Best Nova Frankie Raye Decks and Strategy Guide

Nova Frankie Raye is the second Series 5 cards joining Marvel Snap for the August 2025 Season, Heralds of Galactus. It is a 2-Cost, 3-Power card that reads: After the next time you play a 6-Cost card, double this card’s Power.

Today, let’s explore the new card strengths and, of course, the best decks to try it out in.

Series 5 cards can be purchased for 6,000 Collector’s Tokens from the Token Shop as the latest Seasonal Spotlight card. They will be also be included in the Seasonal Series 5 Snap Pack for 5,000 Collector’s Tokens during their season and the following one.

Strengths and Weaknesses

Whenever I see a new 2-cost card in Marvel Snap, I can’t help but wonder how good it should be to have a shot at evicting Mister Fantastic First Steps and the other incredible 2-cost cards we have in the game.

If I compare the numbers, Nova Frankie Raye is a [2/6] when I play a 6-cost while it is on board. On the other end, Surge is a [-1/5] when I play it on turn two and get two more triggers from it on top of making that 6-cost more flexible if I discount it to five Energy.

In that context, why would I want to spend 6,000 tokens, 5,000 with an empty Snap Pack, for Frankie Raye?

Three words: Timing — Buffs — Play Style.

Surge and Mister Fantastic First Steps tell our opponent to be careful whenever they hit the board on turn two. If either card hits a location on turn five, I typically don’t mind it one bit. Frankie Raye can be played at any point, as long as I can play a 6-cost later on. That even includes turn six, if Valentina created a 6-cost during the match, or Wiccan granted me two extra energy. That’s timing. It’s a good upside, but Lizard or Maximus offer the same deal, so definitely not enough.

Because I can play Nova Frankie Raye early or late in the match, I have more opportunities to synergize with its ability. Here, the goal is to grow its power, as every point granted to the new 2-cost will be doubled later on.

If I play Nova Frankie Raye on turn two, I can buff it while on the board :

If I plan to use it later, I can buff Nova Frankie Raye in my hand or deck:

Mister Sinister and Brood just got weaker with Stardust now available. Indeed, these great buff targets now can’t be waiting in hand for too long, or we might lose their ability entirely. Nova Frankie Raye comes in as a great replacement, as long as we have a 6-cost to play. That’s the buff part, and it already makes Nova Frankie Raye much more appealing for multiple archetypes.

Yet, I feel like the last part is the best part of the new 2-cost : the ideal Play Style for Frankie Raye.

As a card we intend to buff and then double the power of, Nova Frankie Raye naturally will have to dodge a few Shang-Chis and Shadow Kings at some point. The best way to do so is either to keep Nova Frankie Raye in hand until turn six alongside a 6-cost from Valentina, but that is very situational.

If we could just play Nova Frankie Raye on turn five, lose priority heading into six, there would be no target for Shang-Chi, while Shadow King would be much worse, since Frankie Raye’s power is only double once our 6-cost card reveals. Plus, our 6-cost is also safe from Shang-Chi since we did not have priority.

This will be the make-or-break condition for Nova Frankie Raye in my opinion: Can we find good 6-cost cards to play without priority on turn six.

There aren’t many candidates to be honest, although the new season pass Galactus First Steps immediately comes to mind. Yet, we only need one to double Frankie Raye’s power, even if 2 would improve reliability.

Out of the four listed above, only Hulk is tied to a specific archetype : High Evolutionary. Then, Nova Frankie Raye has more than enough allies to be playable.

I won’t sell you the card as a competitor to Mister Fantastic First Steps, Fenris Wolf or Surge. Yet, Nova Frankie Raye has its own upsides, and doesn’t need to be drawn on turn two to contribute to our deck.

The Verdict: Should You Buy Frankie Raye?

I doubt the card is worth 6,000 tokens for anyone with the other fantastic 2-cost cards available in Marvel Snap currently. Plus, 6-cost cards aren’t popular at the moment, with neither End of Turn nor the Fenris Wolf decks using any.

Still, points are the foundation of Marvel Snap, buffs are easy to spread around our cards currently, and Nova Frankie Raye looks like a card we should routinely be able to grow past the 2-cost standards. Then, I am willing to spend tokens and experiment around the card.

Pre-Release Score:

Frankie Raye Decks

Finding 6-cost cards is the biggest challenge to solve for Nova Frankie Raye to look appealing. Past that, finding ways to buff the card, or flexible play-patterns so we can play it at various moments in a match really isn’t a problem.

In most decks, we can only include one, maybe two 6-cost cards, or we risk having weak first turns too often. Yet, thanks to Galactus First Steps, we have that big card we can fit in most archetypes with a 6-cost already included.

She-Hulk is a natural pairing for Frankie Raye, as both cards push for the explosive play style aimed at catching the opponent off guard. Double Up also features a few buffs, making that archetype a logical landing spot to test early on. The same could be said about Sasquatch in the Miracle deck, featuring similar traits.

End Turn High Evo also has a few arguments, with Misty Knight representing a buff. Yet, that deck typically has enough in the points department, and looks for help in other areas at the moment.

Thanos isn’t doing great at the moment, but represents another 6-cost, while Mockingbird typically is part of those decks. In those, the trickiest part is to buff Frankie Raye enough to make it an appealing card to play. We have Kahhori to help in that matter, but more buffs will probably be required for the new 2-cost to make sense in these decks.

Variants

Conclusion

Overall, Nova Frankie Raye looks to have good potential, thanks to being playable at various points in a match, while we have plenty of buffs available. The requirement to play a 6-cost will be the most limiting factor about the card, causing our deck to be a little unbalanced, or Frankie Raye to not double its power at time. If we can find the right balance, the new card will be a playable card, even in that stacked 2-cost pool.

I hope this review of the new card was helpful. You can find everyone on the Marvel Snap Zone team in our community discord to have a chat or ask any questions.

Good Game Everyone!