This Marvel Snap beginner’s guide aims to help you hit the ground running with this popular new digital card game. Marvel Snap is a card game based on the characters of the comic universe, available on PC and mobile devices. It is a simple game to learn, but like many great card games, it can be fiendishly difficult to master.
Marvel Snap Beginner’s Guide: Game Mechanics
Let’s start by breaking down how the game is played. Marvel Snap is a 1v1 card game, where players try to occupy locations with their cards and compete to have the most power. There are three locations on the board, and players can play up to four cards in each location. The total power of all cards on a given location is added together, and whichever player has the most power on a location at the end of the game, wins that location. There are six turns to a game, and you must win two of the three locations in order to win the game.
Players can assemble their own decks of 12 cards. At the start of the match, both players draw three cards from their deck. Whether or not you can play cards is determined by their cost. As well as a power level, each card has a cost, ranging from one to six. On turn one, you have just one energy to spend. On turn two, you get two, and on three you get three energy. Energy does not persist between rounds, you cannot store it, you need to use it on a given turn.
- Here are all the locations in Marvel Snap explained.
Marvel Snap Beginner’s Guide: Locations and Abilities
Where the game starts to become more complicated is locations and card abilities. Locations each have unique effects, which can be helpful or harmful depending on the situation. At the start of a game, the location on the left is revealed. The middle location is revealed on turn two, and the final one on turn three. You can place cards in any of the locations before they are revealed, but you run the risk of them having a detrimental effect.
Card abilities are what make certain cards worth having. While you will always want cards with high power levels in your deck, often times the most influential cards in your deck are the ones with the most useful abilities. All abilities are unique, they have all kinds of effects which make them useful in different ways. Understanding the effects of your cards, and using them in tandem is the key to success in Marvel Snap.
- Here are how card abilities work in Marvel Snap.
Marvel Snap Beginner’s Guide: Deck Building
Building your own deck is very simple in Marvel Snap. First and foremost, your deck is only 12 cards, which makes crafting a deck quick and easy. In the deck building screen, you can click on your deck at the top to bring up the cards in it. Click on any cards in your deck if you want to remove them, then you can click on any cards in your collection to add them.
The key to building your deck is to remember you need a mix of power levels. There isn’t much point in stacking your deck with powerful cards if you will never get a chance to play them. It is generally wise to have a surplus of low-medium power cards to make sure you are never stuck with no card to play. Beyond that, your best bet is to read the descriptions of your cards and see which ones go well together.
For example, The Punisher’s ability has his power increase for every opposing card in the same location. That makes him great for winning a big battle for a location, where plenty of cards get played. Pair him with Ant-Man, who gains strength when there are three other cards in the location, or Iron Man, who doubles the strength of all your cards in a location.
The more you can make your cards’ abilities work together, the stronger your deck will be. You won’t have many cards to begin with, so be sure to learn the ones you’ve got. As you unlock more, inspect them to see how they might fit into your deck, or how you might building a deck around them.
For more Marvel Snap guides, keep reading GGRecon.
