Table of Contents
With just six turns to play in a game and 21 energy total, Marvel Snap is routinely described as a rather simple game for building a cohesive game plan. In other popular CCGs, you don’t know how long the game will go or how many resources you will need; therefore, the ability to reuse some of your cards and extend their value can have a lot of upsides. On the other hand, Marvel Snap is fast-paced and limited in time, making strategies don’t consider using cards multiple times. Having an efficient curve that can follow from Turns 1 through 6, with cards increasing in power and leading to a climax on Turn 6 is most of the time preferred.
Deckbuilding in Marvel Snap isn’t that simple. If you take a look at most decks, you should notice this pattern of building something in the first four or five turns and then trying to kill the match during the last one or two. Most or all of the popular archetypes follow this trend. Most archetypes, except one: Bounce. This archetype barely plays any cards with a cost higher than three, and while they tend to keep their big power spike for Turn 6 for the surprise effect, they are also able to go off at various times in the game.
Historically the deck has gone from a fragile niche deck, too technical to master considering the low reward it carried in terms of performances, to a popular and powerful archetype. It is certainly complicated to play properly. Although, from my perspective, the potential of this deck is so high that even playing it sub-optimally you can manage to place significant amounts of power in all three lanes.
Without further ado, let’s dive in to this major update to the detailed deck guide for Bounce, using insight from Den‘s article from May 2023!
Decklist and Stats
Bohe
The release of Elsa Bloodstone has returned this deck to its former glory.
The version I present here is the “raw” list of LambySeries, a content creator originally from Singapore. For a few days, it was mentioned that this was the raw list. However, after much testing, it was concluded that despite being able to think about including tech cards, it was not extremely necessary and that this version was capable of overcoming any opponent, even if they played Wave.
I have played with the list quite a bit and as we can see thanks to the Marvel Snap Tracker statistics, it has a 61.53% win rate and an average of .87 cubes per game in more than 1,200 games.
Without a doubt some formidable statistics! I think it won’t be long before the deck gains popularity again and returns to a position of prestige.
Deck Concept
Bounce relies on replaying cheap cards several times through the use of Beast, Kitty Pryde and Falcon, leading to several benefits:
- Their abilities can be great, such as The Hood.
- They serve to buff cards like Angela or Bishop as they grow when you play more cards.
- We can activate Elsa Bloodstone buff multiple times without clogging our lanes.
- It gives you an easy way to plan ahead of time because you don’t necessarily depend on your draw to use your energy. You can reuse cards already in play.
- You are much more flexible with your available space because you can remove cards and play others instead.
- Bounced cards are usually quite cheap, leading to very flexible turns down the line.
Deck Strategy
Is because Hit Monkey that Bounce looks to have those cheap cards in hand at the beginning of the last turn. This allows us to have an explosive Turn 6 play. Through the bounce mechanic we are able to both play cards to buff Angela and Bishop during the game and also have them available to play alongside Hit Monkey. All this activating the buff that Elsa Bloodstone gives to our cards multiple times.
Rounding up the deck are America Chavez and Iron Man. One serving as an extra win condition outside Angela, Bishop, and Hit Monkey. The other one working as a deck enhancer. Iron Man is extremely important because he can help develop points when we’re limited to one card by Sandman or Wave.
Strategy wise, the deck wants to be as flexible as possible and only commit to lanes on Turns 5 and 6 in order to withhold as much information as possible from the opponent. Until this last turn, the deck will use Beast and Falcon to manage its hand and locations. The idea should be to abuse the abilities of our cards to disrupt the opponent while building the best hand possible going into the final turns.
Angela, Bishop, and Iron Man are our anchors. This tells our opponent where we will develop our points. Nevertheless, Hit Monkey, Demon, Mysterio, Kitty Pryde, and every 0-energy card (Beast bounced 1-energy cards) allow us to be unpredictable. This prevents our opponents from having the ability to know where we will end up playing the greatest number of power at the end of the game.
For all those reasons and more, Bounce is among the most technical archetypes to master. Understanding the strategy behind the deck and knowing as early as possible what you want to do in the end game will go a long way towards navigating a match properly.
Bounce Core
Decks with Beast
This two cards are our bouncers. Both will help us replay our cards, which is key to growing Angela, Bishop, and our Turn 6 Hit Monkey. All of this together allows us to obtain the +3 that Elsa Bloodstone grants multiple times.
Anchors Core
Decks with Iron Man
The anchor core presents the cards that allow us to position ourselves strongly in the lanes.
Any of these three options lets the opponent know that he cannot neglect the location or he will probably end up losing it.
Angela and Bishop benefit greatly from the general idea of ​​the archetype, growing multiple times. For its part, Iron Man allows us the possibility of competing for a lane with few cards if necessary.
1-Energy Core
Decks with Kitty Pryde
1-cost cards are incredibly important to the archetype.
They allow us to get into the game quickly while increasing the power of our anchors, enabling many very powerful lines of play.
Bast is a very important tool. The vast majority of the cards in our deck will benefit from the effect of this card. The Hood, Kitty Pryde, Angela, Mysterio, Bishop and Iron Man are the biggest beneficiaries. -Don’t forget the Illusion! also get this benefit.
Kitty Pryde is another vital piece of our plan. His interaction with Angela remains as powerful as usual, rising Bishop‘s power simultaneously while we can also grant her +3 power thanks to Elsa Bloodstone. All at the same time.
The Hood works amazing in combination with Bast, giving us a total of 9 power for just two energy. Even without Bast it is easy to return this card to our hand and avoid having that -3 power in any lane where it is inconvenient.
The most important thing about this is to always keep in mind that Beast does not have a limit when reducing the cost of our cards. Reducing the cost of our cost cards from 1 to 0 should be something we always prioritize. This will considerably increase our power when playing turn 6.
Overall, the Bounce archetype usually rotates between three and five 1-cost cards depending on the necessary abilities and the space for other tools in the deck.
Support Core
Decks with Mysterio
Decks with Elsa Bloodstone
Certainly, Bast is part of this core as well. However, it was important to make clear its relevance as a cost-one card in the previous core.
Having said this, Mysterio has the job of supporting Bishop, giving him +3 when played – remember that when playing Mysterio, his two clones count as cards played. This is also beneficial to play in the company of Hit-Monkey. Mysterio still benefits greatly from Bast’s ability since his Illusion! They will still get +3 power.
As for Elsa, it should be noted that it is thanks to this card that the archetype has been able to revive from the ashes. His interactions with Kitty Pride, Mysterio, Falcon, and Beast are the most interesting.
With the first two cards the great advantage is that you can apply the +3 multiple times since Kitty can fill a location and leave a space again at the beginning of the turn; and, as for Mysterio, it gives +3 to both the original and the Illusion! if they fill a location since all cards are considered played.
As for bouncers, what is useful is that it allows us to play them as the last card in a lane to obtain the bonus to later recover the spaces in the locations, leaving a relevant amount of power in the lane. Enough to compete, but not so much that it means making a mandatory commitment.
Turn 6 Core
Decks with Hit Monkey
Decks with America Chavez
On turn 6 our hand will normally contain these two cards.
Hit-Monkey is our finisher par excellence. Playing this card in the company of 3 or 4 other cards is usually enough to seal the game. This is why reducing the cost of our 1 and 2 energy cards with Beast is very important.
America Chavez is certainly a feasible play. Although its main reason for being in the deck is to enhance our draws, do not take the possibility of playing it conventionally out of the equation. Sometimes it is easy to accompany it with other 0-cost cards, which means that not having Hit-Monkey is not a problem without a solution.
Cards Substitutions
There isn’t much room for substitutions (unless you go for a different game plan entirely). Mysterio is intricately connected to Hit Monkey, Kitty Pryde with Angela and Elsa Bloodstone, etc.
From the presented build, the most flexible cards are the Falcon –since unlike Beast it does not reduce the cost of bounced cards, and Iron Man. Here are some replacements if we want to keep the structure of the deck intact:
Tech
Decks with Mobius M. Mobius
Mobius is the first card that comes to mind when we think about playing a tech card. It is a great tool so that any deck with Wave does not represent a threat to us.
Although we can make our power-play on turn 4 or 5 and beat the Wave decks without much problem, having Mobius helps a lot.
However, I agree with Lamby when he mentions that it is preferable to play the “raw” version of the deck. If the opponent does not have Wave our potential is much greater, and if he does, it is not impossible to play around the card.
Move
Decks with Jeff the Baby Land Shark
These two cards are quite popular in movement decks featuring Elsa.
In this case, we can get a similar benefit from them by playing them in Angela‘s location and at the same time giving them +3 with Elsa Bloodstone. If we manage to get them into our hand with Beast on turn 4 or 5 we will be enabling more highly powerful cards at a low cost.
1-Energy
Decks with Iceman
Decks with Ant Man
1 cost cards are very important for the deck. Being able to reduce their cost with Beast makes them quite useful when making explosive plays during the last turn.
If they have an ability like Iceman it will be useful to even be able to raise them and play them more than once to maximize their potential.
Ant-Man, in addition to being able to transform it into a 0-cost card with Beast, allows us to put a lot of power on the field, similar to The Hood’s Devil. This is because it is quite normal that we end up with 2 or 3 locations full at the end of the game. If we add Elsa Bloodstone to the equation, Ant-Man can easily represent 7 power.
Other Ways to Build the Archetype
Bohe
One of the iterations with the best statistics has just 1 change. Swapping Falcon for Nightcrawler gives us more ways of maximizing Angela and Elsa Bloodstone in exchange for the ability to return our 1-energy cards.
It’s not a bad idea. However, having Falcon means that you can bounce other cards like Raptor or Squirrel. This is something very relevant when some locations as Savage Lads or Central Park appear.
This version has a 67.47% win rate and an amazing 1.17 average cubes per game in 195 games.
Bohe
An interesting idea is to play the deck without Falcon and Beast.
Versions without Falcon are common, and thinking about playing without Beast is not unrealistic. This iteration of the archetype proves it. Thanks to the synergies and micro combos in the deck we can continue competing for locations strongly and carrying tech cards makes it easier for us to have some confrontations that could be complicated.
This version has a 61.33% win rate and .82 cubes per game in 820 games, several games that is undoubtedly already relevant.
Ranona
The version where Jeff the Baby Land Shark plays instead of Falcon is one of the most popular. He registers a total of 2,120 games and a win rate of 63.63% with an average of .87 cubes per game.
This lets us see that using Falcon‘s flexible slot for any of the other cards suggested or that you have in your collection can allow you to adapt the deck a little more to your taste or to what the meta requires, even slightly. (Jeff the Baby Land Shark for example is very good against Sandman).
Snapping and Retreating
Early Game
Decks that are characterized by being flexible have a wide range of moments in which snapping can be correct.
When playing Bounce some combinations allow us to do it very aggressively.
- When Bast increases the power of 3 cards in my hand significantly, that is any combination of 3 or more of The Hood, Kitty Pryde, Angela, Mysterio, or Iron Man.
- Have the Kitty + Angela combination, preferably with Elsa Bloodstone in the equation.
- Having played Angela, or Elsa Bloodstone on turn 2 and having the possibility of playing Bishop on turn 3, knowing that during the late game, I will be able to maximize the power gain of these 3 cards.
Late Game
Regarding the late game, the conditions for snapping, accepting a snap from the opponent, or returning a snap can also be divided into three. However, a combination of these must be present.
- You have a lane anchored with Angela, Bishop, or Iron Man and you can make it compete for the location without too much effort.
- Hit-Monkey can compete for a lane thanks to the fact that you can make it reach the game with 10+ power.
- You can play 4+ cards the turn you will perform your power-play (not counting Mysterio clones).
Good Locations
- Asgard, Gamma Lab, Muir Island, TVA: Any location that values early play is good for us.
- Central Park, Savage Land: I’m a big fan of these two locations while playing Bounce. We can free the spaces easily, giving us places for playing our cards (while our opponents can’t) + both give us more 1-0 energy cards thanks to Falcon and Beast for making Hit-Monkey bigger during the last turn.
- Cloning Vats: Cloning a big Kitty Pryde or Hit-Mokey during turn 4 or 5 is amazing.
- Hell's Kitchen: We have a card to draw most of the time.
- Kamar-Taj: Hit-Monkey wins here most of the time.
- Lake Hellas: Many of our cards can get +1 here.
- Mojoworld, Nidavellir, The Raft, The Sacred Timeline, White Hoot Room: We can fill a lane very fast. And we can also relocate those points if needed.
- Quantum Realm: Any card that works with Bast works here.
- Shuri's Lab: Kitty Pryde is a fantastic in this location.
- The Big House: Is really hard for other deck to compete with us for this lane.
- Vibranium Mines: This is actually good for us. Don’t hesitate to play one card here (Bishop or a 1-energy card that you can bounce with Falcon, for example). Bouncing Vibranium for having 0/4 for the last turn is very good for us.
- Wakandan Embassy: Bounce is one of the best decks for this location thanks to the high amount of cards we play during the last turns.
Bad Locations
- Asteroid M: This makes two of our win-conditions clash in the same lane. Hit-Monkey + Bishop. (You can fix this filling up the lane and relocating the points later).
- Crimson Cosmos: This blocks 11 cards of our deck.
- Altar of Death, Death's Domain, Luke's Bar, Sanctum Sanctorum: Unless you’re playing the Nightcrawler and/or Jeff the Baby Land Shark version, it’s hard to put power in this uncomfortable locations.
Versus Move
den
The game against Move is undoubtedly very fun and requires great attention and concentration when playing it.
Just as we are flexible, Move is also flexible thanks to its ease of impacting lanes where it does not play its cards directly.
It also has Elsa Bloodstone and thanks to Spider-Man it can make it a little difficult for us to fill our lanes. However, our great advantage is that outside of Spider-Man they do not interact with us until turn 6 when they will decide whether to play Alioth or Doctor Doom. This means that although both cards are powerful, Alioth competes for a single lane when we can compete for more than one without a problem, limiting the possibilities of the purple cloud.
Likewise, even though Doctor Doom can impact the entire board, so can we. Pay close attention to which lines are anchoring so that you can compete where you see fit, knowing that you are more strongly anchored or not, and try to maximize Elsa Bloodstone as much as possible.
Versus Shuri Sauron
den
Shuri Sauron is a deck that has always been characterized by its linear game plan. This allows it to stand out in environments where decks give up power in exchange for being very flexible.
An example of this would be the just mentioned Move. However, unlike this archetype and others of the Good Cards style, Bounce can place absurd amounts of power on all three lanes in the late game, being able to rival the 28-power Red Skull and his best friend Task Master.
Due to the linear nature of this archetype, they have very few interaction tools, so we can develop our plan as we wish. Just try to focus on scoring the most points in two lanes, preferably one where Red Skull won’t be (although you can compete with him).
The only thing you have to take care of is Alioth, however, as we already mentioned, it is not that difficult to dodge knowing that we can play many cards on the last turn in many lanes, making it difficult for the cloud to choose which lane to protect.
Turn by Turn Breakdown
During a game, Bounce will typically look to hide its true potential until the last two turns, sometimes the last one, where it will play its whole hand and develop most of its points.
As such, the first four turns should be dedicated to preparing this late game explosion by setting up Angela, Elsa Bloodstone, and Bishop, + playing with our 1-cost cards.
Turn 1
Play a 1-cost card if you have one. If you have Angela, Kitty Pryde, Iron Man, Mysterio, and/or Bishop in hand, playing Bast is a priority.
Considering Bounce doesn’t have an easy time reaching unplayable locations, you might want to play onto an unrevealed location from time to time. If it’s a bad location, you can always bounce the card later on.
Turn 2
Play Angela if you can. She can be played on a location you intend to Beast because she isn’t so expensive to replay and it allows you to grow her more.
If you don’t have Angela prioritize Elsa Bloodstone. Otherwise keep working towards your big Bounce turn and play more 1-cost cards.
Turn 3
Bishop turn if you have him, preferably on a location where you will not play Beast later on. This is the first committal play of the game as Bishop is very unlikely to move during the match. Bishop is typically able to grow to rival the size of a 5-cost, so play the card on a lane you expect to fight for or want to discourage your opponent from trying to win.
Playing Beast here is not a regular play but is not crazy if don’t have other play and you can bounce a 1-energy card + Angela and/or Elsa Bloodstone.
Turn 4
This is your first truly flexible turn. There is no dedicated play like Angela or Bishop in the previous turns. If you have Beast and Falcon in hand, this is the time to play them. Bounce your cards with Beast, replay your 1-cost cards on the next turn along with Falcon, and then have a hand full of free cards for use on Turn 6.
If you have Hit Monkey and no Bounces, start planning ahead for the explosive Turn 6 and save up the necessary space.
Turn 5
If you suspect a Sandman or Wave coming from your opponent, this should be your pop off turn.
If you are free in your choices, your hand will dictate how to play:
- If you have two win conditions (Iron Man plus Hit Monkey, for example), play the less flexible one now and save the other for later.
- If you have only one win condition, keep it for Turn 6 if possible and asses the need for priority going into the last turn.
Even if you need to hold cards for a big Hit Monkey on the next turn, The Hood have one last chance to give us one Devil during this turn.
If you don’t expect Wave or Sandman, an Iron Man turn is most of the time the regular turn for Bounce. Also, Beast and/or Falcon refilling our hands (even if we can’t draw America Chavez) are also good.
Turn 6
Go off and try to win the game fighting for two lanes. Aiming for wining a third location with one of our anchors is common, but focus your efforts on Hit-Monkey winning one lane and Iron Man winning the other one.
Closing Words
Bounce is one of the harder archetypes to master in Marvel Snap. It features unique mechanics and requires careful hand and space management.
It’s one of the best decks in the game. However, it’s an archetype with an elevated learning curve. It requires time and a lot of mistakes to understand all the possible combinations and different ways you can use your cards together.
On the other hand, it is such a pleasant archetype to pilot once you learn it as you have access to play patterns other archetypes cannot produce. For this reason, I would encourage anyone to spend some time learning how to play Bounce. This is one of those archetypes that besides your results with it, can make you a better Marvel Snap player.
I hope this guide has been able to help shed some light on the archetype and allow you to achieve your goals by playing this deck.
Let me know your thoughts on the Marvel Snap Community Discord, my Twitter, and my Stream. I also love to read your comments at the bottom of each article! Even though I sometimes cannot answer all of them, I’m always happy to read them and take your opinions into account for my future work.
Don’t forget that the Premium subscription to Marvel Snap Zone gives you access to exclusive features on the web as well as additional services. Also, I have started providing personal coaching services for Marvel Snap. If you want to contact me, you can look for me on Discord as bohettv, on my Twitter, or via email at [email protected]
Thanks for reading, and as I always say, don’t forget to smile; I assure you that it makes a difference.
