The Best and Worst of Marvel Snap’s Pixelated Cards

Marvel Snap has been my obsession for a long time now and as I near collector level 5000 I’ve come to realize that not all card art is created equal. For every awesome character, there is almost always a terrible variant of some kind.

Sunspot is a perfect example. Sunspot is a character capable of looking really awesome but, a few months ago, for $50 bucks you could flex what was quite possibly the worst Sunspot variant ever where he’s doing absolutely nothing and whoever is doing the art forgets that Sunspot doesn’t look like this when he’s relaxing.

But there’s one series of cards that are easily the most controversial with fans, and that’s the pixelated cards. Taking characters and giving them pixelated looks like they came out of an old Super Nintendo game. Sometimes, these look absolutely amazing and…sometimes it’s pretty terrible. Here are the five best and worst in no particular order.

5) Best – Morph

Ever since the Age of Apocalypse line of Marvel books I have loved Morph. They took a character I didn’t really think much about and gave him this amazing makeover and update to his powers that made him an absolute force to be reckoned with while also turning him into the heart of the book.

This Morph card showcases exactly what I would want from Morph in a beat ’em up style game. He maintains his iconic look while also in the middle of the kind of big fisted punch that would make the Battletoads jealous.

The detail, the shading, it’s all a clear labor of love.

5) Worst – Crossbones

I’m not really a fan of Crossbones but I respect the thought of him. He’s supposed to be just this massively strong and intimidating force of nature that will go through whatever to achieve what he was paid for…despite almost never achieving any sort of goal because he’s usually one of the first villains heroes fight and defeat. But he’s always intimidating.

But this art? Woof. It takes what is normally a muscular, heavily armed character and waters him down with a tiny gun and what looks like a lamprey. The took one of Marvel’s most infamous merc and made him look like one of those dorks that drive around in a pickup with American flags on the back protesting drag shows.

4) Best – Crystal

Crystal is such an underused Marvel character. Wind powers like Aero, Stone powers like Debris, Fire powers like the Human Torch, Ice powers like Ice-Man. She’s an absolute powerhouse that Marvel Snap did dirty. What she has the ability to just…redraw your hand I’ll never know. But that’s for a different article.

We are here to celebrate this card. Instead of most of her cards that showcase her old look with her bizarre haircut with black line across it, they’re using her modern outfit with her amazing pixie cut. Plus, there’s so much going on here with her using every aspect of her powers and yet it’s all so clear. Perfection.

4) Worst – Devil Dinosaur

Devil Dinosaur is a massive red t-rex that, along side Moon Girl, absolutely messes up criminals. Out of all things that Devil Dinosaur is known for, the main two features are that he’s huge and he’s intimidating.

The fact that this pixel art somehow makes Devil Dinosaur look to be about three feet tall and yelling at his mom that they need to go to McDonald’s as he’s lead away from the playground is super disappointing.

I don’t know what it is about this art that makes him look like a tiny brat but I hate it and he hasn’t earned a Happy Meal.