Best Ares Decks in Marvel Snap

Believe it or not, there are more Greek gods from the Marvel Universe that haven’t made it into Marvel Snap yet. Ares rounds out the Dark Avengers season, so here are his best decks in Marvel Snap.

Jump To:

• How Ares Works in Marvel Snap
• Best Ares Decks in Marvel Snap
• Is Ares Worth Spotlight Cache Keys or Collector’s Tokens?

How Ares Works in Marvel Snap

Ares is a 4-cost, 6-power card with an ability that reads: “On Reveal: Compare the Power of the top 3 cards of both decks. If your total is higher, +6 Power.”

When Ares compares cards, you do not get to see the three cards compared, but you see the total number added together, allowing you to have a good idea of what three cards are on their way.

As you can imagine, a 4-cost, 12-power card is rather powerful and slots into decks with other high-powered cards like Cull Obsidian and The Infinaut. 

At the same time, Ares is countered by Shang-Chi, Shadow King, and decks that also run high-powered cards, leaving him at an average of 6 power. 

Still, he can be discounted by Zabu and can buff up Surtur, so he definitely has his place in the ever-evolving Marvel Snap meta.

Best Ares Decks in Marvel Snap

Ares is fairly flexible as long as you’re running big, dumb cards. Many players will likely throw him in Arishem lists, but I personally see him doing well into two decks: the once powerful but since-nerfed Surtur lists and, believe it or not, Hela. Let’s take a look at the former:

• Nico Minoru
• Zabu
• Armor
• Cosmo
• Surtur
• Ares
• Attuma
• Crossbones
• Cull Obsidian
• Aero
• Red Hulk
• Skaar

Click here to copy this list from Untapped.

The Series 5 cards in this list include: Nico Minoru, Surtur, Cull Obsidian, Red Hulk, and Skaar. Of these, Nico Minoru and Red Hulk can be replaced, but the others are mandatory. Swap Nico Minoru for another good one drop – or even Squirrel Girl – so you have two enablers for Cull Obsidian. Magneto makes for a great Red Hulk substitute.

This deck is rather straightforward: play Zabu and Surtur in the early game, then reap the rewards of winning a lane with big dumb cards while buffing and protecting Surtur in another. Cosmo shields against Shadow King and Armor protects against Shang-Chi. Aero provides a little bit of disruption and Red Hulk is a great final turn play along with a Skaar that costs nothing.

Related: Best Bullseye Decks in Marvel Snap

Just be careful where you play Attuma as you can delete your own cards that have less power than him.

Finally, Ares is a great fit here as he will power up Surtur on the curve, and you have a very good chance of out-powering your opponent with his ability with so many 10-cost cards in your deck.

Next up is a Hela list that you may not have seen a lot of since her recent nerf, but I’d argue that she got a little buff and is ridiculously underplayed. Here’s a list:

• Blade
• Morbius
• Lady Sif
• Sword Master
• Silver Samurai
• Ares
• Hell Cow
• Blackcat
• Aero
• Gorr the God Butcher
• Hela
• Death

Click here to copy this list from Untapped.

The only Series 5 card in this list is Gorr the God Butcher. If you don’t have him, consider swapping him out for Magneto while also taking out Silver Samurai for something like Jubilee to help you find Hela.

The goal with this Hela list is to discard as many different cost cards as possible to fulfill her new ability, which only summons one of each. The ideal line is to hit Sword Master, Ares, Aero, Gorr the God Butcher, and Death with discard effects before playing Hela. Silver Samurai helps with this, as he’ll always hit Gorr if he’s in hand; otherwise, it requires a bit of luck to get this off perfectly.

Even if you don’t, Ares helps win here as you have so many high-powered cards that you’ll have a good chance of rocketing him up to 12 power. At the same time, you can discard and revive him to get his effect off at the end of the game with Hela.

Is Ares Worth Spotlight Cache Keys or Collector’s Tokens?

With Thaddeus Thunderbolt Ross, a card that helps draw 10-cost cards, on the way, I think Ares will become a staple in a Surtur-like deck around then. Right now, Surtur isn’t particularly strong, and as Ares’ ability is conditional, he isn’t really worth it if you’re not keen on the big, dumb guys’ style of gameplay. Still, I recommend getting him if you do have the resources as Marvel Snap continues to add big cards month after month.

And those are the best Ares decks in Marvel Snap.

Marvel Snapis available to playnow.