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If you’re new toMarvel Snap, building solid decks can be a bit overwhelming at first. But don’t worry—the game’s initial roster of Series One cards is both easy to use and powerful enough to help you win matches. Most Pool One cards can be unlocked after about 15–20 hours of gameplay. Fortunately, these cards are more than enough to get you to Infinite or, at the very least, help you earn enough Cubes to progress faster and unlock better cards.
This beginner-friendly guide offers several early-game decks that use only Pool One and Starter cards. The goal is to help free-to-playMarvel Snapplayers get as much value as paid players without needing to unlock the Season Pass or Series Five cards.
Updated on Jun 01, 2025, by Mohsen Baqery: Marvel Snap’s constant OTAs have been shaking up the metagame in higher ranks, but the early-game META remains largely unchanged since Pool One cards rarely receive major nerfs or upgrades. Regardless, we’ve updated this guide with the latest information and introduced a discard archetype deck for beginners to experiment with early on. Discard is a fun and powerful archetype in higher ranks, with plenty of potential once you unlock better cards from higher pools.
Best Early Powerhouse Deck: Devil Dino & Moon Girl
Dominate Two Locations with a Pair of Devil Dinosaurs
Devil Dinosaur is one of the top early-game cards to unlock inMarvel Snap. This powerful card enables you to build two end-game powerhouses by leveraging the cards in your hand. To createan effective beginner Devil Dinosaur deck, use the following lineup: Devil Dinosaur, Moon Girl, White Queen, Mister Fantastic, Sentinel, Cable, Mantis, Iron Man, Ant-Man, Hawkeye, Nightcrawler, and Medusa.
The core strategy is to use Moon Girl to duplicate your hand, allowing you to play two Devil Dinosaurs, each gaining +2 Power for every card in your hand. (Cable, Mantis, Sentinel, and White Queen helpmaximize the impact of Devil Dinoby keeping your hand full.)
If you don’t draw Devil Dinosaur with Moon Girl, Iron Man can be a strong backup, doubling your Power on the board and helping secure victory.
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Aside from Devil Dinosaur, Moon Girl, White Queen, Sentinel, Cable, Mantis, and Iron Man, the remaining slots in this deck are flexible.
Best For Cubes: Ongoing Spectrum Buff
Surprise the Opponent with a Last-Minute Board-wide Buff
One of the best beginner decks inMarvel Snapisthe Spectrum-Onslaught Ongoing lineup. To recreate this setup, team upSpectrum and Onslaughtwith Hawkeye, Kazar, Klaw, Squirrel Girl, Rocket Raccoon, The Punisher, White Queen, and Iron Man.
This deck dominates early matches because of its"wide" late-game-win strategy. In the early rounds, players focus on spreading their reach by placing one-Cost and Ongoing cards on the board. Later, they buff these drops withPower boosters like Spectrumor Kazar.
By the time the opponent recognizes the deck’s real potential,it will be too late for them to react.
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Best One-Cost: Series One KaZoo Deck
Fill the Board with Cheap Drops and Buff Them into Powerhouses
An ideal beginner deck for all players is aKaZoo lineup with Kazar. To assemble this combination, players will need the following cards: Ant-Man, Korg, Angela, Wolfsbane, Kazar, Squirrel Girl, Nightcrawler, Forge, Mister Sinister, Captain America, Blue Marvel, and Onslaught.
In this deck, the goal is to buff low-Cost, low-Power cards like Angela and Wolfsbane using cheap options such as Nightcrawler and Squirrel Girl.
Best For Ongoing: Ant-Man & Namor Deck
A consistent deck for Series 1 cards isan Ongoing lineuputilizing Ant-Man and Namor’s abilities. To recreate this setup, players will need to team up the mentioned cards with Nightcrawler, Armor, Colossus, Iron Man, Spectrum, Lizard, Klaw, Mister Fantastic, The Punisher, and Captain America.
This is abuff-oriented deck relying on Klaw, Iron Man, Mister Fantastic, and The Punisher’s extra Power surge while protecting the board with Armor and Colossus. Also, Spectrum is specifically beneficial in this lineup, as she was buffed during the October OTA patch.
Best For On Reveal: Elektra-Odin
Retrigger Your Cards' Effects for Multiple Buffs
Since early decks must be easy to play,an On Reveal lineupwith Elektra and Odin is a perfect starter. To reassemble this combination, players will need to utilize Nightcrawler, Rocket Racoon, Ironheart, Enchantress, Spider-Woman, Medusa, Mister Sinister, Wolfsbane, White Tiger, and Odin.
The last card, Odin, plays a significant role in this deck as he duplicates the On Reveal effect of all cards in his lane. Using this synergy, players can get two seven-Power Tigers, multiply Ironheart buffs, quadruple the effect of Iron Man, ordestroy more enemy cards.
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Best Early Movement Deck: Iron Fist & Heimdall
Manage, Mask, and Move Cards Until You Win
A reliable beginner move deck with Pool One cards is a Heimdall-Iron First lineup. Players can recreate this setup by teaming up the two movement heroes (Heimdall and Iron Fist) with Hawkeye, Chavez, Nightcrawler, Kraven, Forge, Bishop, Odin, Doctor Strange, Professor X, and Multiple Man.
The goal of this deck is to fool the enemy into focusing on the mid and right lanes, while the player will shift Power at the last minute to the left side of the board using Heimdall. If this strategy proves useless, they can drop Odin to trigger On Reveal effects on the board and hopefully buff the team with Multiple Man copies and Kraven and Bishop’s passive gains.
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For players who can afford to add characters from higher Pools to this movement deck, incorporating Human Torch would be a fantastic idea. He can bring more than enough value and exploit the Forge, Chavez, and Heimdall synergy.
Best Early Discard Deck: Lady Sif & Apocalypse
Win the Match by Removing Cards from Your Hand
Building a discard deck using only Series 1 cards is quite a challenge, but thisMarvel Snapdeck brings you close to a solid discard lineup. To replicate it, pair Apocalypse and Lady Sif with these cards: Blade, Yondu, Wolverine, Namor, Nova, Carnage, Armor, Sword Master, Rocket Raccoon, and Strong Guy.
As you’re able to see, the lineup includes two cards from the destroy archetype (Carnage and Nova). These cards aren’t your main win conditions but provide utility. Use them to clear a lane, boost your side of the board, or throw off your opponent. They also serve as flex options, so if you have access to cards from higher pools, feel free to swap them in.
Tips For Building A META Early Deck
Important Things To Consider
When assembling a beginner’s deck with earlyMarvel Snapcards, keep these in mind:
