Whether exciting or not getting new cards is always an interesting time in Marvel Snap. This week we get none other than Emperor Hulkling. Decending from the Skrull, Hulkling has shape shifting abilities which is probably what led to his text.
Emperor Hulkling
Now, this text isn't anything new to Snap, and we have a lot of other cards that copy or acquire the text of other cards, meaning this should be pretty straightforward. On one hand, that is correct, but on the other hand, the “at the start of the game” leads to things being a little bit different and specific to 6-cost cards.
At the start of the game
Several cards have this in their text, and many have animations at the beginning of the game. However, we don't fully confirm whether Hulkling will or will not have any animation. I guess he won’t, which means we won't know what 6-cost card he has copied until we draw him. This lowers a lot of his potential, but not all. Also, he may copy 6 cost cards that also state that they start in the hand, leading to confusion. Either way, he will have some interesting interactions that will be cool to figure out through gameplay.
6 cost cards
Copying the text of a 6-cost card is a pretty meaningful statement, especially because a good portion of them are just generally good. So, let's break down the different options and the potential high and low rolls of our Emperor.
Best
Arnim Zola - Best
Some might think this is a bad roll, but honestly, it might be one of the best rolls. Having an 11-power Zola sounds like a major benefit in many games.
Blob - Best
Also, another fantastic roll as it's a Blob starting with 11 power. This has the potential to win a lane all by itself like the original Blob, with a minimum of 24 power if the rest of your deck allows it.
Doctor Doom - Best
This is a fantastic card to get a copy of, as Doom is powerful by himself and gets a 6-point power boost at his played location.
Leader - Best
Also, another great roll: being able to put 11 power on the board and copy the largest card from your opponent sounds like winning to me.
Good
Alioth - Good
This is an excellent option as it has high cube equity potential. I, for one, would love an Alioth with extra power.
Galactus - Good
While most decks don't want to fight over one lane, rolling a Galactus on your Hulkling has massive cube potential. However, most of the time, this will be a neutral roll. Either way, if you see this in the game, it will be a good reaction.
Heimdall - Good
This is a tough one to gauge because while it has a massive surprise factor, moving all of your cards one lane to the left is not always the best thing you want to do. This would be an interesting copy as a randomly generated Heimdall has massive cube potential.
Knull - Good
This would be a great card to copy, as it has massive cube potential, especially since Destroy is an archetype always in the format.
Mockingbird - Good
This would be a great card to get because most decks include a couple of instances of cards not in their deck, or with just general location variance generating some tokens, it’s bound to be at least a 5/11 or a 4/11.
Red Hulk - Good
This would be a good copy to have with just one extra power buff. However, my assumption is it will work the same as the actual Red Hulk, so your opponent will know the moment they don’t use all their energy.
Sasquatch - Good
It's generally a good one to copy because it has one extra power than the original, and since the majority of decks play at least 2 cards a turn, you’ll get some really good use out of it.
She-Hulk - Good
Another generally good copy to have. However, most of the time, this will be a 5/11 or a 6/11, so it is just a little bit better on stats unless you are running a deck that already has synergies.
Ultron - Good
This would be an excellent copy for Hulkling. Especially with the format the way it is with Sandman, having a more powerful Ultron would not be bad. Also, even in non-Sandman games, the surprise of an Ultron that isn’t expected will surely gain more cubes on average.
Neutral
Apocalypse - Neutral
This is probably pretty neutral. End up with a generic 6-cost 11-power card.
Hela - Neutral
This is another neutral effect. However, with locations like Sokovia, it could have some good random play. Otherwise, it's just a basic 11-power card.
Helicarrier - Neutral
Helicarrier is net neutral. This could have some positives, but for the majority of games, it will mean that you're just playing out an 11-power card.
Hulk - Neutral
Hmm, neutral. Sadly, this is just worse than putting Hulk in your deck, but it has no actual downside, so it is a basic 11-power.
Magneto - Neutral
While this technically is a slight downgrade from the original card, I wouldn’t consider it bad. Having the effect and being something unknown to your opponent can lead to massive cube equity. So it’s not the best, but it still is good.
Odin - Neutral
This is situational, but overall, I think this would be a good card to copy. Having an 11-power Odin would definitely help in certain situations that are surprising for your opponent.
Onslaught - Neutral
This fits into the same place as Odin. It’s more power in general and can get some good wins by being an unknown factor, so I wouldn’t be mad to get this copy.
Orka - Neutral
This is probably a decent role, but nothing too exciting. It’s essentially the same exact card with no extra buff to power, so it's neutral overall.
Skaar - Neutral
This has the same stats and cost as the original, so unless you have some synergies, it might just end up a 6/11. However, it’s not a bad roll, so that is a plus.
Spectrum - Neutral
This also falls into the same category as Odin or Onslaught. It has a lot of potential depending on the makeup of your deck, but it could also just be an 11-power card at the end of the day.
Thanos - Neutral
This is a tricky one. While it isn’t bad, if this adds the stones and starts in your hand at the start of the game, that might be both a good and a bad thing. I’m going to say this is neutral for now.
Bad
Giganto - Bad
This isn't the worst, but it is also isn't good. Limiting Hulking to the left lane might disqualify it from being played in that game, but it isn't an Agatha so that it could be worse.
The Infinaut - Bad
Generally, this is going to be a bad copy for Hulkling. Mainly because completely skipping turn 5 just for 11 power doesn’t seem worth it for most decks.
The Living Tribunal - Bad
This is another subjective one. Depending on how you’ve made your deck, it could be game-winning and completely useless. I will go for Bad now, but this might prove to be more neutral as time passes.
Terrible
Agatha Harkness - Terrible
This is probably bad overall, and if Hulkling ends up copying before the Agatha starting in hand trigger takes place, it is even worse. Luckily, this is only one of 29 different possible options, so hopefully, it won't happen too often.
Destroyer - Terrible
Barring you running Nimrod or some other synergy, this is probably one of the worst ones to get because it's lower power than the original, and the effect is not one most games would like to see.
Overall Roll Potential
Overall, 83% of the time, you’re getting something that isn’t bad or terrible. That’s a lot better than my initial thoughts.
JFSnap's Day One Emperor Hulkiling Decks
Hulkling provides a decent deckbuilding challenge like the other cards released this season. How do we maximize the potential of a card that is overall random? Here is where I would start, but I don’t think he will be figured out as quickly as some of the others this season.
Emperor Knightling
When I initially saw this card, my idea was how to mitigate the possible bad roles as much as possible while using him effectively. Enter Black Knight; with this idea, if the card ends up being bad, we can turn it into the Ebony Blade, and even if it’s Agatha, she will likely discard herself. Furthermore, with all of the good 6 drops, we can still get them back via Ghost Rider or play them out. This takes ideas from some older Black Knight decks, but they are generally solid. Give it a shot.
No Fear Ramp
This next idea is pretty straightforward. Hulkling is a 6 cost with some decent cube potential, so why not ramp him out as fast as possible? Running Blink in a deck with a potentially devastating card like a Hulking copying Destroyer is a risk, but I think it is worth the risk. Again, this is more of a straightforward ramp strategy, which in the current format might also be unfair. But Sandman has been putting up good numbers, so it’s worth a shot to see if Hulkling feels good in these lists.
Try to guess my next play
My final first-week deck is a general utility and good cards deck that uses the Randomness of Hulkling and Loki coupled with the ramp of Wiccan to play a mixture of threats for massive cube equity since the opponent always has to guess which main threats you will deploy in the later turns. I know Sunspot seems a little odd in a deck wanting to use all its energy, but after a successful Wiccan and Loki, you’ll have plenty of energy and cheap threats to deploy so Sunspot can soak up your extra. In addition, if Hulkling is a bad option but you Loki him away, then there is no downside.
Conclusion and Spotlights
Overall, Hulkling doesn’t seem like a must-have card. Odds are that you want the original card in your deck rather than the potential of Hulkling copying a specific card or a random card. Hulkling is in the spotlight alongside Cannonball and Nimrod, both of which have seen very little play this season. Given that information, unless you are opening for multiple new cards, it's probably a decent week to skip and hold off on the new cards coming in the next few seasons. However, if you love Clog as an archetype or want to give some combo a shot, both cards and Hulkling are good to have. What are your plans with Hulkling?
