LTGMs

High Voltage Overdrive: August '26 Strategy Guide

HV:O is Back from August 5-12

Marvel Snap's silliest little game mode is back! And so are some previously banned cards! Doctor Octopus is a unique card that hooks into a new mechanic in a critical way. Even if you don't feel like you need him now, you're going to want this card in your collection. Get him for free and save your future self some resources!

Doc Ock Deck Ideas

Infinity Frontier

Deck image — click/tap to copy deck code — ClickTap image to copy deck code.

And for later in the month...

Octo-Bounce

To find out how hard it will be to get DOFF, don't miss Lauren's guide on the HV:O economy!

Refresher Course

At the start of the game, you and your opponent will each have eight random cards shuffled into your decks that will be marked as "Charged." Each Charged card gets -1 Cost and +1 Power. Unlike regular High: Voltage, Overdrive is 4 turns (sorry Ebony Maw), the extra Energy ranges from 2-4 each turn (trimmed down from 2-5 in regular HV, sorry Sera), and there is an array of Overdrive effects that will go off if you and your opponent have played 5 total charged cards between you. Here are the Overdrive effects (this list can change at any time, there's been no official announcement about changes to HV:O missions or effects!):

Scaling Effects (they get bigger if they go off on later turns):

Give each charged card +1/+2/+3/+4 power (no matter where they are).
Move 2/4/6 (total) cards one location to the left.
Transform charged cards in play into ones that cost 0/1/2/3 more.
Destroy the 1/2/3/4 lowest powered cards for each player (on ties, choose one at random).
Repeat 1/2/3/4 random 'On Reveals' for each player.
Each player draws 2/3/4 cards. Their costs all become 3.

Non-Scaling (can only happen on turn 4):

Destroy the two locations with the lowest powers (if there is a tie, leave one at random).
The winner of this game gets twice as many volts.
Each player adds a Blob to a random location (if able).

Keys to the Mode

3 and 4-Cost cards take on added importance since you can often play them on the first turn.
1-Cost cards are less important and have a far smaller meta share than on ladder.
Randomness is integral to the mode. You can't control everything and it's a very unpredictable game mode.
Keep track of how many Charged cards have been played to try to predict and leverage the chaotic Overdrive effects better than your opponent.
Because of the Blob and single location Overdrive effects, big cards with raw Power are critical to winning.
Missions are more important than wins. Have a solid go-to deck, but also prepare an extra deck or two that can specifically complete the Energy and Cost-related missions.

Newcomers and Important Cards

There aren't many potential HV:O superstars that have release since the last time the mode ran, but these four could certainly contribute to the silliness.

Best Mode-Specific Cards

Here are some of the cards that are either especially powerful or especially fun in this game mode. Look, if you're not going to play Cobra or Mordo in HV:O, you're never going to play them. Cards like Juggernaut and Cannonball have outsized impact in games with so few turns. Sersi is my personal favorite HV:O card and transforming cards that have already been transformed by the Overdrive effect can lead to goofy Power output.

Banned Cards List

No cards were added, but we got Jim Hammond, Kang, and Fin Fang Foom back in the pool (yay, also a shadow Sersi buff)!

	Banned Cards
Alioth	Black Widow	Galactus
Magik	Darkhawk	Cassandra Nova
Mobius M Mobius	Thanos	Arishem
Agamotto	Agatha Harkness	Gambit, Horseman of Death
Quinjet	Loki	High Evolutionary
Gorgon

Scott's HV:O Decks

HV:O Mode Killer

The cream of the mode, this plays a lot of the best mode-specific cards and also helps you complete those pesky "play high-Cost" cards missions easily.

Lead Them

This is a similar deck with more 5-Cost cards to help take care of that mission while still winning with high-flying combos.

Scott's Choice: Transformadness

For whatever reason, I really get a kick out of transforming cards in this mode, especially into 7s or 8s. This deck fully leans into the chaos of this mode, while still hitting your missions.

Play 5-Costs

This is the most fun way to play a ton of 5-Costs. Sera or Anti-Venom will occasionally let you sneak in an extra one or two. Valkyrie can take care of a lot of what you might face in this mode and I always play a ton of Valk in this mode.