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Phastos is the fourth Spotlight card for the June 2024 Season, The Celestials’ Finest. It is a 3-Cost, 3-Power card that reads: On Reveal: Give each card in your deck -1 Cost or +2 Power. Today, we will take a deeper look at the new card and, of course, the best decks to try it out in.
Decks with Phastos
Spotlight Cache
Series 5 cards can be purchased for 6,000 Collector’s Tokens from the Token Shop initially as a Weekly Spotlight card, or opened as one of the featured cards in the Spotlight Caches that are found every 120 Levels on the Collection Level Track after Collection Level 500 (until the next new card releases the following week).
Strengths and Weaknesses
Phastos is the latest card to compete at the 3-Cost slot. This one is simple on paper, but it has a wide range of outcomes. He provides a buff to the cards in your deck in the form of either +2 power or -1 cost. He only applies one or the other at random to each card, but both of these effects have been proven to have value in Marvel Snap. So, is it too random? Is it too big a hit to play this card with uncertain outcomes afterwards? Or are we about to see another card released that feels like it should be in every deck?
First, let’s look at the actual impact of playing the card. If you play it on Turn 3 you get:
- Turn 4 card draw: -1 cost or +2 power
- Turn 5 card draw: -1 cost or +2 power
- Turn 6 card draw: – 1 cost or +2 power
When listed out like this you can see the impact a little more clearly. The impact lowers as you play the card later into the game as well. Obviously, – 1 cost is superior in Marvel Snap since it will allow you to play more cards, so the RNG of what you hit is combined with being unsure of which effect you will get. This creates a lot of limitation on where this card may find success, but it’s hard to argue that Phastos doesn’t provide value and options when played on Turn 3.
If the buffs were why you wanted to play the card, Nakia on Turn 3 can hit more cards than Phastos for the same investment. Okoye on Turn 2 also hits more cards than him, and for one energy less. Neither of these cards have been able to hold down a spot in decks for some time, though, as the +1 power just isn’t enough for the investment the cards cost to play. Phastos can low-roll from cost reduction to +2 power, but it’s on fewer cards and without as much control on the outcome. This seems to make him a better version of these cards, and the lack of success of these two cards has demonstrated that the cost reduction is what might be missing.
Decks with Silver Surfer
Silver Surfer is the one clear home for the card. Both effects synergize with the game plan, which makes the low roll of hitting the power buff not a negative. Whether this is actually enough to make its way into Silver Surfer as a core piece is questionable due to the above. One thing it will do is throw off the opponent’s ability to be certain on the power output you have. This could be huge at certain levels of play, and that could be a reason for Phastos to become a mainstay Silver Surfer card.
Decks with Mobius M. Mobius
Sera-style decks could be another direction for Phastos. These would be focused on the reactive game plan and be filled with cards that are better with -1 cost anyway. This allows for your plays in the early game to set up your hand for the final turn. Mobius M. Mobius would be a big hit to this deck, but any deck that wants some cost reduction can potentially be a home for Phastos to be played on Turn 3.
Decks with Mockingbird
Decks with Sage
Decks with Mysterio
The final direction that can make use of the buffs and cost reduction on almost any card in the deck is the Bounce deck. On Turn 3, Phastos will provide a lot of value, and then you can potentially replay him later to make your final draws supercharged.
Still, it is much better on Turn 3 than any other turn. The ceiling here is really high depending on what he hits, but the floor is drawing Phastos on Turn 5 or 6. Whether this trade off is worthwhile over playing a more consistent version is the question that will be answered once the card releases.
Decks with Arishem
Decks with Thanos
The cost reduction is not limited to 1, so Phastos can hit Infinity Stones and make them 0-Cost cards. This may be a huge buff to Thanos decks as they stand now. Allowing you to get easy extra value from the Stones and activate Thanos more often is just what the archetype needs to reclaim some of its lost strength.
Although I try not to predict forward too often with these articles, Arishem is another potential deck that may appreciate Phastos. This deck would get the extra benefits and can still run Quinjet for even more cost reduction.
The Verdict
What might be surprising here is the conclusion. When not played on Turn 3, the impact of this card is too low on paper. Combined with the randomness of what cards are impacted, I think it just might not do enough in most decks consistently.
However, at some levels of play the randomness may be a strength because it can throw off what can be done with the final turns of the game. Players who can adjust to the variance of what the card provides may find that he over-performs for them.
Phastos has a really high chance of being a staple Silver Surfer card, but outside of this application other decks may not find enough consistent value to play him in place of a card that synergizes with the rest of their game plan. Thanos is the other style of deck that may make Phastos a core piece, but it is unlikely that Phastos is going to bring about some new archetypes due to the randomness.
**Arishem is on its way though…. which could be another potential home for the card in the very near future. **
Pre-Release Score:
Silver Surfer
SafetyBlade
Silver Surfer almost builds itself at the moment, with the only real question being what cards you own. Brood, Absorbing Man, Hope Summers, and Sebastian Shaw are the core, and all of these cards are better with -1 cost or +2 power. If you own Mockingbird, building with her in the deck is currently the stronger direction on average. If you don’t own her, going with a deck that is slanted towards Sera and using Phastos for extra ramp instead may be the way to consider.
SafetyBlade
Thanos
For Thanos, I’m opting to start with a full stats build and then adjust from here. As mentioned above, the Stones have a chance of being free after Phastos and then you can cycle with them. This may bring Mockingbird and Sasquatch down considerably, which would then allow for more stats to be dropped with ease. There’s likely some balance of tech cards that is required to be inserted, but starting here and adjusting should be a strong direction when the card comes out. 0-Cost Infinity Stones could also be very good with Blink.
Beast
Phastos in Bounce is once again an exercise of trying him with an all-out build and seeing what tech cards you need to slot in. Here, most the cards benefit from both the extra power and the cost reduction, either by helping your
Sera
SafetyBlade
This is an actual Sera Tech deck! Here you have Invisible Woman to hide some of the key tech cards, and you can use Ms. Marvel for power. Then you simply counter your opponents with the classic Sera Control style that many still pine over. Phastos helps make this all cheaper to play or pack more of a punch so you don’t need to combine the deck with other shells like Ronan the Accuser.
Bonus: Hit Monkey
SafetyBlade
Working through the decks, I found one combo that may be able to return: Invisible Woman into
Variants
Closing Thoughts
Phastos is an interesting card that may become some players’ favorite card, and I think it is likely “playable” in a lot of places. However, the decks that can make the most consistent use of the effects are limited, and he may end up not meeting the expectations of the community.
Good Luck, Have Fun, and Stay Safe!
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