Venom, a villain wearing a black outfit and showing his sharp white teeth, attacks in the comics.
Image via Marvel

Best Venom decks in Marvel Snap and how to counter them (August 2023)

Here comes the Venom.

One of the most infamous and dangerous villains in the Marvel universe is Venom. This specimen from space has the ability to grant its host supernatural strength and protection, making Spider-Man’s life harder than ever.

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In Marvel Snap, Venom is depicted as a card that harnesses its power by sacrificing other units. This has the potential to make Venom a massive offensive option if played right, and a deck centering around it can be an option you can build in the game.

Marvel Snap Venom abilities, explained

Venom is a three-cost, three-Power card with the ability that reads “On Reveal: Destroy your other cards at this location. Add their Power to these cards.” Venom is regarded as a Destroy deck staple since it can benefit a lot of cards that give you advantages when they are destroyed, as well as providing Venom with more Power for the destroyed cards.

Venom card, posing in green background in Marvel Snap.
Venom is a Destroy staple in Marvel Snap. Screengrab via Dot Esports

You can get Venom as a series three card by reaching Collection Level 486+, as well as picking it up as the free series three card every season in the regular rotation. You do not need to spend any tokens to get it from the Token Shop.

Strategy and best combos for Venom decks in Marvel Snap

As mentioned, cards that benefit from being destroyed are the best cards that synergize with Venom. This includes units that can stack Power when destroyed such as Deadpool and Wolverine. Also included are Bucky Barnes, which can create the six-Power Winter Soldier once it is destroyed, and Sabretooth, which returns to the hand and becomes a zero-cost, four-Power card.

The combo of Death and Knull also benefits from the destruction ability provided by Venom. The former is an eight-cost, 12-Power card that reduces its cost by one for each card destroyed in the match—both for you and your opponent. The latter, on the other hand, gains the total Power of all cards destroyed in the match from your and your opponent’s side.

Related: Best Legion decks in Marvel Snap

Venom can also be used as a general card to destroy units from your side even if you are not playing a Destroy deck, such as for Junk decks. Though, it can be used to destroy a potential target for Phoenix Force’s revival effect, such as Human Torch, which can double its Power when moved, and Multiple Man, which leaves a copy of itself in the original location where you played it when it also gets moved.

The best Venom decks in Marvel Snap

Standard Destroy

Marvel Snap deck consisting of Deadpool, Nova, Yondu, Bucky Barnes, Carnage, Wolverine, Venom, Sabretooth, Deathlok, Phoenix Force, Knull, and Death
Standard Destroy is still a great pick in the meta. Screenshot via Snap.fan

Venom is a must-have when you are building a Destroy deck. This standard mechanic-based deck is a consistent option you can use in Marvel Snap because of its proven success in the meta. This is despite the deck’s limited win condition, which is to destroy cards in order to gain multiple advantages such as creating high-Powered units, reducing your cards’ costs, and more.

Aside from Venom, the other cards in this deck that can allow you to destroy cards are Carnage and Deathlok. The former is a two-cost, two-Power card that gains plus two Power for every card you can destroy in the location where you play it. The latter, on the other hand, is a three-cost, five-Power card that destroys all cards in the location where it is played. Yondu is also handy, as it can destroy the top card of your opponent’s deck.

Aside from Deadpool, Wolverine, Bucky Barnes, and Sabretooth, Nova can also be included in the deck. It can give a plus one Power bonus to all of your cards once you are able to destroy it. Phoenix Force is also a great addition thanks to its ability to revive one of your cards while merging with it, giving it plus five Power and the ability to move to another location once per turn in the process.

Cap off the deck with the classic Destroy late-game duo of Death and Knull to provide more Power options in the late game.

Win condition cards or this deck

The win condition cards for this deck are:

  • Death
  • Knull
  • Phoenix Force

Death is the card with the guaranteed highest base Power in this deck. Its steady 12-Power can help you to instantly make the power of a location to your favor, so maximizing your destroy your cards to make her cost as cheap as possible would be ideal. Knull, on the other hand, also gains a lot of Power if you are able to capitalize on your destructions on all durations of the game.

As for Phoenix Force, it can provide another Power boost, as well as some sort of unpredictability since you can move the revived and merged card to another location once per turn. Taking advantage of this can make your board’s situation harder to read for the opponent.

Destroy Move

Marvel Snap deck consisting of Ghost-Spider, Human Torch, Iron Fist, Carnage, Dagger, Multiple Man, Cloak, Venom, Shuri, Phoenix Force, Taskmaster, and Heimdall.
Two mechanics in one. Screenshot via Snap.fan

Another deck where Venom can be used efficiently is a Destroy Move deck. This strategy mixed two of the game’s most popular mechanics, namely the destruction and move mechanics since Phoenix Force allows you to take advantage of its reviving and movement capabilities.

In this deck, Venom, alongside Carnage is used as more of a tool to destroy the two top priority targets for Phoenix Force’s ability, namely Human Torch and Multiple Man. Both of these cards can be great picks for the reviving and merging ability of Phoenix Force since moving them can give you a high-Powered unit on one or more of your locations.

As for moving cards in locations, you can use the likes of Ghost-Spider, Iron Fist, Cloak, and Heimdall. Dagger can also be included since it can gain plus two Power for every card placed on the location where it will be moved. The Shuri and Taskmaster package can also be added to this deck since gaining as much Power as possible with the help of Phoenix Force is the main strategy of the deck.

Win condition cards for this deck

The win condition cards for this deck are:

  • Phoenix Force
  • Human Torch
  • Multiple Man
  • Shuri
  • Taskmaster
  • Heimdall

Phoenix Force is the heart and soul of this deck. The massive Power it can provide if you manage to revive either Human Torch or Multiple Man can be dangerous for the opponent, especially since the move bonus can be unpredictable for your opponent’s side. Reviving and moving Human Torch can guarantee you at least 14-Power on one location, while you can have at least two eight-Power Multiple Man copies on two of your locations.

Shuri spices up things in this deck since its double Power bonus can make your Phoenix Force play more powerful than ever. Taskmaster is there to copy the current Power of the last card you played, and Heimdall is your last resort when it comes to moving your units to gain more Power in the late game.


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Author
David Gealogo
Strategic Content Writer for Dot Esports from the Philippines, mainly for Marvel Snap, Fortnite, card games, MOBA, battle-royale, general gaming, and more. Previously wrote news articles and guides for Gfinity Esports, Sportskeeda, Esports.net, and GINX Esports TV. Also a competitive Marvel Snap player under my in-game name: Davidwaaaa, a leaderboard Infinite player and joining multiple Snap tournaments. Sheesh. Let's get in touch: dgealogo@gmail.com