Marvel Snap is now out globally and if you’re starting out your career through this quick online card game we have a little guide that lists the best cards to look out for at the start of your Collection Level climb as they will give you an edge for the type of deck you are hoping to build.

How to unlock cards in Marvel Snap

For starters, how to unlock cards in Marvel Snap works a bit different than the previous online card games out today. When you open the game and ready your account, all beginners start with a small pool of cards that are based on the characters found in the Marvel comics universe.

At launch, there’s no direct way to unlock specific cards. The only case to earn a card directly is through the game’s premium version of the game’s battle pass, which instantly gives you access to the featured card added in the month. For Example, Miles Morales was added in October 2022 and can only be earned by purchasing the premium tier of the Symbiote Invasion season.

You earn cards by leveling up your Collection level, and to do that you need to upgrade your cards' rarity. Upgrading a card can be done by using the card boosters earned by simply completing matches as each match (win or lose) will end with you earning boosters for a specific card that’s in the deck you just used.

An upgrade will give you Collection levels based on the rarity it’s upgrading into. A card starts off as a common and can be upgraded all the way to the infinity (foil) rarity.

There are six card rarities. Here’s the breakdown of how much Collection levels you earn per upgrade below.

Going up in Collection Level will give you a new card at random, as you go up in levels you will soon earn other rewards such as credits and boosters (used to upgrade cards), increasing the amount of levels needed to unlock a new card. It’s quite random so it’s unfortunate that you can’t spend your resources to focus on a specific playstyle as you’re forced to work with what you have.

Marvel Snap features various variants of all the cards available in the game. These card variants has the same effects and stats of the original , they just sport a different part. You can also upgrade the variant’s rarity for more Collection Levels. Once you reach the Infinity rarity in a card, you can then unlock a foil variant of that card, which can also be upgraded. This results in an abundant amount of cards available (event for a free player) to upgrade and increasing your level for more rewards such as cards, variants, resources, and more.

Marvel Snap - Best cards for beginners

The cards currently available are divided into three pools with the pool one of cards available from the very beginning. Once you reach Collection Level 222, you will then start earning cards from Pool Two. Once you hit Collection Level 486, you will start earning cards from Pool Three.

Luckily, the cards you start out with are a good starting point for you to get introduced to the many types of cards currently in the game.

Here’s our list of the best cards for beginners that only consists of the starter cards, and the cards found in pool one and pool two, as I still find these cards to be viable in higher tiers. We’ve broken down the list based on the card types available in the game.

Ongoing Cards

These are ongoing cards that have an ability that stays in effect in that location.

Mister Fantastic: (Ongoing) Adjacent locations have +2 Power.
Iron Man: (Ongoing) Your total Power is doubled at this location.
Onslaught: (Ongoing) Double your other Ongoing effects at this location.
Punisher: (Ongoing) +1 Power for each opposing card at this location.
Devil Dinosaur: (Ongoing) +2 Power for each card in your hand.

Reveal Cards

Reveal cards trigger when they are played in a location.

Wolfsbane: (On Reveal) +2 power for each other card you have here.
White Tiger: (On Reveal) Add a 7-Power Tiger to another location.
Odin: (On Reveal) Activate the On Reveal abilities of your other cards at this location.
Spider-Woman: (On Reveal) Afflict all enemy cards here with -1 Power.
Elektra: (On reveal) Destroy a random enemy 1-Cost card at this location.

Discard cards

Cards that require you to discard cards or get an effect if a card or itself was discarded from your hand.

Apocalypse: When you discard this from your hand, put it back with +4 Power.
Morbius: (Ongoing) +2 Power for each time a card was discarded this game.
Wolverine: When this is discarded or destroyed, play it at a random location.
Swordmaster: (On Reveal) Discard a card from your hand. (Strong as it’s a 3 drop with 6 Power that also complement other discard cards.

Move Cards

Effects of Move cards trigger once they move from one location to another.

Doctor Strange: (On Reveal) Move your highest Power cards to this location.
Multiple Man: When this moves, add a copy to the old location.
Heimdall: (On reveal) Move your other cards one location to the left.
Vulture: When this card moves, +5 Power

Other Notable cards best for beginners (Starter up to Pool two)

America Chavez: You always draw this card on turn 6, and not before.
Yondu: (On reveal) Remove the top card of your opponent’s deck.
Sunspot: At the end of each turn, gain +1 Power for each unspent Energy.
Groot: (On reveal) If your opponent played a card here this turn, +3 Power.
Uatu the Watcher: Once this is in your hand, you can see the unrevealed locations.

The cards mentioned above may be great but they don’t result in instant victories alone. The best thing about Marvel Snap is it’s a game about card synergy, placement, and proper application of the locations found in a match. On paper, cards may be strong but wrong execution could spell disaster. Every move counts considering that each match is only six moves, so it all boils down to the players.

Each month, Marvel Snap starts a new season that introduces a new battle pass to grind and also adds a new card into the game, hopefully changing the meta or the possibilities of different deck compositions.

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