Marvel Snap: Best Pool 1 decks for beginners

Even though Pool 1 is where you begin your Marvel Snap journey, there are plenty of exciting cards and deck-building is just as confusing. To help you breeze through the competition, we’ve compiled the best Pool 1 decks for Marvel Snap beginners.

Since its release in 2022, Marvel Snap has been one of the most popular card games out there, because every match you play is a unique challenge and the same deck can be used in several ways.

Having said that, before you start playing against real players, it is important to have a decent collection of cards and a balanced deck with offensive as well as defensive elements that synergize well. Due to the abundance of options, this can be tricky for beginners and veterans alike.

So, here are the best Pool 1 decks for beginners in Marvel Snap and a rundown of how to play them efficiently.

Best Marvel Snap Pool 1 decks for beginners

At the start of the game, decks rely more on the individual strength of cards instead of team synergy. Naturally, this changes as you unlock cards with more complex abilities and playstyles.

That’s why, we’ll talk about every card individually and specify how you should play it for the best results. Do note that whenever we’ve mentioned terms like 1-3, 6-9, or 3-5, we’re talking about the card’s Energy to Power ratio.

• Control
• Kazar
• Tempo
• Movement
• Hybrid starter
• On Reveal

Control deck

The Control deck in Marvel Snap contains these cards:

• Korg – Ruin one of the opponent’s draws by replacing it with a Rock. Can be highly beneficial in later turns.
• Nightcrawler – Move this card once to gain additional mobility.
• Angela – Buffs cards that are played in its location. Pairing Angela with Nightcrawler (Angela > Nightcrawler > Moving Nightcrawler) is a brilliant strategy that allows you to buff multiple cards.
• Yondu – High risk – high reward card that can remove the opponent’s top card.
• Cable – Takes away the opponent’s bottom card. When used with Yondu, this card can help reduce the number of cards your opponent has.
• Scarlet Witch – If you’ve stumbled upon a location that doesn’t benefit any of your cards, use Scarlet Witch to exchange it. You can also use it if the opponent is gaining too much advantage from a location.
• Wolfsbane – For the maximum value, use it in a lane with at least two cards.
• Cosmo – Helps you avoid On Reveal abilities.
• Enchantress – Removes abilities of all Ongoing cards at a location. This card’s a great counter to Iron Man.
• Jessica Jones – Ideal for mid-turns as you get a +4 Power buff if you don’t play a card in the same location after JJ.
• White Tiger – Summons a 7-power Tiger at one of the two remaining locations.
• Odin – Play Odin after White Tiger to reuse the 7-power Tiger ability.

All in all, this Marvel Snap deck will encourage beginners to control their opponent’s moves by actively altering the match’s elements. There are so many combos that you can get with the starter cards. From combining Angela with Nightcrawler to playing Odin after White Tiger, the attack strategies are certainly flexible and effective.

Kazar deck

The Kazar deck in Marvel Snap revolves around the Kazar card itself. This is because Kazar grants +1 Power to all the 1-Cost cards and makes them significantly valuable. You’d also want to have Blue Marvel who provides another +1 Power buff to all your cards.

You’d also want Onslaught, a card that doubles the Ongoing effects at a location. Lastly, make sure to include Armor as it will protect your cards from an opponent’s Killmonger.

After that, place Kazar, Blue Marvel, and Onslaught in one lane and spread your 1-Power cards at the rest of the locations.

Here’s an example of a Kazar deck:

• Ant-Man
• Squirrel Girl
• Korg
• Nightcrawler
• Angela
• Armor
• Scarlet Witch
• Wolfsbane
• Captain America
• Kazar
• Blue Marvel
• Onslaught

Considering that cards unlock randomly in Marvel Snap, feel free to make adjustments according to your collection. What’s more important here is to stick to the main strategy that involves buffing the majority of the team through Kazar, Blue Marvel, and Onslaught.

Tempo deck

The Tempo deck in Marvel Deck encourages you to set the pace of the game from the first move with these cards:

• Hawkeye – Quickly becomes the most valuable 1-3 Card in Marvel Snap once you play a card in the same location after it.
• Korg
• Nightcrawler
• Angela – Make sure to perform the Nightcrawler + Angela combo mentioned above for the most value.
• Medusa – Play Hawkeye and Medusa in the middle lane to instantly get seven Power.
• Scarlet Witch
• Lizard – A slightly complicated card to play but worth the effort once you get the hang of it. You can either play it toward the end to get the 2-5 value or at the beginning so the opponent is forced to play at least four cards in the location.
• Mister Fantastic – Should be placed in the middle lane for maximum value.
• Captain America – Buffs all cards at the location.
• Jessica Jones – Just don’t play a card at the same location after her and you get an easy 4-8.
• Iron Man – Simply doubles the Power of a location and is one of the best Marvel Snap cards.
• America Chavez – Not only a strong 6-9 card but also allows you to draw from 11 cards in the first five turns.

To see the Tempo deck in action, you can check out this gameplay guide by Alexander Coccia:

Movement deck

As the name suggests, this Marvel Snap deck expects you to constantly move your cards and surprise the opponent till the end.

Marvel Snap beginners will need these cards to set up a Movement deck:

• Iron Fist
• Nightcrawler
• Multiple Man – Key component of this deck. Place Iron Fist on the first turn and then follow up with Multiple Man to make the most of its duplication abilities.
• Dr. Strange – Another card that helps in movement.
• Hulk Buster – Acts as a support card for Multiple Man.
• Heimdall – Another card that’ll help you create as many Multiple Man clones as possible.
• American Chavez
• Enchantress
• Miles Morales Spiderman – Considering that this deck is largely based on movement, you can easily make this card a valuable 3-5.
• Angela
• Forge
• Kraven – Gains two Power Points when a card moves at its location.

YouTuber Specimen came up with the movement deck mentioned above, and to see it in action, here’s his detailed gameplay with it:

Hybrid starter deck

The Hybrid deck comprises Marvel Snap cards that facilitate movement, control, and buffs. If you’ve been impressed with all the decks mentioned above and couldn’t select one, this deck might be the one for you.

Here’s a list of the cards:

• Ant-Man
• Hawkeye
• Nightcrawler
• Quick Silver
• Colossus
• Sentinel
• Mister Fantastic
• The Punisher
• Kazar
• Iron Man
• Blue Marvel
• Spectrum

How to play:

Your goal with this deck is to place all the 1-power cards first and then surprise the opponent by buffing them with Kazar. Interestingly, even a Korg Rock won’t hurt much when you’re playing a Kazar card, as you’ll be able to buff it.

The remaining cards in this deck utilize the strategies mentioned above. While Colossus is a Control-heavy card, Nightcrawler enhances movement. Overall, you’ll have a flexible deck at your disposal that is worthy enough to counter the majority of meta decks.

On Reveal Deck

The On Reveal deck lets Marvel Snap cards with On Reveal abilities flourish. The Key is to use a bunch of On Reveal cards that get a boost if your opponent played a card at the same location. Cards such as Ironheart, Wolfsbane, and White Tiger are crucial. Other On Reveal that can come in handy include Starlord, Gamora, and Drax.

Here’s an example of an On Reveal deck:

• Hawkey
• Rocket Raccoon
• Yondu
• Cable
• Medusa
• Mister Sinister
• Ironheart
• Wolfsbane
• Hulk Buster
• Jessica Jones
• White Tiger
• Odin

Odin is crucial to this deck as he activates the On Reveal abilities of all the cards in the location. It’s best to play the card in the same lane as Ironheart, Wolfsbane, and White Tiger. Doing so will trigger Wolfsbane’s ability and add another 7-Power Tiger to the location.

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Well, these were some of the best beginner decks for Marvel Snap players who are still in Pool 1. For more Marvel Snap content, take a look at:

How to get Collector’s Token in Marvel Snap | Every Marvel Snap location and effect | How to earn free Credits quickly in Marvel Snap | Best Kingpin decks in Marvel Snap | Best Patriot deck in Marvel Snap