Best Hobgoblin decks in Marvel Snap and how to counter them

Few cards in Marvel Snap are as infuriating to see your opponent play as Hobgoblin, so why not flip the script and utilize this mischievous troublemaker yourself?

While many of the cards in Marvel Snap are used to provide you with a boost, cards like Hobgoblin are solely there to annoy your opponent—and few are as effective as this particular Spider-Man villain.

Though perhaps not as well known as the Green Goblin, Hobgoblin is a fan-favorite member of Spider-Man’s illustrious rogues gallery and he could jump up your list of favorite characters by using these decks.

Hobgoblin abilities in Marvel Snap, explained

Hobgoblin is a five-cost, minus-eight Power card with the ability: “On Reveal: Your opponent gains control of this.”

A Series two card, Hobgoblin is a card many new players can quickly get their hands on and is available from collection level 222 and above.

Related: Marvel Snap Infinity Splits explained and full list

Strategy and best combos for Hobgoblin decks in Marvel Snap

Moving to your opponent’s side when played and reducing their Power at a location by a massive figure of eight, Hobgoblin is a card that can immediately turn the tide when played. Some of the cards with the best synergy with Electro include:

• Viper
• Green Goblin
• Sentry
• The Hood

All of the above cards can be combined to destroy your opponent’s plans. Like Hobgoblin, Green Goblin moves to your opponent’s side when played and has a power of minus-three.

The Hood is a one-cost, minus-two Power card that adds a six-Power Demon to your hand, while Sentry provides 10 Power but also plays a minus-10 Void in the right location. Thankfully, both can be canceled out by Viper, sending those negative effects over to your opponent’s side.

The best-case scenario is to play Sentry, then play Viper in the right location to send Void over to your opponent. On turn five, play Hobgoblin at any location where you need to reduce your opponent’s Power.

In many scenarios, I found that my opponent retreated when the Void moved to their side or when I played Hobgoblin, so it is best to snap before you make these moves.

The best Hobgoblin decks in Marvel Snap

Hobgoblin Destroy

I often use Destroy decks in Marvel Snap and this variation resulted in a nice spin to my usual tactics. To begin with, all went as you would expect—Nova, Bucky Barnes, Wolverine all were played and swiftly destroyed to reap the benefits.

I’d often wait to deploy Wave on turn four, then played Galactus on turn five. This provided the double benefit of catching my opponent off guard and allowing me to play Hobgoblin in the final turn to really hammer in the pain.

Related: Best Electro decks in Marvel Snap and how to counter them

Another tactic I used was to play Wave on turn three, followed by Galactus, and then lockdown the location on turn five with Spider-Man. I could then play Hobgoblin when I needed to reduce my opponent’s Power or turn to other cards in my hand when I knew I was on course for victory.

This deck also allowed for a switch in strategy when I felt my opponent had the upper hand, mostly when they were playing destroy decks themselves. I knew that their plans to increase Power could be thwarted by Hobgoblin and, if they destroyed him, it would take Power away from the Knull they inevitably played after I used Wave.

Hobgoblin Annoy

The sole purpose of this deck was to annoy my opponent as much as possible, mostly utilizing cards that provided a negative effect on my opponent or by reducing the plays they can make.

An initial tactic was to use Viper to send either The Hood or the Void over to my opponent’s side, which depended on who I got in my hand early on. Armor was a late addition to my deck, which I added after a few games where my opponent would simply use a card like Carnage or Deathlok to destroy whatever card I sent over.

The biggest risk I found with Hobgoblin was if my opponent filled their side of the location before I could play him, but the perfect combo to prevent this was to play Spider-Man at the location I wanted to deploy Hobgoblin first, ensuring my opponent could not play cards at that location on the next turn, thus leaving space for Hobgoblin.

Related: Best meta Marvel Snap decks, updated June 2023

I found with Hobgoblin decks that having backup plans is crucial, which is why cards like Storm were effective as I could control where my opponent would play their cards. Enchantress was also a personal favorite in this deck, removing the Ongoing abilities of cards my opponent played that shifted things in their favor, while Cosmo did similar to prevent On Reveal abilities.

How to counter Hobgoblin decks in Marvel Snap

The biggest concern with Hobgoblin is that the opponent’s location can be filled in the same turn as Hobgoblin is deployed, leaving you with an unwanted minus-eight card. There is no easy way to deploy this counter though, as it is purely by chance.

A great counter to Hobgoblin is playing Odin, with his On Reveal ability activating other On Reveal abilities at a location, which sends Hobgoblin back to the opposing side and significantly reduces their power.

Destroy cards are also an adequate counter for Hobgoblin, as he can be destroyed on the final turn by cards like Carnage and Deathlok, while having a high total Power is also effective as locations will have enough Power despite the reduction from Hobgoblin.

The Living Tribunal is another option to counter Hobgoblin, as the Power reduction is split across all three locations and is therefore not as impactful as intended. However, you should be careful when using a deck with Iron Man, as the negative Power will be doubled.

By far the easiest counter to Hobgoblin, however, is Cosmo, who prevents the On Reveal ability from activating and leaves the card stuck on your opponent’s side, handing you a significant advantage.