Similar to his counterpart in Marvel Rivals, Bruce Banner comes to Marvel Snap with an explosive surprise hidden within. Starting as a 2/1, he has a 25% chance to “HULK OUT” at the end of a turn when you have unspent Energy, turning him into a 6/12 Hulk with no downside.
This is the first time we’ve encountered the “chance” keyword on a card, and it’s as exciting as it is straightforward. Bruce’s ability regularly encourages you to save on Energy, similar to High Evolutionary’s Hulk, so there’s a clear connection between the two cards. You should ideally play this card as soon as you can since he won’t consider unspent Energy while simply sitting in your hand or deck. Like most cards releasing this season, he can comfortably fit in most decks, but there are a few synergies designed for Bruce and his playstyle.
Cards That Synergize With Bruce Banner
When looking at specific card combos for Bruce, you can really look at cards that gain an advantage with either unspent Energy or Bruce’s sudden Power increase. From there, the standouts become obvious, so it’s only a matter of whether those cards currently fit in the meta.
Skaar’s undoubtedly the most meta-relevant option of all the cards that work with Bruce Banner at this time. There’s a basic combo here—when, or if, Bruce gets to transform, he discounts Skaar by 2 Cost. Thus, you’re effectively regaining the Cost spent playing Bruce in the first place, and getting a 12-power card for free.
The sheer Power produced here is truly game-changing, and what ties it all together is Skaar’s inclusion in Surtur decks, one of the most successful decks in high-Infinite matches currently. Skaar himself is also a powerhouse these days, having the best overall Win Rate of any card in Marvel Snap.
Like Skaar, Mockingbird reduces in Cost when Bruce Banner gets to Hulk out, as the body he transforms into isn’t part of your starting deck. Of course, the Cost reduction here is less than what Skaar receives, but Mockingbird is much more flexible in decks.
She’s a regular inclusion in Arishem, Thanos, and even Zoo, so she’s a safer choice, especially when you have a deck that favors Bruce Banner but not necessarily Skaar.
If you’re looking for any excuse or incentive to save Energy for Bruce Banner, She-Hulk is the way to go. The more you conserve, the cheaper she gets, but what really makes She-Hulk stand out is her versatility.
You can pair her up with Skaar, High Evo, or both, and then there’s even the SheNaut deck that uses her and The Infinaut as a massive payoff. While Skaar and Mockingbird only gain an advantage after Bruce’s transformation, She-Hulk doesn’t have the same restriction. Thus, going forward, she might be the most common card combo with Bruce Banner.
High Evo is undoubtedly the king of compensating for the Energy you conserve, intentionally or otherwise. The card’s own body isn’t anything interesting, but when you consider his entire package, specifically Hulk and Cyclops, Bruce Banner becomes an obvious pairing.
By sparing Energy, not only are you enabling Bruce’s ability, but you’re also building Power with the normal Hulk and afflicting negative Power with Cyclops. Almost everyone who owns High Evo knows how he works at this point and how easy he is to play… but the meta hasn’t been favoring him—in fact, the meta hasn’t favored this card for a while.
He’s currently at a 1.2% meta share, placing him below the Top 200 cards in the game. Perhaps Bruce and some of the data-mined cards may help boost that Play Rate, but it’s very unlikely all things considered.
Day 1 Bruce Banner Decks To Get You Started
Bruce Banner is a fairly simple card that only applies 1 core mechanic—Energy. As far as decks are concerned, you don’t need to center one around him, particularly because he’s a low-cost card with potential upside. Furthermore, the “25%” chance is a meaningful number, since there’s a 1/4 probability he’ll transform each turn.
As such, even if you play him on Turn 2 and save at least one Energy on subsequent turns, there’s no guarantee he’ll transform (although the chances of him not transforming under those conditions would be 32%.) However, we’re considering both scenarios to give you a solid deckbuilding foundation.
Surtur’s Rampage
Surtur’s deck is still in the running for one of the strongest in Marvel Snap right now, securing a 20.05% Play Rate with the third-best Win Rate and Cube Rate. While the high-cost cards in this deck are set in stone, Surtur has always had trouble having a prominent low-cost card by its side. Aside from Zabu and Armor, there hasn’t been a concrete card under 3 Cost to satisfy the deck… until now.
With Bruce Banner, you’re fulfilling this deck’s payload—an incredibly cheap or free Skaar. Although Bruce doesn’t raise Surtur’s Power, having him reduce Skaar’s Cost is massive, letting you play several cards alongside Skaar on Turn 6.
High Evo Gets 2 Hulks
When saving Energy is the name of the game, High Evo’s deck comes to mind. Out of the dozens of popular variants, this particular deck attempts to extract the right amount of stats and synergy with Bruce Banner.
Currently, it sits at a respectable 57.36% Win Rate, which is quite surprising for a non-toxic High Evo shell, and Banner here makes complete sense. You have all the cards that benefit from your unspent Energy—Hulk. She-Hulk, Cyclops, Misty Knight, and Sunspot—and you also have Luna Snow to give you some extra Energy so you don’t sacrifice too many convincing playlines.
Explosive Turn 6
Moon Girl has made a few appearances in the meta now and again, but this version, which incorporates herself and She-Hulk in such a way you’re always preserving Energy is great for Bruce Banner. This is perhaps the only deck where you can’t completely give up on Bruce if you draw him late.
If you Moon Girl on Turn 4 and duplicate your Bruce Banner, you can play the duplicates on Turn 5 or Turn 6. This will essentially let you have two bodies on the board that can turn into the Hulk. Another thing to note about the deck is how it has two key lines—you can go with the Energy-conserving Bruce Banner route or the Hit-Monkey route. Either way, you’re receiving tons of Power on the final turn which your opponent will likely not be able to counter.
Is Bruce Banner Worth It?
As always, the easiest way to see if a new card is worth spending Spotlight Keys or Collector’s Tokens on is through the following questions:
- How good is the card itself?
- Does it have the potential to change the meta?
- How relevant are its current synergizing cards and decks?
- Are the neighboring Spotlight cards worth it?
- How do the other new cards stack up against it?
Bruce Banner’s ability, all things considered, is incredibly finicky. As I mentioned, the ideal condition for him to transform is to play him on Turn 2 and save one Energy every following turn. Even then, he has a 32% or roughly 1/3 chance of NOT transforming by the end of the game.
It may seem low, but this probability is still higher than him transforming on any given round, and the later you play him, the worse he gets. Thus, that 25% probability of transforming is so random that Bruce cannot possibly be reliable enough to shake up the current metagame. Almost none of the top-performing decks today can or should use him, and the only card and deck that works with this card are Skaar and Surtur, respectively.
The Spotlight cards for the week themselves aren’t anything interesting. You have High Evolutionary and Ravonna, which are barely seeing any relevant play. Although High Evo is a good card with potential synergy with Bruce Banner, he simply can’t compete with Doom 2099’s all-around Power across the board. Ravonna Renslayer, on top of just being Series 4, is facing the same issue, although she’s a great card for mid-range and Living Tribunal decks.
Furthermore, with Doom 2099 looking like a genuine threat in the meta, Bruce is in a tough situation. Thus, almost all the above questions have a negative response, and it seems Bruce Banner, although exciting and unique, does not seem to be worth it on first impressions.
Conclusion
That wraps up my preview guide on Bruce Banner, where I discussed core card and deck synergies you can explore and try out for yourself. I don’t see this card being as good as the others releasing during the Marvel Rivals Season, but there could be an upcoming archetype that might just be able to utilize him efficiently.
However, if Danger Zone has taught me anything, it’s that a chance-based mechanism will never be trusted or, at least, loved. All it takes is one nail-biting game where Bruce Banner fails to deliver for you to completely hate or develop cynicism for the card going forward.