Galactus Detailed Deck Guide: The Devourer of Worlds Prevails

A Big Bad always finds a way to stay relevant in the meta (sorry, Kang). Join Bohe in this new guide and learn how to play with or against one of the flagship archetypes of Marvel Snap! - 58.60% WR and .59 CA in almost 2,300 games!

Marvel Snap is a game where both players compete in three locations, and the one emerging victorious on two of them wins the game. This is a rule that applies to every deck, and you have to build your list with it in mind – unless you have Galactus in your deck. When you are the Devourer of Worlds and one of the Big Bads in Marvel Snap (unique cards that are permanently in Series 5), you don’t care much about rules and would rather play by your own: one lane only.

With this unique ability to destroy the other locations, Galactus provides gameplay that no other card in Marvel Snap can. It also carries some heavy restrictions when it comes to building around the card. Indeed, if you decide to turn to this archetype, you have to surround it with cards that will directly synergize with the strategy Galactus pushes for.

If you manage to fool your opponent with your deck and land Galactus the way you planned, the match is almost as good as won. On the other hand, if your opponent understands what is going on and has a card available in their hand to counter Galactus, things might not be so simple.

How can you maximize your chances of landing Galactus? What are the critical factors to think about when building your deck around one of the mightiest cosmic entities? All the essential questions and more are in our detailed Galactus guide.


Deck Presentation

Galactus Ramp
Created by Bohe
, updated 3 months ago
1x Collection Level 18-214 (Pool 1)
3x Collection Level 222-474 (Pool 2)
4x Collection Level 486+ (Pool 3)
4x Series 5 Ultra Rare – Collection Level 486+ (Pool 5)
3.7
Cost
0-
1
2
3
4
5+
2.3
Power
0-
1
2
3
4
5+

Some players like to build a very straightforward deck that aims to play Galactus as early as possible and dominate the remaining lane; others will go for a sneakier approach and even wait until Turn 6 to play the signature card of their deck. As it stands, there hasn’t been a clearly better list. The one important trait of a Galactus deck is to make the card work.

Many may complain every time Galactus is nerfed. The reality is that, just like Thanos, the card design is so strong that it will likely always find a way to stay relevant.

A 58.60% WR and a 0.59 Cube Average are incredibly strong numbers. The most interesting thing is that there are multiple versions of this archetype, and all of them have numbers quite close to what I show here regardless of the variation of the cards.

Later we will see some other ways of putting this archetype together. Whether it’s with Ongoing cards like Ms. Marvel, Selene for the Goblins, or even Martyr who will help you resolve Galactus‘s effect easily, the archetype always finds a way around balance changes.

Deck Concept and Strategy

At its core, a Galactus deck starts every game with the same goal every time: play Galactus as safely as possible. Once this critical step is completed, your deck should be built to crush a one-lane battle using Alioth and Shang-Chi to punish any opponent crazy enough to stay in the game.

Key Concepts

  • You need an empty lane, maybe even two, if you want to keep the opponent guessing as to where Galactus could be played. It is not a problem if the opponent’s side has cards on it, which is why Green Goblin and Hobgoblin shine in this deck.
  • You need six energy, and you would like this to happen before Turn 6 so you can play points the turn after Galactus. Electro and Wave will help you with this part of the plan.
  • You need Galactus to reveal and resolve.

The first two conditions are not so hard to fulfill because they mostly depend on you. Electro and Wave should take care of allowing Galactus to be played before Turn 6. As for the empty lane, it is important to pick the location where you intend to play Galactus as early as possible. Most of the time, the choice should happen on Turn 3 at the latest. Also, if you see a great location reveal first or second, feel free to play onto unrevealed locations. Even if they are punishing, you intend to destroy them anyway.

Priority

The last condition is the deciding factor and the difference between a win and a loss. There are many ways for the opponent to disrupt your perfect setup on the turn you play Galactus. Cards like Debrii and Viper can get a card to the Galactus lane. Juggernaut can move Galactus to a non-empty lane. Cosmo and Goose can deny Galactus altogether.

While Goose is just an Ongoing effect you can’t do much about, the other cards can be countered with a simple trick: Priority.

It isn’t an easy task to gain priority with the deck. Most of your cards have their power below the average for their cost. Nevertheless, Sunspot and Nebula can grow as the turns go by, allowing you to fight for priority during the mid game. Wave‘s five power is quite important, and the same goes for the Goblins. Both Green Goblin and Hobgoblin can enable priority if you play them in the correct lanes before playing Galactus.

This is why taking the time to think about which lane to play each of your cards is extremely important. Remember that players who take more turn time to think about their plays statistically win more cubes!

Early Game Core

These two cards fulfill two specific functions.

  • You need cards that allow you to compete in games where resolving Galactus‘s effect is not possible.
  • They allow you to have tools to fight for priority, which is a key situation to be able to resolve Galactus‘s ability.

Ramp Core

Electro and Wave are your ramp tools. Both cards let you play Galactus and your other late-game cards one or two turns earlier than you are supposed to.

This generates multiple favorable situations for your archetype, like being able to play Galactus on Turn 4 or facing games like a conventional Ramp deck could by winning a lane on Turn 4 with Nebula + Professor X and another on Turn 5 with Orka.

I mentioned Professor X in this section since the main reason it is still present in this and other archetypes (despite the current one power) is the fact that it can be played early thanks to cards like Electro and Wave. It’s undoubtedly a card that goes hand in hand with Ramp and Nebula.

Staples Core

There are certainly many versions of this archetype. The truth is that in the vast majority of them, you will find these two cards.

The reasons are simple. The larger Goblin, aka Hobgoblin, is an enabler of Galactus. Normally you will want to play it in the same lane in which you intend to play Galactus, helping you to resolve the latter’s ability and reducing the available space that the opponent will have to try to come back in the game.

As for Alioth, it is something like the old Spider-Man (remember the old ability?). If you manage to resolve Galactus‘s effect before Turn 6, playing Alioth on the last turn with priority will mean victory 100% of the time.

Flex Core

Each of these cards has a unique reason for being in the deck; however, I placed them in this section because they are usually options to consider when you want to incorporate a new core of cards into the Galactus archetype.

Daredevil has always come hand in hand with powerful 5-Cost cards like Professor X and Hobgoblin. In this particular case, thanks to Electro, it is a fundamental piece to play a pinpointed Galactus on Turn 5.

Jeff the Baby Land Shark is one of the best cards in the game. Including it whenever possible – especially when playing Professor X – is almost mandatory.

Shang-Chi is a great tool both in normal games and in games where Galactus has already resolved. It would prevent any attempt to beat you in a one-lane game.

Orka has been little by little establishing itself in the archetype thanks to the fact that it supports you in those games where you already have Electro and you are forced to play a conventional game. At the same time, it has a non-negligible amount of points if you have to play it after Galactus in the only surviving lane.

Card Substitutions

Death is usually one of the most popular inclusions when playing Galactus.

This is because Death usually has a fairly low cost for the last turn. However, sometimes it is preferable to play Shang-Chi instead of this card. Feel free to swap them depending on your preference and the current state of the meta.

Ms. Marvel works very well with Galactus. It makes the lane where Galactus is played have 10 power and often ensures its resolution.

Iron Man and Onslaught usually go in together because they allow you to win any lane easily.

Ravonna Renslayer is usually included with this set because it reduces the cost of Green Goblin, Hobgoblin, and Iron Man.

These cards related to the Destruction archetype usually pair well with Galactus, too.

Knull is almost invincible when competing for power in Galactus‘s lane since it will have the power of all the cards that were in the lanes destroyed by Galactus. Nimrod is quite useful since, in addition to increasing Knull‘s power, it leaves copies in Galactus‘s lane after the other locations are destroyed.

As you have already seen, this archetype shares certain card cores with the Ramp archetype.

Thanks to the presence of Electro, it is easy to play around curves like Black Panther -> Arnim Zola -> Odin, which generates multiple 32-power Black Panthers scattered around the board.

A logical addition to any deck that plays Green Goblin and/or Hobgoblin.

It could also be added to The Hood and/or Sentry + Annihilus to complete a Junk core.

Other Ways to Build the Archetype

Galactgoing

Galactus
Created by den
, updated 3 months ago
2x Collection Level 18-214 (Pool 1)
1x Collection Level 222-474 (Pool 2)
2x Collection Level 486+ (Pool 3)
1x Series 4 Rare – Collection Level 486+ (Pool 4)
5x Series 5 Ultra Rare – Collection Level 486+ (Pool 5)
1x Starter Card
4
Cost
0-
1
2
3
4
5+
1.7
Power
0-
1
2
3
4
5+

A 57.82% Win Rate and .47 Cube Average in more than 200 games are pretty solid numbers for an iteration with rare cards for the archetype like Iron Man and Onslaught.

The reason for this version is none other than the aforementioned Ms. Marvel, which makes it easier to activate Galactus for a low energy cost. It also gives you a pretty solid alternate win condition by concentrating Ms. Marvel, Iron Man, and Onslaught in the mid lane and placing one or two cards in the side lanes.

Galactus Destroy

Galactus Destroy
Created by Bohe
, updated 3 months ago
3x Collection Level 18-214 (Pool 1)
1x Collection Level 222-474 (Pool 2)
3x Collection Level 486+ (Pool 3)
2x Series 4 Rare – Collection Level 486+ (Pool 4)
3x Series 5 Ultra Rare – Collection Level 486+ (Pool 5)
3.8
Cost
0-
1
2
3
4
5+
3.6
Power
0-
1
2
3
4
5+

Nimrod and Knull have been part of this archetype since its inception. One of the most successful versions using both cards is the version focused on the destruction plan.

Thanks to X-23, you can accelerate Galactus and play it on Turn 5 (or, in very exceptional cases, on Turn 4). This allows you to create additional lines of play beyond the natural ones in a conventional Destruction or Galactus deck.

You can put multiple Nimrods in Galactus‘s lane and close the game with Knull or Alioth + Death, both of which are tremendously powerful.

A 56.78% Win Rate and .47 Cube Average in more than 500 games don’t lie.

Galactus Junk

Galactus Junk
Created by Bohe
, updated 3 months ago
1x Collection Level 18-214 (Pool 1)
1x Collection Level 222-474 (Pool 2)
4x Collection Level 486+ (Pool 3)
6x Series 5 Ultra Rare – Collection Level 486+ (Pool 5)
3.3
Cost
0-
1
2
3
4
5+
2.4
Power
0-
1
2
3
4
5+

The appearance of Selene and the Junk core in the Galactus archetype was expected.

While this list may not be 100% refined, the sub-archetype is starting to solidify. A 54.24% Win Rate and .27 Cube Average in almost 300 games for the newest iteration of Galactus is to be respected.

I think I would try some other cards in the Debrii, Gladiator, and probably Carnage slots. It’s not that they are bad; Debrii helps if you go for the pure Junk route and could sometimes enable an easy Turn 6 Galactus; Carnage helps clean junk if you don’t draw Annihilus; and, finally, Gladiator works great here by giving you priority (most of the time) while getting a big target out of the way if it misses. However, those are the slots that I consider for future testing. The rest of the cards work incredibly well together.


Snap and Retreat

Galactus is a well-documented archetype in Marvel Snap nowadays, which means that most opponents know exactly what is coming next after you play Galactus. If they stay in the game, that is probably because they have something up their sleeve. Otherwise, they should Retreat on the spot.

Because of this, the need to Snap early in the match is crucial with a Galactus deck. It will cost you some cubes on occasion, and it might push you to reconsider why you decided to play this archetype in the first place. But it is the right way to play Galactus and will net you more cubes in the long run.

When to Retreat is more situational. It should be decided mostly upon the opponent Snapping early in the match. If the game goes to Turn 6, the decision to play it out or leave should be pretty obvious with this archetype.


Locations

Considering you can destroy two out of three locations in play, it is easy to think Galactus doesn’t care too much about them. This is true to some extent; however, some locations give valuable information to your opponent as to where we will likely play Galactus. On the other end, some locations allow you to play Galactus earlier or in a safer way, which is nice.

Good Locations

Bad Locations

Versus Lockdown

Lockdown
Created by den
, updated 3 months ago
1x Collection Level 1-14
1x Collection Level 18-214 (Pool 1)
1x Collection Level 222-474 (Pool 2)
1x Collection Level 486+ (Pool 3)
2x Series 4 Rare – Collection Level 486+ (Pool 4)
5x Series 5 Ultra Rare – Collection Level 486+ (Pool 5)
1x Starter Card
3.3
Cost
0-
1
2
3
4
5+
2.9
Power
0-
1
2
3
4
5+

Echo can disable a lane for Professor X, but it can also be favorable for Electro.

If you have Nebula, it will be important that you generally play it on the right side. This will normally make your Nebula end up in the same lane as the opponent’s and you won’t have to worry about it. Now, depending on the circumstances, you might prefer your Nebula and your opponent’s to be separate. If so, you could choose to play it in the first revealed location.

If the first location revealed was favorable for Galactus, I would consider placing Nebula in the second or third lane, depending on whether I know the opponent’s deck or not.

Storm turns out to be somewhat favorable for you. The Lockdown player will usually look to put points behind Storm, which gives you a free turn with no points in other lanes where you could play Galactus (or Hobgoblin to pave the way) depending on whether you played Electro or Wave.

Be careful and play around Ms. Marvel and Doctor Doom; they can add points in all three lanes and complicate the activation of Galactus.

Regarding Professor X, it won’t be a problem like it used to be. If Professor X and Galactus enter the same lane at the same time, you will have won the game. Just be careful because they usually play it behind Nebula, which would make you prefer to activate Galactus in another lane.

Versus Thanos Blob

Thanos Blob
Created by den
, updated 3 months ago
2x Collection Level 18-214 (Pool 1)
2x Collection Level 222-474 (Pool 2)
3x Collection Level 486+ (Pool 3)
5x Series 5 Ultra Rare – Collection Level 486+ (Pool 5)
3.8
Cost
0-
1
2
3
4
5+
4.7
Power
0-
1
2
3
4
5+

Thanos always finds a way to stay relevant.

In this build, Maximus and Gladiator can be a problem during the early game because they are quite strong for low energy. Think about the fact that Galactus‘s plan is not going to happen in those lanes and focus on building the plan around another lane, or simply switching to the regular Ramp plan if this complicates the game.

Other than this, just try to be careful of Shang-Chi and Blob. Blob can win a lane on its own, so, if you don’t have Alioth, chances are that Blob can win your Galactus location if Maximus, Gladiator, Vision, and/or Aero are still in the deck.

If you have priority and Alioth, this is no longer a concern. Just play with Shang-Chi in mind.


Turn-by-Turn Breakdown

Turn 1

Sunspot or Nebula. The decision is that Nebula is better if you have Professor X and a way to speed it up. Sunspot is better if you don’t have a 2- and 3-Cost card in hand.

Turn 2

Daredevil is your best option. Jeff the Baby Land Shark is always better if the opponent doesn’t know it exists so you can put additional power into Professor X‘s lane without them being aware of it.

I would play Jeff only if I have no other possible play this turn.

Turn 3

This is the first pivotal turn, and, most of the time, it’s the turn where you will Snap if you have a good hand. Also, you should have information on all three locations, so you can decide precisely where you want to play Galactus.

There are different scenarios to consider:

  • Wave, but no Galactus: You can try your luck at drawing it next turn; it might be a good bet if you have no other play pattern available.
  • Wave and Galactus: This alone could warrant a Snap if you have a read on your opponent not having potential disruption. If you have a Turn 5 play to lock the lane, you should Snap.
  • Electro, but no Galactus: You still have two draws to find it, and this is playable if you have a 5-Cost to follow up on Electro like Hobgoblin or Professor X.
  • Electro and Galactus: Electro is a bigger tell than Wave regarding what you are playing. You should probably Snap if you think your opponent cannot stop Galactus on Turn 5. Otherwise, you can probably wait to Snap on Turn 4 and see how things develop.
  • No Wave or Electro: The game can still be saved by playing the regular Ramp route, or, if you get one of them next turn, for a Turn 5 Galactus. I would Retreat if the opponent Snaps, though.

If you are playing a more flexible build (like one using Nimrod), you should have more possibilities to find a play pattern without Galactus. Oftentimes, those do not warrant a Snap unless you also have a read on your opponent. They do give you many more options, as well as making a Galactus draw stronger later in the game.

Turns 4 and 5

These two turns should follow up on the plan established during Turn 3. The big concern here is where to play your cards and confirming if the opponent is playing the build you anticipated. The lane you play Galactus on is incredibly important, especially for priority purposes going into the final turns.

If you haven’t Snapped by the end of Turn 5, you are probably better off playing for two cubes. The opponent should have enough information to leave or punish you if you Snap anyway since you aren’t the most flexible deck and can’t really disguise your intentions that late in the game.

Turn 6

With the traditional build of Galactus, the normal setup for Turn 6 would be to play on the only lane left. If your opponent is still in the game, take some time to consider what they might have that made them believe they would win the game.

Normally, the easiest thing would be to close the game with Alioth because you should have priority. This allows you to eliminate any possible threat with the Purple Cloud without any problem.

If you are playing a hybrid take on the archetype, Turn 6 should typically be where you end your play pattern decided on Turn 3 or Turn 4.


Closing Words

Galactus is a very polarizing archetype that divides the community between those who love it, and those who can’t stand it.

I think that, although its design goes against the natural essence of Marvel Snap, its presence is something that we can all take advantage of. What I mean by this is that playing with or around these types of strategies makes us all better players overall. This is due to the fact of having to keep in mind different ways of developing the games to obtain victory.

The archetype of Galactus, as well as that of other Big Bads, will always find a way to emerge. I hope this guide helps you better understand the archetype and achieve your goals in Snap; whether playing the deck or learning to play against it.

Let us know your thoughts on this and any other Marvel Snap-related topics in the Marvel Snap Community Discord, on my Twitter, and in the comment section of this article (I promise I read them all!).

Don’t forget that I have started providing personal coaching services for Marvel Snap. If you want to contact me, look for me:

Thanks for reading, and as I always say, dear readers, don’t forget to smile; I assure you that it makes a difference.

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