Destroy all that stands in our way!

Marvel Snap is a game all about strategy and card customization. The game gives you the ability to play however you want with hundreds of different playstyles. It’s very similar to Hearthstone in a way, with how many different archetypes and decks there are to try out. If you want to build a deck around your favorite character, like Spider-Man; then there’s a multitude of movement based decks that would love to include him.

However, what if your favorite character is Spider-Man’s black, goopy nemesis instead, Venom? Well, then the archetype you’re looking for is destroy! A playstyle based around killing and well destroying your or the opponent’s cards. Fitting that Venom would be all about consuming and destroying others, sorry Eddie. 

From decks that use the overlord Galactus to decks that use Jean Grey’s Phoenix Force, this list includes the five best destroy decks that are each unique in their own way. Additionally, these are also excellent decks you can climb to infinite with.

5. Ramp Destroy (Best for Pool 5)

There are no strings on me.

Hey! Look! Another Spider-Man villain! Electro! This version of destroy is a bit unique in a way because it’s a merge of a destroy deck and a ramp deck. Your goal is to get Electro or Wave down on turn three and ramp straight into your higher cost cards, with Ultron being the six cost you want on the board first. Then you kill all those Ultron bots with Destroyer, akin to Avengers: Age of Ultron. With all of them gone, you now have a free Death and a high power Knull.

If the plan doesn’t work out for you, then there are other ways to win. Like using Blink to turn a low cost into a high cost or playing Venom to eat cards and get your Knull larger in power. However, another huge way to win here is ramping into Galactus, who, with X-23 down, can just give you a free win with an Alioth follow up. The deck just has too many ways to win games! It’s no wonder it makes our list!

Ramp Destroy strengths:

• Ramping: X-23, Electro, Wave, and Blink are all capable of getting six cost cards onto the board faster. Making energy costs a lot less of a problem.
• Surprise Factor: This deck has so many random cards that on paper shouldn’t work together that it ends up benefiting the deck. Your opponent will have no idea that your destroy deck has Alioth or Ultron in it for some reason.
• Great location synergies: This deck works phenomenally in locations that you cannot play into, like Luke’s Bar and Altar of Death. Locations like these can guarantee you a win with Galactus as long as X-23 is down in another lane or with Ultron, who is very capable of putting power down in another lane. 

Ramp Destroy cards:

• X-23 (1 cost)
• Electro (3 cost)
• Killmonger (3 cost)
• Venom (3 cost)
• Wave (3 cost)
• Blink (5 cost) 
• Knull (6 cost)
• Galactus (6 cost)
• Ultron (6 cost)
• Alioth (6 cost)
• Destroyer (6 cost)
• Death (8 cost)

Other Great substitutes: 

• Carnage (2 cost)
• Wolverine (2 cost)
• Jubilee (4 cost)

4. Gambit Surfer (Best for Pool 3)

Tossing cards all day and night.

Moving away from destroying your own cards, let’s destroy your opponent’s cards next. Gambit is an oddball in Marvel Snap due to his ability to destroy other cards similar to Shang Chi. Gambit discards a card from your hand and then uses that card to annihilate a random enemy card. He’s got such an obsession with poker cards. However, where he differs from Shang Chi is that the only limitation to him destroying cards is discarding. Which can be played around quite easily.

Gambit Surfer is a deck that incorporates Wong, Mystique, and Onslaught, all cards that, when played together, allow your On Reveal effects to happen a ton of times. As long as you have Swarm in hand, this combo should allow you to destroy your opponent’s entire board and win the game since, well, they don’t have cards anymore. Gambit’s got a pretty strong throwing arm, don’t you think? The Silver Surfer part of the deck is more of a backup to winning than anything since he ends up giving additional power to most of your cards, including Gambit. It’s all in the cards.

Gambit Surfer strengths:

• Wiping their board: With this deck, you can pretty easily ignore most of the cards they play; for instance, if they’re a hela deck, you’re not really going to care about what they are playing. You won’t care because you’re going to destroy all their cards regardless, making for some calming games.
• Silver Surfer backup: Surfer allows your deck to have some wiggle room and be able to adapt to any situation. If some locations or cards prohibit your destruction, then just change your win condition to playing your 3 cost cards and winning with the man surfing around the world.
• Location manipulation: This deck includes Magik, which allows for a turn 7 in your games. She can be used to possibly get rid of some bad locations that could otherwise ruin the game for you.

Gambit Surfer cards:

• Swarm (2 cost)
• Mystique (3 cost)
• Brood (3 cost)
• Magik (3 cost)
• Silver Surfer (3 cost)
• Crystal (3 cost)
• Gambit (3 cost)
• Wave (3 cost)
• Wong (4 cost)
• Absorbing Man (4 cost)
• Sera (5 cost)
• Onslaught (6 cost)

Other Great substitutes:

• Ironheart (3 cost)
• Phastos (3 cost)
• Luke Cage (3 cost)
• Red Guardian (3 cost)
• Sebastian Shaw (3 cost)

3. Traditional Galactus (Best for Pool 5)

The planet diet does have it's benefits.

Now we’ve gone from decks that destroy your own cards to decks that destroy the enemy’s cards. How about a deck that destroys all cards and the other two lanes as well. Ramp Destroy might have Galactus as a backup, but this Galactus deck has him at the forefront and your main win condition. The big man plus those pesky goblins can make for a challenging combo for your opponent to deal with.

The goblins really bring this deck together since, as long as Galactus can win his lane, he can wreak havoc on the board. Green and HobGoblin both work to reduce the power of your opponent’s side so you can play Galactus. Additionally, if you have Wolverine or Nimrod down, they’ll also do a fine job of boosting your power in the Galactus lane. Speaking of Nimrod, though, this deck does have a backup plan, like all good decks do. You can use Shuri to double Nimrod’s power and then proceed to destroy Nimrod with either of the symbiotes or the Destroyer. This will spread the power of Nimrod across the board via his clones and instantly give you a huge boost in power spread. Neil!

Traditional Galactus strengths:

• Linear: This deck is very simple to pull off and play. As long as you meet the requirements to play Galactus and destroy the other lanes, then you should have that win in the bag.
• Backups: The Shuri/Nimrod combo is a mighty fine backup to win a game. Nova and Bucky Barnes are also helpful inclusions to add power without going into the Galactus playline.
• Destruction locations: Location’s like Altar of Death and Death’s Domain are instant wins. Snap that cube instantly to double your rewards. Playing Galactus in those locations with a Wolverine in another is just GG.

Traditional Galactus cards:

• Nova (1 cost)
• Bucky Barnes (2 cost)
• Carnage (2 cost)
• Wolverine (2 cost)
• Green Goblin (3 cost)
• Venom (3 cost)
• Deathlok (3 cost)
• Shuri (4 cost)
• Hobgoblin (5 cost)
• Nimrod (5 cost)
• Galactus (6 cost)
• Destroyer (6 cost)

Other Great substitutes 

• X-23 (1 cost)
• Knull (6 cost)
• Alioth (6 cost)

2. Phoenix Force (Best for Pool 4+)

You will sercum to the Phoenix Force eventually, everyone does.

We’ve gone through a whole train by this point, going from decks that destroy your cards to decks that destroy their cards to decks that destroy all cards! Now we’re at a deck that resurrects cards! The Phoenix Force is a unique card in that it’s the only card in the game to resurrect a card that was previously destroyed. Not only does it bring your card back, but it also gives them an additional 5 power and allows them to move every turn. How’s that for an excellent deal?

Multiple Man and Human Torch are going to be your targets here for destruction. Your objective is pretty much going to be to hope you draw the Phoenix Force and are able to kill Multiple Man or Human Torch before turn 4. If you are able to destroy them before that, then well, you just win. Having a Human Torch move around the board and double his power each time is devastating to your opponent; he gets into the heavy numbers quite fast. Multiple Man is better for power spread as spreading that 8 power each time he moves is another action that’s hard for your opponent to deal with. The Shuri/Nimrod line is also here as a backup if your draws aren’t treating you well. 

Phoenix Force strengths: 

• Easy to gauge when to retreat or stay: If you end up having terrible draws and don’t get either of your combos, you can consistently retreat your game now. However, if you do, 100% stay for the long game and even snap at your opponent. This deck has a very consistent win and loss ratio.
• Movement: Wait? Movement? How is a destroy deck moving so much? Well, with Phoenix Force. The ability to move each turn makes the force unpredictable for your opponent, which combined with Ghost Spider can make for some crazy mix ups and outplays.
• Nico Minoru: Nico Minoru is in this deck and she shines the best by far in this deck than any other. She can destroy a card to allow it to come back with the Phoenix Force while also giving you two draws. She can double her power and then get cloned by Arnim Zola for an easy 8 power spread. She can also move a card to the right for movement. She shines so much more here than anywhere else.

Phoenix Force cards:

• Ghost Spider (1 cost)
• Human Torch (1 cost)
• Nico Minoru (1 cost)
• Carnage (2 cost)
• Multiple Man (2 cost)
• Venom (3 cost)
• Deathlok (3 cost)
• Shuri (4 cost)
• Phoenix Force (4 cost)
• Iron Lad (4 cost)
• Nimrod (5 cost)
• Arnim Zola (6 cost)

Other Great substitutes: 

• Dagger (2 cost)
• Doctor Strange (2 cost)
• Hulkbuster (2 cost)
• The Living Tribunal (6 cost)

1. Traditional Destroy (Best for Pool 3+)

All hail the King in Black!

And here we are, the deck that the majority of players think of when they hear “destroy deck”. The deck is very simple, easy to use, and consists of Deadpool and Wolverine! It is very fitting that the best deck would use this dynamic duo. The deck plays the same every time, but wow, do you get some crazy high numbers on the board fast. Deadpool is a key component of this deck, as you want to constantly destroy him each turn to keep doubling his power. Which in turn rewards you with a high-power Knull, Venom, or makes your Death cost 0.

The deck can be played in Pool 3 and above. Even though some of the better cards in the deck are in Pools 4 and up, you don’t necessarily need them to play the deck; all it really does is give you more options. Not only do you want to destroy Deadpool, but cards like Nova, X-23, Bucky Barnes, Wolverine, and Sabertooth love getting destroyed. Destroying these cards gives you incredible benefits and allows you to easily stomp out your opponents.

Traditional Destroy strengths:

• Easy to use: The deck is very straightforward and easy to get the hang of. Anyone can pick up and play a destroy deck. It doesn’t require a lot of effort to play out your combos and know what to play in the future.
• Location advantages: This deck heavily benefits from a ton of locations. Some examples include Cloning Vats and Bar Sinister, which are easy ways to build up power and create unstoppable forces.
• Killmonger: Killmonger not only kills your one costs (which is good), but it also kills their one costs. Making it an excellent tech option to counter zoo and bounce decks.
• A lot of Wiggle room for additional cards: Cards can be swapped out for a handful of other options and substitutes, which is part of the reason this deck can be played anywhere from Pool 3 to Pool 5 and still be viable.

Traditional Destroy cards:

• Deadpool (1 cost)
• Nico Minoru (1 cost)
• X-23 (1 cost) 
• Carnage (2 cost)
• Wolverine (2 cost)
• Hulkbuster (2 cost)
• Killmonger (3 cost)
• Venom (3 cost)
• Deathlok (3 cost)
• Arnim Zola (6 cost)
• Knull (6 cost)
• Death (8 cost)

Other Great substitutes: 

• Nova (1 cost)
• Bucky Barnes (2 cost)
• Magik (3 cost)
• Sabertooth (3 cost)
• Shang-Chi (4 cost)