Today, we will look at the upcoming Marvel Snap card, Hercules. Hercules possesses move synergy and anti-move disruption abilities. He is not as popular as some other new cards this month. The question is, will his combo potential be strong enough to justify his cost, or is he too specialized?
Like Thor, Hercules is inspired by a god from ancient mythology, but he is not as well-known as his Norse counterpart in the Marvel Universe. He was a member of the Champions in the 70s and an Avenger in the 80s, and his character is generally quite amusing. If you're interested in some good Hercules stories, I highly recommend reading Al Ewing's Guardians of the Galaxy run.
How Will Hercules Be Used?
The most obvious use of Hercules is to trigger extra moves on our cards that increase power with each move.
It's been difficult for traditional move decks focusing on scaling threats to be competitive beyond early pool play. However, the recent buff to Doctor Strange, and the addition of Hercules, could make it the right time to explore this archetype. The concern is that at 4-cost, it could be difficult to fit Hercules into the curve, and his added value may not be enough to justify his inclusion. Cards at this cost must be powerful to feel worthwhile, especially if they require additional cards to activate their value. Spider-Man 2099 is an example of a similarly awkward card, as it's difficult to find the time to devote 4 energy to him and then perform another action to get value from him. Hercules may face the same issues.
Decks that focus on scaling power with Kraven and Elsa Bloodstone have found success in the game. However, after Elsa was nerfed, these decks may not be as effective as they used to be. While Hercules doesn't work perfectly with this deck style, he could work well with Kraven. He has the potential to make cards like Silk bounce around, but only once per turn.
One of Hercules' unique abilities is to block your opponent from moving a card into his lane. This can be helpful if you want to stop moving cards from affecting a particular lane. Although this ability may not be useful in most situations, it could become more valuable in the future, depending on the metagame. Currently, you can place Hercules in a flooded location or under Professor X to prevent Jeff from moving over. Jeff is one of the most powerful cards in the game, and Hercules is the first (albeit weak) counter to him. Additionally, Hercules can also block Vision's moves.
ScoSco's Day 1 Hercules Decks
The Torch of Hercules
Murcules
The Stone of Hercules
Destruction of Hercules
The Lock of Hercules
King Herc
*This last one is a speculative deck based on leaked changes to Kingpin. Any leaks are unofficial and subject to change.*
Variant Gallery
Hercules launches with fewer variants than we are used to seeing.
Conclusion
I believe that brewing with Hercules can be enjoyable, especially for those who love move. However, I find it difficult to recommend spending 6000 tokens on him due to his high cost. This week's Spotlights include both one of the worst and one of the best cards in the game, namely Howard the Duck and Werewolf by Night, respectively. Although Werewolf has been weakened after being nerfed, it is still a good card. Therefore, this week is an excellent time to exercise patience and save your spotlight caches. I plan to use my Spotlights to obtain the excellent Bronze Age Werewolf.
