Best Bruce Banner Decks In Marvel Snap

'Twas the night before Christmas that Marvel Snap provides Snappers the gift of Hulking out as the next card release will debut in the card battler for the current season. As the crossover season with NetEase Games' Marvel Rivals continues into a brand new week, the next character joining the growing roster of heroes and villains is "the mild-mannered scientist" Dr. Bruce Banner.

Marvel Snap may have his "uncontrollable green monster," The Hulk, as a playable card, but we're finally getting to meet one of the core members of the Avengers, but do watch out, as he may have the chance to "Hulk Out!" This green and mean guide details what we know about this card, including his in-game abilities and mechanics, key synergies, and top counters, and highlights the three best decks worth his inclusion in Marvel Snap.

Marvel Snap Bruce Banner Card Abilities Explained

We've previously mentioned that Marvel Snap already has The Hulk as a card in-game and a few other Hulking cards like She-Hulk, Abomination, and, more recently, Skaar and Hulking. Bruce Banner is one of the many heroes available at the launch of Marvel Rivals, as he can transform into The Hulk and sustain this form until he dies before reverting to Bruce Banner, and it's this character trait that's carrying over in Marvel Snap!

As Bruce Banner looks to "Hulk Out" in Marvel Snap, he'll launch as a Series 5 card, with his final stats as a two Cost and one Power card. This card has a Common Ability where if Snappers end a turn with "unspent Energy," there's a 25% chance he will make "Hulk Out," turning into The Hulk with 12 Power.

This card will immediately be a great fit in the High Evolutionary and Iron Patriot decks, as the Hulked-out card is a target to be buffed. However, do watch out for top counters like Red Guardian and Shang-Chi that will dash any hope of potentially gaining a victory over opponents during matches.

So, as for card acquisition, Bruce Banner is one of three cards appearing in this week's Spotlight Caches alongside High Evolutionary and Ravonna Renslayer. Alternatively, they can use their resources to spend 6,000 Collector's Tokens to buy the card from the Token Shop.

Best Marvel Snap Bruce Banner Decks: Banner Evolved

As Snappers will depend on RNG for Bruce Banner to "Hulk Out," they can, to an extent, decide when this card's passive ability can be triggered by when to use all or no Energy in turn. The base card has a fairly low power value, and if it gets countered by Red Guardian, it will have negative power unless the Snapper resets it with Shadow King or Luke Cage.

With that said, the High Evolutionary archetype is one of the top synergistic decks that work well with Bruce Banner and is an easy inclusion, but which cards are alongside it? This new take on the High Evolutionary deck from Marvel Snap content creator dddrewsky features notable mainstay cards and a few new additions with Bruce Banner and Luna Snow.

The key card in this deck is Magik, which helps Snappers get the necessary cards on board to set up their locations with Nebula and Sunspot to be safeguarded by Armor, and Bruce Banner can also be protected once it Hulks out. As they'll need more Energy to get the cards onto the board, having Magik extend the game, they can play Luna Snow and Red Guardian to knock out their opponent's Ice Cube, which should make it easy to play She-Hulk, Evolved Cyclops, and The Hulk, hoping that any unspent Energy could result in "Hulk Out" being triggered.

Best Marvel Snap Bruce Banner Decks: Surtur's Rage

With the possibility of Bruce Banner hulking out into The Hulk, the latter card does make it a viable candidate to be included in Surtur decks. This type of playstyle requires high-powered cards for Surtur to increase its power values; this also sees Hope Summers being factored to ensure that these powerful cards can be played and spread out across the board, making it harder for their opponent to counter.

This raging spotlighted deck from Marvel Snap content creator Tuccrr builds Surtur around cards that can help it gain increased power with a few key pieces like Zabu and Hope Summers. Zabu will discount multiple four Cost cards like Attuma, Crossbones, and Typhoid Mary, and playing either card will also discount Skaar's cost. Luke Cage can be held until the last turn to prevent Typhoid Mary's Ongoing effect, and Armor (or Caiera) can be played to protect their one Cost cards.

Zero is an interesting inclusion as it can be played to turn off Attuma, Crossbones, or Typhoid Mary's ability. Snappers will need the extra Energy when playing cards at Hope Summers' location for the chance of Bruce Banner to "Hulk Out," and Nico Minoru, being a flexible card, can be utilized to buff a card, add a copy, or change a location if needed.

Best Marvel Snap Bruce Banner Decks: Power Up, Bruce!

The final spotlighted deck focuses on another synergistic home for Bruce Banner: the Set Power archetype. This deck type has gained some popularity following the release of Agent Venom during the "We Are Venom" season, and yes, this specific card is featured in it.

Set Power premises itself on creating power for cards with lower power values, like Bruce Banner, by using cards like Bast and the aforementioned Agent Venom, especially for low Cost cards. This all-powerful deck from Marvel Snap content creator ReZ Snapper is built around Agent Venom buffing the power of all cards in the deck to three, but in doing so, this might prevent Ravonna Renslayer from discounting valuable cards like Thena, Havok, Cassandra Nova, and Sage.

With Thena's inclusion, Snappers can use each turn to play a combo of two cards, including The Hood, Sunspot, Silver Sable, Bruce Banner, Cassandra Nova, and Ironheart. Ideally, they'll want to hold Havok until later turns as the card will steal their Energy, but with their locations mostly full, this should be the best time to play Sage, but do keep in mind the power values on their opponents and their side of the board.

For more Marvel Snap news, be sure to check out our dedicated section or take a look at some of our Guides & Tutorials just below: