Card placement is a key part of playing Marvel Snap. Where your cards are can determine who wins and who loses. You can literally lose games just because that one cost card you played turn one wasn’t in the correct lane you wanted them in. This isn’t even adding to the fact that locations can completely destroy your game plan.
Perhaps you put a one cost card in an unrevealed location, then the location reveals itself—it’s Space Throne. Now that location is lost and you have to struggle to pull off a win on the only two remaining locations. It can be hard to know where to play certain cards. Placements are literally the most important factor in Marvel Snap, but what if that was no longer an issue?
Introducing Move decks. Movement based decks are all about including cards that can move around the board. Suddenly, where you play your cards doesn’t matter as much since you have a way to move them out whenever you please. Moving is an incredible strength for any deck and here are some of the best decks in the game that are all about thwipping from place to place!
5. Bounce Move
On your left.
Move began with a simple idea in mind, to combine all the cards that gain buffs from moving with well—cards that move other cards. Dagger and Vulture may not see much play elsewhere, but in this deck, they thrive. Dagger and Vulture both gain additional power by moving to another lane; the same can be said for Human Torch. All of these cards have some unique ability that activates when they are moved, which makes them excellent cards when paired with cards that move others. Ghost Spider, Iron Fist, Doctor Strange, and Cloak all allow you to move one of those other cards.
Moving those cards makes them so much stronger than they were at the start, which is what makes the deck so good. Vulture can be moved with an Iron Fist and then a Ghost Spider and now he’s a fifteen power card. Heimdall is a fantastic game finisher with his ability to move every card to the left, which could build up your key moving cards more than they already were. Finally, to keep things moving, Falcon and Beast are here too. These cards allow you to bounce your cards back to your hand, which can be very useful for bouncing Iron Fist and Ghost Spider since those cards are cheap and give you movement. Keep up the movement!
Bounce Move strengths:
- Bounce: Falcon and Beast bounce cards back to your hand. This can be incredibly useful for using Iron Fist or Ghost Spider’s abilities a second time by playing them again. You can also use them to get your big cards out of battle and potentially dodge a Shang-Chi or Killmonger.
- Hercules: Hercules is an underused card; this is a good thing, since not many players go up against him. He is actually really good and can allow your move cards to move a second time, which is incredible for cards like Human Torch or Dagger.
- Locations: Certain locations can be game winning for a deck like this. This includes Bifrost and New York, which can all be incredibly useful.
Bounce Move cards:
- Ghost Spider (1 cost)
- Human Torch (1 cost)
- Iron Fist (1 cost)
- Nico Minoru (1 cost)
- Dagger (2 cost)
- Beast (2 cost)
- Doctor Strange (2 cost)
- Falcon (2 cost)
- Cloak (2 cost)
- Vulture (3 cost)
- Hercules (3 cost)
- Hemindall (6 cost)
Other Great substitutes:
- Forge (2 cost)
- Kraven (2 cost)
- Hulkbuster (2 cost)
- Multiple Man (2 cost)
4. Kingpin Move
Don't even think about intruding on Kingpin's turf.
Alright, enough about moving your own cards. How about moving the enemy’s cards?! Unlike Bounce Move, this deck is all about disrupting and forcing your opponent’s cards to be in spots they don’t want them to be in. That could be moving them into unwanted locations or moving them into the man in charge, Kingpin. Kingpin owns the location he’s in, meaning the enemy will be severely punished for entering his territory. Any enemy card that enters his location loses two power and this can happen multiple times throughout the match. Kraven is another card that owns his location. However, each time a card moves to his location, he learns from the hunt and gets stronger.
With these two down, you basically have two locations that love having cards moved into them, which you can do with a variety of options. You can use Nightcrawler or Jeff the Baby Land Shark to move into a Kraven lane, which gives him additional power. You can use Polaris or Spider-Man to move enemy cards into the Kingpin lane to make their cards weaker. While doing this, you can also get Miles Morales to cost one and get a pretty good final turn with him and Cannonball. There’s so much you can do to gain power or reduce their power and while doing this, your opponent is either getting clogged up or getting their cards moved constantly, which can be pretty annoying.
Kingpin move strengths:
- Disruption: You get to constantly move their favorite cards over into other lanes. Those lanes were most likely places your opponent didn’t want their cards to be. You can also potentially clog them up with the constant movement.
- Flexible: There are a ton of cards that move enemy cards so you can take cards out and replace them fairly easily due to the number of options you have. Don’t like Cannonball? Go with Aero instead. Don’t like Spider-Man? Nocturne is a great substitute; there are a ton of different options.
- Juggernaut: Juggernaut is a very underrated card in Marvel Snap. He has the potential to completely win games automatically if played correctly. He can instantly win locations like Mojo World or Sinister London. He can also secure a location win on the final turn since they will be moved elsewhere.
Kingpin move cards:
- Kingpin (1 cost)
- Nightcrawler (1 cost)
- Kraven (2 cost)
- Angela (2 cost)
- Jeff the Baby Land Shark (2 cost)
- Silk (2 cost)
- Juggernaut (3 cost)
- Polaris (3 cost)
- Spider-Man (3 cost)
- Miles Morales (4 cost)
- Cannonball (5 cost)
- Magneto (6 cost)
Other Great substitutes:
- Kitty Pryde (1 cost)
- Echo (1 cost)
- Storm (3 cost)
- Hercules (3 cost)
- Nocturne (3 cost)
- Captain Marvel (4 cost)
- Stegron (4 cost)
- Vision (5 cost)
- Aero (5 cost)
3. Phoenix Force
This ain't no 1v1, this is a 7v1.
Easily the easiest way to build up constant power by moving cards is the Phoenix Force. The only issue is the journey to get there, but once it’s there, it feels incredibly satisfying to pull off. The Phoenix Force has the ability to bring any card back from the dead and then allow it to move each turn. Did I mention it also gives the card five additional power? This can be very useful for cards like Human Torch or Multiple Man, which benefit heavily from the additional power. Human Torch can double his power each time he moves, but Multiple Man does so much more.
Multiple Man can spread eight power between all three locations just by moving each turn. Each time he moves, he creates a clone of himself and then you can move those clones! Multiple Man is easily the best card to bring back with the Phoenix Force and it can be an instant win in most cases. All you have to do is destroy him with Carnage or Venom, and you’re all set. Of course, though, this combo isn’t easy, so there’s a backup plan in the form of Shuri/Nimrod. Shuri doubles the power of the next card played, while Nimrod clones himself onto other locations when destroyed. So destroy that doubled Nimrod with either of the symbiotes and you get a power spread that’s hard for your opponent to compete with.
Phoenix force strengths:
- Know when you win: Knowing when you have a clear cut win in Marvel Snap is very important. It allows you to retreat when you should and snap when you have that combo, which could save you from losing too many cubes or allow you to earn more from winning.
- Multiple ways to win: Besides the Phoenix Force moving play line, there is also the Shuri/Nimrod line as a backup. On top of those options, you can also play Hulkbuster on Nico Minoru when she doubles her power, then Arnim Zola her last turn for an easy twenty power on the other locations.
- Destroy locations: Destroy locations benefit this deck a lot because your goal involves destroying. Death’s Domain and Murder World allow your cards to be destroyed earlier in the game, which could make for an easy Phoenix Force.
Phoenix Force cards:
- Ghost Spider (1 cost)
- Human Torch (1 cost)
- Nico Minoru (1 cost)
- Carnage (2 cost)
- Hulkbuster (2 cost)
- Multiple Man (2 cost)
- Venom (3 cost)
- Shuri (4 cost)
- Phoenix Force (4 cost)
- Iron Lad (4 cost)
- Nimrod (5 cost)
- Arnim Zola (6 cost)
Other Great substitutes:
- Dagger (2 cost)
- Forge (2 cost)
- Doctor Strange (2 cost)
- Cloak (2 cost)
- Deathlok (3 cost)
2. Silky Smooth
Silky Smooth is an all time classic Marvel Snap deck that continues to thrive in the meta. Despite Angela being nerfed recently, she still does incredible work when paired with movement cards and the iconic Kitty Pryde. The Angela and Kitty Pryde combo is one of the most popular combos in the game. You can continuously stack Kitty Pryde onto Angela and not only build up Kitty’s power by one, but also build Angela’s power by one as well. You can pretty much do this every turn as long as you have energy. But this list is for move decks, so let’s get to the move cards.
Nightcrawler and Jeff the Baby Land Shark are great cards that can move out of their played location whenever they feel like it. The reason they are paired with Angela is because they removed Angela’s one downside. Stacking cards on Angela’s location can fill it up pretty easily, so moving cards out of there so more can be played on Angela makes it so move cards pair incredibly well with her. Combine this with a potential Kraven in a different location and you have two behemoths stacking power the whole game. To finish them off, this deck always has one big card, like Doctor Doom or Red Hulk, to close the gap and win another lane with ease.
Silky Smooth strengths:
- Constant power buildup: Angela and Kitty Pryde will constantly stack up power as their ability requirements keep being met. Additionally, Kraven also gets power from Silk and Spider-Man. Elsa Bloodstone also gives additional power to the card that fills a location, making it so your turn six has some powerful cards on the board.
- Big card flexibility: Two of the cards in this deck can be swapped out for anything that fits your preferred playstyle. You can swap Doctor Doom out for Legion if you want a little location mayhem. You can also slot in Cannonball for a bit of lockdown.
- Cheap cards: Half the deck costs two or less energy. So you have something cheap to play on pretty much every turn. This is made even better since Kitty Pryde returns to your hand each turn and you can just play her again and again.
Silky Smooth cards:
- Kitty Pryde (1 cost)
- Nightcrawler (1 cost)
- Kraven (2 cost)
- Angela (2 cost)
- Jeff the Baby Land Shark (2 cost)
- Silk (2 cost)
- Elsa Bloodstone (3 cost)
- Nocturne (3 cost)
- Spider-Man (3 cost)
- Miles Morales (4 cost)
- Doctor Doom (6 cost)
- Red Hulk (6 cost)
Other Great substitutes:
- Thena (2 cost)
- Hope Summers (3 cost)
- Captain Marvel (4 cost)
- Vision (5 cost)
- Legion (5 cost)
- Cannonball (5 cost)
- Magneto (6 cost)
1. Move Lockdown
Here we are with an unexpected number one. This deck was thought to be dead after the infamous Professor X nerf. The professor used to completely lock a location down and not allow either player to play a card where he was, except for the little shark, of course. Now, cards can move into his lane, which is a massive nerf for the leader of the X-men. However, this benefits the move variant of the lockdown deck. Since move cards can get into his lane, it’s a lot easier to work with the locked down location. Now you have a huge advantage over the opponent since their cards can’t get in there, while your cards, like Nightcrawler or Nocturne, can.
Ms. Marvel is also a huge helping hand here. Combining Ms Marvel with Storm or Professor X in another lane can help add additional power to locations that nobody can play in. Your goal with this deck is to limit your opponent’s places where they can play cards while still being able to pop off with your own. Both of the Marvels in the deck help get into those hard locations and add a surprise boost in power when your opponent least expects it, and since they can’t play cards in those locations, you will most likely win.
Move Lockdown strengths:
- Lockdown: Unlike clutter decks, this deck limits their ability to play cards by just shutting down the location. Storm and Professor X help in making locations unplayable for your opponent, which could leave for some easy wins.
- Unexpected Heroes: Captain Marvel and Ms Marvel can help boost the power of locations that can’t be played in. Captain Marvel on the last turn can help swoop into a losing location in order to give you the win.
- Mobility: Usually movement is an obvious strength in move decks; however, it becomes a lot more prominent and noticeable here. Since locations are locked out, movement cards can come in clutch since they are the only cards that can get into those locations. Your advantage over your foe couldn’t be any higher.
Move lockdown cards:
- Nebula (1 cost)
- Nightcrawler (1 cost)
- Kraven (2 cost)
- White Widow (2 cost)
- Jeff the Baby Land Shark (2 cost)
- Storm (3 cost)
- Nocturne (3 cost)
- Ms. Marvel (4 cost)
- Captain Marvel (4 cost)
- Gwenpool (4 cost)
- Miles Morales (4 cost)
- Professor X (5 cost)
Other Great substitutes:
- Juggernaut (3 cost)
- Mobius M. Mobius (3 cost)
- Spider-Man (3 cost)
- Cannonball (5 cost)
- Magneto (6 cost)
