Marvel Snap‘s season for July, known as “Rise of the Phoenix”, revolves around some of the mutants belonging to the X-Men faction. This includes the telepath Jean Grey who can read minds and use telepathic powers. But as we know in the Marvel comics and films, she became much more powerful when the Phoenix Force merged with her, granting Jean Grey abilities that can almost annihilate all beings on Earth.
In Marvel Snap, the Phoenix Force’s ability is patterned to what it does in the Marvel universe. Its effect can take some of the game’s most beloved deck archetypes to a whole new level. Here are the best Phoenix Force decks in Marvel Snap.
Marvel Snap Phoenix Force abilities, explained
Phoenix Force is a four-cost, five-Power card with the ability that reads “On Reveal: Revive one of your destroyed cards and merge with it. That card can move each turn.” Phoenix Force has a decent Power stat for a five-cost card. Though, its potential to merge with another card and gain high Power while being able to move can be a whole different scenario since it can provide unpredictability for the opponent.
Phoenix Force is a great addition to Move and Destroy decks. Players can get it when they purchase the season pass for $9.99 USD or a Premium+ version for $14.99. It will not cost you tokens once it arrives in the game this season.
Strategy and best combos for Phoenix Force decks in Marvel Snap
Phoenix Force has proven strong when used with a strategy that involves Human Torch and Killmonger/Deathlok. Human Torch is a one-cost, two-Power card that doubles its current Power when moved to a location. Destroying it by using either Killmonger or Deathlok can pave the way for Phoenix Force to revive Human Torch, giving you a seven-Power card in the process that can move. Moving it by turn six at least once can give you a 14-Power card.
Attuma is also a great target for Phoenix Force’s effect since it is a four-cost, 10-Power card that can destroy itself when another card is placed on the location where you played it by the end of the turn. An Attuma merged with Phoenix Force gives you a movable 15-Power card.
Related: Jean Grey and the Phoenix Force to headline Marvel Snap’s ‘hottest’ season
Generally, cards that are destroyed, whether through a location or Deathlok, can be good targets for Phoenix Force. Though, some options that can be your choice are cards with cheap costs and high Power at the same time. This includes Kitty Pryde, Medusa, Lizard, Polaris, and Maximus. The Hood can give you a Demon clone which is a one-cost, six-Power card, and both of these cards can be destroyed by Killmonger.
Also, aside from Human Torch, the move ability given by Phoenix Force also benefits cards that can gain Power when moved, as well as being targets for Deathlok. These are Dagger and Vulture. Kraven, on the other hand, can stack plus two Power every time a card moves to the location where it is placed.
The best Phoenix Force decks in Marvel Snap
Phoenix Force Destroy
Aside from Move decks, the Destroy archetype also received great support from the Phoenix Force. Its ability to revive a destroyed card while giving it plus six-Power and the ability to move once each turn can make the last play for the opponent more unpredictable, diverting cards like Shang-Chi to use his effect on a wrong location.
Carnage and Venom enable the Destroy mechanic alongside Killmonger and Deathlok. Carnage can destroy all cards that were already placed on the location where you play it while stacking two Power for each card destroyed this way. On the other hand, Venom can also destroy all the cards in a location while gaining the total Power for all the destroyed cards.
Destroy staples like Deadpool, Nova, Yondu, Wolverine, and Bucky Barnes/Winter Soldier can also be included in the deck to provide an early-game advantage. As for late-game finishers, the combo of Death and Knull is a must-have to provide a potential massive Power boost on your locations. The former is an eight-cost, 12-Power card that costs one less for each card destroyed in the game (both from your and your opponent’s side). The latter gains all the total Power of every card destroyed in the game, no matter where they got destroyed.
Win condition cards for this deck
The win condition cards for this deck are:
- Carnage
- Venom
- Knull
- Death
Carnage and Venom are your main Destroy enablers since they can potentially have a great amount of Power in the mid to late stages of the game while allowing you to destroy cards which is the main requirement for Phoenix Force. They also help trigger the effect of Death and provide more Power boost for Knull.
Destroy Move
An interesting deck where the Phoenix Force can showcase its full potential is a deck where the combination of Movement and Destroy mechanics can be combined. This deck highlights Phoenix Force as its ace card while targeting either Human Torch or Multiple Man with its effect.
We already know how Phoenix Force works well with Human Torch. But when you target Multiple Man with its effect, you can have a nine-Power card on two locations since Phoenix Force grants Multiple Man the ability to move. And Multiple Man leaves a copy of himself at the location where it is originally placed. Given the right tools and setup, you can have three eight-Power copies of Multiple Man on each location on turn six.
Move staples such as Iron Fist, Dagger, Ghost-Spider, and Heimdall can be added to this deck. As for the Destroy enablers, you can put both Carnage and Venom. Cap off the deck with Hulk Buster which can also merge itself with a card, Taskmaster to copy the Power of the last card you played, and America Chavez for a sure nine-Power card on your hand by turn six.
Win condition cards for this deck
Aside from Phoenix Force, the win condition cards for this deck are:
- Human Torch
- Multiple Man
- Carnage
- Venom
- Taskmaster
Human Torch and Multiple Man are your main targets for Phoenix Force’s ability. Just be wise on which one of those cards is your preferred destruction target as early as possible since Phoenix Force randomly selects a destroyed card to merge with.
As for Carnage and Venom, they are your destruction cards that can also boost your locations significantly. Taskmaster, on the other hand, is a great turn-six play alternative in case you don’t have Heimdall for the last move push.
Phoenix Force decks’ current state in the meta
Phoenix Force decks are not considered meta decks at the moment. Despite Phoenix Force’s potential to revive and create powerful units that can move, the strategy that revolves around isn’t super consistent, especially since you are relying on combo-based strategies based on specific cards.
The most consistent deck among the decklists above would be the Phoenix Force Destroy deck since it is already an established deck. Phoenix Force just adds a layer of power and unpredictability in the late game, and the deck can still work efficiently if you remove it or not.
As for the deck with the most potential to produce powerful numbers, the Destroy Move deck where Human Torch and Multiple Man are the best targets for Phoenix Force’s ability would be the best choice. Though, as mentioned, it is a combo-based strategy, making the options somehow limited especially if you can’t manage to draw all the required pieces on time.
