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While he may have “Hulk” in his name, don't let the ruler of the Kree-Skrull Alliance fool you, Emperor Hulkling shapeshifts his way into Marvel SNAP as the final card of the Young Avengers Season, but is this latest release worth your Keys or Tokens?
To answer that, we must take a look at the decklists and data behind Marvel SNAP’s newest card, Hulkling, and see just how impactful the new card has been on the current meta. The By the Numbers Article Series dives into the numbers behind the latest card release to help you decide if the new Series 5 card available in this week’s Spotlight Cache is worth your precious resources. Find out the verdict on Hulkling below.
We’ll be ranking Hulkling based on the following set of parameters:
- We’ll be looking at Hulkling’s performance at Rank 70 and above
- We’ll be considering Hulkling’s overall win percentage at these ranks, but also its average cubes and popularity
- Finally, we'll be taking a look at which archetypes the card best fits in and how Hulkling performs in the current meta
Our Card Tier List are based on the Average Cubes and Popularity of a card when compared to all other cards in Marvel SNAP.
The Raw Data
Hulkkling has a +0.05 average cube rate at Rank 70 and above, which isn't particularly impressive. The card's winrate tells a similar story, putting out an unremarkable 50.3%. These metrics place Hulkling in Tier B on our Card Tier Rankings. Despite these middling numbers, that hasn't stopped 1.2% of players from experimenting with Hulkling. For now, we'll be watching to see if it can match the winrates of cards that play in a similar space, like the 51.6% of Magneto or the 52.7% of Red Hulk.
In the meantime, Hulkling is sitting with similar statistics to Hulk, a vanilla-stated card and one of the safer options Hulkling itself could generate with its ability. If Hulkling is only as good as a Starter Series card, how impactful can it really be?
Remember that these stats will settle over time and this early review consists of 24 hours of data. Be sure to revisit the card stats on our Card Tier List to see where Hulkling lands in terms of power level and popularity.
Hulkling’s Best Decks
With thousands of games already logged by the Untapped Companion at Rank 70 and above since Hulkling's release, we have good picture of which decks are working for Hulkling and which are not. Here are the best-performing options:
The standout amongst these decks seems to be a variation of the Loki Archetype featuring Wiccan, aiming to play on curve to take advantage of Wiccan's bonus energy while ramping into a few wildcard finishers. The deck often plays cards like Maria Hill, Thena and Cassandra Nova which allow you to play on curve and use all your energy most turns to both enable Wiccan and maximize Speed's power output. Don’t worry if you are missing any of the cards listed, you can always find a deck tailored to your collection on our Marvel SNAP Decks page.
The other top performer is a variation of the High Evo Archetype, utilizing a Pixie shell to swap the entire 6-Cost Hulk family with cards like Wasp, Sunspot and Psylocke. Lockjaw helps you dig for your heavy hitters in case you don't draw them on curve, while Mobius helps protect against mismatched cost swapping.
We also need to not only analyze Hulkling's power level, but also the archetypes utilizing the card best. If we look at the current Marvel SNAP meta, the Ramp Archetype, arguably the best shell for Hulkling, is sitting at Tier C with a 48.9% winrate and -0.01 cube rate using data since Hulkling's release on August 27, 2024 at Rank 70 and above. The most popular deck, however, is sitting with a comfortable 54.4% winrate and +0.17 cube rate. We've seen Red Hulk or Magneto swapped for Hulkling in this shell, albeit with worse results.
Ramp Archetype
Final Thoughts
Is Hulkling worth your Keys or Tokens? Early Review analysis revolves around two dimensions, Hulkling's immediate power level and how strong its archetype is in the current Marvel SNAP meta within its release window.
Raw data shows Hulkling is occupying an ability and power output space similar to cards that provide a more consistent gameplan and it's doubtful the card will shift Marvel SNAP’s meta in any meaningful way. On an archetype level, the Hulkling Archetype is sitting at Tier C since its release.
What do you think? Is there a 100% winrate Hulkling list just waiting to be uncovered? Do you have an undiscovered cook? Let us know your thoughts over at @UntappedSNAP on Twitter/X. Alternatively, come and chat with the wider Marvel SNAP Community on our Discord Server!
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