help players secure wins at the earlier stages of play. On Reveal cards such as Odin and White Tiger make up the sample deck players gain before receiving brand-new characters. While there is some support through Pool 1 for these cards, the majority encourages players to experiment with different strategies as their roster grows. Deckbuilding in Marvel Snap relies on card combos from each other’s effects, and Pool 1 allows players to gain building blocks to execute those ideas.

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Ramp Up the Power with Onslaught, Klaw, and Captain America

The most consistent way to win in Marvel Snap is to have cards that output more Power at Locations than the opponent. Nowhere can this trait be more exemplified than the anchor card Onslaught, found in Pool 1, an X-Men villain with a 6 Energy Cost and 7 Power. Although expensive to play, Onslaught doubles any Ongoing effects at a Location, which automatically synergizes with the Klaw and Captain America cards. Klaw, a 5 Energy 4 Power card, boosts the overall Power value of the Location to the right by +6, which can go up to +12 when using an Onslaught deck in Marvel Snap. In the same vein, Captain America only costs 3 Energy with 3 Power, while giving all other cards at a Location +1 Power is also an excellent tool.

From the player’s original collection, Iron Man, Mr. Fantastic, and Ant-Man automatically mesh well with these Pool 1 cards to formulate a potent offense. Despite the reliance on drawing Onslaught at the right time, many of these cards on their own still create great sources of Power at different Locations. Players might naturally gravitate toward this archetype from the Odin On Reveal quickly since many cards are already in their collection that supports this playstyle.

Overwhelm Opponents with Moon Girl, Devil Dinosaur, and Angela

​​​​​​​Having more cards in Marvel Snap may often build a natural advantage against an opponent, primarily through the use of Moon Girl. A 4 Energy 4 Power card, Moon Girl duplicates the player’s hand when played, giving them many more cards to use for varying situations. Arguably one of the strongest cards in Marvel Snap, Angela capitalizes off this, gaining +2 Power every time the player places a card in their Location. With only a 2 Energy Cost and 1 Power to start, Angela depends on players using a deck with many cards to play before the end of six turns. Taking this even further, Devil Dinosaur is a 5 Energy cost 3 Power card that gains +2 Power for each card in the player’s hand, frequently leading to ridiculous value.

Cards that players already have without spending money in Marvel Snap, like Kazar and Blue Marvel, encourage the Location filling strategies that befit a Zoo deck. Since the main counter to Devil Dinosaur, Shang-Chi, does not appear until Pool 2, players can rapidly gain Cubes by synergizing low Energy cost cards with a large hand without worrying about being particularly countered. Blue Marvel and Devil Dinosaur can be a deadly team-up within Pool 1 play since either card functions well as a deck’s anchor and leave room for more than one card to be played on turn 6 through their 5 Energy cost.

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Create Tricky Situations with Heimdall, Doctor Strange, Iron Fist, and Kraven

Move decks are incredibly unorthodox in Marvel Snap, relying on players to deceive their opponents before moving cards to Locations in Marvel Snap that calculate Power differently than expected. For example, Iron Fist, a 1 Energy cost 2 Power card, moves the next card the player sets one position to the left, a great early card to fit into this archetype. Kraven builds off this at later stages of a match, a 2 Energy 2 Power card that gains +2 Power every time a card moves to its location, which incentivizes players to use Nightcrawler more from their initial set since it can move wherever it wants one time.

Doctor Strange, a 3 Energy 3 Cost card, does a great job taking a player’s advantage and repositioning it, taking the highest Power card on the player’s field and moving it to Strange’s Location. A combo with Kraven or even Multiple Man, a slightly weaker character among the best cards in Marvel Snap as a 2 Energy 3 Power card from Pool 1, leads players to form unique compositions across Locations that may cause an opponent to make mistakes. Heimdall represents the ultimate progression of this philosophy in Pool 1, anchoring an early Move deck with a 6 Energy 8 Power card that moves every other card; the player has one Location to the left.

Take Control with Professor X, Spider-Woman, and Enchantress

An easy way for players to avoid getting outdone by strong combos coming from Onslaught, Devil Dinosaur, or other cards comes from using Control cards to limit their foe’s ability. For example, Enchantress comes in as a 4 Energy 4 Power card that deactivates all Ongoing effects at a Location, absolutely demolishing an Onslaught or Iron Man being used to create ridiculous Power. A Card that’s useful even in later Pools, Enchantress can earn players Cubes and Gold in Marvel Snap rapidly by shutting down powerful strategies. Similarly, Professor X, a 5 Energy 3 Power card, uses an Ongoing effect to lock down a Location, preventing either player from setting any more cards there.

Spider-Woman, a 5 Energy 7 Power card, also does well in this regard, reducing the Power of all enemy cards at their Location -1 when played through an On Reveal effect. Although players could also use Spider-Woman alongside Odin, she tends to shine in decks that focus on disrupting enemy plans and locking down Locations. Other cards like Cosmo and Armor are also useful cards in Pool 1 that formulate this archetype, but each are considered as specific counters to Ongoing or Destroy decks in Marvel Snap, making them more dependent on distinct circumstances.

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Discard Apocalypse with Lady Sif and Sword Master

​​​​​​​Apocalypse, an anchor 6 Energy 8 Power card, builds power through a Discard deck strategy, regenerating with +4 Power each time it is removed from the player’s hand. Lady Sif discards the highest Energy Cost card in the player’s hand when used, which more often than not becomes Apocalypse when in a player’s hand. In the same vein, Sword Master discards one random card from the player’s hand when used but makes up for any mistake with a staggering 3 Energy 6 Power base stat that gives players help even if their Apocalypse deck in Marvel Snap does not have the titular piece to its puzzle. Pool 1 Discard decks are high risk and high reward, so players should consider having an alternate anchor, such as America Chavez, whose ability guarantees her being drawn on turn 6 for a 6 Energy 9 Power card.

Gain an Appetite for Destruction with Carnage, Nova, Wolverine, and Angel

Destroy decks are powerful even in their beginnings from Pool 1, with cards such as Carnage dominating the strategy behind them. The manic symbiote gains +2 Power onto its original 2 Energy Cost and 2 Base Power after it destroys every other card present at the Location it’s placed at. Should players also have Angel in their deck at this time, the angelic X-Man will fly onto the Location where Carnage destroyed cards, leading to situations where players can level up quickly in Marvel Snap by having 10 Power on a Location through an 8 Power Carnage and 1 Energy 2 Power Angel through an easy-to-understand combo.

Nova and Wolverine, 1 Energy 2 Power, and 2 Energy 3 Power cards, respectively, are good cards for players to use when building Carnage’s Power increase. Nova gives all other cards the player controls +1 Power when destroyed, and Wolverine regenerates to a random Location when removed in any way. The bonus and retention of cards on the field lets players not accidentally dismantle their own Power potential in Marvel Snap, making the best from cards in Pool 1 to accomplish their goals and win several games.

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