Marvel Snap is a game that's received critical acclaim, going strong with a growing player base since its launch. One thing the developers do to keep the game fresh is release new batches of cards. The most recent, Pool Five, seems to be one of the strongest so far.
The card Pool system allows for tiered play, and for a gradual power creep to be established. That's great, as newer players generally don't have to deal with game-warping effects like you'd find in Pool Five. While almost all cards in this Pool are amazing, some outshine the others, even if by a little.
Updated on January 17, 2023, by Doruk Kaptan: Marvel Snap grew in popularity with immense speed, and it seems like the developers are keen on keeping the game fresh and ever-evolving. The current highest tier of cards is Pool Five, and for the time being, that's where the newly released cards land.
Dividing cards into Pools where you have to progress linearly allows Marvel Snap to lock some powerful cards away from newcomers, and also makes matchmaking and balancing easier. Regardless, if you're excited to get access to Pool Five or want to learn more about it, here are all the cards within ranked.
11 Sentry
Sentry is the Avengers' counterpart to one of the most iconic superheroes, Superman. Although the character is portrayed as extremely strong and interesting in the comics, he doesn't live up to that in Marvel Snap.
Sentry cannot be played to the right location, and its On Reveal ability adds a -8 Power The Void card to the right location. While giving up the right location to get a 4/8 elsewhere can situationally be decent, it's very niche and not good in all situations — which is what you want from a card.
10 Bast
Bast, the panther goddess, also makes her debut in Marvel Snap with Pool Five. This is a 1/1 card, with the On Reveal ability to set the power of all cards in your hand to three. While not bad, it's not as good as other options.
The deck to use Bast is most likely the one-cost Swarm deck, which utilizes tons of low-cost cards and buffs them up. While setting them all to three power sounds great, it feels a bit lackluster. Your bigger cards could also get nerfed by Bast since it affects your whole hand, meaning overall, Bast is not worth the trouble.
9 Valkyrie
Valkyrie has grown in popularity as a character, mostly due to the amazing performances of Tessa Thompson in the MCU. Luckily, she gets a great card in Marvel Snap — Valkyrie is the card Bast wishes it was. While at first glance, a 5/3 feels under the power curve, her ability absolutely makes up for it.
On Reveal, Valkyrie sets all cards at that location to three power. That goes for all cards, meaning it affects your opponent's cards as well. If your opponent has more cards at a specific location that you're losing, you could set up for a comeback on Turn Six by using Valkyrie. This is a great card to halt your opponent's momentum and potentially set up for swing plays.
8 Shuri
Shuri is where the Pool Five cards begin to actually show their strengths. On Reveal, Shuri will double the power of the next card you play.
While doubling card power is not that common in Marvel Snap, it's a sought-after effect. Shuri can be used alongside her brother, the Black Panther, and many other cards to give you incredible power pushes under the right circumstances.
7 Darkhawk
Darkhawk is a rather unknown character from the comic book universe. Luckily, he's good enough in Marvel Snap to make a name for himself. While its stat line of 4/1 is quite bad, the ability is amazing.
Darkhawk has the Ongoing effect of gaining +2 power for each card in your opponent's deck. Without any intervention, there are generally three cards left in each deck at the end of the game. That already makes Darkhawk a 4/7, which is not bad at all. However, you could also try to manipulate your opponent's deck size with the likes of Black Widow and Korg, making Darkhawk an absolute menace.
6 Thanos
Thanos has absolutely shot up the popularity rankings in recent years, having been featured prominently as the overarching villain in the MCU in the last decade or so. Even the Marvel Snap name is a reference to his actions! With that being the case, it makes sense for Thanos to be a highly impactful and iconic card.
Thanos makes the gameplay a lot different for the player. If you include Thanos in your deck, you'll shuffle the six Infinity Stones into your deck at the beginning of the game. The Stones themselves all revolve around drawing cards, getting energy, and other small benefits. This card fits as a nice capstone to the one-cost Swarm decks, as the stones are also all one-cost cards. They're also a blast to play.
5 Super Skrull
Super Skrull, a once iconic villain, has unfortunately fallen out of public consciousness a little bit. However, the character is still pretty novel and exciting, and his Marvel Snap card absolutely represents that.
Many decks use at least a few cards with Ongoing effects, and very few have negative impacts on the player. Super Skrull can instantly level the playing field by copying not one, but all Ongoing effects on your opponent's side. This works especially well against the likes of Blue Marvel, Iron Man, and Wong.
4 Silver Surfer
Previously only a Season Pass reward in the Power Cosmic season, Silver Surfer is currently obtainable in Pool Five. This 3/0 has the On Reveal effect of giving your other 3-cost cards +3 power. While powerless on its own, Silver Surfer has the capability of becoming the crux of a 3-cost spam deck.
Silver Surfer, thanks to its great support, is already being played a lot in dedicated decks. These decks generally use a lot of powerful 3-cost cards, such as Brood, Mystique, Ironheart, and Storm. While not as game-warping as some other cards with cost-specific effects, such as Zabu, Silver Surfer is a powerhouse for sure.
3 Galactus
Galactus, the Devourer of Worlds, has finally made his debut in Marvel Snap with Pool Five. The character is as iconic as they get, and the card represents his immense power perfectly. Galactus has such a game-warping ability that his low power of three is not an issue.
On Reveal, if Galactus is your only card at a location, all other locations are destroyed. This turns the game into a one-location game on Turn Six, which can change the outcome right away. The one thing that keeps Galactus from being great is that you have to win that last location with only him, so it doesn't always work out. He can be amazing if used at the right time, though.
2 Black Panther
Speaking of iconic characters, Black Panther is the king of Wakanda and has been portrayed perfectly by Chadwick Boseman. Luckily, the developers have shown their respect by making the card one of the best ever released.
On Reveal, Black Panther doubles his own power, turning into a 5/8 in most cases. However, when combined with other cards that either reignite On Reveal effects or buff card power, such as Okoye or Odin, Black Panther becomes incredible. Even with a little help, it can easily become the highest power card in the game, winning locations on its own.
1 Knull
Knull is a card that perfectly fits into a very strong deck that is already being used commonly in higher levels of play. This six-cost, zero-power card has the combined power of all cards that were destroyed throughout the game.
This is tailor-made for decks which constantly destroy their own cards to gain benefits. Knull can even be played alongside Death, the previous boss card of the archetype, since Death usually has a cost lower than six by the end of the game.