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Pure Destroy Detailed Deck Guide: The Best Way to Enter the Competitive Game

As one of the oldest and most accessible decks in Series 3, Pure Destroy has a lot of games under its belt. Despite that, it's kept a very respectable win rate and cube ratio, so Bohe wrote a guide so you can join in on the fun, too!

Many have wondered what the best way to enter the competitive world of any game they like.

It’s common when I’m streaming on Twitch for people to ask me, “Hey, Bohe, what deck do you recommend? My collection level is low.” or “I’m only a few weeks into the game and I’m still learning the basics.”

When those questions come up, I think the best possible answer is to suggest some iteration of a Destroy deck. The archetype is generally simple to play, and it allows you to have advantages during the early game that make opponents Retreat quickly.

This makes it a highly recommended deck for this type of player. However, this does not mean that it’s not a deck with the ability for an experienced player to decide to play and get a lot out of it.

Pure Destroy
Created by Bohe
, updated 2 months ago
5x Collection Level 18-214 (Pool 1)
3x Collection Level 222-474 (Pool 2)
3x Collection Level 486+ (Pool 3)
1x Series 4 Rare – Collection Level 486+ (Pool 4)
2.9
Cost
0-
1
2
3
4
5+
3
Power
0-
1
2
3
4
5+

The fact that this deck can maintain such solid statistics with more than 13,000 games distributed among all the players using the Marvel Snap Zone Tracker is undoubtedly something that speaks to its consistency.

Concept and Strategy

The plan of this archetype is straightforward: destroy your cards as often as you can and profit.

Our biggest power generators will be Venom, Knull, and Death. It’s important to note that for us to get the most out of them the rest of the deck must be cohesive with the plan.

Venom is a very important card to understand in depth. Destroying our cards with him while conserving points (and maximizing our destruction effects) is key. It’s also crucial to remember that he is a space liberator.

Death and Knull are trucks that allow us to fight for a location without much effort. As for the rest of our cards, Bucky Barnes, Wolverine, and Carnage tend to be incredibly cost-effective in terms of their power-to-cost ratio.

All of this results in an archetype that we could call aggressive, or what we might call aggro in other card games. We want to get into the game fast, gain priority so that our On Reveal effects don’t suffer from reactive plays from the opponent, execute our game plan, and win the game as quickly as possible. In this case, we do that by making our opponents Retreat as soon as possible, but if they don’t we can make them pay for it by winning four or eight cubes thanks to our late-game power plays.

Destroyers Core

Yondu
Yondu
On Reveal: Destroy the top card of your opponent’s deck.
Collection Level 18-214 (Pool 1)
view card details Decks with Yondu
Carnage
Carnage
On Reveal: Destroy your other cards here. +2 Power for each destroyed.
Collection Level 18-214 (Pool 1)
view card details Decks with Carnage
Venom
Venom
On Reveal: Destroy your other cards at this location. Add their Power to this card.
Collection Level 486+ (Pool 3)
view card details Decks with Venom

The deck can be divided into three main cores: the destroyer cards, the fodder cards, and the pay-off cards.

As for the first core, our five tools are Yondu, Carnage, Killmonger, Venom, and Deathlok. It may seem simple at first, but it takes practice with the deck to know which of these tools is best for each particular situation.

The first important thing to note is that the card Yondu destroys counts towards Death‘s cost reduction and Knull‘s power. After that, it’s nothing more than cannon fodder for the rest of the cards in this block.

Carnage and Venom share their mechanics in some ways. The key difference, which is important depending on the state of the field, is that Carnage cares about the number of cards in the location, while Venom cares only about the total power in the lane.

Both do something very important, which is to allow us to free up space in our lanes when necessary without losing points in the process. This can mean destroying some bad pull of X-Mansion, Rocks, Squirrels, goblins, and any other cards that may be in our way. This gives us an advantage against archetypes that are not able to free up these spaces.

Killmonger
Killmonger
On Reveal: Destroy ALL 1-Cost cards.
Collection Level 222-474 (Pool 2)
view card details Decks with Killmonger
Deathlok
Deathlok
On Reveal: Destroy your other cards at this location.
Collection Level 18-214 (Pool 1)
view card details Decks with Deathlok

Killmonger has a special role in this archetype. Learning to play him properly takes time. I say this because we have three important targets to destroy with him: Yondu, Deadpool, and Nova. However, he is also extremely useful for dealing with the opponent’s very annoying cards like Nebula, Sunspot, and Kitty Pryde. The combination of these factors means that playing Killmonger with the right timing can be capable of deciding a game on its own.

Deathlok is a card that has moments where it’s more effective than Carnage or Venom, and other moments where we’re going to want to play the Symbiotes. As I said, it’s a matter of practice. The important thing to note is that the similarity of these cards makes our deck very redundant, which gives strength to our game plan.

Fodder Core

Deadpool
Deadpool
When this is destroyed, return it to your hand with double the Power.
Collection Level 486+ (Pool 3)
view card details Decks with Deadpool
Nova
Nova
When this is destroyed, give your cards +1 Power.
Collection Level 18-214 (Pool 1)
view card details Decks with Nova
Bucky Barnes
Bucky Barnes
When this is destroyed, replace it with the Winter Soldier.
Collection Level 222-474 (Pool 2)
view card details Decks with Bucky Barnes

Each of the cards in this core feeds our strategy differently, but together they make this archetype work like a perfectly oiled machine.

For someone who hasn’t played this type of deck much, the simplest way to describe Deadpool is to say that he is what Kitty Pryde would be to Bounce. In exchange for one energy per turn, we can play him in combination with our destruction curve to always be effective with energy usage, giving us a card that can easily become a [1|8] during the last turn of the game.

Unlike Silver Surfer-style decks, we don’t have Brood to gain a significant advantage from Nova. Nevertheless, the buff Nova provides is not something minor for our archetype. Being able to buff Wolverine, Deadpool, and Sabretooth, and having that power buff remain throughout the game, is something that these cards have in common that can change lanes in our favor, which is an incredibly valuable factor for us.

Wolverine
Wolverine
When this is discarded or destroyed, regenerate it at a random location with +2 Power.
Collection Level 18-214 (Pool 1)
view card details Decks with Wolverine
Sabretooth
Sabretooth
When this is destroyed, return it to your hand. It costs 0.
Collection Level 222-474 (Pool 2)
view card details Decks with Sabretooth

As I just mentioned, these cards along with Deadpool give us great flexibility, We are not a Movement deck, but being able to adjust our play and move our points to other lanes is something not just any archetype can do.

The fact that this deck has that ability is incredibly relevant, and it’s something we need to take into account in all of our games to get the most out of the archetype.

Pay-Off Core

Death
Death
Costs 1 less for each card destroyed this game.
Collection Level 486+ (Pool 3)
view card details Decks with Death
Knull
Knull
Ongoing: Has the combined Power of all cards destroyed this game.
Series 4 Rare – Collection Level 486+ (Pool 4)
view card details Decks with Knull

Our two trucks. Each of these cards benefits from playing the game around destroying our cards.

Death can easily cost less than four energy, making her very strong for the late-game.

As for Knull, the amount of power it can reach is certainly difficult to calculate for the vast majority of our opponents. It’s complicated to keep track of all the power that has been destroyed during a game, so many opponents don’t even bother to count how strong this card can be. They simply think of Retreating when imagining that it might be in our hands.

Card Substitutions

Shang-Chi
Shang-Chi
On Reveal: Destroy all enemy cards at this location that have 9 or more Power.
Collection Level 222-474 (Pool 2)
view card details Decks with Shang-Chi

Shang-Chi is undoubtedly a staple card in the current meta. Making room to play him in our list is not complicated if we would like to have at least one reactive card.

Thanos
Thanos
At the start of the game, shuffle the six Infinity Stones into your deck.
Series 5 Ultra Rare – Collection Level 486+ (Pool 5)
view card details Decks with Thanos

This archetype has some interesting variations that we will briefly address below. One of them is known as Thanos Death. I recommend it if you want to give a twist to the deck and play something slightly different.

Destroyer
Destroyer
On Reveal: Destroy your other cards.
Collection Level 486+ (Pool 3)
view card details Decks with Destroyer
Nimrod
Nimrod
When this is destroyed, add a copy to each other location.
Series 4 Rare – Collection Level 486+ (Pool 4)
view card details Decks with Nimrod

Similarly, Destroyer and Nimrod bring to life an iteration of the archetype known as Destroy Ramp. Thanks to Electro, Wave, and Magik, it’s possible to generate board states that are very difficult to defeat.

Other Ways to Build the Archetype

Destroy
Created by Bohe
, updated 2 months ago
4x Collection Level 18-214 (Pool 1)
4x Collection Level 222-474 (Pool 2)
3x Collection Level 486+ (Pool 3)
1x Series 4 Rare – Collection Level 486+ (Pool 4)
3.2
Cost
0-
1
2
3
4
5+
3.2
Power
0-
1
2
3
4
5+

When we want to add Shang-Chi, the most common change to make is removing Nova. It’s usually a complicated and meta-dependent decision. Being able to buff Wolverine, Deadpool, and/or Sabretooth, and having the ability to move those points between lanes, has many upsides. However, when the meta demands a direct response against many big trucks contesting one lane, Shang-Chi is certainly always a good idea.

Thanos Destroy
Created by Bohe
, updated 2 months ago
5x Collection Level 18-214 (Pool 1)
3x Collection Level 222-474 (Pool 2)
2x Collection Level 486+ (Pool 3)
1x Series 4 Rare – Collection Level 486+ (Pool 4)
1x Series 5 Ultra Rare – Collection Level 486+ (Pool 5)
3.4
Cost
0-
1
2
3
4
5+
3.7
Power
0-
1
2
3
4
5+

The big advantage of Thanos Destroy is that, with the Infinity Stones in the deck, we have a huge amount of additional targets for Killmonger. This results in Death being virtually free in the vast majority of games.

If we add to this the utility of each of the Infinity Stones, it makes this way of playing the archetype something very efficient that will always have cards to spend its energy on.

Destroyer Ramp
Created by Bohe
, updated 2 months ago
2x Collection Level 18-214 (Pool 1)
7x Collection Level 486+ (Pool 3)
2x Series 4 Rare – Collection Level 486+ (Pool 4)
1x Series 5 Ultra Rare – Collection Level 486+ (Pool 5)
3.9
Cost
0-
1
2
3
4
5+
3.6
Power
0-
1
2
3
4
5+

Of all the iterations of the deck, this is the one that can change the play style the most.

We can do the familiar ping pong Nimrod, play Knull or Destroyer on Turn 4, or use the Arnim Zola + Knull combo (just to name a few interactions). Without a doubt, these and the many other lines of play that this iteration of the deck can generate are very powerful. Also, thanks to the high ceiling on these plays, a build like this comes in handy if you expect to play a lot against Magik (which is very common nowadays).

If you want a more combo-oriented version of the archetype, this is your best bet.

Snap and Retreat

  • Snapping on Turn 1 is something that not all decks can afford. Even with a perfect hand, in this particular case, I consider that the benefit of doing so would be little compared to waiting for one more turn and having more information. This doesn’t mean we can’t stay in a game where the opponent Snaps on Turn 1. It’s often a favorable scenario for us.
  • The way to explain this is that as I mentioned, we are an aggro deck. We tend to get an advantage pretty early in the game. By Turn 2 we will already have enough information to know if we can put enough pressure on the opponent. Think about Snapping on Turn 2 if you have Deadpool and you have a few ways of destroying him in the next couple turns, as well as Knull or Death in hand. It’s also a good time for a Snap if you have played any of your 1-drops and you can play Bucky Barnes + Venom or Deathlok on Turn 3 with Knull or Death in hand.
  • You can Snap on Turn 3 if you’ve drawn Venom or Deathlok and you have Bucky Barnes in play and Knull or Death in hand. You can also go for it if you can max out the destruction chain with Sabretooth by playing him in a lane where you have one to two other good targets to destroy + Carnage, Venom, or Deathlok ready for Turn 4.
  • If you have destroyed two or three cards when Turn 4 starts, Snapping before playing any cards is usually an indicator that Knull or Death are in our hand. This will make our opponents think twice about staying in the game. Since we don’t have cards in our deck that cost four or five energy, Snapping on this turn is only a good idea if we’re winning a lane and our plays this turn are going to put us ahead for the late game. This is usually a combination of making Sabretooth free, having a lane with Winter Soldier and any other card, having Deadpool and/or Wolverine with at least four power, and having Knull or Death in our hand.
  • Like the previous turn, a Snap is a clear indicator of Knull or Death. That’s why I mentioned the importance of having these cards in hand for the first few turns when Snapping. We want the opponent to commit to the game early because we know that we have the tools to beat them if they decide to stay in the game. If you Snap on Turn 5 with Knull or Death, be careful; your opponent may have a way to deal with either of these cards.

Because of the aforementioned reasons, it’s much better to be the one who responds to an opponent’s Snap with a counter Snap during the late game. Try to offer a Snap during the early-game, or be the one who responds to the opponent’s Snaps during the late-game.

Locations

Good Locations

Bad Locations

Versus Good Cards Stature

Good Cards Stature
2x Collection Level 18-214 (Pool 1)
1x Collection Level 222-474 (Pool 2)
4x Collection Level 486+ (Pool 3)
3x Series 4 Rare – Collection Level 486+ (Pool 4)
2x Series 5 Ultra Rare – Collection Level 486+ (Pool 5)
3.4
Cost
0-
1
2
3
4
5+
3.9
Power
0-
1
2
3
4
5+

The aggressiveness of our strategy works in our favor against Tier 1 match ups. When a deck can make explosive or flexible plays on Turn 6, Good Cards Stature tends to falter. Yes, we are a deck that plays the early game proactively. However, their inability to compete for points in more than one lane can make their game stumble against us if we play properly.

Focus on getting a quick lead in a lane with Bucky Barnes and Venom / Deathlok, which will force them to play Darkhawk in the same lane most of the time. With this plan in mind, we can use Deadpool and Sabretooth to gain the flexibility needed to compete with the most flexible archetype in the meta.

Your best tools for taking advantage of the Rocks you might draw are Carnage and Killmonger. They will give you points while reducing the cost of Death.

Keep in mind that they do have tools to face Knull and Death. Enchantress and Shang-Chi can put us in trouble. That is why an early Snap is vital. Force them to keep up with you and play thinking that they will always have Shang-Chi or Enchantress. That allows you to make the right play on the final turn. Winning with Knull is not impossible, but I would always look for a Deadpool + Sabretooth + Death combination on the last turn.

Versus Sera Surfer

Sera Surfer
Created by den
, updated 2 months ago
2x Collection Level 18-214 (Pool 1)
2x Collection Level 222-474 (Pool 2)
8x Collection Level 486+ (Pool 3)
2.8
Cost
0-
1
2
3
4
5+
3.1
Power
0-
1
2
3
4
5+

The main problem when facing this deck is Cosmo. They are most likely going to play it in the lane where you put Bucky Barnes. However, at the start of Turn 3, you will most likely have priority. With this in mind, Cosmo usually won’t cause as much trouble.

If you played Deadpool, Yondu, or Nova, and you put them all in the same lane, that’s when you might lose priority and get blown out by Cosmo. Think about spreading your cards over more than one lane, even if you have to use more than one card to destroy them.

They also play Killmonger, which can benefit us a lot. They won’t be able to play it until the later turns. This will allow us to break their Nova with our Killmonger early so they don’t take advantage of it. If they want to play their Killmonger early, they are going to destroy our Deadpool and give us the upper hand.

Goose doesn’t cause us much of a problem since ten of our cards can compete in its lane. Shadow King is not able to contend with Knull, but he can shut down our Nova buffs as well as Carnage and Venom.

Watch out for Polaris and Juggernaut. They could move our cards during Turn 3 and prevent Venom or Deathlok from being effective. It’s not impossible to play around these cards, just try to maintain priority (even if it means playing in more than one lane at a time).

Storm can mess things up a bit, but Wolverine can help out a bit with that. The best way to beat Storm would be to play Bucky Barnes + Carnage on Turn 4 on Flooding.

Turn 3 is the most important turn against this deck, so plan your first two turns carefully.

Versus Thanos Control

Thanos Control
Created by den
, updated 2 months ago
4x Collection Level 18-214 (Pool 1)
1x Collection Level 222-474 (Pool 2)
3x Collection Level 486+ (Pool 3)
3x Series 5 Ultra Rare – Collection Level 486+ (Pool 5)
1x Recruit Season
3.8
Cost
0-
1
2
3
4
5+
3.8
Power
0-
1
2
3
4
5+

Again, Cosmo is present. However, just like against the previous match up, our fast early-game should allow us to maintain priority for the first couple of turns.

If they haven’t played Jeff the Baby Land Shark, they most likely won’t have priority at the start of Turn 3. Playing aggressively during the first turns will force them to adjust their game plan outside their default strategy.

Keep in mind that playing Yondu on Turn 1 in cases where you expect Cosmo (most common while playing Conquest) is usually the way to go. As little as it may seem, one more point than Deadpool and Nova can be the difference between having priority or not.

If Cosmo is already on the field, that will be a safe lane for Knull or Death since their Shang-Chi won’t be effective. Killmonger is a great card in this match up because it can destroy the Infinity Stones. This will cause the opponent to lose power and utility, and it will greatly reduce the cost of Death.

If they play the Time Stone or Psylocke on Turn 3, Professor X will likely close a lane on Turn 4 (especially if they’ve Snapped). It’s not impossible to beat this. Remember that Nova can give us power in a lane closed by Professor X, and it’s unlikely that they will play Professor X in a lane where we have Winter Soldier or Deathlok; if a lane is locked, it will always allow us to know exactly where Wolverine will jump when we destroy him.

Turn by Turn Breakdown

  • Turn 1: If you have Deadpool and multiple ways to destroy him, he should be your primary choice. If you are playing Conquest and you are facing a deck with Cosmo, it might be better to go with Yondu to gain priority. Nova is your last option.
  • Turn 3: You have many options here. Your primary goal is to destroy Deadpool for the first or the second time, but it will be enough to maintain aggressiveness by destroying Bucky Barnes with Carnage, Venom, or Deathlok (save Venom for later turns if possible). Sabretooth is the play that covers the turn or allows you to extend the pay-offs if you have an easy way to destroy more than one card during the next turn.
  • Turns 4 and 5: I chose to group these turns because the deck doesn’t have any 4- or 5-Cost cards. You must look for redundancy and plan to continue destroying Deadpool and Wolverine. If you can do this in addition to buffing them both with Nova and/or destroying Sabretooth in the process, you’ll be in a great position going into the final turn.
  • Turn 6: It would be easy to tell you that just playing Death or Knull is enough. If things have gone according to plan, in addition to playing Knull to compete for a lane, you can have similar flexibility to the strongest archetypes in the meta. Keep in mind that the main plan that results most often in a victory is to play Deadpool + Sabretooth + Death, which in most cases should cost you four or five energy.

Closing Words

Cosmo is indeed beginning to appear more often. However, to think that every deck in the meta has an answer for Pure Destroy is far from the truth.

Armor is no longer as popular as it used to be. Shuri Sauron and some iterations of High Evolutionary may be using the card as a tech, but you’re not really facing this card too often.

I mention these two factors because I understand that playing an archetype like this (one that has cards that can hard counter you) can cause you to get discouraged.

“Bohe, why would I play a Destroy deck if Cosmo / Armor exist?” The answer, dear readers, is at the begging of this article. Even with Cosmo, Armor, and any other card that could exist to stop this strategy, this list sustains a 56.90% WR and .51 AVG Cubes over 13,000 games, something that not many archetypes can say.

Give Destroy a shot and you’ll see what I’m talking about. Also, practicing this style of play is something that you might be grateful for when we have X-23 and Daken in the game in a few weeks.

I hope this article has been to your liking. Let us know your thoughts on this and any other topic in the Marvel Snap Community Discord, on my Twitter, and in the comments section of this article.

I will see you again in the next guide (or Variants and Lore article), and remember: do not forget to smile. I assure you that it makes a difference.

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Bohe
Bohe
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