With the new Maximum Effort Season in full swing, we got our hands on the newest Season Pass card Gwenpool! While her ability sparks a lot of creativity in the community, is she strong enough to compete in the Arishem meta we are in? In this article, we will break down everything to know about her, including her synergies, best decks, things to avoid, and more!
How to Use Gwenpool
Gwenpool‘s ability states “On Reveal: Pick a random card in your hand 3 times. Give +2 Power each time.” This means in an example hand of 3 cards, all 3 cards could get +2 Power. Alternatively, 1 card can get +6 Power and the other two get +0, and similarly 1 card could get +4, your second card get +2, and your final card get +0. The randomness of Gwenpool can me managed by reducing your hand size, which can help to target the card you want to get the boost in Power.
Looking at raw stats, Gwenpool has the potential of being 4-Cost while offering 12 total Power to your board. Her difficultly lies in actually playing all of the cards she buffs. To maximize the effectiveness of her +2 Power, let’s take a look at her synergies!
Synergies
The prime candidates for her buff are Mister Sinister, Brood, and Sebastian Shaw. Each of these cards multiply the boost they receive to give it more value. If +6 Power lands on Brood, you will have a 8-Power Brood that copies that Power to its Broodlings, giving a total of 24 Power from a 3-Cost! The same idea translates directly to Mister Sinister. Sebastian Shaw gets +2 extra Power Each time he receives one of Gwenpool‘s buffs. So receiving a single +2 boost nets him +4 total Power. Gaining all +6 gains him a total of +12!
Decks with Mister Sinister
Decks with Sebastian Shaw
In a similar idea, Mysterio can also multiply the boost recieved from Gwenpool! In the same way that Bast will turn all of Mysterio‘s cards into 3 Power, Gwenpool gives the extra Power to each of Mysterio‘s cards. The real Mysterio will keep his original 4 Power plus any additional Gwenpool gives him. The Illusions start as 0-Power, but they will each also gain the Power Gwenpool gives the real Mysterio. So if Mysterio gets all 3 Gwenpool triggers, you basically get a low-cost Doctor Doom as your Illusions will have 6 Power and the real Mysterio gets 10 Power! The reason you would run Mysterio over a card like Brood is if you want to go tall on a location (Brood) or go wide across the board (Mysterio).
Decks with Mysterio
Gwenpool‘s biggest drawback is having only 2 turns to play out your buffed cards. To help ensure your buffed cards hit the board each game, Makkari and Wasp are good picks. Both of these cards let you get that Power boost without needing to use your Energy to play those cards out. Makkari and Wasp also can leave your hand before Gwenpool easily, helping your target your best cards without wasting Energy.
Decks with Makkari
In a different way of synergizing, Grand Master and Absorbing Man work well with her. If you are leaning on the buffs to your cards, these two can help give you a second trigger to buff your cards.
Decks with Makkari
Best Decks So Far
One constraining factor many decks have right now is competing against Arishem. To have a fighting chance against those decks, many Gwenpool decks use non-synergistic cards purely to combat the Arishem meta. This means throwing in random a random Rogue, Mystique, or Darkhawk to a deck that otherwise has no place for these cards. It has helped these decks be more competitive, but the lists may be more optimized once Arishem is less of a constant threat you need to tech against.
SafetyBlade
Maximizing your multipliers, this deck runs Brood, Mister Sinister, and Mysterio to give Gwenpool the best chance to hit good targets. The great thing about these cards is that they synergize perfectly with Patriot! This gives your key cards additional boosts that can easily swing you massive points on the final turn. Iron Man also works great in this list since he literally doubles any boost he gets (or other card buffs if he shares their location).
The deck is fairly one dimensional, relying on those key cards to generate Power. You do have Mockingbird to generate extra value that you can hold until the last turn. Her discount also helps ensure your Gwenpool buffed cards have a chance to be played. The Mystique in this list also serves a double purpose. Not only does she give you a second Darkhawk in a Arishem matchup, she gives you a chance to play a second (possibly buffed) Iron Man!
CanadianAlfredo
With 2 of Gwenpool‘s best synergies being 3-Cost cards, she slots well into the Silver Surfer archetype. She curves well into turn 4 after a Hope Summers, which gives you turns 5 and 6 to dump your 3-Cost cards and setup for Silver Surfer combos. If you don’t draw Gwenpool, you have more traditional ways of buffing your cards like Phastos, Forge, and Killmonger + Nova.
This deck leverages Gwenpool‘s additional synergies with Grand Master and Absorbing Man for extra triggers. These cards also work well with your other On Reveals like Brood, Phastos, and Silver Surfer. Nocturne makes the cut in this list as a way to give you some location control. If you are missing Nocturne, you can sub her out for another 3-Cost like Red Guardian (for disruption) or Nakia (for Power synergy). If you are missing Hope Summers, you can use the more traditional Sera route.
This deck doesn’t feature any Arishem tech. I wanted to showcase at least one deck that tries to go all out on it’s objective without trying to counter a single deck. If you want to counter it, however, Rogue and Mobius can make good 3-Cost substitute. This lets you slow down their Loki and Quinjet, as well as steal any Darkhawk or other strong Ongoing abilities.
CanadianAlfredo
Well, if you can’t beat Arishem, join Arishem! This deck uses Gwenpool for one simple fact: Her biggest weakness is not getting to play out the cards she buffs. When you can play her on turn 3, that gives you an extra turn to play those buffed cards, plus an extra Energy for more play lines. An early Gwenpool play effectively makes her a [3/12] which is incredibly well statted.
The deck of course runs the usual suspects that makes Arishem so good. Quinjet and card generation gives you plenty of options for plays each game. Loki gives you a chance to mulligan your bad hands into a curated deck designed by your opponent. Alioth makes an appearance in this deck for the simple fact that you can ruin your opponent’s gameplan with a surprise turn 5 Alioth. You normally have priority in Arishem decks, so this can help you catch those counter Darkhawks or turn 6 setups.
Things to Avoid with Gwenpool
Since Gwenpool buffs cards, she is directly countered by Shadow King. Many decks use him specifically to tech against players leveraging Gwenpool‘s Power buffs. Your best way to avoid this counter is to hold your buffed cards until the final turn. This gives you the best chance to keep the buffs you set up, and possibly surprise your opponent with an abundance of Power!
Decks with Shadow King
A general rule for Gwenpool is knowing when or when not to play her. If you don’t draw well or have an oversized hand, Gwenpool might not be worth playing that match. While you could high roll all of the buffs to Brood, you could throw them randomly across cards that are too late to benefit from. Gwenpool is only a good card if you can reap the value she generates by playing out the cards she buffs. If your hand size is too big, focus on your other cards for Power and find a new play line.
Summary
Gwenpool is a fun Season Pass card that still holds some questions. Is she a better card when Arishem isn’t at play? Can she compete with the Power levels put out by other meta decks? Once Arishem cools off a bit (either by fatigue or by a nerf), we could see players really experiment with Gwenpool and put her to the test.
In the meantime, I think she is currently a mid-tier card. She has potential to grow and her decks evolve, but currently her best lists can’t always keep up with the top meta decks. With that said, plenty of streamers and players were able to climb to Infinite utilizing decks like those featured here, so she is definitely playable and meta competitive.
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