Perfected Hela – In-Depth Guide for Everything You Need – Savage Land Season

Why I called this deck “Perfected Hela:”

A common theme between Hela decks made by others, is they rely on a metric sh** ton of randomness and luck. That can lead to some 8-cube victories (especially in the lower ranks, not so much in the high ones) but the overall power level/ability to win cubes feels inconsistent, and simply put: WEAK. This is why Hela’s deck winrate is consistently below 46%–people are looking through rose-tinted glasses, and aiming for the best case scenario, and therefore the decks end up being a ton of bad discard cards like Blade and Hellcow (the worst offender is INVISIBLE WOMAN in some lists) in combination with big 6-cost (or unplayable 9-costs like Death, when you already have Infinaut who rarely can be played) cards like Death, Giganto, Magneto, and Hulk. (Just wanted to clear the air and say Blade and Hellcow can be great in traditional discard decks using Apocalypse, but sadly they’re not great with Hela)

Introducing The New Team of Hela Supporters:

Odin, Gambit, Ghost Rider, and Colleen Wing–in combination with up and coming Hela staples such as Jubilee, Captain Marvel, and Morbius!

The real power of this deck is that the cards leading up to our Hela play provide so much value just by themselves. We’re no longer going tunnel-vision on discarding huge bombs, so we can summon them for free with Hela. We don’t NEED to make Hela into a 50-power play, and pray that she dodges every discard attempt. If she does end up getting discarded–because we’re playing strong tempo cards on turns 4 and 5 (Ghost Rider, Jubilee, Captain Marvel, Morbius/Colleen Wing + 3-cost cards) and we have a strong backup plan with Ghost Rider + Odin, WE CAN ACTUALLY SNAP BACK after we discard Hela, if our hand is strong enough. That can result in more 8 cube victories–by baiting the opponent into snapping before we do!

I put a lot of time into making this deck (especially the LENGTHY guide below) so I’d appreciate your comments/thoughts on not only the power of the deck after testing it out, but also the guide + a few jokes I included. Kudos to anyone who can read this whole thing, you must enjoy Marvel Snap/Hela decks as much as I do!

Card Piloting Guide – How, When, and Where to Play Each Card:

1 cost: Ebony Maw – I almost never play this guy from hand, unless there’s a good location for him such as Hidden Dimension or the one that disables ongoing effects etc. Otherwise, playing him will open you up to getting shutdown by control cards such as a combination of Spiderman, Cosmo, Storm, and Professor X, ultimately preventing you from playing Hela (or anything at all) on turn 6. 

Although, if you like taking risks, and Hela is in your hand and you think it’s looking like a Lady Sif/Ghost Rider game–go for it and drop him on 2 instead of Colleen to make sure Ghost Rider hits what Lady Sif discards, and not Colleen’s garbage. His main purpose in the deck is to get discarded by Colleen Wing, sort of like an “optional” Black Cat.

2 costs: 

Colleen Wing – I’d estimate there is a ~50% chance that you’ll want to play Colleen on turn 2, or hold her/play something else to keep our discard pool limited to whatever Lady Sif discards. This is one of the most important decisions that we make, so you’ll need to get a feel for a deck and understand the play patterns.

In short, when choosing to play Colleen or hold her, you need to keep in mind whether Hela and/or Ghost Rider is in your hand and in that case you’ll be looking to go 2. Ebony Maw or Morbius, instead of Colleen -> 3. Lady Sif/Other Discarder -> 4. Ghost Rider behind the Sif/Discarder -> (Anything you want on turn 5) -> 6. Odin on Ghost Rider or Jubilee location to win that lane.

Alternatively, if you haven’t drawn Hela or Ghost Rider by turn 2, then you’re going to want to play Colleen and do something like 2. Colleen -> 3. Sword Master/Gambit -> 4. Jubilee -> 5. Captain Marvel or more discards + Morbius -> 6. Hela.

Morbius – Just a solid play to develop before we start discarding stuff. If you also have Colleen on 2, and no Hela in hand (means she’s safe, and not getting discarded on Turn 3 unless she’s the top deck then she’s 100% gone because the game is rigged) then it’s always better to play Colleen.

3 costs:

Lady Sif – Always try to play Lady Sif on an empty lane (to play Ghostrider and Odin behind her) unless your only 6-cost in hand is Infininaut, then it doesn’t really matter. Although we have few 6-costs to protect Hela, we still get to play her freely as this deck is designed to be able to win even if you discard Hela. That will be covered in the Strategy/Combo section later on.

Gambit – Generally speaking, Gambit isn’t the best card–but I think he finds a home in this deck because we have Odin. This gives us another “good” card to put Ghost Rider behind, so that we can play Odin there on turn 6 to make a fairly strong play. I really think Gambit’s stats should be changed to 4/4 or 4/5 (Gambit needs a power buff, and by turn 4 our opponent should always have a card down to destroy, whereas sometimes they don’t play anything on 2 or 3. PLUS there’s way too many 3-cost discarders, like four or five of them) so let’s get on Twitter and petition for that change, eh lads? =)

Sword Master – He discards stuff, and has a good power for a 3-drop. He also doesn’t get ****** by Killmonger like Blade does. There’s not much else to say, he’s just a good card to play on 3… Nothing too crazy.

4 costs:

Jubilee – I recommend that you play her on an empty lane, so you have the option of playing Odin on that lane and pulling another card if our Hela plan doesn’t pan out. If you’re playing on PC/Steam, make sure to use the Untapped.GG deck tracker so you know what’s in your deck, and what you have discarded. (No sponsorship I promise, I’m just a nobody writing a 3-page essay about how to make Hela good)

Ghost Rider – Ghost Rider is at his strongest if Odin or Hela were discarded by Sif on Turn 3–if she hits Infininaut then we don’t have to play Ghost Rider because we’ll have Hela. If you discard Odin, you can do a neat trick and drop Ghost Rider behind a card that Discards (Lady Sif is most optimal, unless you have Hela as your highest energy card) then, Odin will trigger another Discard BEFORE Ghost Rider, letting you pull a 2nd card from your hand onto the lane for just 7 energy. Ghost Rider is the card that requires the most thinking/strategy (and that’s why playing Colleen is a huge decision) so I’ll elaborate more on him later on.

5 costs:

Captain Marvel – This deck needs a 5-cost, because we don’t run Sunspot who would be FANTASTIC if Killmonger wasn’t everywhere, and Jubilee didn’t hit him 90% of the time that he’s still in the deck. Who better to help a high-randomness deck (Hela isn’t the smartest, she will often summon 30 power to one lane and leave the others hanging) than a card that moves to win a location. Plus, she’s voice acting by the amazing and talented BRIE LARSON (Kappas in the chat, boys!) I mean come on man, you gotta love that “HIGHER, FURTHER, FASTER” at the end of the game as you collect them cubes (and the tears of your opponent, if you’re into that I guess)

Pro tip: Play Captain Marvel on a location where you’re already way ahead, so your opponent doesn’t know the other lane you want to win on turn 6.

6 costs:

Hela – If you have Odin in your discard pool, I recommend playing her behind something that discards such as Sif or Gambit, so in the lucky event that Odin lands on that lane you can get another summon from your hand. Of course, don’t let that deter you from putting her 6 power where it belongs. On turn 5, you can fill up one of your other lanes with a Captain Marvel, to increase the odds of that Odin high roll scenario.

Odin – I looked at high synergy cards for Hela, and at first I was like, wtf… Running Odin in a discard/Hela deck? However, you really have to play the deck to fully understand how great he fits in here. You’ll get an idea of that synergy in the Strategy/Combo section.

Infininaut – He’s big. Like really, REALLY big. Maybe a little too big, without Sunspot to help get him out? But how else are we going to win with a card like Hela if we aren’t dropping BOMBS?