Pool 3 Zero with a few tips by Wellwhatever - Marvel Snap Decks

Introduction

Sometimes you open amazing archetype defining cards which make a deck on their own like Patriot, Sera or make an existing deck stronger, e.g. Wong. On other occasions, you get to open Adam Warlock, Crystal or Baron Mordo. In other words, cards which are very niche or require a lot of support. This deck makes use of similar cards, namely Red Skull and Typhoid Mary, by silencing their negative effects with Zero and Enchantress. The former two also thrive in a Leech meta.

Don't let the slightly salty introduction dissuade you, this was probably my favorite deck to pilot over the course of the last few weeks.

The game plan is quite straightforward once you get the hang of it but can be a bit more demanding on your ability to plan ahead at first (and will therefore help you grow as a player). Be sure to take note of the little things, like not playing Cosmo in the same lane where you've placed Lizard or Mary if you're going for an Enchantress later as an example.

Game plan

As mentioned in the intro, this deck aims to win with the help of overstatted cards such as Typhoid Mary and Red Skull, their stats copied by Taskmaster - with the support of several tech cards to either deactivate (Zero and Enchantress) or protect them (Armor and Cosmo) - and a good early board setup (Sunspot, Ebony Maw, Angela, Lizard).

Card suggestions

There's no replacement for Zero, Typhoid Mary and Red Skull. You can however replace Taskmaster with some other big guy (if you're getting Leeched a lot, put in The Infinaut to punish them) and swap around some of your early cards as you see fit.

Decklist

The deck requires a larger collection of Pool 3 cards or an unlucky streak of card opening in early Pool 3.

Sunspot is great for this deck as some of your combos you'll be setting up will require you to float some energy. Try to follow him up with Armor.
Ebony Maw, I must admit, after trying a few different variations, I've really warmed up to this guy. There's the obvious combo with Zero, but if you feel like saving Zero for later the best way to utilize Ebony Maw is to stack one location on the first few turns and drop him in there on the third turn to secure a huge lead. Worst case scenario just throw him into a location you're planning to abandon and force the opponent to commit 8 stats there or opt for not playing him at all. Benefits from Leech removing his restriction and you can also play him into Dark Dimension without worry.
Zero, never play this guy on turn 1 as he's essential to disable Typhoid Mary and Red Skull. Usually comes down on turn 4-6 for Red Skull, depending on the situation you may opt for Mary at times.
Angela, slam her down on curve and she'll help you dominate her lane.
Armor, serves as protection/disruption against Destruction effects (Killmonger, Shang Chi).
Lizard, good tempo for the cost and can be turned off by Enchantress later if you're planning to hit more than 1 of your cards at the same location with her.
Cosmo, the bane of any and all On Reveal effects, kills the tempo of a lot of decks if played on initiative at the right time. I also like to use him defensively by putting Red Skull who's being disabled by Zero behind him as he'll be protected from Shang-Chi.
Enchantress, besides making Lizard, Typhoid Mary and Red Skull better is also crippling for enemy Ongoing effects.
Typhoid Mary, the first of the decks payoffs.
Taskmaster, ideally you're going to copy the stats of Red Skull as your big finish. If not, Typhoid Mary is a consolation prize or you can just opt for America Chavez on the final turn.
Red Skull, the primary win condition of the deck.
America Chavez, will increase the chance of drawing higher priority cards earlier, allows you to plan ahead, can still carry the game if you didn't draw your combo pieces in time or just don't see a better playline.

Snapping

The Snap is an interesting mechanic which makes your matches similar to games of Poker. Meaning, knowing when to fold (retreat) or double down by snapping will heavily impact the amount of cubes you'll be gaining. It also means that while I'm in love with the game, I wouldn't recommend playing this game if you're struggling with gambling addiction.

Snap in the midgame if you look at your hand, can already see your endgame and you like it - depending on the matchup is the short answer.

For more details, I'll go over some general rules which may help out players maximize cube gains and minimize losses, as I see a lot of them using this mechanic... questionably.

Never snap before all the locations are revealed is probably the first one I adhere to. Therefore, turn 3 should be the first moment when you ought to consider snapping as you never know whether that final location will turn out to be Ego or Worldship and the whole game plan just flies out of the window. Not to mention, the opponent also has agency and will use it by playing Storm, Scarlet Witch, Aero, Magneto, etc. That also brings me to the second rule.
I don't recommend snapping until you've figured out what archetype the opponent's playing. This can delay your decision to do so by another turn or two. You can have the best hand in the game, but a disruptive deck doesn't care about that. This leads us to the next point.
Watch the game, take note of what and where the opponent's setting up their plays. To be honest, this is probably the most complicated one as it requires a broader knowledge of the archetypes and it will take some time to gain enough experience. If you've considered all the options and are feeling comfortable, go ahead and snap before locking in your play on turn 5 at latest - the reason to do so is related to the next rule. The same goes for when you're feeling behind and the opponent snaps on turn 5, there's always the option to retreat. Also if you've accepted a snap earlier or have snapped yourself, it is not wrong to retreat if you see an unfavorable outcome. No need to feel obligated to commit just because there's more than 1 cube on the line as losing 1 or 2 cubes doesn't matter in the long run as they can be replaced easily by winning just a single match.
Never snap on the final turn. This is probably the most common thing I see when playing, the math is mostly on the table on the final turn. Be it a close game or they're ahead, the opponent snaps. Best case scenario; it may occasionally cheat out 4 cubes from a less experienced player. What it usually ends up achieving is a retreat in a close game where the other party would stay in for those 2 cubes (because now they know that they've managed to draw their big finisher and people are very rarely bluffing on the final turn), making a loss of 1 cube. Worst case scenario; the finisher's been anticipated and countered and make a loss of 4 or more cubes.
I'll dub this one 'Avoid bad snaps', it's about snapping before making a play of small significance. One of my favorite examples is snapping when playing Armor on Nova or The Hood. Remember that the opponent has 11 more cards in their deck and was just informed about the 'big counter'.

Final thoughts

I believe most of the gameplay's been covered at this point. I'll leave the counters to watch out for and the way to play around them for last:

Killmonger if you're growing an unprotected Sunspot or Ebony Maw, this danger can be mitigated by Armor. But even if he manages to wipe them out, it's not always the end of the world. I've had games when all three of the were wiped out on turn 3 but made a comeback with the big guns, though locations play a big role in these situations.
Shang-Chi as we're looking to be carried by big stats, Armor and Cosmo can ward against the guy. And at times, there's just not enough Shang-Chi to go around (though that may change now with a Zabu + Moon Girl combo).
Aero and Magneto, always keep them in mind and how they'll impact the board state, especially around Fisk Tower.
Leader, the general advice is try being ahead of your opponent as there's not much you can do if you're already behind. Though Taskmaster does play around Leader because they'll be always getting less stats off of him. Also, depending on the setup (we played Zero on turn 5) and initiative (meaning we're behind), Typhoid Mary or Red Skull can do the job as well because the opponent will be getting the detrimental effect while Zero will remove it once our side reveals.

Have fun!