Tokens in Marvel Snap are not exactly easy to obtain. They accumulate over time, but it’s hard to justify spending a ton of tokens on a card you aren’t sure is going to be good. Some of the series 4 and 5 costs are just not worth it, and it can really stink to have wasted some tokens on a card that’s mediocre at best.
At the same time, some of the series 4 or 5 cards are some of the best cards in the game, or even just define deck archetypes completely. Some decks, like Discard, Clutter, and Destroy, require some of these cards in order to perform well in high ranks.
So what are these best cards? Well, isn’t that why you’re here? All these cards are good in their own right, but only the greatest can top the list. Those precious tokens should be used for these great cards, and probably not just whoever is the coolest.
15. Sebastian Shaw (Good)
3/4. When this card permanently gains Power, gain +2 more Power. (wherever this is)
Sebastian is on here because he is so good in a Silver Surfer deck that every Surfer deck in high ranks has him as a must-have. His ability to gain power every time the Surfer uses his on-reveal makes him a no-brainer and an easy card to use in the Surfer archetype. Not to mention, Silver Surfer is one of the best decks in the meta right now. If you plan on or love playing Silver Surfer, then definitely grab this guy as soon as possible; he will be well worth the 6,000 tokens.
Sebastian Shaw review:
- A key component of the Silver Surfer archetype gets +4 from the Surfer instead of +2, and he also gains additional power from Ironheart, who is also prominent in Silver Surfer decks.
- Locations like Muir Island and Stark Tower grant him additional power as well, giving him a huge advantage with locations that grant power.
- Sebastian constantly grows throughout the game as long as you keep buffing him, making him an incredible card against Lockdown and Clutter since, as long as he’s there, you can still increase the power of that location.
14. Nebula (Good)
1/1. Each turn your opponent doesn’t play a card here, +2 Power. (except the turn you play this)
Nebula is a perfect all-around, good 1 cost card. Her ability to pressure the opponent into playing in her lane is amazing. She’s always a pain for your foe to deal with since they must always decide whether to play somewhere else and give her +2 or play on her to stop her from gaining +2. Nebula has a lot of homes in the meta and in current decks, making her a very easy-to-slot card that’s a steal for 3,000 tokens.
Nebula review:
- The pressure she applies is a constant annoyance for your opponent. It stresses them to play onto her and not in other lanes in order for her not to gain +2 power.
- She’s an easy slot for most decks. Being a good 1 cost card means it’s easy to just throw her into anything as an easy card to play on turn 1. Just to name a few, she’s often used in Ongoing, Clutter, Lockdown, Discard, and High Evolutionary decks.
- Her synergies with locations are also phenomenal. Your opponent can’t really stop her from gaining power if they can’t fit in such a small place like Hank Pym’s Miniterized Lab, which guarantees she gets some of her power gains by default. Making her at least a 1/5 pretty easily.
13. Mockingbird (Good)
5/9. Costs 1 less for each of your cards in play that didn’t start in your deck.
Mockingbird has a very strong statline and a condition that makes it easy to reduce her cost pretty quickly. Using her optimally will easily get her to at least a 3 cost and below pretty quick, and anything with that kind of cost and 9 power is quite a play. She’s used in a variety of decks that incorporate cards that don’t start in your deck, making her easy to swap in for a variety of playstyles. Would definitely recommend grabbing this one for 6,000 tokens.
Mockingbird review:
- Her ability allows her to reduce her cost pretty easily and allows her to be played much earlier in the game. Pairing her with Patriot, Thanos, Clutter, or Loki decks allows her cost to go down quite fast.
- Her 9-power statline makes her quite powerful and makes her immune to Shang-Chi. Getting 9 power down at a low cost that your opponent can’t do much about is very powerful.
- Locations like Squirrel Park and Savage Land add cards to the board that didn’t start in your deck, meaning a simple Squirrel Park is enough to get her to cost 0 immediately, allowing you to hold her and play her whenever the time is right because she’s free!
12. Ms. Marvel (Good)
4/4. Ongoing: Your adjacent locations with 2+ cards and no repeated Costs have +5 Power.
Ms. Marvel would've been number one on her release; however, she has gotten nerfed a lot (sorry, Kamala), but thankfully not to the point where she is no longer viable. Ms. Marvel’s ability to put five power in the other lanes if you meet her condition proves to be quite a helping hand in a lot of decks. Specifically, in Lockdown and Ongoing, she shines and provides additional power across the board, and takes advantage of your cards each having a different cost. A great addition to most decks for only 6,000 tokens.
Ms. Marvel review:
- She grants an additional five power to other lanes if her condition is met. Greatly benefits low-power cards like Iron Man and Professor X by providing that much-needed boost.
- A fantastic card, when a location is locked down, can easily get you that additional five power as long as you have two cards with different costs.
- Ongoing card, which means she will benefit from Onslaught’s citadel. She will also get power boosts from Spectrum.
- She is easy to fit in most decks, such as Ongoing, Lockdown, Ronan, and Living Tribunal.
11. M.O.D.O.K. (Good
5/8. On Reveal: Discard your hand.
M.O.D.O.K. is in another situation, just like Shaw, where he’s not an all-around good card for every deck but is a must for discard. Discard decks like Classic and Hela decks require this card in order to play to their fullest. His ability to discard your entire hand can prove incredibly useful to buff cards like Morbius and The Collector while also discarding cards like Swarm and Apocalypse to further increase the capabilities of your cards. If you’re a discard lover, this should be on your wishlist for cards that cost 3,000 tokens.
M.O.D.O.K. review:
- His ability to discard your entire hand makes him a must-have for any discard deck. He instantly shoots any discard deck from good to incredible once he’s added.
- Locations like Kamar-Taj and Bar Sinister boost M.O.D.O.K. even more for Classic Discard, discarding your Swarms and Apocalypses multiple times and buffing your cards further.
- Is a fantastic counter to many decks like Ronan.
- His statline is below 10 power, which makes him immune to Shang-Chi. 8 power is also a very good statline to have.
10. Kitty Pryde (Great)
1/1. When this returns to your hand, +1 Power. Returns at the start of each turn.
Kitty Pryde will probably always remain a very powerful card in the right hands. Her ability basically means that, as long as you have enough energy, you can play her for 1. Sure, she’ll come back to your hand every turn, but she gets stronger each time that happens. Her best friend in the game, is Angela. Kitty can be played every turn, giving you one card to be played on Angela each turn, which will buff Angela +2 every time. This also works for a multitude of cards that need a card to be played, such as Elsa Bloodstone, Hope Summers, Hit-Monkey, and Bishop, making her very valuable at 3,000 tokens.
Kitty Pryde review:
- Is a must-have definer for Hit-Monkey and Bounce decks.
- It can be played every turn and is spectacular with cards that get bonuses for cards being played.
- It completely counters and is incredibly helpful against Clutter and decks that use Nebula.
- Locations like Shuri’s lab and Elysium are Kitty’s best friends and are probably an instant snap if you run Kitty.
9. Mobius M. Mobius (Great)
3/3. Ongoing: Your Costs can’t be increased. Your opponent’s Costs can’t be reduced.
One of the few tech cards tied to tokens, and there’s a reason why. Mobius M. Mobius is just a very consistent card, and as the game changes and the meta shifts, Mobius will just get better. His ability to shut down cost reduction can be key to a victory over so many decks in the game that it’s always worth cramming him into your decks as a backup. Loki, Discard, Shenaut, and Surfer decks will cry upon seeing Mobius play as he completely shuts down their main gameplan. Mobius is Great right now, but it’s entirely possible he can go up to Best as the meta changes to revolve more around cost reduction. At only 3,000 tokens, this is also a very safe card to pick up.
Mobius M. Mobius review:
- It shuts down cost reduction decks that use cards like Loki and Ravonna Renslayer, completely counters some cards like Swarm and Death, and protects your own costs from cards like Iceman and Baron Mordo.
- Benefits from locations like Elysium since he completely stops your opponent from getting the cost reduction. He also protects you from Icebox and Dream Dimension.
- The 3/3 statline also makes him a perfect tech option in decks that buff cards. He is amazing in Silver Surfer and Cerebro 3.
8. Red Hulk (Great)
6/10. When your opponent ends a turn with unspent Energy, +3 Power. (if in hand or in play)
Our first six cost here, and it’s not really a surprise that he’s up here. As of now, Red Hulk is easily one of the best six costs in the game in terms of his full potential and the pressure he puts on the opponent. Red Hulk has zero restrictions on being played besides his cost, and yet after two turns of skips from your opponent, he becomes a 6/16, which is much larger than cards that do have restrictions like Giganto and Agatha Harkness. Although your opponent can see when he grows and knows he’s in your hand, which is a downside. It ultimately won’t matter because of his presence and how he forces the opponent to use all their energy unless they want Red Hulk to be bigger. For any deck that likes big six costs, definitely grab this for 6,000.
Red Hulk review:
- Creates pressure by making your foe use all their energy in order to stop Red Hulk from gaining power.
- Can grow to power sizes much larger than cards with restrictions like Infinaut.
- A fantastic throw-in for decks that use big cards, such as Ramp or Hela decks.
- Big and red.
7. Loki (Great)
4/5. On Reveal: Transform your hand into cards from your opponent’s starting deck and give them -1 Cost.
Loki is and always will be a threat on the board. His ability is just so strong and gives you so many tools to beat your opponent. Not only does he copy their cards and basically tell you what they’re going 2to play, but he also reduces their cost by 1, making it so you have the cheaper version of their deck. He's excellent in decks that love to generate cards, which funnily enough makes him perfect in decks with S.H.I.E.L.D. agents. In the right hands, Loki is a menace, a constant looming danger for only 6,000 tokens.
Loki review:
- Copies the opponent’s deck, giving you a very valuable tool for knowing what their game plan is and what possible cards they could have in their hand.
- Reduces the cost of cards you copy, giving you a cheap deck to combat your opponent with.
- Is a great backup plan for card generation decks using The Collector or Devil Dinosaur.
6. High Evolutionary (Great)
4/4. At the start of the game, unlock the potential of your cards with no abilities.
This is a rare situation where the card itself isn’t a good card—a 4/4 with no abilities? That’s terrible? However, then you see his potential. Sure, he himself is a dead card, but the abilities and power he gives to cards that don’t have abilities make him create a whole new archetype that you can’t make without him. Every time you end a turn with unused energy, you can see much of that newfound power through Hulk, Cyclops, and Misty Knight. If you want to try a deck that’s not like any other but is also quite good, High Evolutionary is a great grab for 6,000 tokens.
High Evolutionary review
- Gives abilities to cards that don’t have abilities. Suddenly, that Shocker you have so many boosters for isn’t so useless anymore.
- He is his own deck archetype; you can get away with a deck like Silver Surfer not having specific cards, but here you require High Evolutionary to play this deck.
- Has a variety of decks to play, whether that be floating turns with Misty Knight, Cyclops, and Hulk, or applying toxic with Wasp, The Thing, and Abomination. There’s a lot of ways you can play a High Evolutionary deck.
5. Nico Minoru (Best)
1/2. On Reveal: After you play your next card, cast a spell. (The spell changes each turn.)
Getting into the top 5, we start off with Nico Minoru. Nico is an interesting card to talk about because her spells all do something different. But all of those different effects are incredibly good. She has all these different abilities, like doubling her power, giving another card +2 power, and turning a card into a 1/6 demon, just to name a few. As a 1 cost with that strength, it instantly puts her above many other 1 cost cards due to her ability to adapt and give you many methods of winning the game. Easy slot in for any need for a 1 cost in any deck; that’s 6,000 tokens going into a card that will prove to always be useful.
Nico Minoru review:
- She has many different spells and abilities, giving her a multitude of ways to win a game. Besides the ones already listed, she can also change locations, move a card, and destroy a card in order to draw two.
- Being a one-cost card makes her an easy slot-in for many decks that just need a cheap card. She is never a bad option due to the many abilities she has at her disposal.
- Essential for decks like Destroy, Bounce, and Phoenix Force. Her abilities just always supply you with something beneficial, whether that be buffing a Deadpool by 2 or killing a Multiple Man so you can bring him back with the Phoenix Force.
4. Annihilus (Best)
5/6. On Reveal: Your cards with Power below 0 switch sides. Destroy those that can’t.
Annihilus is the highest archetype definer on this list. He isn’t like the rest of the top five, where they can be moved around and used in a multitude of decks, but he is just so good at what he does best. Clutter decks will always be good and always have been, but when Annihilus dropped, he shot that deck to the top meta, and now it still is. The pressure he provides and the amount of versatility he has are just too good to pass up; sending -3 hoods over or -8 voids over has never felt so satisfying. For any clutter deck enjoyer, we highly recommend grabbing this 6,000 token card asap.
Annihilus review:
- Essential for creating the top clutter decks in the game, he allows you to send over negative power cards and completely counter Green Goblin and Hobgoblin.
- He provides pressure, as when the opponent sees those negative power cards, they know Annihilus is coming, making them panic and scramble to fill up those lanes so they don’t get that negative power.
- He benefits from negative power locations like Negative Zone and Thunderbolts Tower since he can send over any card that’s in negative power.
3. Ravonna Renslayer (Best)
2/3. Ongoing: Your cards with 1 or less Power cost 1 less. (minimum 1)
Zabu was once the king of cost reduction, but now we’re in an age where he's been nerfed to the ground, and we have a new queen of cost reduction. Ravonna Renslayer is too good of a card to pass up for 3,000 tokens. Her cost reduction makes a lot of decks better than ever. She can reduce any cards that have 1 or less power. Meaning she reduces Goblins for clutter decks, she reduces Jubilee for ramp decks, and she reduces Iron Man and Mystique for ongoing decks. She just makes a significant margin of Snap’s decks much more usable and significantly stronger.
Ravonna Renslayer review:
- Reduces the cost of a significant number of cards in many decks, making her usable in a multitude of ways. Maybe you want to discount Professor X for lockdown or discount Mister Negative to get him out earlier.
- A strong cost-reducer at two costs makes her easily one of the strongest two costs in Marvel Snap. She is consistently used way more than Zabu and Psylocke in most decks. 2 cost also means you can play her much earlier.
- Benefit from locations like Onslaught’s citadel and Sinister London for even more cost reduction and more ways to outplay your opponent.
2. Iron Lad (Best)
4/6. On Reveal: Copy the text of your deck’s top card.
These top two cards are consistently in the top three of any professional snapper’s tier list and probably will always remain that way. Iron Man… No wait, sorry, Iron Lad is practically a requirement for top-tier decks, just like the number one spot. Copying the text of your top card essentially means, in most situations, you are using two of the same cards. You can also get the effects of six-cost cards out early, just like Jubilee, but unlike her, he takes up much less space. He can copy Doctor Doom and create Doom bots, or he can copy Black Panther and double his power. He has plenty of unique situations for whom he copies, all while only being 4. Priority number one is buying cards that cost 6,000 tokens.
Iron Lad review:
- He can copy any card in the game, making him have a multitude of unique interactions, and in some cases, copying a high-cost card guarantees a win, like copying Iron Man or Devil Dinosaur.
- He is in a multitude of decks, like Silver Surfer, Ongoing, Thanos, Patriot, Ramp, Lockdown, Ronan, and Living Tribunal. Since he has the ability to not only get the effect of a card out early but also adapt to specific situations.
- Has a strong premium statline at 4 cost, 6 power. So even if he copies a card with no text, he is still a strong 6 power card on the board, which means it's never a waste to just throw him down.
1. Jeff the Baby Land Shark (Best)
2/3. You can move this once. Nothing can stop you from moving or playing this to any location.
This should be no surprise; Jeff the Baby Land Shark is such a good card, to the point where he’s on the same level as Shang-Chi. He has one unique ability that no other card in the game has, making him uncontested in this spot because his unique ability is just that stupendous. Being able to be played on locations that can’t be played matters so much in a game where those locations exist all the time. Whether that be bad locations, flooded locations from Storm, or Professor X’s lockdown, he counters all of that. On top of all of that, he can move. Jeff will and will always be not only the best Series 5 card but also the best 2-cost card in the game; easily spend those 6,000 tokens on him.
Jeff the Baby Land Shark review:
- Unique and insanely strong ability to be played and moved into locations that cards cannot add to. Allowing you to have more lane space and counter lockdown decks.
- Can move, meaning he can adapt to situations and move away to another location to win.
- An easy throw in for any deck. He is essentially considered a tech card and is inserted in literally every deck in the game. He is just that good.
- He’s adorable :)
