Nova - Marvelous Phoenix Loop

Card draw simulator

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D.M.Tip · 981

The universe has a sense of humor and I don't get the joke...

Hello again! Here is a lovely little loop you can try in multiplayer (or 2-handed) to put some serious hurt on the villain. So grab an X-Men buddy that is packing no less than 3x Honorary X-Men, and let's get to work!

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After setting this up, you essentially weaponize nearly every single resource generator and card in any player's hand into 3 damage or 4 thwart or 2 thwart + 2 damage. So buckle up buttercup, because this ride could get a little dizzy.

Loop requirements:

Ahh, you see it, already, don't you?

Assuming you have 5 cards in hand, one of which is MM, here are the steps: Before the loop begins, Ms. Marvel gets one free activation or can start exhausted.

  1. Start by Activating both Beast and Phoenix allies, unless they are already down to their last HP from a previous turn. Otherwise, proceed to step 2.
  2. Play Mutant Mayhem, choosing to return & play both Phoenix and Beast. Thanks to Children of the Atom, they are both valid targets.
  3. Phoenix readies and heals Ms. Marvel, who is a valid target thanks to your friend's Honorary X-Men.
  4. Beast puts a double resource in hand.
  5. Mutant Mayhem fully resolves and now you activate Ms. Marvel to return it to your hand.
  6. If you have 1 collective resource available, plus the double you grabbed with beast, you can start the loop again with step 1.

The really cool thing about this cycle is the Alliance keyword on Mutant Mayhem. This means that it's not limited to only your own resources, but all of your friends can get in on the action and keep the loop going. Even if you aren't the first player in the game, the other players can hold onto their cards and pass their turn over to you once you are ready to start the loop.

For example, in a 3-player game, you could easily have a collective 15 cards between all the players. You use 4 of those cards in your hand to get the loop started, but that leaves 11 collective cards left to keep the loop going. If you are dealing damage with no modifications (like Boot Camp or Cyclops), that's an easy 33 damage. But for every single Helicarrier, X-Jet, Clarity of Purpose, or whatever resources that are valid targets to help pay for an Alliance card, it increases. For example, if each player has 2 resource generators, that's another 18 damage, for an easy 51 damage.

When it's all said and done, the loop even ends with Mutant Mayhem back in hand and a double resource, ready to go ahead in the following turn.

Can we make this better? Sure thing, but we're going to need some teammate support! Here is one example of a support deck featuring Magik that could help out: https://marvelcdb.com/deck/view/882951. Boot Camp is a really cool highlight that takes the loop from 3x damage per loop, to 5, squeezing even more value out of everyone's collective resources.

Other highlights to help us get more cards in hand are 3x Assess the Situation combined with Connection to the Worldmind, each giving you a jump start on your loop.

Oh, and lest we forget we are piloting Nova who can Unleash Nova Force to keep readying his helmet over and over AND get more cards!

This brings an insane aspect to the loop to where you can get those side schemes and minions down to their last threat or hp with Beast and Phoenix and then Nova comes in between the loop to finish them off, readying his helmet so you can use it to power the loop further! So, in essence, the loop gets STRONGER the more minions and side schemes are on the board. So yeah, if you want to go for this ultimate loop and TRULY unleash the Nova Force, have at it!

17 comments

Feb 14, 2025 andyr · 10422

Man! Nova needs to get out of the box again. This looks like a great deck. I wish Ms Marvel was double traited for this, but on its own is great!!

Feb 14, 2025 D.M.Tip · 981

@andyr Thank you! Yeah, once you get that Honorary, it really takes off. If you happen to grab Shawarma during a campaign, you've got an infinite loop too!

Now that I think about it, if you paired with aDomino Leadership teammate (bringing Beast along and X-Force Recruit), because of the Alliance keyword you could easily make it infinite outside of a campaign.

Feb 14, 2025 Castlefrank47 · 1939

@D.M.Tip really cool looking deck, I'm a mutant mayhem lover!

Feb 14, 2025 D.M.Tip · 981

@Castlefrank47 Mutant Mayhem is just awesome! Thank you!

Feb 14, 2025 teamcanadahockey2002 · 9852

Doesn't Band Together solve this problem of paying for MM entirely on its own? Or is there a timing issue I'm missing?

Feb 14, 2025 Delewobmesid · 25

Is there a reason Call for Backup didn't make the cut for this one? Or Build Support? Suit up can get a part you are missing. Maybe cut a Clarity of Purpose or two as you are using them as something to fetch with Suit Up?

Feb 14, 2025 D.M.Tip · 981

@teamcanadahockey2002 You know what, you're right! I knew this could be improved further, even without Domino's Jackpot. When you go to play MM, you'll have your 3 allies minimum in play, so that works. As long as you have that Honorary X-Men or X-Force Recruit on Ms Marvel, we've got Infinite loop unlocked!

-1 Clarity of Purpose +1 Band Together.

@Delewobmesid With the context of @teamcanadahockey2002's Band Together addition, you don't need a giant hand anymore, so you can go -3 Assess the situation and +1 Build Support +1 Call for backup.

I originally left these out because there are so many pieces to get together, you're going to draw into what you need typically, but you make a good point that in multiplayer, you can have help thwarting these side schemes in case you have to use one of your key pieces as a resource early on, or face villain discard. Hedge your bets!

Clarity of Purpose + Deadlock is another Mayhem interaction if you aren't quite set up, but want to get some initial value. I didn't want to build this in a vacuum where you aren't facing down threats to deal with each turn, so before all of your pieces are out, Deadlock helps to be that X-Force target for Mayhem and can start generating some early resources.

Feb 14, 2025 D.M.Tip · 981

@Delewobmesid The initial reason for Clarity was also to equip teammates with resource generators to help get more loops in, but Band Together solves the problem and wouldn't need anyone else's resources, just that X-trait upgrade put on Ms. Marvel.

Feb 14, 2025 teamcanadahockey2002 · 9852

You can also do this with an X-Force teammate packing Recruit, seeing as you're already using COtA

Feb 14, 2025 teamcanadahockey2002 · 9852

Wish there was an edit button... I just saw you put that idea further into the writeup. My bad.

Feb 14, 2025 D.M.Tip · 981

@teamcanadahockey2002 No worries! Yeah, I focused on X-Men early on because I thought Magik was a great partner with the Mystic Trait to really dig through their deck and guarantee that Honorary on demand, but yeah, X-Force recruit works just as well since you need CotA.

Also, if you have a little extra HP wiggle room on Ms. Marvel and another way to ready (such as command team, or a teammate's Game Time), you can recur beast and a 4th ally, like Cyclops a few times to pump up the damage, but now with Band Together, it doesn't matter. You just need your set pieces and you are good to go. I also didn't explicitly state it, but your teammate could also play CotA under your control, which is nice if you really want to lean into this.

Feb 14, 2025 D.M.Tip · 981

@teamcanadahockey2002 Also, I really appreciate your feedback here! I cannot express my thanks enough. Band Together changes the entire strategy because Beast can find it anywhere. It makes focusing less on total available resources and cards less important, and now we can focus on ramping up quickly and efficiently. I may have to do an entire new deck at this point because I would change a lot of cards.

You don't need Cyclops, or M either. Deathlok + Clarity of Purpose even loses it's situational usefulness. We can focus on getting the exact set pieces you need to trigger it as soon as possible.

Feb 15, 2025 HeroicSkeleton · 1186

Neat. Theoretically, you could probably get this super consistent by having 3 leadership players split things up. I'm thinking Nova brings Ms Marvel, Psylocke brings Phoenix, Cable brings Beast. Cable plays Call for Backup turn 1, all 3 allies are now in play from the start. Everyone brings Mutant Mayhem, Honorary and CotA. Psylocke can bring Psychic Kicker for extra activations.

Feb 15, 2025 D.M.Tip · 981

@HeroicSkeleton Yeah, if you increase the player count and all work towards the goal, it can fall into place a lot faster. The reason I went with Beast and Phoenix on the same character is so the allies could activate, where if they were split up, they couldn't keep activating outside of Cell Phone. I'm definitely updating this with Band Together and tweaking it to build quicker and survive early threats instead of going for maximum resources to get really big Mayhem Turns. The comments/feedback here are invaluable!

Feb 16, 2025 HeroicSkeleton · 1186

@D.M.Tip Ah yeah, I see what you mean. It could work with the cell phones. But you're right that its easier if Nova controls all of the events. Also, Ms Marvel only triggers off of Nova's Mutant Mayhem, so my idea of the other players bringing it isn't as useful either.

Feb 16, 2025 Kalsa86 · 1

I Love the deck. I have already tried it out with band together, and it works perfectly. Could you include the champions mobile bunker too?

Feb 16, 2025 D.M.Tip · 981

@Kalsa86 Awesome! Yes, the mobile bunker is a great idea. I haven't reworked the whole deck just yet to base it on Band Together but being able to cycle through to get the combo pieces is really helpful. Sweet deal!