While we were able to create serviceable decks in Marvel Snap’s Pool 1, it’s when you get to Pool 2 that the big guns really start coming out. This second collection tier not only gives you much stronger cards to put into your decks, but also holds some key pieces that we didn’t have back in Pool 1.
At the same time, it can be a bit overwhelming entering a new collection tier as you’ll suddenly have a ton of options available to you. So, here’s a list of a couple of decks you can use to get ahead in Marvel Snap’s second pool of cards.
Spotlight Cards
To be frank, Marvel Snap’s Pool 2 doesn’t add too many cards. Compared to Pool 1’s 46 characters, Pool 2 has a more modest cast of just 25 cards. However, these cards enable some strong strategies – and here’s some of the ones you should watch out for.
- Killmonger becomes available at this point, and if you’re still running a Kazoo deck, watch out as he can be a single “I win” card for your opponent!
- In the same vein, Shang-Chi snipes all enemy cards that 9 or more power, which is deadly if you’re running a Power heavy deck.
- Both Sunspot and The Infinaut are in this collection pool, meaning that it’s likely you’re going to start running into decks that are conservative with their energy.
- The Collector is a low-cost card that gains 1 Power every time a card is added to his player’s hand, except by drawing. While he’s been heavily nerfed, The Collector is still a worthy addition to a Devil Dinosaur deck.
- Leech has low stats for his cost, but he removes the abilities of all cards in your opponent’s hand.
- Sandman is a powerful floodgate. Despite his weak body (at just 4/1), his ability to restrict both players from playing cards is incredibly disruptive. I’d suggest bringing an out for him, just in case.
- Storm won’t find herself in every deck, but she’s another floodgate that can put a lot of pressure on your opponent due to her ability to lock a lane.
- Scorpion is a solid 2/2 card, but it’s his ability that really sets him apart. While overcoming negative power on the field is doable, it’s a lot more difficult to deal with negative power in the hand.
- Jubilee’s 4/1 body is terrible, but her effect to pull and play a random card from her player’s deck shouldn’t be discounted.
- Hobgoblin is a unique card that switches control when he’s played and has -8 Power. At this point in the collection, there aren’t many ways to deal with him. Nasty!
And while Armor is in Pool 1, she deserves special mention here as Killmonger can break a lot of boards.
Mixing And Matching
It’s very important to assess the new cards that each pool unlocks, as cards become a lot less straightforward and can offer unexpected and powerful combinations when used creatively.
Related: Marvel Snap Card Tier List: A Complete Guide to the Best Cards
While it’s true that Pool 2 didn’t add a lot of cards, the ones it did add often have killer effects. So powerful are these cards that you can start making hybrid decks out of them. Moving forward, splashing into these hybrid decks will be crucial as they not only make you more unpredictable, but also give you several ways to win and escape bad situations.
Sandman is a great example. While building a deck entirely around Sandman is pretty much impossible, his floodgate effect is so powerful that he can singlehandedly control games. And it’s not just big decks that make use of his “one card per turn per player” effect. Even Kazoo decks, which rely on swarming the field then buffing their hordes can suddenly switch gears on turn 4 by playing Sandman. This creates a deck that rushes the opponent for the first three turns by building wide boards with cards like Squirrel Girl or Mister Sinister, then locks in their advantage by playing Sandman to reduce their enemy’s counterplays.
Sunspot and The Infinaut are other great hybrid cards. As you may have realized by this point, not every game is won by who has the most cards on the board in the early game, and Sunspot serves as a great option for decks that don’t really care about playing cards every single turn. The Infinaut is in the same spot, as while skipping turn 5 seems like a bad idea, the truth is some decks don’t have crucial turn 5 plays.
Self-Destruction Deck
Pool 1 had some cards that activated their effects when destroyed, such as Wolverine, but the deck wasn’t strong enough to merit a full deck. Now that Pool 2 is around though, the strategy is feasible, and we can make a halfway decent self-destruction deck.
Are These Characters Okay?
Some of the cards you might like to include in your self-destruction deck are:
- Bucky Barnes is one of the big cards you gain access to in Pool 2. You’ll need to find a way to destroy him to get his stronger form – the Winter Soldier – on the field.
- Carnage is a natural fit in this deck: your cards trigger their effects when destroyed, and Carnage’s Power is relative to how many cards he destroys when he enters play.
- Deathlok is here for the same reason as Carnage.
- Killmonger serves double duty here as there still aren’t many cards that destroy your own cards. In this case, Killmonger both triggers the on-destroy effects of your 1 Cost cards and wipes your opponent’s 1 Cost cards from the field. Just watch out if you’re playing him with swarmers – you don’t want to nuke your own non-destruction cards!
- Nova is an ideal target for your destruction effects as he gives all your other cards +1 when he’s destroyed.
- Wolverine, despite being in Pool 1, is still a worthy addition to this deck.
- Sabretooth is a decent 3/4 body that becomes free to play if he’s destroyed.
Destruction Tech Cards
And here are some cards you might want to splash in.
- America Chavez, despite not having a destroy effect is worth adding just because there’s no decent turn 6 destroy card. Yet.
- Hobgoblin is very hard to deal with, and like with America Chavez, we don’t have big turn 5 destroy plays yet.
- Enchantress is always worth considering for any deck. In this case, you want to watch out for Armor as she stops any cards (yes, even her opponent’s) from being destroyed at her location. Enchantress serves as an out for that.
- If you want to go all-in with Nova’s incredible effect, consider splashing in some swarmers like Squirrel Girl or Mister Sinister.
- Angel can also work if you’re going for the swarm strategy. If you don’t draw into Angel, you’ll have one less card in your deck to worry about.
Discard Deck
We still don’t have Hela in Pool 2, but don’t fret. Discard decks get two major cards to play with – Morbius and Swarm – who are both respectable power spikes. The core game of the Discard deck is still the same: trade whenever necessary and throw cards when it would give you a clear advantage.
Discard Core
Important Pool 2 Discard Deck cards will likely include:
- Apocalypse remains our endgame choice as we don’t have Hela yet. Free discard fodder and he comes back stronger. Yes please.
- Wolverine is cheaper and less powerful than Apocalypse, but he constantly keeps the pressure up.
- Swarm remains a consistent threat throughout the match, so long as you can find ways to keep discarding him.
- Both Blade and Sword Master are high-power cards that require discarding for a cost. As we’re still pretty starved for cards that discard other cards, you’ll want at least one of the two.
Discard Tech Cards
And now some tech option.
- Making the most out of Apocalypse is still up to the luck of draw. We also don’t have too many discard effects yet, so it’s prudent to add America Chavez as a backup plan.
- Morbius is more of a tech choice – while he does start at 2/0, his power scales with every card you discard. His problem is like Apocalypse: if you haven’t drawn into the pieces to really get your discard engine going, he won’t do much.
- Pool 2 didn’t give us more cards that discard other cards, so we can keep Lady Sif in.
- Agent 13 is a new card in the same vein as Mantis and Cable. If you really need discard fodder and are unwilling to part with any cards in your hand, Agent 13 gives you a random card.
Kazoo Deck
Yes, Kazoo is still relevant. The deck’s simplistic playstyle means that it’s very easy to pilot, and the fact that you get even more 1-cost cards to play with in Pool 2 gives you more tech options. However, Kazoo decks will need to be on guard as Killmonger can single-handedly ruin their plays.
Kazoo Core
Pool 2 Kazoo decks will most likely run:
- Ka-Zar; I don’t think I need to explain why.
- Blue Marvel and Captain America provide auxiliary buffs.
- Armor is now a crucial card as most decks will be packing Killmonger. While she can’t protect your entire field, it’s better to have some protection than none at all.
- Squirrel Girl and Mister Sinister are still your early turn core swarmers. Remember: your goal is to build a big board then buff them up.
Kazoo Tech Cards
There are some notable additions to the Kazoo deck in Pool 2.
- Ebony Maw is a powerful card that – thanks to his 1 cost – still benefits from Ka-Zar. Use him judiciously as he must be played early and has a huge downside.
- Iceman is a 1/2 body and has a good effect.
- Okoye buffs every card in your deck with +1 Power when she’s played, which helps your low-cost cards hit just a bit harder. She’s particularly good if she can buff Mister Sinister, as his Sinister Clone copies his power when it’s created.
Movement Deck
While there were cards that had movement effects in Pool 1, they lacked bite. Pool 2 finally gives some punch to this strategy, and while the deck still lacks a few core cards, it’s still perfectly viable in Pool 2.
The idea behind the movement deck is to move your cards around the boards. This not only causes their effects to trigger, but also allows you to play mind games with your opponent by keeping them on their toes and creating a situation where they need to be able to respond to your shifting power values on multiple battlefields.
Movement Core
The core cards of a Movement deck are:
- Vulture is your main powerhouse. He starts as a simple 3/3 but gains a huge +5 Power every time he moves. This means that Vulture not only improves his own stats, but also facilitates the effects of your other movement cards.
- Kraven is another card that ramps up depending on movement. While he’s more of a niche pick later, Pool 2 Movement Decks can use him to gain extra punching power.
- Multiple Man is a good addition to this deck. It’s important to note that his cloning ability snapshots his Power, meaning that if you can buff him up and shuffle him around, he’ll be a major threat.
- Lastly, you’ll need cards that facilitate movement, such as Iron Fist, Cloak, and Doctor Strange.
Movement Tech Cards
The cards above pretty much complete the Movement deck, but there are some’s wiggle room for other cards, such as:
- Heimdall is an okay 6/8 body, but his main draw is that he shifts all other cards one location to the left. The trouble with Heimdall is you need to already have him in hand if you’re planning to sweep the board on turn 6.
- Hulkbuster is a 3/4 body on its own, but it’s the ability to merge with a card – which means also keeping all passive effects the merged card had – that makes it especially great.
- America Chavez, unsurprisingly, finds herself on this list. You won’t draw into Heimdall every game.
- Nightcrawler can proc Kraven’s effect if you really need him to. Nightcrawler also has the advantage of being able to shift arenas early in the game, if you need him elsewhere.
- Vision is a 5/7 card that can move himself once per turn. Again, he procs Kraven.
- If you’re going all-in with your Multiple Man play, consider adding Forge to your deck.
Devil Dinosaur Deck
Devil Dinosaur is still a potent deck, and Pool 2 has given it some great consistency tools that allow it to build strong boards more regularly.
Devil Dinosaur decks should watch out for Shang-Chi, as he can snipe big cards. That’s also a hint: if you’re running into tons of Devil Dinosaur decks, pack Shang-Chi.
Devil Dinosaur Core
The cards you’re most likely to put in your Pool 2 Devil Dinosaur deck are:
- Devil Dinosaur because we need a win condition.
- Moon Girl is unmatched at making bigger hands, and potentially allowing you to get extra value out of On Reveal cards.
- Cable is still great at yoinking cards from your opponent’s deck and adding them to your own.
- Swap Mantis for Agent 13 as soon as you can, as she has the same statline but also always adds a card to your hand.
- The Collector is like a smaller Devil Dinosaur and will allow you to create (or pretend to create) an ongoing threat.
- White Queen is still your optimal turn 4 play. She has a decent 4/6 body and can not only get intel on what your opponent’s end game play is, but also use it against them.
Devil Dinosaur Tech Cards
And now for some cards you may or may not want to include in your Devil Dinosaur deck.
- Swarm requires you to hybridize your deck with some discard cards, but each time you discard him, he essentially gives you 1 extra card for your hand.
- Jubilee can help you cheat out Devil Dinosaur from your deck if you’re willing to gamble on her.
- Armor protects your Devil Dinosaur from getting sniped by Shang-Chi.
- You can also opt to run The Infinaut as an alternate last turn play if you haven’t gotten your card generation engine going.
Onwards to Pool 3!
Pool 2 may be the smallest of the card pools, but there’s no denying that the cards here set the stage for the kind of games of decks you’ll be facing (and making) as you advance. As always, be brave, and don’t hesitate to experiment!