Howard the Duck Decks to Try on Day 1 and Strategy Guide: It’s a Duck!

Hi everyone, thanks for joining me for another piece about an upcoming card. Today, we will dive into one of the card I want to purchase the most since I started playing Marvel Snap: Howard the Duck!

Variants

Howard the Duck

Ongoing: Tap this to see the top card of your deck.

Series 5 Ultra Rare – Collection Level 486+ (Pool 5)

view card details Start a deck Decks with Howard the Duck

After last week’s article on Iron Lad, you might be thinking: “Okay, Den is just going to overhype every card from now on…”, it’s not the case at all. I don’t think Howard the Duck will be anywhere close to Iron Lad when it comes to power, nor do I think someone should purchase it the same way I claimed Iron Lad would be the game’s best card.

I only have one argument for today’s piece: It’s a duck!

Yes, that’s it, I don’t have anything else to sell you on the card. I don’t think it will be amongst the very best 1-cost cards in the game. A solid one, sure, but not Nebula kind of impact. I don’t see the card being a mandatory inclusion in many decks. It will help some, especially those based around some specific abilities later in the match, which can afford to be flexible with their early plays, but they should still be strong without Howard the Duck included.

Still, before we dive into the decks I prepared for today’s article, I’d like to touch an important part of using your Collector’s Tokens in Marvel Snap: It’s about having fun. A lot of people ask me on social media what card they should invest their tokens into. My answer is always the same: “Go after the card you think will enhance your Marvel Snap experience the most”.

• Are you someone focused on climbing the ladder and winning as much as possible ? Look for the strongest cards.
• Are you trying to have fun and build theme-based decks around your favorite superheroes? Go after those and the cards based on their storylines.
• Is Donald Duck your all-time favorite characters, and you really want to play Howard the Duck as a result, plus he has a super cool variant? Spend 6,000 tokens on Howard.

Strategy and Potential

Howard the Duck is absolutely not a necessary card to own in order to win games in Marvel Snap. However, information is a pretty important part of winning games, especially for decks relying on drawing specific cards, or timing certain abilities at the right time.

Let’s look at Electro Ramp for example, and say this is your hand on turn two:

Variants

Sandman

Ongoing: Players can only play 1 card a turn.

Collection Level 222-474 (Pool 2)

view card details Start a deck Decks with Sandman

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

Odin

On Reveal: Activate the On Reveal abilities of your other cards at this location.

Collection Level 1-14

view card details Start a deck Decks with Odin

Variants

Aero

On Reveal: Move the last enemy card played this turn to this location.

Collection Level 486+ (Pool 3)

view card details Start a deck Decks with Aero

Without Wave or Electro, this hand looks awfully slow, and you probably have to hope to draw a playable next turn in order to stay in the game. If your opponent snapped right now, you would likely retreat, as you only have two in seven chances (Electro and Wave) to salvage this hand.

Well, if Howard the Duck was in play, then you wouldn’t have to think about it so hard. Look at the top card of your deck, and the decision will be crystal clear. If it is another big card, you are out of this match, moving on to the next one. On the other hand, if the next card is Electro, you might very well snap back at your opponent, courtesy of Howard the Duck.

I think this is the best use one can make of Howard the Duck overall, simply use it to make better decisions in archetypes where your draws are extremely impactful to your win rate. If Howard the Duck can help you snap just one more time every five or ten games, I think the card is worth considering. Over large sample sizes, the card will have gained you enough cubes to be worth the investment.

Here are cards which follow this logic, and should legitimately be glad to have Howard included in the deck:

• Cards you want to play on a specific turn, so information on drawing them next is clutch:

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

Bishop

After you play a card, this gains +1 Power.

Collection Level 18-214 (Pool 1)

view card details Start a deck Decks with Bishop

Variants

Professor X

Ongoing: Lock down this location. (Cards can’t be added, removed, etc.)

Collection Level 18-214 (Pool 1)

view card details Start a deck Decks with Professor X

Variants

Electro

On Reveal: +1 Max Energy. Ongoing: You can only play 1 card a turn.

Collection Level 486+ (Pool 3)

view card details Start a deck Decks with Electro

Variants

Lockjaw

After you play a card here, swap it with a card in your deck. (once per turn)

Collection Level 486+ (Pool 3)

view card details Start a deck Decks with Lockjaw

Variants

Thor

On Reveal: Shuffle Mjolnir into your deck.

Collection Level 486+ (Pool 3)

view card details Start a deck Decks with Thor

Variants

Magik

You can’t play this on turn 6. On Reveal: Change this location to ‘Limbo’.

Collection Level 486+ (Pool 3)

view card details Start a deck Decks with Magik

Variants

Mister Negative

On Reveal: Swap the Power and Cost of all cards in your deck.

Collection Level 486+ (Pool 3)

view card details Start a deck Decks with Mister Negative

Variants

Shuri

On Reveal: If you play your next card here, double its Power.

Collection Level 486+ (Pool 3)

view card details Start a deck Decks with Shuri

Variants

Storm

On Reveal: Flood this location. Next turn is the last turn cards can be played here.

Collection Level 222-474 (Pool 2)

view card details Start a deck Decks with Storm

• Cards utilizing the top card of your deck:

Variants

Jubilee

On Reveal: Add the top card of your deck to this location.

Collection Level 222-474 (Pool 2)

view card details Start a deck Decks with Jubilee

Variants

Iron Lad

On Reveal: Copy the text of your deck’s top card.

Series 5 Ultra Rare – Collection Level 486+ (Pool 5)

view card details Start a deck Decks with Iron Lad

Obviously, Jubilee and Iron Lad are the two cards with “Howard the Duck makes me better” written all over them. Nevertheless, there are plenty of other cards worthy of exploring with the new card, as their performance is directly impacted by the timing at which those cards are played. Particularly, I like cards such as Lockjaw or Shuri in this scenario, as those cards can often be make or break in the deck they are included, hence why those decks often have said card in their name.

With that in mind, there suddenly are many more archetypes to consider with Howard the Duck, and my previous argument of “It’s a Duck” magically became “It’s a Strong Duck”.

Where to play Howard the Duck

I already touched some archetypes to consider with Howard the Duck in the Iron Lad article, such as Galactus or the Ongoing synergy. I don’t think Iron Lad will be necessary for Howard the Duck to be included in the Ongoing archetypes, as the synergy with Spectrum or Ka-Zar should be enough to warrant the card. When it comes to Galactus though, I think both cards have to be played together.

Iron Galactus

Created by den

, updated 20 days ago

2

2x Collection Level 18-214 (Pool 1)

5x Collection Level 486+ (Pool 3)

1x Series 4 Rare – Collection Level 486+ (Pool 4)

4x Series 5 Ultra Rare – Collection Level 486+ (Pool 5)

4.1

Cost

0-
1
2
3
4
5+

4.5

Power

0-
1
2
3
4
5+

Apart from this specific deck, I think Iron Lad will simply be a strong card to add to most decks, but isn’t a necessity to make Howard the Duck a consideration. Let’s now take a look at several decks where Howard the Duck can be a valuable addition, without the need of other Series 5 cards, and just contribute to the deck’s success:

Howard Ongoing Zoo

Created by den

, updated 13 days ago

0

2x Collection Level 1-14

4x Collection Level 18-214 (Pool 1)

1x Collection Level 486+ (Pool 3)

2x Series 5 Ultra Rare – Collection Level 486+ (Pool 5)

2x Recruit Season

1x Starter Card

3.8

Cost

0-
1
2
3
4
5+

3.3

Power

0-
1
2
3
4
5+

Ongoing Electro

Created by den

, updated 13 days ago

0

1x Collection Level 1-14

3x Collection Level 18-214 (Pool 1)

2x Collection Level 222-474 (Pool 2)

4x Collection Level 486+ (Pool 3)

2x Series 5 Ultra Rare – Collection Level 486+ (Pool 5)

3.8

Cost

0-
1
2
3
4
5+

5.1

Power

0-
1
2
3
4
5+

Electro Ramp

Created by den

, updated 13 days ago

0

1x Collection Level 1-14

1x Collection Level 18-214 (Pool 1)

3x Collection Level 222-474 (Pool 2)

5x Collection Level 486+ (Pool 3)

2x Series 5 Ultra Rare – Collection Level 486+ (Pool 5)

4.1

Cost

0-
1
2
3
4
5+

5.8

Power

0-
1
2
3
4
5+

Overall, I expect the Ongoing keyword to be the most impactful thing about the card. The archetype has been dying for a solid 1-cost alongside Ant Man for a very long time. Also, Howard the Duck synergizes with cards like Electro or Professor X, which leads me to believe it should be a great addition in the various decks around the Ongoing synergy.

Lockjaw Howard

Created by den

, updated 13 days ago

0

1x Collection Level 18-214 (Pool 1)

3x Collection Level 222-474 (Pool 2)

7x Collection Level 486+ (Pool 3)

1x Series 5 Ultra Rare – Collection Level 486+ (Pool 5)

4.1

Cost

0-
1
2
3
4
5+

6.7

Power

0-
1
2
3
4
5+

Closing Words

I only highlighted the archetypes where Howard would add value to some cards in the deck in the section above. However, if you hold information in high esteem, you probably could also try the card in reactive archetypes, such as the emerging Nebula Control. In this kind of archetype, relying on timing your disruptive cards, knowing what is your next draw can be crucial to make the right decision.

Howard control

Created by den

, updated 13 days ago

1

1x Collection Level 1-14

2x Collection Level 18-214 (Pool 1)

1x Collection Level 222-474 (Pool 2)

4x Collection Level 486+ (Pool 3)

1x Series 4 Rare – Collection Level 486+ (Pool 4)

3x Series 5 Ultra Rare – Collection Level 486+ (Pool 5)

3.2

Cost

0-
1
2
3
4
5+

3.2

Power

0-
1
2
3
4
5+

That is about all I had to share about Howard the Duck. A solid card in my opinion, but probably soon to be forgotten in a month with Iron Lad and High Evolutionary eats much of the spotlight. Very likely, Howard isn’t worth 6,000 tokens, and I would only purchase it if, like myself, you particularly enjoy this type of card, or have some emotional attachment to the character.

I still believe the card to be a solid 1-cost in Marvel Snap, and has potential to be excellent down the line, especially in tournaments, where each match is crucial compared to the ladder experience. To discuss the card more, or share your ideas around Howard, find me on the Marvel Snap Zone community Discord, or follow my Twitter page where I share decks and biased opinions about the game.

Good Game Everyone.