The Phoenix Force Decks to Try on Day 1 and Strategy Guide: Time for Destroy to Rise From the Ashes?

The Phoenix Force is Marvel Snap’s Season Pass card for July 2023: Rise of the Phoenix. It is a 5-Cost, 6-Power card that reads On Reveal: Revive one of your destroyed cards and merge with it. That card can move each turn. Today, we will take a deeper look at the new Season Pass card and, of course, decks.

Strengths and Weaknesses

This month’s Season Pass card is an interesting one. The Phoenix Force is five energy for six power that merges with a previously destroyed card and gives it the ability to move every turn. Six power is below the average rate for its energy cost, but making the revived card a roaming threat is potentially powerful. The Phoenix Force only requires one space on the board since it merges in a similar fashion to Hulkbuster. The merged cards keeps all their abilities and power at the time they were destroyed.

This card does a lot of things, but it appears to be narrow in application. If you’re not destroying cards before you play this card, it’s just a mediocre five energy for six power, given the wording. So your deck must have destroy effects to make this card worthwhile. It also must be built in such a way that playing this on Turn 5 is worthwhile.

While it does add six power to the card it revives, as well as flexibility on where the power can end up on later turns (usually one additional turn, but maybe two?), it could potentially revive a card with only one or two power, making it five energy for seven or eight power that can move. Vision has seen play previously, and it could allow you to get power into locations that Destroy decks are typically locked out of. The floor, then, in decks that can support the Destroy effect, is creating a Vision on the same turn you would normally play Vision.

There is the potential it revives a bigger card, so the ceiling is much higher than this. Venom could destroy something big, and then the destroyed target is revived. With the way cards maintain their power, it would be safe to assume that playing Venom on a Carnage and Winter Soldier lane adds the chance to revive six to eight power with the card. That makes 12 to 14 power on Turn 5 that can move on the following turn.

Still, the problem remains: the floor is seven power in most generic Destroy decks. But the movement effect may be enough alone.

Then there is potential to revive something bigger. Venom and Arnim Zola could, in theory, destroy bigger targets and guarantee what will be revived. These would be very different decks than the Destroy package we know now, and they might not even aim to rely on the Move effect as opposed to just having a way to revive the power you destroyed to another lane.

Also, the On Reveal from the revived card triggers, so if we do revive a card like Black Panther, it should start at eight power, then add six to get 14 power, and finally double to 28 power. Black Panther into Arnim Zola into The Phoenix Force is potentially 16 + 16 + 28 power over all three lanes.

Movement cards often have effects that grant a buff when they move, so if we can destroy one of these cards consistently and revive it, we can keep the power gained from previous activations and activate the effect again on the final turn. If we can build a deck with destroy and movement synergies, then we might be able to take full advantage of all the card’s abilities.

The Verdict

This card has some interesting applications, and it does a lot of things. It seems very plausible that Destroy decks will benefit from adding this card, even if for the flexibility alone to have extra power they can go wide with. This is often a weakness of these decks, and we may find this alone is enough for the card.

There are more complicated directions to go, but these seem on the surface to be simply more complicated than the versions of these decks that exist now. Movement and Destroy coming together looks promising, but it may have too many moving pieces to be a top contender.

On the surface, this indicates a card that may have a big impact on one or two decks, and there are some exciting things to try for this one.

Potential Score:

Starter Decks (Theorycraft)

Destroy

The simplest direction may just be the best direction for this card. Here we have strong destroy targets throughout the curve. We can revive one of them on Turn 5 and play Death and/or Knull on Turn 6, moving The Phoenix Force as necessary. It’s not the most inventive deck, but it has simplest application of the card and potentially adds an ability to the deck that can be made effective. This is a top recommendation to try early on as it’s a known deck with strong synergy.

This version looks to include Nimrod and The Phoenix Force for two potential plays on Turn 5. The concern with this approach is having to choose between them, and this might become a better direction in the future when more cards come out with the Destroy effect.

Ramp

This deck looks to destroy Black Panther with Venom or Arnim Zola by playing it early via Electro. We then get to revive the big card we destroyed on the final turn to add extra power wherever we need it.

Although not the most flexible use of the card, it may find its way into some lists like this as a way to more consistently compete for all three lanes. If we can find a build that balances with the other Ramp packages, this potential line may have a way to take advantage of the revive effect alone.

Movement Destroy

This deck has only one activator for The Phoenix Force. Our goal is to land Venom on one of our movement cards like Dagger or Vulture. Then we revive it on Turn 5 with The Phoenix Force, and it can move once more on the final turn.

Venom isn’t useless outside of that scenario as it maintains the power on the board, allowing you to play freely and play him on curve. The rest of the deck is an average Movement deck with some of the usual suspects.

This is the more extreme direction. Leaning all the way into the Venom-Verse with Knull as our 6-drop, this is all in on self sacrificing your cards, regardless of their size. We rely on using The Phoenix Force on Turn 5 to bring back one of our destroyed cards and Knull on Turn 6 to bring the power of all these cards to another lane.

Carnage joins as an additional activator. If you have The Phoenix Force in hand, we can use Carnage to destroy the card we want back on Turn 5 regardless of its power, but it’s a riskier play without the card in hand.

Closing Thoughts

The Phoenix Force does a lot of things, and this is usually a recipe for a card that is exciting to experiment with and could find use in some surprising places. The reality, though, is that it is a multi-gadget tool for decks that can destroy consistently, and it allows them to be less linear with their game play. It’s definitely a worthwhile card, but it’s not about to be a staple in every deck you build from this point forward.

Who is The Phoenix Force?

The Phoenix Force is a cosmic entity that is one of the most powerful beings in the Marvel Universe. It is a manifestation of the primal force of life, and it has been known to destroy entire planets and reshape galaxies. The Phoenix Force has been bonded to several different hosts over the years, but its most famous avatar is Jean Grey.

When Jean Grey was bonded to the Phoenix Force, she became the Dark Phoenix. The Dark Phoenix was a being of pure destruction, and she was responsible for the deaths of millions of people. However, Jean eventually managed to control the Phoenix Force, and she used its power to help the X-Men save the world on several occasions.

The Phoenix Force is a complex and fascinating entity, and it has been a major player in many of the most important story lines in Marvel Comics. It is a force of nature that is both destructive and creative, and it is always a threat to both the universe and its inhabitants.

Good Luck, Have Fun, and Stay Safe!