It feels like things have undergone a massive change since last month’s deck building guide for Marvel Snap (Free). There are some new features, including one that can help you build decent decks with what you have on hand. There have been substantial balance changes, and even new cards don’t seem to be safe from the nerf bat anymore. We’ve got practically an entirely new slate for this month’s guide, and with how hot things are right now you’ll need all the tips you can get to survive out there. Remember as ever: today’s winning deck could be tomorrow’s stale gingerbread house. These guides are one way to keep your finger on the pulse of the scene, but they aren’t the only method you should be using.

Note that most of these decks are the best of the best at this point in time. They assume you have access to a full range of cards. I’ll once again be including the five strongest Marvel Snap decks of the moment, and I’ll throw in a couple more decks that don’t need anything too hard to get and are just sort of fun to play with. You know, a little variety and all of that.

Higher, Faster, Further had a big effect on the Marvel Snap meta, and spotlight card Ms. Marvel was only a small part of that. Werewolf by Night, a latecomer to the Bloodstone season, has also been ripping and shredding. Most of the cards from Loki for All Time seem to have been nerfed to the point of not being so domineering, but there are all kinds of new balance issues that Second Dinner is going to have to sort out. And that’s not even getting into whatever the Hellfire Gala event will bring. For now, let’s have a look at this month’s picks!

Annihilus Bounce

Included Cards: The Hood, Spider-Ham, Korg, Nico Minoru, Black Widow, Shadow King, Rock Slide, Werewolf by Night, Beast, Darkhawk, Sentry, Annihilus

I’ve been running into variations of this deck ever since Annihilus dropped, and it is a real pain in the butt to deal with. That means it’s a great deck for you to be playing, if you can. You’re basically throwing out cards to irritate your opponent and block their moves, while setting up a move that sees Sentry not only adding his 10 Power to your side but also sending the Void’s -10 Power to your opponent’s side via Annihilus. Werewolf by Night should also add a lot of Power to your side by the end, and the classic tactic of stuffing your opponent’s deck with junk and playing Darkhawk is as useful as ever. A truly demonic deck, and it’s easy to see why it’s dominating the meta right now.

Galactus

Included Cards: Nico Minoru, Psylocke, Jeff, Electro, Wave, Shang-Chi, Ms. Marvel, Hobgoblin, Professor X, Alioth, Galactus, Orka

Guess who’s back? You can’t keep a good planet devourer down for too long, it seems. This deck has the usual tools for getting Galactus out as early as possible, with Wave, Psylocke, and Electro giving you extra Energy for the purpose. You also have some useful cards for controlling locations here, and Shang-Chi and Alioth are there to make sure you can close the deal after Galactus has done his thing. Another one that will catch a lot of players with their pants down as long as you aren’t too obvious about what you’re setting up.

Darkhawk Double Up

Included Cards: Korg, Quinjet, Black Widow, Zabu, Ravonna Renslayer, Mystique, Rock Slide, Darkhawk, Moon Girl, Ms. Marvel, Iron Lad, Iron Man

Another returning classic, and one that should be pretty familiar for many long-time players in terms of how to deploy it. Your aim is stuff your opponent’s deck with the likes of Korg and Rock Slide, get your Darkhawk out, try to copy it if you can with either Mystique or Iron Lad, and then double your Power with Iron Man and one of the copiers. Zabu and Ravonna should help you get those cards out earlier, and the Quinjet and Moon Girl will help supply you with the cards you need.

Loki & Werewolf by Night

Included Cards: Maria Hill, Nico Minoru, Quinjet, Snowguard, Mirage, The Collector, Falcon, Sentinel, Rogue, Werewolf by Night, Shang-Chi, Loki

Loki might have slipped his grip a little this month, but he’s still a mover and shaker. This deck gives you a lot of ways to win, whether it be by feeding The Collector, ripping off your opponent’s cards with Loki to use against them, scooting the Werewolf around to beef up, and gumming up the opponent’s works with Shang-Chi and Rogue. The Collector will be the main card to hang your hat on, but the rest of the lot are no slouches either.

Sera Surfer

Included Cards: Forge, Nova, Okoye, America Chavez, Brood, Silver Surfer, Killmonger, Nakia, Werewolf by Night, Sebastian Shaw, Polaris, Sera

You can’t keep the classics down this month. Sera Surfer is back in the top runnings, with new cards Sebastian Shaw and Werewolf by Night adding nicely to the usual trick of playing a bunch of 3-Cost cards, rolling Sera on turn 5, and then sending out the Surfer at the very end to buff everyone up. America Chavez got totally reworked and she now fits this deck like a glove, too. An intersting twist is adding Forge and Nova to the selection along with Killmonger, allowing you to boost up the Power of your cards even further while also freeing up those places to put stronger cards in later.

And now, a couple of fun decks for those still climbing up the collection ladder or who simply want to try something different.

Electro Ramp

Included Cards: Nebula, Psylocke, Jeff, Electro, Wave, Iron Lad, Black Panther, Sandman, Arnim Zola, Leader, Doctor Doom, Odin

I’ve been playing around with this deck style recently to get a feel for it, and I’ve found it an interesting change from my favored decks that involve spamming a lot of weak cards. Use Psylocke, Electro, and Wave to get your big cards out early, and see if you can pull off that Black Panther/Arnim Zola trick that throws a wrench in just about every opponent’s strategy. If you can’t get that going, take solace in the fact that you can still play things like Doom into Odin as a back-up plan.

Budget Control

Included Cards: Iceman, Rocket Raccoon, Scorpion, Armor, Storm, Killmonger, Enchantress, Jessica Jones, White Queen, Gamora, Spider-Woman, Odin

I’m starting to run out of good themed decks that only use beginning cards, so I’m revisiting an old one with slight adjustments. One of the important things to learn in Marvel Snap is how to take advantage of control – which is to say, taking control of the game through things like location baiting and manipulating turn order. If you want to consistently win at Marvel Snap, being a mind reader helps. In lieu of that, you can trick your opponent into playing cards in certain locations and take advantage of that with cards that get stronger from it, like Rocket Raccoon and Gamora. Turn order is particularly important on the final turn, but it can be useful on any turn depending on your set-up. Playing a card like Killmonger as the final action in the game can really mess up your opponent. This deck will help you learn about those things, so it’s a good idea to give it a try while you’re learning the ropes.

And that’s it for this month’s deck guide. We’ll return with another one of these in January to see where things stand after the Hellfire Gala event has fully played out and a month’s worth of balance changes have done their thing. The remaining cards for this season are certainly interesting, and I can only wonder if we’ll see any Annihilus-level disrupters pop up. Happy Snapping!