20 Iron Lad Decks to Try on Day 1 and Strategy Guide: The Best Card in Marvel Snap
Marvel Snap's newest card Iron Lad is being touted as the best card in the game, at least according to Den. With a whopping 20 theorycraft decks this time around, that may be true!
Table of Contents
I am not a big fan of exaggerating a title in order to make content look incredible for the sake of promoting it. Obviously, with the way content creation works, that is starting to be the norm nowadays, and we almost unconsciously hype absolutely everything for no reason. I’m sure when you read the title, you thought it was another case of this overly hyped trend. Let me reassure you, I am dead serious when I say Iron Lad will be Marvel Snap’s strongest card.
If you follow me on Twitter, you probably saw I already shared several decks with Iron Lad included as a way to show the card can be slotted in almost any archetype you can think of. Before the release of this article, I shared five different archetypes where I thought Iron Lad would be a good fit, which is already a lot for any card joining Marvel Snap. Don’t worry though, if you’ve already seen these decks, you haven’t spoiled everything the card can do. In today’s article, we will at least double that amount of decks and show where Iron Lad would genuinely be a valid addition.
Before we dive into the many decks I have prepared for this article, I want to address the Howard the Duck situation. Many people have claimed that Iron Lad will not be worth it without Howard the Duck (release date: May 16, 2023), which makes the card way too expensive – especially considering High Evolutionary (release date: May 23, 2023 as a Big Bad) is around the corner.
Howard the Duck
Ongoing: Tap this to see the top card of your deck.
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Decks with Howard the Duck
High Evolutionary
At the start of the game, unlock the potential of your cards with no abilities.
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Decks with High Evolutionary
I do think Howard the Duck will be a solid 1-cost for Marvel Snap, as well as a necessary card for some archetypes where Iron Lad could be played. However, there are more decks where you wouldn’t need Howard the Duck than decks where you would. In the end, Howard the Duck is only necessary if you are using Iron Lad to increase the reliability of a specific synergy in your deck. Otherwise, if you play Iron Lad in a deck where most cards are good to copy, you don’t need to know which one Iron Lad will take the ability from, you just know it will be a good one.
Now, considering Marvel Snap has drifted toward being a game based on abusing the strongest abilities available (as exemplified by the strength of Wave, Sera, Galactus, Shuri, Lockjaw, and more in the recent months), I will repeat myself, just to make sure we are all on the same page: Iron Lad will be Marvel Snap’s strongest card.
Series 5 cards can be purchased for 6,000 Collector’s Tokens from the Token Shop initially as a Weekly Spotlight card until the next new card release, or opened via the Collection Level Track at a 0.25% drop rate in Collector’s Caches and Reserves.
Every two months, this card will undergo a Series Drop and be cheaper and easier to acquire. For a full new card release and Series Drop schedule and how it all works, check out our dedicated guide.
The Few Decks With Howard the Duck
Considering it is one of the most discussed cards since it was used as an example in Second Diner’s video, Galactus is obviously an ability players might be interested in copying with Iron Lad. I think this is a perfect example of an archetype where Howard the Duck will be needed in order to make Iron Lad work in this deck. Although, I wouldn’t be mad about copying Knull‘s ability, or even Spider-Man‘s, Doctor Octopus‘s, or Electro‘s. This is a deck where positioning your cards is extremely important, so we need to know which ability Iron Lad will copy in order for the card to be good.
In this scenario, Howard the Duck will be key to make today’s featured card an asset for the deck.
Iron Galactus
Created by 
den
den, updated 20 days ago
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
4.5
Power
To be honest, Galactus is about the only archetype where Howard the Duck feels mandatory to run alongside Iron Lad. The very restricting nature of Galactus pushes us to be very precise with how we use our cards. Whether we copy the Devourer of Worlds or another card completely changes where we want to play Iron Lad.
For almost every other archetype, holding Iron Lad in hand for a turn because you knew the ability it would copy wasn’t ideal only matters if you have another impactful play for that turn. If your choice is to play a random Iron Lad or a 2-cost, for example, I would slam Iron Lad and just take whatever ability I get from it. It’s important to understand, we decide what is in our deck when we start a game. Simply play a list with good abilities – there are already plenty of competitive archetypes that do this – and Iron Lad will probably have a 70% or 80% chance of pulling something strong.
With that in mind, I think Howard the Duck will join Iron Lad in decks where Howard itself will have a synergistic purpose, in addition to helping Iron Lad perform. In my opinion, this definition suits the Ongoing synergy well:
Lockjaw Ongoing
Created by den
den, updated 20 days ago
1x Collection Level 1-14
5x Collection Level 18-214 (Pool 1)
1x Collection Level 486+ (Pool 3)
3x Series 5 Ultra Rare – Collection Level 486+ (Pool 5)
1x Recruit Season
1x Starter Card
4.5
Cost
4.5
Power
Iron Ongoing Zoo
Created by den
den, updated 20 days ago
2x Collection Level 1-14
4x Collection Level 18-214 (Pool 1)
1x Collection Level 486+ (Pool 3)
3x Series 5 Ultra Rare – Collection Level 486+ (Pool 5)
2x Recruit Season
3.7
Cost
3.8
Power
Iron Destroyer
Created by den
den, updated 20 days ago
2x Collection Level 1-14
3x Collection Level 18-214 (Pool 1)
1x Collection Level 222-474 (Pool 2)
1x Collection Level 486+ (Pool 3)
2x Series 5 Ultra Rare – Collection Level 486+ (Pool 5)
2x Recruit Season
1x Starter Card
3.5
Cost
4
Power
In those archetypes, Howard the Duck provides its own value outside the Iron Lad synergy. You can buff the card with Spectrum, know when you will draw key cards like Professor X, plan ahead of time what to play behind Lockjaw… We are talking about a legitimately good addition, even without Iron Lad in the deck.
Outside these archetypes, I don’t see Howard the Duck being a necessary card to run in order to consider Iron Lad an absolute powerhouse. I could add other archetype relying on very specific abilities, such as Hela Discard, but we would be very far from the amount of archetypes who should benefit from Iron Lad and not think about including Howard the Duck as there are stronger 1-cost cards available.
Marvel Snap is a 4-Cost Card Game
I don’t know if you noticed, but the 4-cost cards in Marvel Snap have been the best in the game for some time now. To be more precise, ever since Zabu joined the game and made them two (then three) cost cards. For the last five months, cards like Enchantress, Shang-Chi, Darkhawk, Rockslide, White Queen… have been extremely popular in the Marvel Snap metagame.
These cards were already valid considerations by themselves, but Zabu has made that energy cost the gold standard in the game. Now, guess the cost of Iron Lad.
Even if we couldn’t slot the card inside virtually any deck with strong abilities at their core, Iron Lad would still compete for being a busted card because it fits perfectly in one of Marvel Snap’s best package of cards in 2023: Zabu and a few 4-cost cards.
Iron Good Cards
Created by den
den, updated 20 days ago
1x Collection Level 18-214 (Pool 1)
5x Collection Level 486+ (Pool 3)
3x Series 4 Rare – Collection Level 486+ (Pool 4)
3x Series 5 Ultra Rare – Collection Level 486+ (Pool 5)
3.4
Cost
3.9
Power
Iron DoomWave
Created by den
den, updated 20 days ago
2x Collection Level 18-214 (Pool 1)
1x Collection Level 222-474 (Pool 2)
4x Collection Level 486+ (Pool 3)
2x Series 4 Rare – Collection Level 486+ (Pool 4)
3x Series 5 Ultra Rare – Collection Level 486+ (Pool 5)
3.5
Cost
3.9
Power
Iron Devil Darkhawk
Created by den
den, updated 20 days ago
5x Collection Level 18-214 (Pool 1)
3x Collection Level 486+ (Pool 3)
2x Series 4 Rare – Collection Level 486+ (Pool 4)
1x Series 5 Ultra Rare – Collection Level 486+ (Pool 5)
1x Starter Card
3.1
Cost
3
Power
Iron Sera Control
Created by den
den, updated 20 days ago
4x Collection Level 18-214 (Pool 1)
2x Collection Level 222-474 (Pool 2)
3x Collection Level 486+ (Pool 3)
1x Series 4 Rare – Collection Level 486+ (Pool 4)
2x Series 5 Ultra Rare – Collection Level 486+ (Pool 5)
3
Cost
2.8
Power
Iron Surfer
Created by den
den, updated 20 days ago
1x Collection Level 18-214 (Pool 1)
2x Collection Level 222-474 (Pool 2)
7x Collection Level 486+ (Pool 3)
1x Series 4 Rare – Collection Level 486+ (Pool 4)
1x Series 5 Ultra Rare – Collection Level 486+ (Pool 5)
3.3
Cost
3.3
Power
Any of these decks sounds familiar? That’s completely normal, as these are all the decks currently dominating the Marvel Snap metagame. Apart from Devil Darkhawk, the other four archetypes are currently the top four decks if you look at our latest Meta Tier List.
I thought about ending the article here to be fair. In the end, a card able to be played in five of the current top archetypes in Marvel Snap should be enough to convince you that Iron Lad will be an absolute powerhouse. Still, I’m afraid it would ruin the fun of making a dozen more decks with the card. Yes, Iron Lad is very versatile, so it probably will not stop at being included in most top tier decks and should be a consideration in other archetypes.
I told you. Best card in Marvel Snap.
Iron Lad Everywhere!
I don’t think this article needs closing words where I say once again how Iron Lad will break the game, and the 6,000 Collector’s Tokens price tag is the only barrier preventing the card from doing so. Here are all the decks I managed to create with the card being a legitimate consideration.
Most of Marvel Snap archetypes rely on abusing certain abilities, and while a card like Absorbing Man is more specific, it has a weaker stat line, and I’m still trying to understand why Iron Lad is a [4/6]. I set myself a challenge to be able to craft at least ten decks with Iron Lad going into this piece. Considering I already shared nine, it’s safe to say Iron Lad has surpassed my expectations.
As usual, join us on Discord to discuss with the community. You can find me on Twitter sharing decks and opinions about the game.
Good Game Everyone.
Iron Thanos Lockjaw
Created by den
den, updated 20 days ago
1x Collection Level 1-14
2x Collection Level 18-214 (Pool 1)
1x Collection Level 222-474 (Pool 2)
5x Collection Level 486+ (Pool 3)
2x Series 5 Ultra Rare – Collection Level 486+ (Pool 5)
1x Starter Card
4.6
Cost
5.2
Power
Iron Patriot
Created by den
den, updated 20 days ago
3x Collection Level 18-214 (Pool 1)
6x Collection Level 486+ (Pool 3)
1x Series 5 Ultra Rare – Collection Level 486+ (Pool 5)
1x Recruit Season
1x Starter Card
3.1
Cost
2.8
Power
Iron Control
Created by den
den, updated 20 days ago
1x Collection Level 1-14
2x Collection Level 18-214 (Pool 1)
1x Collection Level 222-474 (Pool 2)
5x Collection Level 486+ (Pool 3)
3x Series 5 Ultra Rare – Collection Level 486+ (Pool 5)
3
Cost
3.2
Power
Iron Thanos Control
Created by den
den, updated 20 days ago
3x Collection Level 18-214 (Pool 1)
6x Collection Level 486+ (Pool 3)
3x Series 5 Ultra Rare – Collection Level 486+ (Pool 5)
3.4
Cost
4
Power
Iron Cerebro 6
Created by den
den, updated 20 days ago
4x 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)
2x Series 5 Ultra Rare – Collection Level 486+ (Pool 5)
3.9
Cost
4.2
Power
(Rockslide can be a placeholder for The Living Tribunal until it releases)
Iron Discard
Created by den
den, updated 20 days ago
3x Collection Level 18-214 (Pool 1)
2x Collection Level 222-474 (Pool 2)
3x Collection Level 486+ (Pool 3)
2x Series 4 Rare – Collection Level 486+ (Pool 4)
2x Series 5 Ultra Rare – Collection Level 486+ (Pool 5)
3.4
Cost
4.3
Power
Iron Hela Discard
Created by den
den, updated 20 days ago
1x Collection Level 1-14
3x Collection Level 18-214 (Pool 1)
2x Collection Level 222-474 (Pool 2)
5x Collection Level 486+ (Pool 3)
1x Series 5 Ultra Rare – Collection Level 486+ (Pool 5)
4.6
Cost
7
Power
Iron Kazoo
Created by den
den, updated 20 days ago
2x Collection Level 1-14
3x Collection Level 18-214 (Pool 1)
1x Collection Level 222-474 (Pool 2)
3x Series 5 Ultra Rare – Collection Level 486+ (Pool 5)
2x Recruit Season
1x Starter Card
2.5
Cost
1.8
Power
Iron Kazoocula
Created by den
den, updated 20 days ago
1x Collection Level 1-14
3x Collection Level 18-214 (Pool 1)
3x Collection Level 222-474 (Pool 2)
2x Collection Level 486+ (Pool 3)
1x Series 4 Rare – Collection Level 486+ (Pool 4)
2x Series 5 Ultra Rare – Collection Level 486+ (Pool 5)
2.9
Cost
4.8
Power
Toxic Sera
Created by den
den, updated 20 days ago
3x Collection Level 18-214 (Pool 1)
2x Collection Level 222-474 (Pool 2)
5x Collection Level 486+ (Pool 3)
1x Series 4 Rare – Collection Level 486+ (Pool 4)
1x Series 5 Ultra Rare – Collection Level 486+ (Pool 5)
3.1
Cost
4
Power
Iron Patriot Surfer
Created by den
den, updated 20 days ago
2x Collection Level 18-214 (Pool 1)
7x Collection Level 486+ (Pool 3)
1x Series 5 Ultra Rare – Collection Level 486+ (Pool 5)
1x Recruit Season
1x Starter Card
2.9
Cost
2.4
Power