Cerebro – Best Decks, Builds, and Card Analysis

Cerebro is one of the most demanded cards by players when it comes to its deckbuilding. As such, this series of spotlights around certain cards in the game felt like the perfect opportunity to feature Cerebro and the strategies around the card.

Variants

Cerebro

Ongoing: Your highest Power cards get +2 Power.

Collection Level 486+ (Pool 3)

view card details Start a deck Decks with Cerebro

As a condition, Cerebro is amongst the hardest to build around in the game. As a 0 Power card for 3 Energy, if the cards isn’t buffing at least 4 allies, it is considered a sub-par 3 cost card. Currently in Marvel Snap, we have Maximus, Sword Master or Bishop to name a few of the high power cards. If Bishop can grow to double digit power, being able to edge out the 6 or 7 power cards of the same cost is a good spot to be in for Cerebro, and makes the card worth investing into.

So let’s take a ride into how demanding Cerebro can be, and how worth it is to center your whole gameplan around him.

Gameplay and Synergies

As stated in the introduction, Cerebro isn’t a card we can simply play in our deck because we happen to miss a good card. Instead, we need to create a tailored list that will guarantee that Cerebro is equivalent to a 8 or more power card when we play it.

To achieve such a feat, we should make sure most of the cards in the deck have a similar power, so Cerebro can buff them all. Also, in order to have a chance in the power total at the end of the game, we need to pick a base power that is high enough.

If we picked a deck based around 1 power cards for example, even if we could play all 12 cards in our deck, we would have 11 (11 cards at 1 power and Cerebro at 0) + 22 points (Cerebro giving the +2 buff to 11 cards) for a grand total of 33. If we spread this across 3 locations, it is quite unlikely we end up winning the game.

Alongside this need of base total power needed, we also would like to play good cards at the same time. We are looking for standalone effects, as we will very be limited in the synergies we can develop if every card needs to be of the same power. With this double constraint, let’s take a look at the best cards for each power where there are enough cards to build an 11 cards deck.

3 Power

Variants

Killmonger

On Reveal: Destroy ALL 1-Cost cards.

Collection Level 222-474 (Pool 2)

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Variants

Scarlet Witch

On Reveal: Replace this location with a random new one.

Collection Level 18-214 (Pool 1)

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Variants

Sentinel

On Reveal: Add another Sentinel to your hand.

Starter Card

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Variants

Swarm

When this is discarded from your hand, add two copies that Cost 0 to your hand.

Collection Level 222-474 (Pool 2)

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In the 3 power category, we can see powerful effects like Killmonger, but also cards that can be duplicated to make sure we can fill the board like Sentinel or Swarm. Blue Marvel is a fun thought in a 3 power deck, as he is a 4 power card himself but buffs everyone else, so he would effectively bring every other card to be at the same 4 power.

5 Power

Variants

Doctor Doom

On Reveal: Add a 5-Power DoomBot to each other location.

Collection Level 486+ (Pool 3)

view card details Start a deck Decks with Doctor Doom

Variants

Sera

Ongoing: Cards in your hand cost 1 less. (minimum 1)

Collection Level 486+ (Pool 3)

view card details Start a deck Decks with Sera

Variants

Polaris

On Reveal: Move an opposing 1 or 2-Cost card to this location.

Collection Level 486+ (Pool 3)

view card details Start a deck Decks with Polaris

Variants

Mysterio

As you play this, play Illusions to other locations. Disguise this as an Illusion until the game ends.

Collection Level 486+ (Pool 3)

view card details Start a deck Decks with Mysterio

At 5 power, we can find 2 of the better cards in today’s game in Doctor Doom and Sera, but could struggle to find some cheap cards. Amongst the better options, I could find Polaris, or Star-Lord if we can activate its ability.

6 Power

Variants

Hela

On Reveal: Resurrect all cards you discarded from your hand to random locations.

Collection Level 486+ (Pool 3)

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Variants

Hellcow

On Reveal: Discard 2 cards from your hand.

Collection Level 486+ (Pool 3)

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Variants

The Hood

On Reveal: Add a Demon to your hand.

Collection Level 486+ (Pool 3)

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Variants

Captain Marvel

At the end of the game, move to a location that wins you the game. (If possible)

Collection Level 486+ (Pool 3)

view card details Start a deck Decks with Captain Marvel

6 power surprisingly has a lot of potential, and we can see that the deck could take various directions, considering we have support for several synergies. Also, it is the highest power we can build our deck around, and less reliant on Cerebro the deck should be in the end.

Ongoing Synergy

Lastly, outside what number of power we could use, there are also cards we could look to play as they synergize very well with Cerebro:

Variants

Onslaught

Ongoing: Double your other Ongoing effects at this location.

Collection Level 18-214 (Pool 1)

view card details Start a deck Decks with Onslaught

Variants

Mystique

On Reveal: If the last card you played has an Ongoing, copy its text. (if it’s in play)

Collection Level 486+ (Pool 3)

view card details Start a deck Decks with Mystique

C3R3BRO

C3r3bro

Created by den

, updated 10 months ago

0

4x Collection Level 18-214 (Pool 1)

2x Collection Level 222-474 (Pool 2)

3x Collection Level 486+ (Pool 3)

1x Recruit Season

2x Starter Card

2.5

Cost

0-
1
2
3
4
5+

2.5

Power

0-
1
2
3
4
5+

The 3 power version of the Cerebro deck is looking to be the best one synergy wise, as it is easy to manipulate our hand with the cheap cards we have. It probably also should be quite easy to make this deck into more of a budget build, removing Moon Knight and Ghost Rider for other Pool 1 or 2 cards.

This revolves around 2 basic synergies, aiming at discarding Swarm with Blade and Moon Knight, and limiting the impact locations will have on the match with Scarlet Witch and Rhino. In a typical game, our perfect set up would be to have two locations full and be able to play Cerebro onto the third one. That way, if we can drop Blue Marvel on turn 6, we would represent 24 power on each location.

Unfortunately, the deck’s ceiling is quite low because we are working with only 3 as a base power. Adding Mystique or Onslaught instead of Blue Marvel nets better results when we draw Cerebro. Blue Marvel is better when we don’t have any other Ongoing effects to copy.

CERE BRO5

Cere Bro5

Created by den

, updated 10 months ago

0

3x Collection Level 18-214 (Pool 1)

8x Collection Level 486+ (Pool 3)

1x Starter Card

3.5

Cost

0-
1
2
3
4
5+

3.3

Power

0-
1
2
3
4
5+

The 5 power deck is probably the clunkiest on our list. Although we got the best card with Cerebro in Doctor Doom, the rest of the 5 power cards are coming with abilities that don’t really make sense in the deck.

Angela might be the weird addition in the build, but she is actually quite easy to get to 5 with just a bit of space management. Namor‘s condition makes it a good card in the deck. The card will either be a 10 power if alone or a 5 and buffed by Cerebro if we play onto the location he’s at. Star-Lord is in the deck because we are lacking solid options at 5 power in the early game. Later on in the game, the card could be good too as it should be easier to guess where the opponent might want to play.

Because we lack solid 5 power options to round out the deck, Mystique easily finds her spot in the list. Since we can also have Sera in the deck, I took inspiration from the Magik Anti-Meta deck, including Magik for a potential Sera on turn 5, Mystique and Magik on turn 6.
The last cards in the deck are the reason the 5 power deck is the most difficult to build. Deathlock is included because we should be able to have a location empty on turn 3 so we can play the card. As for Omega Red, it looked like the highest potential amongst the options left to pick from. Maybe a simple metagame staple with a lower power could be a better solution

CERE6RO

Cere6ro

Created by den

, updated 10 months ago

1

4x Collection Level 18-214 (Pool 1)

1x Collection Level 222-474 (Pool 2)

7x Collection Level 486+ (Pool 3)

3.6

Cost

0-
1
2
3
4
5+

4.1

Power

0-
1
2
3
4
5+

The 6 power build is the high roll list for Cerebro, but considering the nature of the card and all the sacrifice we have to make, it might be the best route to get some Cubes. The star of the deck Should be Hela, which could provide an extremely strong turn 6 if we manage to not discard her by then.

Alongside her, we obviously have several discard effects, but with Hellcow‘s now being a 4 cost, the early game is a bit depleted. To make up for it, there is a 3 card package build around the Destroy synergy where we aim at buffing Carnage to 6 as he eats Bucky Barnes and The Hood, both cards enabling 6 power units.

Rockslide and White Queen are the fillers of the deck, and they don’t necessarily have great synergy with the other cards in the deck. They would happily serve as discard fodders if we can.

Closing Words

In all honesty, I have my doubts regarding any of these deck’s competitive potential. Cerebro is a nice looking payoff card, and a fun one to build around, but ultimately is very demanding in order to be worth including in a deck.

Among all three lists above, they all have their merits and problems. The 3 power list is looking very flexible, but might lack some raw power to score enough points in the end. The 5 power build features arguably the best standalone cards, but struggles to find enough cards to play a fully cohesive deck. Finally, the 6 power archetype simply is a high roll deck that simply looks like we added another layer on top of Hela‘s already random nature.

Despite that, for all the criticism the card could receive, Cerebro is a nice deckbuilding challenge to get into, and a very rewarding card to win with. Our Discord server is a great place to share your craziest accomplishments with the card. You can tag my Twitter page on your own Cerebro decks if you want me to take a look!

Good Game everyone.