Table of Contents
In Marvel Snap, you collect and unlock cards by increasing your Collection Level, which is done by upgrading your cards with the boosters you win from games. Each card is assigned to a “Pool” or Series of cards, which begin and end at specific collection levels. These vary in size, which you can see in the table below:
| Series | Collection Level # | Card # | Decks | Tier List |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Pool One | Collection Level 18 - 214 | 46 cards | Decks | Tier List |
| Pool Two | Collection Level 222 - 474 | 25 cards | Decks | Tier List |
| Pool Three | Collection Level 486+ | 99 cards | Decks (Beginner) Decks (Advanced) | Tier List |
| Series Four | Collection Level 486+ - Rare | 17 cards | Decks | Tier List |
| Series Five | Collection Level 486+ - Ultra Rare | 28 cards | Decks | Tier List |
| Unreleased | Release and Series Drop Schedule | 34 cards |
Series 3 cards can be quite mysterious for many players: It’s where most of the super important cards in the game live, but it’s also very large, so takes a long time to complete compared to Series 1 or 2!
Also, Series 3 is often mixed with Series 4 and 5, the pools where new cards go upon being released. These cards can join Series three later on through the Series Drop, but are the most difficult to obtain until they do. As such, Series Three will typically represent the biggest change in your Marvel Snap experience, unlocking new foundations to build decks, or cards considered like incredible standalone additions.
The time required to unlock all the cards might make it look like a grind, testing your mental strength as you unlock cards you cannot picture how to use. However, this is also be the journey which will make Marvel Snap much more fun, and give the flexibility to play various strategies and adapt to your environment. So, welcome to Series three, I assure you it will be a worthy adventure in the end.
At the end of this article, I included a tier list of all the cards in Series Three, but did not go in the details of explaining every card like we did in previous articles for Pool One and Pool Two. It is purely based on our writers’ understanding of the game, so please take this tier list with a pinch of salt! However, it should still help you prioritize what cards to use your free Seasonal Series 3 card on.
In this article, most of the cards we’ll take a moment to highlight would be worthy of an S Tier rank in another pool, and certainly deserve your attention if you open them, or play against them.
The Big Bads
Decks with Lockjaw
Decks with Silver Surfer
I try to keep this category rather small, highlighting the very top of the class when it comes to defining the Marvel Snap metagame. As time passed, Series four and five have grown increasingly important, with cards like Zabu, Jeff the Baby Land Shark, Thanos or Darkhawk shaping how the game is played. Yet, these four cards have managed to keep pushing archetypes to be extremely competitive, and routinely post similar results to decks based on rarer cards.
Sera was once considered the best card in the game, pushing her signature Sera Control deck, a routinely top tier archetype in Marvel Snap, alongside seeing play in other archetype as an energy cheating engine. Right now, Sera remains a key card to possess, as she can unlock a more combo oriented, explosive playstyle, looking to create a turn six the opponent will not be able to anticipate. For example, Sera is a staple inclusion in the Silver Surfer build, but also make an occasional appearance in the Good Card archetype, joining Zabu to create a double reduction on your 4-cost cards.
Lockjaw is one of the few cards in the game able to push an archetype with no Series 4 or 5 cards, yet could still be considered in our weekly tier list. When played on turn three, Lockjaw represent one of the best energy cheating card in the game, as you can summon any card from your deck for the cost of your cheapest one in hand. Plus, Lockjaw is great to abuse low cost On Reveal abilities, as you might be able to play them several times through the course of the match. Lockjaw is also a precious ally to Hela in Series 3, or Thanos in Series 5, showing it can both serve as the foundation, or the support to the deck you would include it into.
Death is considered the strongest card in the game by many, as a 0-cost twelve power card is arguably impossible to beat value wise. Plus, with the Destroy synergy being greatly appreciated at all levels, Death should immediately become an auto-include in your deck around it.
Alongside Knull, a card in Series four, Death represent one of the few cards you can build a full deck around. Plus, you can use the card outside just destroy oriented deck, such as Galactus if you happen to have the card, or in a Hela deck, with Lady Sif to discard it.
Last on the list, we have Silver Surfer, the card with the most momentum at the time of our last update. As time passed, more 3-cost cards have been released, and Silver Surfer‘s appeal only grew with time, the card easily representing a [3/8] when played, which is more than any 3-cost card’s base power. Sure, Silver Surfer will push your deck in a certain direction, forcing you to include a minimum amount of 3-costs. However, with Brood, Patriot, Spider-Man, Killmonger, or Polaris in the game, Silver Surfer has plenty of allies to build a strong deck around.
Deck Defining Cards and Other Powerhouses
Decks with Absorbing Man
Decks with Brood
Decks with Captain Marvel
Decks with Colleen Wing
Decks with Dracula
Decks with Juggernaut
Decks with Magik
Decks with Magneto
Decks with Mister Negative
Decks with Mysterio
Decks with Mystique
Decks with Polaris
Decks with Quinjet
Decks with Rogue
Decks with Shadow King
Decks with Shuri
Decks with Spider-Man
Decks with Wave
Decks with Wong
Ever since the OTA balance patches were introduced, the amount of solid cards available skyrocketed. Whether it is disruption, buffs to other cards, standalone options or synergistic tools, you can find a strong card in any of those categories right now. Here is a little breakdown of each of those categories, with their best cards highlighted.
Buffs and Build-around Cards
Decks with Shuri
Decks with Mister Negative
As soon as you open any of those three cards, you should start looking into your collection for others you can abuse thanks to their ability. Patriot should already have a ton of vanilla cards available from your early days in Marvel Snap and can be an immediate new archetype to explore.
As for Shuri and Mister Negative, they require a little more cards to build their signature decks, especially Mister Negative, which isn’t one you can include anywhere. However, Shuri is probably a great standalone if you don’t have the rest of the Shuri Sauron deck. Cards like Vision, for example, will make Shuri well worth including in your deck.
Disruption and Counter Cards
Decks with Rogue
Decks with Juggernaut
Decks with Shadow King
In addition to new cards to build your deck around, you will also find tools to counter your opponent’s strategy in Series three, even if you had a few options already with Enchantress, Shang-Chi and Killmonger in the previous pool.
Rogue is a different answer to the Ongoing synergy, which does not cancel the card she targets, but brings that ability for you to profit. As such, she does a better job than Enchantress if you could abuse that ability yourself. Cards like Iron Man, Devil Dinosaur, or Zabu, for example, are great to steal instead of cancelling.
Juggernaut is a very underrated card, often just associated with Storm, when it can function on its own a lot of the time. Indeed, messing up with your opponent’s positioning can go a long way into making their deck function much worse than it should. Get a card to reveal on another lane than the one Wong is at, try to send a card to your Cosmo lane, make sure the opponent cannot play on a lane on turn six… Juggernaut is a very useful card.
Shadow King is gaining a ton of momentum lately, as a way to limit your opponent’s ability to buff their card, while bypassing Armor, often used to protect those same cards from Shang-Chi. Also, as Silver Surfer gained a lot of momentum, one can use Shadow King to remove its buff, same for Shuri or the recently buffed Forge.
Great Synergistic Cards
Decks with Dracula
Decks with Mystique
Decks with Absorbing Man
This category should probably have more than a top three, as Wong, Colleen Wing or Quinjet also deserve some love. Yet, it is hard to beat Dracula and Absorbing Man currently, as both card have multiple synergies one can explore. Apocalypse is the obvious one with Dracula, yet, you could also include the vampire in a Hela or a Lockjaw deck, as there are many good targets in those as well. In the past, we also saw Ka-Zar and a flurry of cheap cards be paired with Dracula, so it was simple to target the high power ones in the deck on game’s end. Power wise, it is difficult to find a more efficient card than Dracula when the card is played in the right deck.
Then, we have the two big support cards to the On Reveal and Ongoing synergies. Mystique has always been a solid card, included alongside Patriot, Wong, Devil Dinosaur, Iron Man or Darkhawk to name a few. As long as your deck is packing two or more Ongoing cards you wish you could have more of, Mystique is probably the card you are looking for.
As for Absorbing Man, the card really picked up a ton of momentum when it gained two power. Then, it became an exceptionally strong card to copy Brood, leading to a 15 power play, something several decks are abusing as I’m writing. Then, Absorbing Man also serves as a nice support card to Hazmat, Silver Surfer, Daken or even the discard synergy. Really a solid card since becoming a [4/5]
Strong Standalone Cards
Decks with Magneto
Decks with Captain Marvel
Decks with Polaris
Moving your cards flexibly, and your opponent’s cards too, has become one of the strongest thing you can do in Marvel Snap. Indeed, the ability to reposition a player’s points give a sense of unpredictability to your game plan, which can throw off your opponent read on the game. In that regard, Magneto, Captain Marvel and Polaris have proven their worth, making it into decks outside the move archetype, gaining the status of standalone good cards.
Magneto is regarded as a premier 6-cost since Doctor Doom was nerfed, and Silver Surfer, Zabu regained their past momentum, pushing the metagame to be centered around a lot of three and four energy cards. Captain Marvel followed a similar path, as her buff to change the card into a 4-cost card gave it a ton more appeal, and an easy inclusion in many proactive decks looking to stay flexible with their points spread. If you have Zabu already, Captain Marvel will be a great card for you.
Lastly, Polaris has lost momentum lately, as there are really a lot of solid 3-cost cards in Marvel Snap nowadays. Yet, even if Polaris isn’t seeing as much play compared to when the card was regarded as a top 3-cost in the game, she well deserves your consideration whenever you would be looking for a solid 3-cost to play in your deck.
Series 3 Card Tier List
As previously mentioned, we suggest taking this Pool Three Tier List with a pinch of salt, as it’s still very difficult to gauge the power and impact of several of these cards across the wider player base. Overall, consider that Tier S and A are cards worth chasing, as they will represent a solid foundation, or a great improvement to your deck.
Starting at Tier B, the cards are more situational and should be purchased if you like their specific synergies. Tier C are cards which should be purchased for a specific reason, as they are only needed to play particular decks, and Tier D are cards we don’t think are worth purchasing for now.
With that said, here is our understanding of Pool Three currently, noted that cards are not ranked inside each tier:
Closing Words
With cards dropping from Series 4 to Series 3 randomly, there are more impactful cards to unlock right as you enter the largest pool of cards in Marvel Snap. As it stands, Pool 3 is for sure where most of the action is happening, with enough variety to play different decks, and a real need to start learning about the popular cards in the metagame.
Outside the start of the more competitive environment, Series 3 is also where the real fun begins for a lot of players, as many more archetypes are available to play. As such, I wish you a ton of fun there, and I’m sure the fun will largely out weight the frustration of collecting all the cards you desire.
Want to discuss your cards and what to build around them? Join our community Discord! To find me directly, feel free to message me on Twitter.
Good Game Everyone,
