Alright, so let me tell you about my recent deep dive into the Zabu deck in Marvel Snap. I’ve been messing around with it for a couple of weeks now, and I’ve got some thoughts and a few wins (and losses!) to share.
It all started when I kept seeing this Zabu card pop up in my games. People were dropping huge combos on turn six, and I was like, “Okay, I need to figure out what’s going on here.” So, first thing’s first, I went to the shop and pinned Zabu. Took a while, but eventually, he showed up.
Next step: building the deck. I knew I wanted to focus on those high-cost cards, right? So, I threw in some staples like Shang-Chi for taking down those big threats, Enchantress for dealing with ongoing effects, and then a bunch of four, five, and six-cost cards that felt like they could swing the game. Think stuff like Doctor Doom, America Chavez, and even Giganto. I also wanted a bit of early game presence, so I added some smaller cost cards like Sunspot to soak up early unspent energy.
The initial games were rough, I’m not gonna lie. I was getting crushed by aggro decks that just flooded the board before I could even get Zabu down. I quickly realized I needed some early game control. So, I swapped out a couple of the high-cost cards for some tech options like Cosmo, to counter On Reveal decks, and Killmonger, for dealing with those pesky one-cost cards.
That made a huge difference. I was now able to survive to the mid-game more consistently. The key, I found, was playing Zabu on turn two if you have him. If you don’t have Zabu, playing Sunspot and then just passing to get a bigger Sunspot was also a good idea. Then, turns four and five become your power play turns. Start dropping those big hitters!
One thing I learned the hard way is that location control is super important. If a location restricts your ability to play cards or buffs your opponent’s cheap cards, you are going to have a bad time. It’s all about getting your big boys on the board early, and controlling where they go, like playing Professor X in a lane that you can win!
I messed around with a few different variations of the deck. I tried adding Rockslide to brick my opponent’s draws, and even experimented with a Darkhawk package to take advantage of Rockslide, but it felt a bit too inconsistent. Sticking to the core strategy of playing Zabu and then dropping powerful four-cost cards on turn four felt like the most reliable approach.
Winning with the Zabu deck feels awesome. Dropping two or three big cards on turn six and watching your opponent retreat is so satisfying. But it’s definitely not an auto-win deck. You need to be smart about your card placement, predict your opponent’s moves, and sometimes, just retreat when the situation is unfavorable. The deck is very dependent on you drawing Zabu.
Overall, I’ve had a blast playing the Zabu deck. It’s a fun, powerful deck that can definitely climb the ranks. It’s not the easiest deck to pilot, but once you get the hang of it, it can be incredibly rewarding. I’m definitely going to keep tweaking it and see how far I can take it!
