Best Red Hulk Decks to Try on Day 1 and Strategy Guide: The Next Big Thing

Red Hulk is the first Series 5 card for the April 2024 Season, Thunderbolts. It is a 6-Cost, 11-Power card that reads: When your opponent ends a turn with unspent Energy, +4 Power. (if in hand or in play). Today, we will take a deeper look at the new card and, of course, the best decks to try it out in.

Variants

Red Hulk

When your opponent ends a turn with unspent Energy, +4 Power. (if in hand or in play)

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

view card details Start a deck Decks with Red Hulk

Strengths and Weaknesses

Red Hulk is the first Spotlight Cache card of the season, and it’s one that may seem a little limited in application. In order for his effect to take place, he must be in your hand or on the board, and it relies on your opponent being unable to spend all their energy every turn. Fortunately, not using all your early energy is a regular strategy in Marvel Snap, and the payoff for your opponent not spending all their energy is a whopping four power on Red Hulk. Is this an ability you can build to leverage however you want, or is it just a card you can play to punish opponents who play “off-curve”?

Variants

Baron Zemo

On Reveal: Recruit the lowest-Cost card from your opponent’s deck to your side of this location.

Season Pass

view card details Start a deck Decks with Baron Zemo

Variants

Yondu

On Reveal: Destroy the lowest-Cost card in your opponent’s deck.

Collection Level 18-214 (Pool 1)

view card details Start a deck Decks with Yondu

Variants

Beast

On Reveal: Return your other cards here to your hand. They cost 1 less next turn.

Collection Level 486+ (Pool 3)

view card details Start a deck Decks with Beast

Variants

Iceman

On Reveal: Give a card in your opponent’s hand +1 Cost. (maximum 6)

Collection Level 222-474 (Pool 2)

view card details Start a deck Decks with Iceman

One direction that may help activate the ability here is to try and make it so your opponent is unable to play on curve as much as possible. This could be achieved with combinations of cards like Iceman, Yondu, and Korg. These cards could frustrate your opponent and make it so they don’t have plays on some key turns, which results in floating energy and buffing your Red Hulk. This could also work alongside the new Season Pass card Baron Zemo as your finisher. This is most likely going to need some kind of bounce package to be successful, and as such it may struggle with competing for two lanes. This leads me to the Red Hulk problem.

While the card can get to big numbers, it has to be in your hand and it relies on your opponent. Relying on your opponent to play specific ways has previously not been a successful strategy in Marvel Snap. This one is different in one key way, though: it is a 6-Cost card. This means the result of the plays remains in hand until the final turn, and you should know more about the potential outcomes than your opponent. This adds a layer to the decision to play out Red Hulk and when to Snap which may prove crucial.

Variants

Debrii

On Reveal: Add a Rock to each other location, for both players.

Collection Level 486+ (Pool 3)

view card details Start a deck Decks with Debrii

Variants

Green Goblin

On Reveal: Switch sides.

Collection Level 486+ (Pool 3)

view card details Start a deck Decks with Green Goblin

The second way you can impact how often your opponent can play is locations. If you can fill locations and make it more difficult to play cards out, your opponent should be more likely to float energy. You can pair Red Hulk with cards like Debrii and Green Goblin to limit space and make it more likely that your opponent cannot play on curve. You then have a card that is hopefully growing to a power big enough that it flips the final lane entirely, similar to how Blob operated before the change.

Variants

Hela

On Reveal: Resurrect all cards you discarded to random locations.

Collection Level 486+ (Pool 3)

view card details Start a deck Decks with Hela

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

The final option (and likely to be the one that has the most potential) is simply using Red Hulk as Discard fodder. This allows you to have it potentially grow at least once prior to the discard, making the card 15 power and one of the best discard targets for Hela. In games where you miss on the Hela, having him potentially at 15 or 19 power could be enough to win final lanes, and that may make Red Hulk a strict upgrade for Hela decks alone. I think this highlights where Red Hulk has the best chance of succeeding. His best application could be just randomly included in good decks. If he can consistently be 15 or 19 power without work, he could end up being the best play for power on Turn 6 more often than is expected.

The Verdict

Red Hulk is a very limited card, but it could be effective; two triggers bring him to 19 power. Relying on this effect going off as the main part of your strategy is a risky proposition, but the pure stats the card can produce may make him appear in a lot of decks as a consistent power play. If this is the case, it is likely replaceable – but it might feel required to compete for stats.

So while this card has a great chance of being playable, maybe even one of the best generic 6-drops to play on Turn 6, having a major impact on how decks are played is unlikely.

Potential Score:

Ronan

Red Accuser

Created by SafetyBlade

, updated 29 days ago

1

1x Collection Level 18-214 (Pool 1)

1x Collection Level 222-474 (Pool 2)

6x Collection Level 486+ (Pool 3)

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

1x Season Pass

2.6

Cost

0-
1
2
3
4
5+

3.8

Power

0-
1
2
3
4
5+

The issue for Red Hulk may not be a real issue, just that he is not the “main” card in the deck. There are plenty of packages that may appreciate having a power play for Turn 6. This deck aims to incorporate the disruption package with Ronan the Accuser as another “payoff” for limiting your opponent’s plays. Here you want to play the early 1-drops as many times as possible, use Hope Summers to open some more plays, and then use Red Hulk on the final turn.

The Sentry

Red Junk

Created by SafetyBlade

, updated 29 days ago

0

2x Collection Level 18-214 (Pool 1)

1x Collection Level 222-474 (Pool 2)

5x Collection Level 486+ (Pool 3)

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

3.4

Cost

0-
1
2
3
4
5+

4.3

Power

0-
1
2
3
4
5+

Junk decks can take advantage of cards like Sentry and Mockingbird to drop power into one lane, and then Red Hulk can compete for the other lane. The Junk cards give you a small way to disrupt the opponent’s plays, and they also help your Red Hulk grow and become harder to deal with. Alioth gives you another Turn 6 check in the deck that could end up vital to some victories.

Hela

Red Lockjaw

Created by SafetyBlade

, updated 29 days ago

0

2x Collection Level 18-214 (Pool 1)

2x Collection Level 222-474 (Pool 2)

6x Collection Level 486+ (Pool 3)

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

4.4

Cost

0-
1
2
3
4
5+

7.1

Power

0-
1
2
3
4
5+

Red She Hulk

Created by SafetyBlade

, updated 29 days ago

0

1x Collection Level 18-214 (Pool 1)

3x Collection Level 222-474 (Pool 2)

3x Collection Level 486+ (Pool 3)

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

3.7

Cost

0-
1
2
3
4
5+

7

Power

0-
1
2
3
4
5+

Finishing up with two Hela decks, these play differently but the plan remains the same: bank some buffs, then discard Red Hulk so you’re not playing only him on Turn 6. The Lockjaw deck looks to use the pup to rotate through as much of the deck as possible before playing Hela on the last turn. The Sunspot deck aims to put the early power down and use Corvus Glaive or Hope Summers to ramp (which is also useful as another way to cheat out your big cards).

Variants

Closing Thoughts

Red Hulk‘s numbers add up to a card that may end up supporting a lot of decks but is unlikely to be the star.

Good Luck, Have Fun, and Stay Safe!