Okay, let me try to make sense of this masked enigma of a man. Fantomex can be considered an artificial mutant; he was created as part of a Weapon Plus Program, not unlike Weapon X's. Fortunately, he escaped and managed not be a weapon for the shady government. The part that gets tricky is how absurdly confusing his identity and his powers truly are—half machine, half mutant, and all weird. Don't believe me? He has a detachable nervous system named E.V.A. that can turn into a flying saucer.
That is only the beginning of the strangeness that is Fantomex. Inside his body are three different brains, each with its own personality and skills. His brain structure is so weird that not even telepaths can tell what's going on with him. Also, if one of them is damaged, he could switch to another and keep fighting. He probably is exceptionally good at multitasking as well, but I don't know if that is part of his powerset.
As tradition dictates for comic book characters, Fantomex eventually died and was brought back to life through an elaborate scheme. The twist is that the machine responsible made a mistake and gave each of his brains a new body. Even funnier, they emerged wearing brand new uniforms. This is how Charlie Cluster (the charming one) and Weapon XIII (the violent one) came to be.
Maybe one day they will make their way into Marvel Snap. A man can dream.
Fantomex's arrival reinforces a possible new archetype in Marvel Snap that blends destruction and discard into a single, destructive game plan. The tricky part is that instead of getting rid of your cards with one axis of disruption, Fantomex rewards you for embracing both. Destroy one of your cards, discard another, and only then can he activate the trigger and weaken everything in your opponent's front row for a devastating -12 points of Power.
The key aspect of Fantomex is that he is all or nothing. Fantomex does nothing unless you meet his condition, but once you do, he turns every lane into a pressure point. This aspect makes him especially limited in what type of decks he can be in. His decks require cards that discard, cards that destroy, and cards that want to be destroyed or discarded. Let's see if we can find some–
Weapon Plus Synergy
Two brand new cards slot perfectly into Fantomex's gameplan and elevate his ceiling considerably.
Wild Child is the most straightforward partner. With an Ongoing effect that grants +4 Power if you have discarded a card and another +4 Power if one of your cards has been destroyed, Wild Child becomes a stat monster in Fantomex decks. You are already doing the work, and Wild Child cashes in.
Marrow is where things get truly nasty. When Discarded or Destroyed, she randomly splits -6 Power among enemy cards. That means Marrow not only helps satisfy Fantomex's activation requirement in either fashion, but also actively weakens the opponent before Fantomex even fires. By the time you Activate Fantomex, the enemy board may already be crumbling into the negatives.
Together, these three cards form a tight core of what a Fantomex archetype might look like. But don't forget that we also require some–
Noble Sacrifices
Playing Fantomex makes any deck all about himself, and he requires some real dedication. You must select some portion of your deck to be decimated by destruction or discarding.
With that gameplan in mind, two key cards come to mind that might be an auto-include when playing Fantomex. Wolverine and X-23. They both thrive on having the worst possible treatment ever. Discard, or even destroy them, and they'll reward you for it.
Since we are talking about these two, there is a third family member who likes some amount of discard and destruction. Daken always gives you his Muramasa Shard, and it's your job to get rid of it by any means necessary. Anyway, you'll fix your Muramasa Shard issue with Fantomex.
Black Cat is such a neat card, and I believe you'll love her on your Fantomex list as she does half the work for you. Just be careful not to play her; she is here to say her catchphrase of "Gotta go, hun!" never to be seen again until the next match.
If you're still feeling the heat, Luna Snow can set you up with a nice Ice Cube to alleviate any possible energy concerns. And the best part? The Ice Cube is so fragile that it destroys itself without you having any effort whatsoever.
No matter which direction you take your fantomex, don't forget to include cards that do the dirty work for you, either by discarding or destroying your cards. There are so many that I won't list every single one of them, but I'll share the favorites that I believe will work nicely with Fantomex.
Variants
We have three different renditions of Fantomex with distinct ways of acquiring them, so pick your poison. My choice would be Supja's intense rendition staring at the camera with death in his eyes. Interestingly enough, there is no Dark Fantomex nor Charlie Cluster, so they may be saving those for a future season.
Dualgloves' Day One Fantomex Decks
Boy, is it fun to come up with lists for this guy. Though it's all theoretical, it might be tricky to find the sweet spot between destruction and discarding. So every single one of these lists might need some refining in the future, I suggest trying it out and making adjustments to make it just right.
Fantom Pain
By having both Marrow and Fantomex himself targeting your opponent's power level, it's a no-brainer to try to come up with a list featuring our nasty man, Ajax. The only issue we could have with such a list is that we only have two cards to destroy our stuff. Bullseye and Ajax are a duo that I've been wanting to see together for a while now. Just make sure to order your Activate cards appropriately at the end of the game.
One, Two Weapons Kneel Before You
We have one last set of weekly missions on the horizon, and this is what I'll be trying to complete them with. Weapon X, Weapon XIII, and a whole bunch of destruction. With this list, we can go full killing intent to get Weapon X big, Death cheap, and possibly a redeeming arc for Morgan Le Fay.
Dormammex
Yeah, yeah, we came to bargain. Destroy stuff, discard stuff. We have Death and Dormammu as our big payoffs here. I feel like this is the most reliable list for Fantomex and his gang, as we have easy ways to destroy and even a self-discarding card in Black Cat. Remember to set up a location with two cards you want destroyed to use your third Summoning Ritual.
Final Thoughts
I'm torn on Fantomex. He is simply an awesome card. Winning a game with a last turn Activate from him is a fantastic time. However, I don't know if all the hoops you have to jump through make him worth it. After taking a good look at the card and the potential of it, we need a couple more payoff cards for this hybrid archetype to take off truly. Remember when they wanted to make End of Turn a real deck and released card after card with powerful End of Turn effects? We need something like that for Fantomex. So, he is a possible skip if you don't find the idea particularly fun.
Giveaway!
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