Summary
Marvel Snaphas its fair share of unique deck archetypes to keep each game fresh. However, there’s a card that redefines what it means to play the game by changing the rules that the game is based on. Despite Arishem initially being thought to be a meme card, Arishem decks are dominating players at the highest rank in the game, Infinite.
Arishem’s ability makes you start each game with one additional energy. This extremely strong ability is balanced around the fact that Arishem also adds 16 extra randomized cards into your deck, reducing deck consistency. In a meta so defined by a single card, knowing how to counter it is a must, and these cards help you do just that.
10Echo
No Ongoing Abilities On My Watch
Echo is a one-cost cardthat disables the card text of the next Ongoing card played in front of it. This directly counters a lot of the staples in Arishem decks, such as Quinjet’s and Sera’s cost reduction, Darkhawk’s absurd power, or even a Rogue stealing your own Darkhawk.
While Darkhawk has no synergy with Arishem, he’s so strong that most Arishem decks run him in case they face a mirror match.
Unfortunately, this card no longer counters Blob, since the Ongoing text on Blob has been removed. Furthermore, Arishem decks love getting priority, which is something that can hinder Echo. Even with all that in mind, a well-placed Echo can help you win games by locking the opponent out from playing their Darkhawk or similar cards in the lane they would otherwise play them in.
9Shadow King
Return To Base Power
One of the winning conditions in many Arishem decks is Blob, since the extra cards added from Arishem completely negate his downside. This makes him at worst a 15-power card you may drop on turn five without any downsides. At best, this means multiple 30-power cards when synergized with Wong or Arnim Zola.
Shadow King’s ability does not work against cards with Ongoing abilities such as Darkhawk or Knull.
Shadow King’s ability reverts all cards in a lane back to their base power. This works extremely well on Blob, whose power is gained through an On Reveal effect, and, as such, can be changed back. This also works on Taskmaster, another card often paired with Blob.
8Mobius M. Mobius
No Mana Cheating Allowed
Playing Arishem means giving away the consistency required for game-winning combos. Instead, you aim to win by sheer power and energy efficiency, playing cards such as Sera, Quinjet, and Loki, among others, to discard your hand and cheat out extremely strong hitters. Mockingbird is also a perfect fit for Arishem decks, since just playing the randomly generated cards discounts her.
Mobius M. Mobius’s ability to stop your opponent from reducing the energy cost of their cards completely shuts this line down, leaving them with a board that does nothing and a hand that can’t compete with more consistent combo decks.
7Cosmo
Stops On Reveal Abilities
On Reveal cards are some of the strongest in the game. One reason for this is that, unlike Ongoing abilities, countering On Reveal ones takes a good amount of prediction and managing priority to stop them before they trigger. Once the card has triggered, there’s no real way to reverse the effect.
That’s where Cosmo comes in. Managing priority against an Arishem can be tough, but having control over what lanes your enemy can throw their Blob at can force them to put their power where they won’t want to. Cosmo’s also extremely effective against Arishem decks that run Sersi because of how telegraphed a Sersi lane can be.
6Enchantress
Disables All Ongoing Abilities
Enchantress is one of the most versatile counters to Arishem decks due to her ability to remove Ongoing abilities from all cards in a lane.
She can do what Mobius does by disabling the enemy’s Sera, but she can also counter some of the tech cards commonly used with Arishem. One of her strongest uses is disabling an enemy’s Rogue that has stolen your Darkhawk.
5Leech
Making Six-Cost Cards Useless
A large benefit of having extra energy is the ability to play multiple large cards and play them early. An Arishem deck can play a Blob on turn five followed up by an Arnim Zola on turn six, winning the game quite comfortably with two giant 30-power Blobs.
Leech has always been good against decks like this, and his now being four-cost shuts down any early turn five plays. As a bonus, Leech can also save you from any unpredictability caused by the randomly generated Arishem cards, since his ability applies to all six-cost cards in hand, not just one.
4Rogue
Stealing Enemy Abilities
We’ve already talked about how strong Enchantress can be against Arishem, but Rogue takes it one step further. Instead of disabling abilities, she can steal them. If you’ve played a Darkhawk that was stolen by an enemy’s Rogue, you can put down your own copy of her to steal it back.
Rogue does have the downside of only targeting one specific ability in her lane, making her worse than Enchantress when dealing with cards like Sera. As such, even if both cards do similar things, it’s best to put both of them into your deck for consistency.
3Shang-Chi
Punishing Large Powers
In a game dominated by power, a card that destroys all cards with more than ten-power is game changing, and that’s exactly what Shang-Chi does. Despite having such a strong ability, players can save themselves from such a fate by playing cards just below the ten-power threshold.
Shang-Chi loves losing priority, so he doesn’t face the same issues as cards like Echo or Cosmo.
Unfortunately, Arishem decks aren’t that good at keeping the power in check. Both Darkhawk and Blob can be destroyed by a well-timed Shang Chi. Since Arishem decks are also cluttered with randomized cards, the chance of your opponent having a way to disrupt Shang Chi is lower than when facing other decks as well.
2Darkhawk
24 Extra Power, For Free
Arishem’s restriction of having 12 randomized cards in your deck can be annoying, but it’s rarely something that can cost you a game. Of course, unless your opponent is running a Darkhawk.
Darkhawk’s ability gives him +2 power for each card in your opponent’s deck. Traditionally, Darkhawk decks use cards like Korg and Rock Slid to fill the opponent’s deck to buff him. However, just by your opponent having an Arishem in their deck, a stray Darkhawk can surpass the power he shows in decks that are made to buff him.
1Cassandra Nova
Steal Power From The Enemy Deck
Cassandra Nova is a card that could be claimed for free by participating in the Deadpool’s Diner event. This three-cost card steals a single power from every card in the enemy’s deck. The card, if played on turn three, usually ends up having seven power.
With Arishem adding 12 extra cards to your deck, that’s a direct 12-power increase to Cassandra Nova, making her 19+ power on average, as well as debuffing all the cards you’ve yet to draw. In comparison, a six-cost Blob in an Arishem deck is usually 15-power, and that’s enough to be one of the winning conditions.
