Retreating in Marvel Snap can save you from losing cubes and deranking. On the flip side, it can give you an easy win to help you climb the ladder. In the best scenario, you can make your opponent retreat and gain at least two to four cubes to speed up your process. Most likely, they will stop sooner and give you one or two to slowly climb.
When wanting people to flee, there is no science to it. However, some cards will give you a good chance for your opponent to run away to save themselves from losing a rank. No matter the cards you use, if you can achieve those consistent retreats, then you will gain the satisfaction of instilling fear into your foes and climbing up the ranks.
10 Dracula
Fear can make someone not risk it to see if they can overcome an obstacle and retreat. Dracula is one of the most fearsome cards you can possibly play because it gets inside the other player's head as they think of what he may discard and gain strength from.
A bit of luck is at hand as Dracula could discard Morbius and gain no power. In other cases, he could sacrifice The Infinaut for 20 power. To get the best use of the card if your opponent does not run away, you can use MODOK to blast Apocalypse to boost to 12 power, which will go to 16 when Dracula discards him for his strength.
9 Shang-Chi
Marvel Snap offers so many cards that have so much power, like The Infinaut, Hulk, and Thanos. Utilizing them well can dominate a location, giving you an easy win. But playing those cards makes you cross your fingers that nobody plays Shang-Chi.
While Shang-Chi will kill whatever is nine or higher power, there are drawbacks that you need to consider. While he can be countered by Armor, Cosmo, or Professor X, if the stars align, then you can secure the victory. If played early enough, people may quit as they may have leaned into that big powerful card for their victory without a plan B.
8 Cosmo
Every deck is built differently, so what you rely on can be your strength and weakness. On Reveal cards have plenty of powerful abilities to give you the upper hand. The simplest counter is Cosmo.
If you do not rely too much on these types of cards, then Cosmo can be the ultimate way to combat a devastating On Reveal effect, like Doctor Doom sending his robots or the various powers of the Infinity Stones changing the game. If you have any yourself, you just have to be more strategic to avoid screwing yourself over. If played right, you can put your opponent in a position to consider restrategizing or calling it quits.
7 Enchantress
While there is Cosmo to terrorize On Reveal cards, Enchantress is there for Ongoing. Blue Marvel can boost his allies, Devil Dinosaur can chew up a location with its power, and Iron Man can boost the total location's power. With Enchantress, you can put a stop to that right away.
Enchantress can get you a win by retreat, but she has counters that you must consider. Cosmo is one of the biggest as he is an Ongoing card, making his ability to stop On Reveal effects consistent throughout the match. She cannot use her effect due to being On Reveal. When it works, though, your opponent will have cards go from some of the strongest in the game to being pointless.
6 Professor X
Locking in a location with Professor X has its pros and cons. You can protect your cards, like using Destroyer, and not kill everything alongside Professor X. He can also ensure you win a location if things work out in your favor.
When your opponent sees Professor X, the probability of them retreating goes up. Depending on your dominance of other locations or what the other side looks like, they may decide to give up. The biggest gamble is a hefty card being played by your foe in the same location as Professor X. If they do not stumble upon a way to overpower the location, you only have to fight for a single location for the win if the enemy stays.
5 Galactus
Galactus can be a risky move, as winning a single location will lead to a victory. If you leave a location empty and play him, you can destroy valuable enemy cards and make them retreat, as long as their best cards were already played.
Galactus can pair well with various cards. You can destroy your own cards to create a suped-up Knull or bounce Wolverine to give him a boost in power. The card opens up different scenarios in which you can win, whether it ends with the other person retreating or you dominating the location.
4 Hazmat
Hazmat can give you the upper hand by sucking out the power of other cards. Combine him with Wong and Luke Cage; you can protect yourself and do more damage to the other side. It creates a different way to play, as you usually try to overpower a location, but in this case, you lower what the enemy has played to give you higher numbers.
By lowering your foe's power or putting it into the negatives by location and card pairings, a retreat is a good choice for the other person and gives you the win. You do need to be aware of counters, like Cosmo, to stop the On Reveal ability of Hazmat, but like anything in Marvel Snap, not every match will line up the way you want.
3 Hobgoblin
Having four cards per location makes every quadrant important. So, cards that place something unwanted can drag down plans of dominating that location. Hobgoblin is one of the best early cards to unlock, creating a headache for newcomers and veterans with his negative eight power.
While counters include Cosmo and Odin, having eight power taken away may encourage someone to retreat. Odin can be a final effort to turn him against you, but with fillers like Brood and Ultron, you have ways to fill up space to prevent Hobgoblin from flying back at you.
2 Rogue
Out of the many deck variations you can build, Ongoing cards can be a crucial part of many deck builds. Morbius is vital for discard decks, Ant-Man boosts you when you fill up a location, and Wong can unleash hell with all sorts of On Reveal pairings. Rogue takes that power away, making those pesky plans from your opponent useless.
Rogue gaining a single Ongoing power from an enemy card can change the tides if it is something you can utilize. She can increase everyone's power by taking Blue Marvel or Captain America's abilities away. The other way is not using those powers. For example, if you have nothing that discards your hand, you can still take Morbius' ability to prevent the other player from using it.
1 Leech
Cards with high power are useful, but many become useless if the ability is erased. That is what makes Leech devastating when you play him and remove what the enemy's hand can do. Cards with no power without the ability, like Mystique and Morbius, become wastes of space.
Leech requires a plan to secure the win if your opponent does not give up. The Infinaut can now be played even if they played a card on the previous turn, so you may have some strong cards coming in to take advantage of your plan. Having Shang-Chi on hand or something powerful to rival cards with over ten power can ensure you win as your enemy retreats.