The arrival of the Thunderbolts season in Marvel Snap brings some of the group’s members as new cards. Of course, this season wouldn’t be complete without the debut of their leader, Thaddeus “Thunderbolt” Ross, also known as the Red Hulk.
As his alter ego suggests, Red Hulk is literally a red version of The Hulk. He is a huge and powerful boulder who smashes his way through the enemies, using his enormous force to cause damage and create chaos. In Marvel Snap, he has an ability that could have a big impact on the game. Here are the best Red Hulk decks in Marvel Snap.
Red Hulk abilities, explained
Red Hulk is a six-Cost, nine-Power card with the ability that reads, “When your opponent ends a turn with unspent Energy, +4 Power. (if in hand or in play).” This is the reverse of what the evolved Hulk can do which is to stack Power when its user has unspent Energy in a turn. Red Hulk can be a menace on its own, especially since its potential Power boost is four compared to the Hulk’s two.
You can get Red Hulk as a series five card, costing you 6,000 tokens to get it from the Weekly Spotlight section of the token shop from April 2 to 9. It is also a part of the four-card pool of the Spotlight Cache rotation of the same week. Be ready to use either your tokens or credits to add Red Hulk to your collection.
Strategy and best combos for Red Hulk decks in Marvel Snap
At the time of writing, no card in Marvel Snap can give bonus Energy to the opponent. This makes Red Hulk’s boost condition somehow tricky to fulfill. Still, if you are lucky enough to have it in your hand early, the opponent may not expect that you already have Red Hulk, and there are still chances that they end some of their turns with unspent Energy.
Playing Wave on turn four or five can change the cost of the cards in both players’ hands to four. This helps Red Hulk gain its boost unless the opponent uses all of their Energy despite having a cheaper finisher option in the late game.
Cards that can fill the opponent’s side of the locations with unnecessary units—also known as the Junk strategy—may also help Red Hulk. Annihilus is the main initiator of Junk decks thanks to its ability to transfer all cards from your side with zero Power or less. Some of its best targets include The Hood, Sentry’s created card, The Void, and the rocks made by Debrii.
Best Red Hulk decks to play in Marvel Snap
Junk Lockdown
Junking your opponent’s location with unnecessary cards can help you disrupt their desired setups. But combining it with the lockdown prowess of Professor X makes the deck more dangerous than ever, and the arrival of Red Hulk adds more layers of potential finishers in the process. This somehow forces your opponent to not play their cards, increasing the chances of them having unspent energy during turns.
Some of the cards that can give junk units to your opponent are White Widow and Debrii. As for Green Goblin, it is a negative three-Power card that can transfer itself to your opponent’s side of a location, while Doctor Octopus pulls up to four cards from your opponent’s hand and calls them all to fill a location.
Daredevil is there to give you a glimpse of what your opponent will do on turn five, which is the target play for Professor X to completely lock a location. Nebula is there to potentially stack Power in the early game, while the literally unstoppable Jeff the Baby Land Shark helps you to win challenging and unplayable locations.
Cap off the deck with the classic combo of Hazmat and Luke Cage to deal negative Power to your opponent’s cards, especially their junk units.
Sandman Ramp
Red Hulk can also be used in a classic Sandman Ramp deck. Here, you need to play Sandman as soon as possible to limit both players to playing just one card per turn. Cards that give you maximum Energy per turn, such as Electro and Corvus Glave, are vital in this deck.
Psylocke can provide another possible source of bonus Energy. As for the late-game finishers of the deck, you can use any of the following:
- Vision – For movement.
- Leader – To copy the highest-Power card your opponent played during the same turn you play it.
- Doctor Doom – To create two five-Power Doombots in each other location.
- Hela – To bring back the discarded units because of Corvus Glaive’s effect.
- Odin – To re-activate all On Reveal effects of cards that are already placed in the same location.
- Magneto – To potentially disrupt your opponent’s setups with three- and four-Cost cards.
Thanos
The meta staple Thanos deck can also be a home for Red Hulk. The utility of the six Infinity Stones given by the Mad Titan can help you gain certain advantages such as drawing cards, changing a location, moving units, decreasing the cost of a card, giving bonus Power, inflicting negative Power on your opponent’s cards, and more.
In addition to Red Hulk, Thanos, Vision, and Magneto, the other late-game finishers you can use are Mockingbird, Skaar, and Blob.
Caiera is there to protect your one- and six-Cost cards, while Jeff the Baby Land Shark can be added to secure your win in challenging locations. Cap off the deck with Hope Summers, which can give you bonus Energy whenever you play a card in its same location during the last turn.
Red Hulk decks’ current state in the meta
Red Hulk has become a very strong presence in the current meta, thanks to its potential to be a huge Power source throughout a match. The Junk deck, however, is currently dominating the meta when it comes to beinga reliable control engine that also allows you to create massive Power on your locations.
How to counter Red Hulk decks in Marvel Snap
Shang-Chi is the main counter to Red Hulk since it can destroy cards with 10 or more Power in the same location where you play it. That is why using protection or disruption cards is important to keep Red Hulk alive in the late game, such as Armor and Cosmo.
Is Red Hulk worth pulling in Marvel Snap?
Yes, even if Red Hulk’s Power boost condition may seem a bit hard to fulfill, its nine-Power stat is still a stable and reliable way to boost your presence in a location. Decks may not use Red Hulk as its main win condition, but it can be a legitimate contender in being one of the best support cards in the game.
