Alright, let’s talk about this Arishem card in Marvel Snap. Saw it pop up, big seven-cost Celestial guy, zaps the top card of your deck onto the field when you play him. Sounded kinda wild, so I figured I’d mess around with it and see what happened.
Getting Started: The Obvious Route
First thing that came to mind was ramp. You got a seven-cost card, you need extra energy, right? So I immediately grabbed the usual tools for that:
- Electro
- Wave
The plan seemed straightforward. Wave on turn three, hopefully slam Arishem down on turn four. Or maybe Electro on three, play some other stuff, then Arishem on six. Simple enough idea, get the big guy out early and see what chaos unfolds.
Early Games: A Bit Rough
Well, it wasn’t quite that smooth. Played a bunch of games, and honestly? It felt pretty awkward a lot of the time. Sometimes I’d draw my ramp cards but no Arishem. Other times I’d have Arishem stuck in my hand with no way to play him before turn six or seven, which felt too late.
And that top-deck flip… man, it’s a gamble. When it hit another big card like Doctor Doom or Magneto, it felt amazing. But when it hit my Wave or Sunspot? Felt real bad. It was super inconsistent. Relying purely on that felt like hoping for a lottery win.
Lost quite a few cubes just trying to force this initial idea. Clearly needed a rethink.
Trying Something Different: More Stability
Okay, the pure “ramp into Arishem” plan felt too fragile. I decided Arishem couldn’t be the only thing the deck was trying to do. He needed to be part of a bigger plan, maybe a surprise play rather than the main event.
So, I started shifting things around. I kept Wave because she’s just flexible for playing big cards. But I ditched Electro – that “only play one card” restriction really hurt sometimes, especially if Arishem didn’t do much.
What did I put in instead? More solid stuff:
- Doctor Doom: Good old reliable Doom-bots. Spreads power, great target for Wave on turn 5 if I don’t have Arishem.
- Odin: Can re-trigger Doctor Doom, which is a classic strong finish. And hey, if Arishem is already on the board, Odin can re-trigger his ability too! That sounded fun.
- Some early game cards: Stuff like Nebula or maybe Armor to protect my early plays or just put some power down.
- Tech cards: Shang-Chi is almost always necessary. Maybe Enchantress depending on what decks I was facing.
Finding a Groove: Making it Work
This felt much better. The deck had a solid game plan even without Arishem. I could play a standard game, maybe Wave into Doom, or just build power turn by turn.
Arishem became this cool potential turn six play, or even turn seven if I included Magik (which I tried for a bit). He could add a big chunk of stats plus whatever he pulled from the deck. He felt like a powerful bonus, not a necessary crutch.
Had a wild game where I played Wave on three, Arishem on four. He pulled Odin from my deck! Odin then re-triggered Arishem’s ability, and he pulled Doctor Doom! Complete nonsense luck, but it showed the crazy things that could happen.
Current Thoughts
So that’s where I’m at with Arishem. Started with a shaky ramp plan, learned it was too inconsistent on its own. Folded him into a more standard “big stuff” deck with reliable plays like Doom and Odin.
Now he feels like a fun, high-potential card that can swing games, but the deck doesn’t live or die by drawing him or getting a lucky flip. It’s definitely not the strongest deck I’ve ever played, but it catches people off guard and seeing that Arishem animation pop off is always satisfying. Still tweaking it here and there, but this feels like a much better way to use him than my first few failed attempts.
