I started playing this little mobile game called Marvel Snap since March 2023 (the Days of Future Past season) and I’ve been quite hooked since! I hit Infinite Rank by my fourth season. I’ve hit Infinite rank multiple times since then, each one with a different deck. Since Marvel Snap is a live service game that is undergoing continuous development, the competition continues to evolve. New cards get introduced in the game, and existing cards can sometimes be changed for better or for worse. As time goes by, these old decks may see significant changes. I’ve decided to write about these decks since I’m a sentimental guy and I want to capture these moments. Now we’ll be taking about the DestOrka deck, but with a special ingredient splashed in!

 

Deck Details

Infinite Deck Name: DestOrka

Season Used: Rise of the Phoenix (July 2023)

 

 

Card List: Nightcrawler, Daredevil, Armor, Green Goblin, Cosmo, Crossbones, Attuma, Hobgoblin, Kang the Conqueror, Professor X, Orka, Destroyer

Win Condition: Win one lane with early drops and Professor X, then win a second lane with Orka or Destroyer.

Card Roles:

1. Nightcrawler – Power on one location for Crossbones or Professor X to play on later.
2. Daredevil – Helps you find a good location for Professor X on Turn 5.
3. Armor – Protects your cards from Destroyer, keeps Attuma alive, anti-Shang Chi and anti-Destroy tech.
4. Green Goblin – Good synergy for Crossbones.
5. Cosmo – OnReveal tech. Also keeps Destroyer from going off.
6. Crossbones – Helps secure a winning lane for Professor X to play on later.
7. Attuma – Helps secure a winning lane for Professor X to play on later.
8. Hobgoblin – Helps build a Power advantage in a location.
9. Kang the Conqueror – Helps avoid 4-cube and 8-cube losses. Great for snap bluffing.
10. Professor X – Locks down a location for you.
11. Orka – Can win a location for you on it’s own.
12. Destroyer – Alternate play, can also win a location for you on it’s own.

 

Key Card Strategies

Step # 1: This deck attempts to win one lane by locking it down with Professor X. Professor X locks down a location completely, preventing anything from getting in (or out, or even switching sides) when he is revealed. You need to make sure that you have a Power lead on the location that you want to lock down. Daredevil helps you achieve that. Crossbones and Attuma have very high Power (8 and 10 respectively) to help win that location too.

 

 

Step # 2: Once you have one location secure, you can win a second location by playing Destroyer (15 Power) or Orka (16 Power) there. The name DestOrka is actually a portmanteau of these two cards. Orka is the primary play since there are very few cards that can match his 16 Power. Destroyer has the drawback of destroying your other cards, but Professor X’s ability will keep the cards at his location safe from this.

 

 

Tech Cards: Armor and Cosmo are popular tech cards that are natural fits in the DestOrka deck. Aside from their tech purposes, Armor can protect your cards from Destroyer and keep Attuma alive. Cosmo can prevent Destroyer’s ability from triggering, so you can have both cards in one location for a total Power of 18.

 

 

Secret Splash: Kang was vital in my climb to Infinite. Once I have one location secured, I would snap and play Kang to see my opponent’s play. I earned cubes from retreats and also minimized my losses thanks to the Conqueror.

 

Deck Evolution

What’s Changed in This Deck? Professor X’s Power was reduced from 3 to 1, making it harder to guarantee a lane lockdown using this deck’s original composition.

What’s Changed in the Meta? It’s hard to get through everything that’s changed but I’ll mention the most significant ones. First, decks like InSheNaut and Shuri Sauron became more prevalent. These decks have cards that can easily beat Orka or Destroyer. Ms. Marvel was introduced to the game, which made it easier for opponents to add Power to a locked location. Blob is also a new card that can outpower Orka and Destroyer, which synergizes well with The Living Tribunal – another card that can add Power to locked locations. More often than not, my opponent’s had better Turn 6 plays than this deck could ever give me.

 

Conclusion

My climb to Infinite with the DestOrka deck was a slow grind, but I liked how it gave me cubes consistently. I also liked using under-used cards like Crossbones and Kang. But the meta simply evolved to more powerful and more consistent strategies which made it harder for me to continue using this DestOrka version. The nerf to Professor X was especially painful. I did revisit this deck and added Ms. Marvel, but even her power wasn’t enough to make this deck win against the powerhouses that dominated in the following seasons. As of this writing, I think this deck concept no longer has what it takes for a reasonable climb to Infinite. But I’m glad I took Kang the Conqueror to Infinite at least once with this deck.