Table of Contents
In Marvel Snap, you start your card collecting journey by increasing your Collection Level, which is done by upgrading your cards with the Boosters and Credits you win from games. Later on you’re also able to unlock cards from Series 4 and 5, which can be targeted but need to be paid for with Spotlight Keys or Collector’s Tokens.
Each card is assigned to a “Pool” or “Series” that begin and end at specific Collection Levels. In this article, we have ranked all the cards you can obtain for “free” in Marvel Snap – Series 1 to 3 cards. Remember, all you need to do to earn these cards is just play the game and advance your Collection Level. Furthermore, the next Series Drop adds an additional 13 cards to Series 3 on March 4, 2025.
You’ll also find two of the best performing decks for each Series to help get started in your deckbuilding journey!
Series 1 Card Meta Tier List
| Tier | Cards |
|---|---|
| Tier 1 | • Ant Man • Blue Marvel • Cosmo • Enchantress • Iron Man • Ka-Zar |
| Tier 2 | • Angela • Apocalypse • Armor • Bishop • Blade • Cable • Captain America • Carnage • Devil Dinosaur • Ironheart • Klaw • Kraven • Lady Sif • Nightcrawler • Odin • Onslaught • Quicksilver • Rocket Raccoon • Scarlet Witch • Spectrum • Squirrel Girl • Yondu |
| Tier 3 | • America Chavez • Deathlok • Doctor Strange • Forge • Gamora • Heimdall • Hulkbuster • Iron Fist • Jessica Jones • Korg • Mister Fantastic • Moon Girl • Nova • Sentinel • Strong Guy • Sword Master • White Queen • White Tiger • Wolverine |
| Tier 4 | • Abomination *** • Domino • Elektra • Hawkeye • Hulk *** • Lizard • Medusa • Mister Sinister • Morph • Multiple Man • Namor • Punisher • Professor X • Spider-Woman • Star-Lord • Wolfsbane |
| Tier 5 | • Angel • Colossus • Cyclops *** • Groot • Mantis • Misty Knight *** • Shocker *** • The Thing *** • Uatu the Watcher |
Series 2 Card Meta Tier List
| Tier | Cards |
|---|---|
| Tier 1 | • Killmonger • Shang-Chi |
| Tier 2 | • Iceman • Morbius • Swarm • Vulture |
| Tier 3 | • Ebony Maw • Hobgoblin • Jubilee • Scorpion • Storm • Sunspot • The Collector • The Infinaut • Vision |
| Tier 4 | • Agent 13 • Bucky Barnes • Cloak • Nakia • Okoye • Sandman |
| Tier 5 | • Leech • Rhino • Sabretooth • Warpath |
Series 3 Card Meta Tier List
Tier Explanation
- Tier 1: These are the cards which support a current top tier deck in the meta or are universally strong enough that not owning them is a disadvantage.
- Tier 2: These are strong cards which are core to playing currently strong archetypes or are strong enough that you can play them in several archetypes.
- Tier 3: These are strong supporting pieces which typically can be replaced or part of archetypes which are currently not performing to the level of the Tier 2 cards.
- Tier 4: These cards are niche and can only be used within very specific archetypes, in addition to that archetype not doing particularly good at the moment.
- Tier 5: These cards are very limited and easily eclipsed by other options.
- * This card is provisionally ranked and in-game performance may change the ranking as changes are not finalized or still too new.
- ** This card is ranked higher in anticipation of a changing meta due to new card releases or balance changes, and will be evaluated again on release.
- ***This card can be “evolved” with High Evolutionary to gain an ability. Its ranking will be reflective of this dual possibility.
Best Series 1 Only Decks
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Pool 1 is all about understanding the fundamentals of the game, so decks are quite simple in their synergies. At this stage, you want to focus on developing points, learning how to correctly position your cards, and pacing your development based on your energy.
To do this, the On Reveal and Ongoing synergies are ideal because they both have enough cards in this pool to immediately produce good decks. They also have enough room to add a counter card as well (such as Cosmo or Enchantress).
Best Series 2 Only Decks
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Pool 2 allows you to build more intricate decks, although they aren’t quite complete yet. Here, the key is to find the synergies that have enough cards to be built around while also finding how to complement them best.
For example, the Move deck has enough payoffs with Multiple Man, Kraven, and Vulture to build a deck around that synergy. Yet, because you’re lacking certain cards (that you can unlock in the future), you’re forced to support those payoffs with things like cards that grant extra power to Multiple Man.
The same applies to the Hybrid Devil Dinosaur Destroy deck. You have two synergies with strong upsides, but far from enough cards to build a deck solely around one of them. As such, using Odin as a bridge between these two On Reveal synergies can result in a cohesive deck with a bit of both.
Best Series 3 Only Decks
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Pool 3 is where the synergistic shenanigans start to get real and certain decks become unstoppable—unless your opponent has a specific counter for them. The number of decks at this stage is quite big, as Pool 3 is the largest one in the game. However, the most improved synergy is definitely the On Reveal one. You unlock new combos (Black Panther plus Arnim Zola, Mister Negative, Silver Surfer), more support cards to make these combos produce even more points (Wong, Sera), and even cards that help the overall reliability of your deck (Magik, Absorbing Man).
Sure, a lot of those cards will only unlock their full potential once paired with certain Series 4 or 5 cards. Still we already have access to powerful combos using free cards only.
Closing Words
There is already a lot to discover while you collect cards from the first three pools in Marvel Snap. Although this is only an approximation, you should be done with Pool 3 somewhere around Collection Level 4,000. From there, the grind to collect Spotlight Keys and unlock cards from Series 4 and 5 will begin, as well as the possibility to take the game more seriously with more competitive decks.
I can’t stress enough how important it is to get familiar with Marvel Snap’s basics and deckbuilding process while you are in this first part of your journey. With only 12 cards in a deck, changing a single one can make a huge deal for your deck’s balance and its ability to go against certain opponents. Counter cards don’t matter too much before this point, but they take on a much bigger role as your Collection Level grows (and so will the Snap and Retreat mechanic). As such, it is important to get comfortable with the game’s fundamentals so this next step doesn’t feel like too big of a jump.
Want to discuss your cards and what to build around them? Join our community Discord! For a direct contact, feel free to message me on Discard @den_ccg.
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