Best Red Guardian Decks to Try on Day 1 and Strategy Guide: Is This the Real Zabu Counter?

Red Guardian is the third Series 5 card for the April 2024 Season, Thunderbolts. It is a 3-Cost, 3-Power card that reads: On Reveal: Afflict the lowest-Power enemy card here with -2 Power and remove its text. Today, we will take a deeper look at the new card and, of course, the best decks to try it out in.

Variants

Red Guardian

On Reveal: Afflict the lowest-Power enemy card here with -2 Power and remove its text.

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

view card details Start a deck Decks with Red Guardian

Strengths and Weaknesses

Red Guardian joins Marvel Snap this week, and the Russian Captain America has quite the interesting effect. It will afflict the lowest power card on your opponent’s side of the board with -2 power AND remove all the abilities from the card. It also only costs three energy, but it also only has three power at its base. Can it do enough to impact games of Marvel Snap?

Variants

Ravonna Renslayer

Ongoing: Your cards with 1 or less Power cost 1 less. (minimum 1)

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

view card details Start a deck Decks with Ravonna Renslayer

Variants

Mobius M. Mobius

Ongoing: Your Costs can’t be increased. Your opponent’s Costs can’t be reduced.

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

view card details Start a deck Decks with Mobius M. Mobius

Variants

Quinjet

Ongoing: Cards that didn’t start in your deck cost 1 less. (minimum 1)

Collection Level 486+ (Pool 3)

view card details Start a deck Decks with Quinjet

The recent change to Zabu took away the biggest target for Red Guardian, but that does not mean there are no targets that could be worthwhile for the new card. Red Guardian can hit cards like Ravonna Renslayer and Quinjet on curve, and these targets can significantly hurt the opponent’s game plan. This gives you a one card tool to try controlling specific bad matchups. It can also be used to attack cards that counter your game plan like Mobius M. Mobius.

However, cards like Rogue and Enchantress can also meet these goals, and they have other positives into other match ups. Still, it’s important to remember that these cards don’t always have the same value as Red Guardian on curve.

Variants

Ms. Marvel

Ongoing: Your adjacent locations with 2+ cards and no repeated Costs have +5 Power.

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

view card details Start a deck Decks with Ms. Marvel

Variants

Iron Man

Ongoing: Your total Power is doubled here.

Starter Card

view card details Start a deck Decks with Iron Man

Other tech cards are often more valuable later in the game. The -2 power part of the effect is what makes this card different and a potentially stronger option than other tech cards. At it’s base effect, Red Guardian is a 5-power play. This means it’s not a below rate card when you end up in a situation where removing the card’s text isn’t as important. This also creates a tension in the game because it could mean that you play the card out earlier and miss key targets later on in the match.

Cards like Ms. Marvel and Iron Man are often the lowest power cards on their lanes, but they come out later in the game, which would mean you are holding Red Guardian for later in the game to hit them. For targets like these, cards like Rogue and Enchantress simply deal with the problem better. But, of course, they are both restricted to Ongoing cards.

Variants

Black Knight

After you discard a card, add the Ebony Blade to your hand with that card’s Power. (once per game)

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

view card details Start a deck Decks with Black Knight

Variants

Deadpool

When this is destroyed, return it to your hand with double the Power.

Collection Level 486+ (Pool 3)

view card details Start a deck Decks with Deadpool

Variants

Dracula

At the end of the game, discard a card from your hand to gain its Power.

Collection Level 486+ (Pool 3)

view card details Start a deck Decks with Dracula

Where Red Guardian may shine is in metas where cards like Black Knight and Dracula are big threats. These decks often have plenty of targets for Red Guardian to hit, and this card is one of the only ways to proactively disable cards with static text.

So, while the Ongoing cards are often the headliners since they are big and flashy, Red Guardian provides a way to target static effects that we have not had before. The question then becomes does this use case make it worth enough to be in your deck?

Variants

Silver Surfer

On Reveal: Give your other 3-Cost cards +2 Power.

Collection Level 486+ (Pool 3)

view card details Start a deck Decks with Silver Surfer

Variants

High Evolutionary

At the start of the game, unlock the potential of your cards with no abilities.

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

view card details Start a deck Decks with High Evolutionary

Variants

Luke Cage

Ongoing: Your cards can’t have their Power reduced.

Collection Level 486+ (Pool 3)

view card details Start a deck Decks with Luke Cage

The -2 power part of the effect gives it some unique synergy with the High Evolutionary package as well, and I could see it working better in some decks than others simply because of this. This proactive power is valuable and it could be a better option than other popular tech cards in some decks because of this. Luke Cage can reverse the negative power from the card, but hopefully you get enough value without it.

Oh, it is also a 3-Cost card, so I am therefore obligated to mention Silver Surfer.

Variants

Cosmo

Ongoing: On Reveal abilities won’t happen here.

Collection Level 18-214 (Pool 1)

view card details Start a deck Decks with Cosmo

Black Knight is countered by Killmonger and Iron Man by Rogue or Enchantress, but Deadpool can be hard to hit successfully here. All these ways of countering these cards have not rendered the proactive game plans unplayable before. There is also room counter play with the ability to stack low-power cards to draw Red Guardian‘s effect, which narrows the viable and useful targets for it (and occasionally Knull on a sole lane?).

Cosmo does stop this card—similar to other tech cards—but one more complication exists that could be what narrows the card’s impact. Your opponent can, to some degree, control what card you hit with this effect. If they want to protect their Ms. Marvel, they can play a card with three or less power on the same lane. It’s harder to defend cards like Iron Man and Dracula, but it’s not impossible. In theory, the meta can adjust to the threat of Red Guardian. Some decks would just have to make significant changes.

The Verdict

Summing up, Red Guardian is a tech card that specifically targets low-power cards with big effects. It is unique in two clear ways:

1. It can hit static effects (such as Dracula and Black Knight)
2. It reduces the opponent’s power on play, which makes it playable in virtually all situations as a flat five power

While it has these unique properties, it also has a lot of overlap with Enchantress and Rogue, and it is often the lesser option in those overlaps (stealing Ms. Marvel‘s effect is stronger than turning it off, and they cannot just drop a cheaper card at the location to defend it).

Red Guardian addresses a different sort of situation than the other tech cards, so I think it is unique enough that it’s application will be useful in some games (and even swing games in your favor). The biggest target for this card is already gone (Zabu), and it may turn out that the current meta doesn’t have enough quality targets to carry the card.

Given that many of the applications can be handled with other cards, it may turn out that this card is redundant on release. But I’m sure there will be metas where this may have unique value. Even when it can be replaced, you may simply prefer this card as the tech card of choice due to the different spread of targets over Rogue and Enchantress.

Potential Score:

Silver Surfer

Silver Surfer

Created by SafetyBlade

, updated 15 days ago

0

1x Collection Level 18-214 (Pool 1)

1x Collection Level 222-474 (Pool 2)

7x Collection Level 486+ (Pool 3)

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

1x Recruit Season

3.3

Cost

0-
1
2
3
4
5+

2.3

Power

0-
1
2
3
4
5+

Silver Surfer

Created by SafetyBlade

, updated 15 days ago

0

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)

1x Recruit Season

3

Cost

0-
1
2
3
4
5+

2.4

Power

0-
1
2
3
4
5+

This week’s decks are more examples of shells that can run this card instead of an exhaustive list. As I discussed, this card is very clearly a tech card with limited other synergies, so it’s part of the deck rather than the driver of the deck.

With that in mind, here are two versions of Silver Surfer. One is greedier and aims to complete the full Wong combo, and one is focused on being able to go fast and put stats down.

Hazmat

Created by SafetyBlade

, updated 15 days ago

0

1x Collection Level 1-14

8x Collection Level 486+ (Pool 3)

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

1x Recruit Season

3.5

Cost

0-
1
2
3
4
5+

3.1

Power

0-
1
2
3
4
5+

You can also consider the Hazmat and Silver Surfer style of deck as a way to include the card since it is both efficient tech and way to support pushing power as a 3-Cost card.

Ravonna Renslayer

Ravonna Guardian

Created by SafetyBlade

, updated 15 days ago

0

1x Collection Level 1-14

2x Collection Level 18-214 (Pool 1)

1x Collection Level 222-474 (Pool 2)

1x Collection Level 486+ (Pool 3)

2x Series 4 Rare – Collection Level 486+ (Pool 4)

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

2.7

Cost

0-
1
2
3
4
5+

2.1

Power

0-
1
2
3
4
5+

This deck looks to include a package supported by Ravonna Renslayer to get stats down on the board efficiently before Professor X comes in and limits the opponent’s options on the final turns. You then have two strong tech cards to help swing the final lane (along with the stats you already dropped onto the board).

Try Cannonball over Shang-Chi if you own him; you will often have enough locked spaces to benefit from the card’s destroy effect consistently.

Ravonna Guardian

Created by SafetyBlade

, updated 15 days ago

0

1x Collection Level 1-14

2x Collection Level 18-214 (Pool 1)

1x Collection Level 486+ (Pool 3)

2x Series 4 Rare – Collection Level 486+ (Pool 4)

6x Series 5 Ultra Rare – Collection Level 486+ (Pool 5)

2.8

Cost

0-
1
2
3
4
5+

2.5

Power

0-
1
2
3
4
5+

Loki

Loki

Created by SafetyBlade

, updated 15 days ago

0

2x Collection Level 18-214 (Pool 1)

1x Collection Level 222-474 (Pool 2)

2x Collection Level 486+ (Pool 3)

2x Series 4 Rare – Collection Level 486+ (Pool 4)

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

2.4

Cost

0-
1
2
3
4
5+

2.8

Power

0-
1
2
3
4
5+

Loki is one of the better decks at incorporating tech cards, and Red Guardian can easily fill one of the slots. With the recent change to Zabu, three energy may make Red Guardian more appealing for the Loki deck—especially because you may want to play it right before a Loki play.

Variants

Closing Thoughts

Red Guardian is a card that is likely to have an impact on Snap at some stage. The current meta is, unfortunately, not favorable for this effect, and as such it should be able to adjust to this card. It is also not a card that creates an archetype or pushes power. I think personal preference will play a big part with this one.

Good Luck, Have Fun, and Stay Safe!