In the Marvel universe, there are a lot of powerful villains that bring chaos to the heroes and citizens of the world. Some of these villains have a purpose for why they’re causing mayhem, while others just want to disrupt the lives of people for their own satisfaction.
Most of these villains have powerful abilities. And in Marvel Snap, their powers are depicted as card game effects, with most of these villains’ card counterparts seen as game-changing units. One of those villains is Apocalypse, who is one of the biggest enemies of the X-Men.
Apocalypse has eight power points, which is already a high amount of power for a single unit in Marvel Snap. But it can go even higher if it was discarded and returned to your hand, making it a card that has the potential to turn games upside down. That is why a deck centering around Apocalypse is an option players should consider building.
Here’s our guide for building the best decks revolving around Apocalypse in Marvel Snap.
The best Apocalypse decks in Marvel Snap
Apocalypse Discard
Since you need to discard Apocalypse to have the bonus plus four power points, having a deck built around the discard mechanic is the standard option to fully maximize Apocalypse’s full potential. Some of the cards that can let you discard from your hand include Blade, Gambit, Moon Knight, Dracula, and Hell Cow.
But the synergy of this deck will come along when you also have cards that trigger their effects when discarded.
Aside from Apocalypse, you can also add cards like Wolverine, who can be summoned immediately in a random location if discarded. Silver Samurai also lets you draw a card if discarded. Aim to target these cards when you need to choose which options you need to discard. Swarm can fill your hand with more cards thanks to its ability to add two Swarms that cost zero when discarded.
As for the other high-powered units for the deck, the secondary offensive option you can play is Hela. This card has the ability to play all your discarded cards into random locations, which can potentially boost the power in different locations. She also has six power points, though it may seem a bit low for a cost six card. But her effect can be game changing, especially if you still have a good number of open spots in your locations.
Morbius is also a potential massive attacker. He gains plus two power points for every card you will discard. Using the effects of the cards mentioned above that lets you discard units from your hand can greatly boost Morbius’ power, so keeping them until you can play him is a good tactic. Dracula can also be a game-changing offensive option thanks to his effect that lets you discard a unit from your hand having the discarded unit’s power at the same time. Targeting Apocalypse is the best choice since you can gain eight power points for Dracula and trigger Apocalypse’s effect boost.
Saving up cards and thinking to properly execute the synergy of this deck is the key to fully maximizing the Apocalypse Discard engine. Don’t just play cards to boost your offense since it will definitely let you pull off some specific combos to have this deck’s prowess unlocked— especially Apocalypse.
Apocalypse/Nova/Carnage/Sunspot
This variant of the Apocalypse deck has multiple engines.
Aside from Apocalypse, you have the Nova/Carnage combo that relies on destroying your other cards in exchange for power boosts to Carnage (and the Nova bonus when destroyed). Also, Sunspot is another offensive option to consider where balancing the cards you play and the unspent energies are the key to reaching its full potential.
Aside from the Apocalypse staples like Blade, Morbius, and Swarm, there are other options with high power points (for their cost) that can help you discard units from your hand upon playing.
This includes Lady Sif (cost two with four power points) and Sword Master (cost four and seven power points). Both of these cards target the highest cost card in your hard, and this can help trigger Apocalypse’s effect boost.
Now to fully utilize the Nova/Carnage engine where you would need to destroy cards on the field, some great targets to destroy include Bucky Barnes and Sabertooth. The former summons its alter ego, The Winter Soldier, as a cost two unit with a boosted six power points. The latter, on the other hand, returns to your hand but as a cost-zero card. Deathlok is also a great addition in case as an alternate card destroyer if you can’t get Carnage in time.
Bucky Barnes and Sabretooth are also good tools for Sunspot since both of them have high power points in ratio to their costs. Swarm can help as well since it gives two cost-zero copies of itself while keeping the same power points if discarded. Overall, having three offensive engines and not just relying on Apocalypse can bring out the creativity of players. Though, you already need to decide which direction you are going as early as possible to prevent your opponent from reading your strategy.
Apocalypse/Nova/Carnage Control
This is pretty much the same as the Apocalypse/Nova/Carnage deck (drop Sunspot). But you can use more control cards to disrupt your opponent’s strategy. This includes Professor X that allows you to lock down a location and Spider-Woman that can inflict one damage to all of your opponent’s units in the location where she will be placed. Uatu the Watcher is also a great addition to potentially have a look at the unrevealed locations during the early game.
Apocalypse deck staple cards
Here are the staple cards you should play in an Apocalypse deck along with their effects:
- Blade – On Reveal: Discard a card from your hand.
- Morbius – Ongoing: +2 Power for each time you discarded a card this game.
- Swarm – When this is discarded from your hand, add two copies that Cost 0 to your hand.
