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Welcome back to our new weekly series Cache-ing In! Each week, we break down what cards will be available in the new Spotlight Caches, as well as the Spotlight Variants! The goal is to help you determine if you should “Cache in” for the content, or hoard for a better week.
We also now feature the other two existing cards in more detail in a separate guide, not just the new one! The goal is to give you a tutorial on how to use the card most effectively in an everchanging meta, as well as help you decide if the card is worth the tokens or if you should pick it up during a Spotlight Cache week! Check them out below:
Spotlight Cache Week of June 25, 2024
This week, the featured cards will be the new Series 5 card Phastos, as well as the return of Series 5 card Corvus Glaive and Series 4 card Spider-Ham!
Phastos
Decks with Phastos
As the back half of the season begins, our newest card Phastos launches! He is a 3-Cost, 3-Power card with the ability “On Reveal: Give each card in your deck -1 Cost or +2 Power.” Developers have confirmed that the -1 Cost can lower a card to 0-Cost. If a card is already at zero, it still has a 50/50 chance to get the cost reduction (which will do nothing).
This card looks promising to say the least. +2 Power and -1 Cost are both very strong effects on their own. Having Phastos give every card in your deck one of those modifiers could give you a significant advantage. His only drawback is you need to have this card as early as possible to truly get his benefit. Late game, he is just a [3/3], which is a good bit under-statted.
Possible Meta Deck for Phastos
CanadianAlfredo
Wow! A meta deck prediction for a 3-Cost card that features Silver Surfer? How original! In all seriousness though, Phastos could elevate Surfer decks to another level and become a staple. -1 Cost plus Sera means you can play 3-Cost cards for 1. You can also play Sera on turn 4 with good luck. With important targets like Brood, Absorbing Man, and Sebastian Shaw, the +2 Power or -1 Cost could be equally advantageous. With Surfer decks already meta competitive, Phastos simply amplifies the deck and gives new play lines. This version also runs Mobius M. Mobius, since many of your opponents may be trying to get discounts from Phastos as well.
Low Collection Level Deck
CanadianAlfredo
Phastos doesn’t have a ton of synergy for early CL players, but he can still be useful. This On Reveal deck uses the Power buff to help out cards like Night Crawler or Mister Sinister. The Cost Reduction can help to play out both your 5-Costs so you can Odin them both, or simply have late game flexibility. As you gain more Series 3 cards, Phastos can start being more synergistic with your cards. Until then, he can simply slide into existing good decks.
Fun Phastos Deck
CanadianAlfredo
Shout out to OrdinaryHarry for this deck idea! If Phastos can reduce a card’s Cost to zero, he could work with Jane Foster! In order to make her pull more than reduced 1-Cost cards, Pixie can shuffle costs on turn 2, and Phastos can set the new 1-Cost cards down to Zero! This is clearly a combo deck that requires you draw Pixie by turn 2, Phastos by turn 3 or 4, and Jane Foster by turn 5. The deck could be wacky fun (like Pixie decks usually are), but don’t expect to climb the ranked leaderboards with this one.
Overall, Phastos looks like a fun card with a lot of meta potential. It may take some time for players to experiment with him outside of the Surfer shell, but I feel confident this card will be one most players want in their collections.
Check out our strategy guide and more decklists on this new card!
Spider-Ham
Decks with Spider-Ham
Following up the headliner for this week is the return if Spider-Ham! This little piggie slides in and out of the meta fairly often. One thing is for sure though: having your cards turned into a Pig is very annoying. Spider-Ham often appears more often in the meta when Mill decks become relevant, and occasionally some Bounce lists who favor disruption over stat bounces.
This list uses the Mill style that sees healthy usage right now with Hela toned down a bit. Spider-Ham‘s goal in this deck is simply to add another way to make your opponent’s gameplan struggle to be successful. You are not only removing their deck, you are now removing their hand too! He also synergizes well with Doctor Octopus to pull a harmless Pig from their hand, and Shadow King can reset the Pig to 0-Power.
den
Spider-Ham has seen his ups and downs in the meta across several nerfs and buffs. He has found a nice pocket where he gets some good usage and can instantly win you games with the right target hit. At the same time, he can accidentally hit cards like The Infinaut and give your opponent an advantage. In this meta, he is more often beneficial than hurtful, making this a good time to pick him up if you are missing him.
For a detailed guide on how to use Spider-Ham, his synergies, meta decks, and more, check out our new Spider-Ham guide!
Corvus Glaive
Decks with Corvus Glaive
Closing the week out is none other than Corvus Glaive! Back at his initial release in February, I recommended this card as a pass. I felt he was only useful in a ramp/discard list that didn’t really exist. Well, turns out he is pretty good in exactly a ramp/discard list! What he offers is a way for you to play a Hela deck without requiring you to draw her.
This deck showcases that idea. If you draw Hela, great! You can play her on turns 5 or 6 and get 2 card revives. If you don’t draw Hela or discard her, no problem! The extra energy you got gives you the ability to play your big cards like a classic Electro ramp deck.
PulseGlazer
While Corvus works well in this deck, Hela meta decks started to drop Corvus in favor of other discard options. With Hela‘s recent nerf, Corvus now really struggles to see meta play on a consistent basis. He does still serve a big part in the fun Hela Casino decks, but that deck is a better Conquest list than a ranked one. Will this week give Corvus another time to prove himself worthy?
For a detailed guide on how to use Corvus Glaive, her synergies, meta decks, and more, check out our new Corvus Glaive guide!
Spotlight Variants
If you already own the cards the Spotlight Cache offers, one of these variants will take its place! If you own none of the cards, the variants will appear after you open all four caches. Spotlight variants are time exclusive to their release week, and will only be available after 1 full year of time has passed.
After the year, they will be available for purchase, though no mention of cost yet. So if any of these Spotlight variants feel like a must have for you, make sure to Cache In if you have enough caches saved to guarantee the pull.
Francesco Tomaselli is our Spotlight artist of the season, and this week we get his Phastos variant!
This one-off variant by Wendell Dalit features Spider-Ham vaulting over a more traditional Spider-Man.
Seth Adams launches the first of his four Spotlight variants, all of which feature a member of the Black Order in the same style.
Should I Cache In?
This week, we get the standard value of 2 Series-5 cards and 1 Series-4. Corvus Glaive was a much stronger card a month ago, but Hela‘s nerf has lowered his play rate. Spider-Ham is a very playable disruption card, especially in the current meta. Phastos looks very promising with a likelihood to be a staple within at least Silver Surfer decks.
My recommendation this week is to Cache In! This week isn’t the highest value we’ve gotten, but it’s a solid week overall. Unless Phastos surprises us all and ends up being a bad card, I don’t think there is a bad card to pull from the cache this week. If Corvus picks up relevance again, this week becomes extra enticing. Simply put, this week looks like a good value for your keys.
Wrap Up
Do you think Phastos will be a good card? Will you be Cache-ing In this week? Let us know in the comments! For the full schedule, check out our guide below:
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