Best Hydra Stomper Decks In Marvel Snap

The final week of Marvel Snap's current season, "What If...?," sees a massive change incoming that will shake up the Multiverse in more ways than expected. Not only does the game bid farewell to its soon-to-be-retired card acquisition system, the Spotlight Caches, as Snap Packs debut later this week, but one more card awaits in the wings, ready for deployment!

Fans of the "What If...?" anthology will remember a timeline in which Steve Rogers didn't become Captain America, but an equally heroic character with an armored suit known as the Hydra Stomper. This guide takes a peek at this robust suit of armor by analyzing the card's ability, top synergies, best counters, and provides three unique decks that feature Hydra Stomper in Marvel Snap.

Marvel Snap Hydra Stomper Card Abilities Explained

Within the multiverse, there's a timeline where Steve Rogers didn't take the Super Soldier Serum; however, he still wanted to serve his country, which he did, but got injured during a HYDRA ambush. This saw Agent Peggy Carter taking the serum herself, while Rogers gets an armored suit designed by Howard Stark, thus becoming the Hydra Stomper!

This timeline was explored in the Marvel Animation anthology series, "What If..?" in a handful of episodes, and now he's movin' and shakin' up things by making his game debut in Marvel Snap. At launch, the Hydra Stomper is a three-Cost and two Power card with an Ongoing ability to gain +1 Power every time a card moves during a game.

As such, the Hydra Stomper is synergistic with all forms of Move packages; however, its best cards are Kraven, Silk, Werewolf By Night, Hercules, and Miles Morales: Spider-Man. However, it can also be countered by various Move cards like Scream or various tech cards like Rogue, Red Guardian, Shang-Chi, and Enchantress, to name a few.

Regarding the card's acquisition, it's already confirmed that Snappers will have a small window of opportunity to make use of the Spotlight Caches system between 29th April and 1st May 2025 by not updating the game's client to reflect the latest patch. By 1st May 2025, after updating the game client, Snappers can acquire this card from the Series 5 Snap Pack alongside other Series 5 cards from the "What If...? and Prehistoric Avengers seasons, but for a limited time.

Best Marvel Snap Hydra Stomper Decks: Guardian Stompin'

The first spotlighted deck features the Hydra Stomper within a Move shell archetype and a few tech cards to counter their opponents. While Kraven will likely be featured in the remaining spotlighted decks, we won't include Silk to guarantee the +1 Power for Hydra Stomper, but another equally reliable card in Sam Wilson / Captain America, most notably the Cap's Shield token card.

This mud-stompin' movin' deck from Marvel Snap content creator dddrewsky adds Zabu to discount a few four-Cost cards like Shang-Chi, Enchantress, and Stegron, and have access to them one turn earlier. They'll have Kraven and Scream; the latter steals power from the enemy card that moves once per turn, and also Hydra Stomper, which, as mentioned, gains power each time their card moves.

To ensure their cards are moving, they'll have the Cap's Shield token card to buff Kraven and Hydra Stomper, Spider-Man, and Polaris to move an enemy card to a different location, which can also aid in gaining power for Scream. Stegron and Cannonball will be their late-game card movers, with Aero and Magneto as alternative replacements, and to avoid their opponents gaining an advantage, Red Guardian, Enchantress, and Shang-Chi are their tech cards to counter their plays.

Best Marvel Snap Hydra Stomper Decks: Strong Boi Makin' Moves

Should Snappers want to pursue a near-pure Move deck with the inclusion of Hydra Stomper, they will need extra hands within this deck to ensure the Hydra Stomper gains max power. Ideally, Heimdall is a great card to consider, especially when considering Kraven and Hercules, to ensure increased chances of gaining more power per turn.

This strong and boisterous moving deck from Marvel Snap content creator ReZ Snapper centers around getting Madame Web, Kraven, and Hercules in play before being able to move specific cards like Vulture to other locations. To maximize Vulture's potential, Frigga is included in this deck to copy the card to the hand for a next-turn play and another prime card for Madame Web to move around the board.

Additionally, Sam Wilson / Captain America makes yet another appearance, which he'll have Silk team up with for an early game playline to help Kraven and Hydra Stomper gain power in the first few turns. Lastly, they'll also have Ghost Spider and Cloak should they not have Madame Web or Heimdall enter their hand, and they'll also have Miles Morales: Spider-Man to play to aid in location priority during or at match-end.

Best Marvel Snap Hydra Stomper Decks: HYDRA Agents By Night

The final spotlighted deck is a hybrid deck featuring two archetypes in Move and Bounce, as Snappers will be looking at a specific playstyle to meet Hydra Stomper's condition. As the card gains +1 Power each time a card moves, and with Werewolf By Night being the focal move card in this deck, we'll need On Reveal cards to play and bounce back into our hands.

There is no need to wait until midnight to give this deck from Marvel Snap content creator Tuccrr a go; as mentioned before, we'll be playing around Werewolf By Night by including a bevy of On Reveal cards to bounce back. Most notably, Bast and Agent Venom will set cards' Power in the deck or hand to specific numerals, which can give 0 Power cards a power buff like Silver Sable and Sage.

They can also take advantage of Nico Minoru's flexibility and wait for the Move spell to be active before playing her and another card of their choosing, like Rocket Raccoon or Sage. Finally, they'll have Toxin, Falcon, and Beast to bounce cards they want back in their hands before replaying them in the hopes of securing a win!  

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: