Gwendolyn Poole has been transported from the real world and into your Marvel Snap game as the newest season pass card! Does Gwenpool know she's in a game? Best to stay on her good side so that she buffs the cards you want her to!
Gwenpool gives +2 power to cards in your hand three times. She's worded the way that she is because she can hit the same card more than once. She could hit your Mysterio, your Brood, and your Sebastian Shaw, or she could hit your Shaw three times! Let's look at what cards she synergizes best with, and then I'll show you the six decks I plan to take for a spin on the first day of the new season.
Primary Synergies
Gwenpool’s new best friends
Cards that make tokens that can be buffed are perfect partners for Gwenpool. Sebastian Shaw could also grow to unmanageable sizes with Gwenpool’s help. Growing Gladiator increases the chances that you'll destroy what he pulls from your opponent's deck. Iron Man always benefits from any power you can place directly on him.
Move cards
Buffing cards that can later move has always been incredibly strong in Snap. You can decide later where best to place your power, get into hard-to-reach locations, and occasionally dodge opposing tech cards. It's a nice nod to their comic connection that Jeff and Gwenpool work well together.
Big impact cards that stay under Shang
Buffing movement cards is strong because you can dodge tech cards, but they're also largely cards that, even after being buffed, are under Shang Chi’s range of 10-Power. Any cards that can get the buff and still be safe from Shang Chi will be reasonable targets for Gwenpool.
Minor Synergies
Cards that benefit from extra power
Quite a few cards benefit greatly from a bit of extra power. However, the problem with many of these concepts is that Gwenpool won't consistently hit the targets you want enough to be reliably built around.
Doublers
Cards that double get extra value from buffs. As mentioned above, it's hard to hit the targets you want with Gwenpool consistently, so the best ideas here will be cards that can already fit with the stronger ideas from the first section. Daken can slide right into a Silver Surfer deck, and Shuri is a promising idea, but Gwenpool might be a bit late for a Jane deck, and Black Panther is unlikely to work well with her.
Discard
Discard has a trio of cards that work pretty well with Gwenpool. Swarm especially benefits from extra power, but getting that power onto Swarm will be pretty draw-dependent. Gwenpool could also give you a head start on Apocalypse buffs to make an even larger Dracula later. The costs don't line up well, but keep this in mind if there is a future way to get Gwen out earlier.
Destroy Cards
Various destroy cards would benefit greatly from Gwenpool's buffs. However, most destroy or Phoenix Force lists are already too tight, and hitting a lot of these as late as turn 4 isn't as useful as earlier buffs would be.
Small Cards
Small cards can generally get a lot of mileage out of Gwenpool's buffs because:
- They're cheap enough that you can play more of them out instead of ending the game with buffed cards rotting in your hand and
- The percentage power gain is greater, making these smaller cards have a larger impact than they would without the buffs
Indirect Synergies
Game Winners
These cards are the ones you rely on to flip a lane on the last turn of the game. The more power that is packed into these, the more effective they become. That is one of the primary ways cards like this are balanced, and Gwenpool can push these cards beyond their intended levels.
Others
These are cards that have some soft synergy with Gwenpool. Mockingbird works well with several cards that work well with Gwenpool, like Brood and Mysterio. Absorbing Man has the same benefit, though to a lesser extent. Goose creates a lane that is harder to push power into, and Gwenpool allows you to sneak some extra power there. Skaar can hypothetically benefit if you are buffing cards over 10-Power. Makkari can either gain power from Gwenpool or, perhaps more importantly, clear herself out of your hand to narrow Gwenpool's targets. Gilgamesh benefits from your other cards being buffed, and Gwenpool could work very well in a zoo-style deck to spread extra power around.
Defense
Shang Chi and Shadow King can make Gwenpool into a waste of four energy. You might want to pack some defense in your deck. On release day, I expect Luke Cage to be important.
Scosco's Day One Gwenpool decks
Wave Pool
Makkari is key for this deck. She'll get out of the way, leaving you with only prime Gwenpool targets, and on the rare occasion she's in hand, it's still free power if she gets buffed. Daken is experimental here, and it may still prove too awkward to play him and his shard, but I'd still like to give him a chance. You could swap him out for Polaris, Cosmo, Phastos, Ironheart, or Sera.
Kiddie Pool
I think Gilgamesh is particularly promising with Gwenpool. This unconventional build eschews the traditional Ka-Zar and Shanna for more reliable early buffs and Gwenpool for a stronger turn 4 (or 5 if you don't have Blue Marvel in hand).
Sand Pool
Sandman, on turn 5, can create an asymmetric turn 6 with Alioth, Leader, or Jeff plus Negasonic, Blink, or Jubilee. Captain Marvel and Nebula are also considerations here. Could you sub in a cheeky Galactus? Sure!
Why not Arishem?
If Gwenpool is awkward at 4-Cost, Arishem solves that problem by making her playable on turn 3. You could cut the Loki package for more disruption, such as White Widow, Black Widow, Rogue, or Red Guardian.
Doublin Pool
Gwenpool can act as a backup plan if we don't draw the exact cards we need in the order that we want them. In a pinch, you can play her on turn 4, Shuri on turn 5, and massive power on turn 6. Vision and the small cards are also great targets for Gwenpool.
Honey Pool
If Gwenpool cost 3 or if Zabu still had his Ongoing ability, Gwenpool would be great in discard. For now, the dream scenario is Gwenpool on 4, M.O.D.O.K. on 5, and a bunch of buffed Swarms alongside a big Apocalypse on turn 6. Alternatively, you could play Dracula on turn 4, Gwenpool on turn 5, and M.O.D.O.K. on turn 6 to put Proxima on the field and make a big Dracula.
Conclusion
As always, the season pass is a great value, and if you can, I recommend buying it. As far as Gwenpool, I think she's a solid card but on the weaker side as far as season pass cards go. Having a cost of 4 is a hurdle. Most cards that are higher than 3-Cost need to impact the board strongly. Support pieces at 4 have traditionally not been too strong in Snap. Still, she's effectively a 4-Cost, 12-Power play, which are solid numbers. She is probably 1 or 2 power short of being a top-tier card, but she will see play.
