Marvel Snap July 2023 (Rise of the Phoenix) New Card Guide: Review and Decks

July and the Rise of the Phoenix season is full of mystery when it comes to the impact the cards will have on Marvel Snap. Indeed, almost every card has a totally unique effect that we will have to test and experiment around. For most players, several of the upcoming month’s cards have already been dismissed to the rank of “gimmicky without much competitive potential.” While there might be some truth to this (a card like Legion seems difficult to imagine being reliably impactful), there are other cards where I see some great potential to explore.

Granted, none of these cards looks like an auto-include in many decks like Nebula or Spider-Ham were. Nevertheless, a card like Jean Grey or Mirage could completely ruin the game plan of some archetypes. As for The Phoenix Force, I expect to see a ton of this card. First, because Season Pass cards tend to be the most popular. And second, because its design and strength are extremely promising.

Variants

The Phoenix Force

On Reveal: Revive one of your destroyed cards and merge with it. That card can move each turn.

Series 4 Rare – Collection Level 486+ (Pool 4)

view card details Start a deck Decks with The Phoenix Force

Variants

Jean Grey

Ongoing: Players must play their first card here each turn. (if possible)

Series 5 Ultra Rare – Collection Level 486+ (Pool 5)

view card details Start a deck Decks with Jean Grey

Variants

Echo

After your opponent plays an Ongoing card here, remove its abilities.

Series 4 Rare – Collection Level 486+ (Pool 4)

view card details Start a deck Decks with Echo

Variants

Legion

On Reveal: Replace each other location with this one.

Series 4 Rare – Collection Level 486+ (Pool 4)

view card details Start a deck Decks with Legion

Variants

Mirage

On Reveal: Copy the lowest-Cost card in your opponent’s hand into your hand. Give it +2 Power.

Series 4 Rare – Collection Level 486+ (Pool 4)

view card details Start a deck Decks with Mirage

Overall, July should be a great month for the creative minds in Marvel Snap. Each new ability seems to be worth exploring in or against specific decks. Also, without a clear theme across the five cards released, we should see different archetypes rise with each release, promoting diversity and rewarding those who find where to play each of them.

The Phoenix Force Searches For the Perfect Target

Variants

The Phoenix Force

On Reveal: Revive one of your destroyed cards and merge with it. That card can move each turn.

Series 4 Rare – Collection Level 486+ (Pool 4)

view card details Start a deck Decks with The Phoenix Force

The Phoenix Force is the Season Pass card.

Strengths:

• Allows you to reuse a powerful On Reveal ability

• Only requires one available slot on the board

• Flexible use of points on Turn 6 thanks to being able to move

Weaknesses:

• The card chosen is random

• Needs a destroyed card to be considered as an option

• Suffers from the usual On Reveal counter cards

Featured Deck:

Rebirth

Created by den

, updated 10 months ago

1

3x Collection Level 18-214 (Pool 1)

2x Collection Level 222-474 (Pool 2)

5x Collection Level 486+ (Pool 3)

2x Series 4 Rare – Collection Level 486+ (Pool 4)

2.3

Cost

0-
1
2
3
4
5+

2.8

Power

0-
1
2
3
4
5+

There might be some synergies with the new season pass card that are much easier to abuse, but I feel like Human Torch and Dagger are some of the best cards to revive on Turn 5 because we can leverage the move component on Turn 6. Even if they’re not buffed at all during the game, reviving an eight power Human Torch will lead to 16 power on a lane once it’s moved.

As for the rest of the build, the need to mix both the Move and the Destroy synergy limits how flexible we can be, so Silver Surfer and Beast are the only odd cards in the bunch. Considering we already have a few 3-Costs naturally included, it felt like a decent direction, but this last part of the deck is definitely up in the air.

Theorycraft:

Jean Grey and the Thousand Flexible Decks

Variants

Jean Grey

Ongoing: Players must play their first card here each turn. (if possible)

Series 5 Ultra Rare – Collection Level 486+ (Pool 5)

view card details Start a deck Decks with Jean Grey

Jean Grey will be released as a Series 5 card.

Strengths:

• Can completely counter some game plans, such as Galactus

• Allows you to anticipate some of your opponent’s spread of points

• Playable early enough to impact a large part of the game

Weaknesses:

• You are also affected, so you need to adapt your deck accordingly

• The ability is Ongoing, so it can be disabled

• Various ways to get around the “If possible” part of the card.

Featured Deck:

Grey Evolution

Created by den

, updated 10 months ago

1

1x Collection Level 1-14

1x Collection Level 222-474 (Pool 2)

2x Collection Level 486+ (Pool 3)

3x Series 5 Ultra Rare – Collection Level 486+ (Pool 5)

5x Starter Card

3.1

Cost

0-
1
2
3
4
5+

4.7

Power

0-
1
2
3
4
5+

What do we need to make Jean Grey work? A deck with cheap cards to easily bypass the limitation, check. A deck that profits from the opponent stacking their cards in the same place, check. And finally, a deck that is able to limit the game to playing only one card per turn with Wave and Odin, double check.

Unless High Evolutionary gets nerfed by the time Jean Grey joins the game, it feels like the card already has a solid home to be tested in.

Echo: One More Ongoing Hate Card

Variants

Echo

After your opponent plays an Ongoing card here, remove its abilities.

Series 4 Rare – Collection Level 486+ (Pool 4)

view card details Start a deck Decks with Echo

Echo will be released as a Series 5 card.

Strengths:

• Cheap utility tool, can be played at various moments of the match

• Can be played proactively while still forcing the opponent to go around it

• Can win a lane on its own against certain archetypes, such as Darkhawk or Devil Dinosaur.

Weaknesses:

• Requires anticipation to be truly effective, timing can be very difficult to nail

• The competition among 1-Cost cards is fierce

• Could cancel negative Ongoing abilities, such as Electro, Red Skull, and Ebony Maw

Featured Deck:

Echo Kazoo

Created by den

, updated 10 months ago

0

1x Collection Level 1-14

2x Collection Level 18-214 (Pool 1)

2x Collection Level 222-474 (Pool 2)

3x Collection Level 486+ (Pool 3)

3x Series 4 Rare – Collection Level 486+ (Pool 4)

1x Recruit Season

2.6

Cost

0-
1
2
3
4
5+

4.6

Power

0-
1
2
3
4
5+

As more of a counter card, I doubt Echo will have a dedicated home; instead, it will join the likes of Rogue and Enchantress as a card you can use whenever the Ongoing synergy is dominant in the metagame. Nevertheless, there are a few synergies around 1-Cost cards in Marvel Snap, so I guess Kazoo is as good a start as any to see what Echo is really made of.

Legion Leads to Location Lunacy on Turn 5

Variants

Legion

On Reveal: Replace each other location with this one.

Series 4 Rare – Collection Level 486+ (Pool 4)

view card details Start a deck Decks with Legion

Legion will be released as a Series 4 card.

Strengths:

• Surprising ability, can completely blindside our opponent

• We can create some locations (Flooded) before playing Legion

• We can plan around the change of location long before we actually play Legion

Weaknesses:

• Turn 5 is quite late in the game

• Seven power is on the low end for 5-Cost cards

• No archetype relies on using such ability so far

Featured Deck:

Legion of Doom

Created by den

, updated 10 months ago

0

1x Collection Level 1-14

2x Collection Level 222-474 (Pool 2)

6x Collection Level 486+ (Pool 3)

2x Series 4 Rare – Collection Level 486+ (Pool 4)

1x Series 5 Ultra Rare – Collection Level 486+ (Pool 5)

4.1

Cost

0-
1
2
3
4
5+

4.7

Power

0-
1
2
3
4
5+

I feel like Legion will be at its best during featured and hot locations, meaning it’s hard to outline a specific deck for the card. Still, one thing I’m pretty certain of with Legion is that we want to play the card as close to Turn 3 as possible.

Indeed, on Turn 3 we will know all three locations, so we will know which one we want to copy (either for our own benefit or to annoy our opponent).

As such, I imagine Legion will be a decent inclusion in Electro decks where we can at least buy ourselves a turn. Also, these decks tend to be pretty greedy, so if a location grants us more energy and allows us to play Legion early then we can duplicate it and get more of our big cards on the board.

Mirage is the Long Awaited Kitty Pryde Counter

Variants

Mirage

On Reveal: Copy the lowest-Cost card in your opponent’s hand into your hand. Give it +2 Power.

Series 4 Rare – Collection Level 486+ (Pool 4)

view card details Start a deck Decks with Mirage

Mirage will be released as a Series 4 card.

Strengths:

• Kitty Pryde is a very popular card in Marvel Snap; low cost cards have strong abilities, such as Spider-Ham, Jeff the Baby Land Shark, or simply Evolved Wasp

• Provides flexible spread of points with a low-cost card

• Information about your opponent’s archetype

Weaknesses:

• Terrible card if we don’t/can’t play the card we get from its ability

• No direct synergy with our deck, just an answer to popular opponents

• Useless Turn 6 play; doesn’t make sense in decks that cannot use their energy flexibly

Mirage Bounce

Created by den

, updated 10 months ago

0

2x Collection Level 18-214 (Pool 1)

2x Collection Level 222-474 (Pool 2)

4x Collection Level 486+ (Pool 3)

4x Series 4 Rare – Collection Level 486+ (Pool 4)

1.8

Cost

0-
1
2
3
4
5+

1.8

Power

0-
1
2
3
4
5+

Similar to Echo, I feel like Mirage‘s play rate will be intimately connected to how many of the game’s top 1-Cost cards there are to copy.

If Kitty Pryde and Deadpool are dominating the fray, maybe Death gets a second wind, sure, let’s play Mirage in every deck. Otherwise, if most decks are just using utility cards like Spider-Ham and Iceman, Mirage might not have much upside, unfortunately.

Still, the card seems cheap enough to be included in Bounce, at least as a way to edge out the mirror match. In the end, what’s better than a big Kitty Pryde? Two big Kitty Prydes.

Closing Words

July ought to be an exciting month for all the deck builders out there. Indeed, with none of the cards clearly belonging in a specific archetype, it feels like trial and error will be the theme of the new season.

I personally like such chaos, especially when there isn’t much to play outside of having fun and personal goals. As such, if each card is a puzzle to solve (one I can spend several days trying to complete), I will be more than happy with them.

The Phoenix Force and Mirage are the two cards I’m the most curious about. A change to High Evolutionary could spark more interest in Jean Grey, which seems too easy to slot into Lockdown or Pure Evolution as it stands.

As for Legion and Echo, I personally don’t think I would invest my Collector’s Tokens into either card; they seem too niche to deserve the soon-to-be very precious currency. Nevertheless, I can see myself having fun with Legion on Sundays, trying to copy the featured location and making my opponent’s life miserable in the process.

I’m curious to see what everyone builds around these new cards. To show off your wildest creations, you can find me on the Marvel Snap Zone community Discord, or my Twitter page where I share decks and biased opinions about the game.

Good Game Everyone.