Meta analysis and decks for Red Guardian
Are you looking to use the latest card added to Marvel Snap? This report takes a data-driven look at Red Guardian’s usage and effectiveness. We’ve analyzed deck performance data from ranks 80 to 100 and Infinite to provide insights relevant to your journey on the rank ladder.
The data presented here focuses exclusively on decks that include Red Guardian, offering a clear view of this card's performance.
Data Parameters
To get the most meaningful information from our tracker, we filter the data. A minimum of 100 games is needed for a deck to be included, and we also exclusively use data from CL3000+ players playing in this current season. To create our scores, we take the highest win rate, cube rate, and frequency and set them to a fixed value of 100. For the Power Score, we deduct the highest win rate from 100 to create a floor, which we then set to a fixed value of 0. For the other scores, the lowest value is the floor.
What is the Snap.Fan power ranking?
The Snap.Fan Power ranking is determined by averaging a deck’s Power Score and Cube Score. These are both important for determining a deck's power level. This means a deck may have a negative power ranking.
What is the Meta Score?
This is a supplementary metric that can be useful for assessing the situation. How many people are playing a particular deck is a key factor when considering its overall strength. If a deck has both the highest power and frequency, it would theoretically be the best deck. As such, the Meta Score is the average of these two scores. The power score won’t be visible on the chart if it is too low.
Number of Games
This report relies on our deck tracker data and the dedicated community of users who contribute to it. The more data we gather, the more precise and insightful our reports become. By using our tracker, you directly impact the quality of our analyses. Please consider downloading our deck tracker app!
Snap.Fan Power Rankings
Snap.Fan Power
Infinite
80-100
Meta Score
Infinite
80-100
Power Ranking Discussion
There appears to be more experimentation with Red Guardian in Infinite than in other ranks— with over double the number of games played post-Infinite than the 80-100 range. This could be chalked up to how late it is in the season, with more players making it to Infinite. And while we have 5 different archetypes in 80-100 and 6 in Infinite, there are also only 3 decks in both ranges with a significant amount of games: Pixie Junk, Toxic High Evolutionary Moongirl, and Darkhawk Discard. Pixie Junk dominates the charts in both ranks, being 2-5 times more popular than the other options. Red Guardian Surfer decks seem more successful in ranks 80-100, while Darkhawk Discard has performed better at Infinite.
Deck Discussion & Decklists
Cerebro 3
C3 currently has access to several useful tools and tech cards. It’s slightly more resilient than other versions, with Rhino guarding against pesky locations, Cosmo protecting both Magik’s Limbo and your own Ongoings, and Jeff to sneak into restricted locations. Ravonna helps accelerate this game plan, cheating out cards earlier and giving you flexibility in how you play out Cerebro.
Cerebro 3
Darkhawk Discard
This deck aims to get ahead by disrupting your opponent's hand and deck. We don’t leverage Daken’s doubling too much, but he provides some protection from Silver Samurai, letting you convert the play into a big power swing. Nico can help buff Daken, but there’s no need to hold out for that play line— if you see a useful spell, it’s better to play it.
Darkhawk Discard
Affliction High Evolutionary
While it didn’t have enough games to make it into the Infinite list, with the games played in Infinite yielding a middling win rate and negative cube rate, this deck performed well in the 80-100 range. This is likely due to the deck's straightforward nature and lack of gimmicks, which results in easy decision-making.
Afflict HE
Toxic High Evolutionary
Not as popular as the Moon Girl version, this version uses Man-Thing and Luke Cage for additional negative lane control and Rogue for some Ongoing protection and counterplay.
Toxic HE
Toxic High Evolutionary w/ Moon Girl
This deck combines the High Evolutionary early game with Moon Girl to double Abomination and She-Hulk to overpower the opponent on 6. Hope Summers helps to trigger Cyclops and discount She-Hulk more easily.
Toxic HE Moon Girl
Pixie Junk
Five times more popular than the next Red Guardian deck, this is one worth trying. The buff to Lady Deathstrike has proven useful as a backup plan to remove negative power if you don’t manage to draw Annihilus, making the Junk package more consistent. With Mobius negating any downside from your Pixie, big discounts on random cards can open up plays and additional power your opponent won’t be able to account for properly.
Pixie Junk
Control Junk
An alternative junk deck, this build focuses more on lane control with Daredevil, Professor X, and Cannonball. Ms. Marvel helps power up and win the locked-down or inaccessible lanes and forces your opponent to consider trickier play lines. Just remember that Annihilus won’t be able to move negative power cards in a locked-down lane.
Control Junk
Disrupt Junk
Similar to the control version, this version of Junk has a few alternative ways to disrupt your opponent. Supergiant can hide Maximus to negate the draw benefit for your opponent and reliably pump up Ronan simultaneously. It also allows Negasonic to get extra value, letting you more easily target a particular card to blow up.
Disrupt Junk
Buff Sera Surfer
While it didn’t appear in Infinite, this is the 2nd most popular Red Guardian deck in the 80-100 range. It’s also an easier Sera Surfer deck to play, with a more straightforward game plan. Its high cube rate is likely due to the many surprising ways it can get additional power buffs, causing an opponent to misjudge their position.
Buff Sera Surfer
Control Sera Surfer
This deck has three different ways to manipulate locations, and Aero and Shang-Chi provide additional control. However, this deck is not recommended, with a win rate below 50% and a very poor cube rate.
Control Sera Surfer
Toxic Sera Surfer
Of the Surfer decks, this one has the highest win rate. That said, many calculations are needed to maximize the deck, so the skill cap is higher here than other decks— Absorbing Man has several target options. Multiple play lines involve repeating either Hazmat debuffs or Ironheart and Silver Surfer buffs. Wong and Odin can push things over the top and significantly increase the power range of the deck. Because of all the options and combinations, it is very hard for your opponent to know how much potential power you have.
Toxic Sera Surfer
Stuff
This interesting deck looks like a mishmash of currently powerful or recently buffed cards at first glance. Luke Cage protects you from both U.S. Agent and Man-Thing, and Nebula helps to get the most value from your negative power effects, forcing your opponent to play there lest Nebula get out of hand. Magik and Doctor Octopus can make it hard for your opponent to use all their energy and ensure extra buffs on Red Hulk. While the deck is five times less popular than the most played deck, although five times less than the most popular, it is the second most popular Red Guardian deck, and it boasts a high win rate and a respectable cube rate. The name might change, but this deck is worth keeping an eye on.
Stuff
Zemo Destroy
The play rate is quite low, just scraping the threshold, but it is a sleeper performer, with the second-best win rate and cube rate among 80-100 Red Guardian decks. The inclusion of Venom and Arnima Zola can be unexpected for the opponent, leading to many opponents staying and losing extra cubes on 6. Much of the deck is reactive, and knowing when and how to use the cards you take from your opponent is crucial.
Zemo Destroy
Closing Comments
Thanks for reading! I hope you’ve found some interesting and fun Red Guardian decks to try out! What cards would you like to see featured in the future? What Red Guardian decks have you found success with? Let us know in the comments!