The latest season of Marvel Snap has begun. Titled Zeroes to Heroes, this season kicks off with the release of two powerful cards. Between them, the season pass card Baron Zemo looks like it’ll make the biggest impact. Here are the best Baron Zemo decks in Marvel Snap.
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How Baron Zemo Works in Marvel Snap
Baron Zemo is a 3-energy, 5-power card with an ability that reads: “On Reveal: Recruit the lowest-Cost card from your opponent’s deck to your side of this location.”
The keyword “recruit” is one we haven’t seen before in Marvel Snap. Essentially, Baron Zemo draws the lowest-cost card from your opponent’s deck and plays him in the same location that Baron Zemo is in, granting you any On Reveal or other effects the drawn card may have. This works just like Gladiator, which draws and plays a card on the opponent’s side of a location.
Much like Cable, Baron Zemo works great as an information-gathering tool; furthermore, if played later in the game, Zemo has a high chance of drawing a mid-to-late game card, such as an opponent’s Ms. Marvel.
Best Baron Zemo Decks in Marvel Snap
Quite a lot of Marvel Snap players, including streamers, have been salivating at the thought of a Baron Zemo “mill” style deck, which tries to steal and force your opponent to run out of cards. However, I do not believe there is enough of a supporting cast to make such a deck work, as right now it’s limited to a handful of cards: Yondu, Gladiator, Cable, Baron Mordo, Maximus, Baron Zemo, and to an extent Doctor Octopus.
Quite a lot of these cards can backfire by either drawing your opponent a key card or removing a card they no longer wanted to draw, allowing them to nab a key combo piece. Instead, I see Baron Zemo working best in two styles of Marvel Snap decks: a control Ms. Marvel list and a Zoo-style deck.
This list, tentatively called “Baron Lockdown,” looks to use the fact that Baron Zemo puts two cards into play, thus triggering Ms. Marvel’s effect (as long as you don’t draw another 3-cost card with him):
- Nebula
- Zabu
- Jeff!
- Storm
- Baron Zemo
- Shang-Chi
- Ms. Marvel
- Jessica Jones
- Iron Lad
- Vision
- Alioth
- Dr. Doom
You’ve likely come up against a similar list or played one yourself. Your goal with this deck is to maintain priority, winning one lane with Storm into Jessica Jones, and then drop Alioth to win another lane on the final turn of the game. Baron Zemo works as a backup to Jessica Jones, potentially putting quite a lot of power into one lane depending on what type of deck you’re up against. He also works well when played behind Storm to ensure that lane is one. With Ms. Marvel dropped in the middle location, he should add some consistency to an already powerful card.
Mockingbird also works well in the best Baron Zemo decks in Marvel Snap, as drawing and playing a card from your opponent’s deck discounts her by one. When combined with the Zoo package, this means you have another way to discount Zemo. Here’s a list for “Mocking Zoo” featuring Baron Zemo:
- Ant-Man
- Nico Minoru
- Squirrel Girl
- Titania
- Dazzler
- Shanna the She-Devil
- Baron Demo
- Ka-Zar
- Cull Obsidian
- Blue Marvel
- Mockingbird
- Alioth
A similar list made the rounds last month, and this one simply swaps out Mobius M. Mobius for Baron Zemo, as there isn’t as much Thanos Mockingbird going around to warrant his inclusion. Baron Zemo has a synergy with pretty much every card in this deck, not just Mockingbird, making him a threatening inclusion that also has the chance to interrupt your opponent’s plans.
Related: Marvel Snap Is Better Than Ever in 2024
Baron Zemo Counters in Marvel Snap
Baron Zemo doesn’t have direct counters outside of a Cosmo blocking his effect. However, he suffers against decks that run low impact cards such as Wasp or even Thanos’ Infinity Stones. The best way to avoid Baron Zemo ruining your day is to avoid decks that are combo-heavy, such as The Living Tribunal Onslaught lists or a Cerebro deck.
Furthermore, like with many Marvel Snap releases, it’s best to take into account what type of deck Zemo will feature prominently in and counter those. In the case of my two recommended decks above, Lockdown lists suffer against cards like War Machine and decks that can wrest priority away from them, and in the case of Zoo, destroy lists running Killmonger make short work of it.
Who Is Baron Zemo?
Baron Zemo is a fan favorite Captain America villain that most recently featured prominently in the The Falcon and the Winter Soldier TV series. There’s quite a lot of different Baron Zemo iterations, as it’s a title rather than a name, and the one in Marvel Snap appears to be the latest – also known as Helmut Zemo. Helmut blames Captain America for the death of his father, and in a battle between the two, Zemo had his scientific creation, Adhesive X, spilled on him, which permanently bound his iconic hood to his face. Given his penchant for kidnapping and influencing people, that’s likely where Marvel Snap drew inspiration for his in-game ability.
Is Baron Zemo Worth Buying the Season Pass For?
The Marvel Snap season path is always worth buying if you do not mind spending money on the game, as its gold and credits value is quite high. However, whether or not Baron Zemo becomes a must-own, meta-staple card remains to be seen. His effect is powerful with a high chance to whiff, making me believe he might end up somewhere in the territory of Black Swan, which currently doesn’t see a lot of play. That said, if you play a lot of the Conquest mode, Baron Zemo makes for a great inclusion in most decks as he simply provides you information in multiple rounds against the same opponent.
And those are the best Baron Zemo decks in Marvel Snap.
Marvel Snap is available now on mobile and PC.
