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Even with all that power, Carol Danvers couldn’t escape the Hunger Virus. Everything seems the same, except she’s a zombie now, doesn’t save people anymore, and… you know what, everything’s different now. At least one thing remains consistent: she’s still a major threat, even if she’s a little less marvelous.
“Hungrier, freakier, fouler!”
“Activate: Destroy” has proven to be quite a powerful combination ever since the controversial arrival of Kid Omega. Now, with Zombie Captain Marvel, or ZCM for short, we have a strong delayed destruction effect built right into her Activate. She’s quite hungry indeed, gaining +3 Power for each card she destroys, turning her into a potential 4/13 card.
Not only that, after doing her thing, she moves to a location you’re losing, possibly tipping the scales in your favor. The only issue with her is the delayed payoff typical of Activate cards, meaning she must be played one turn before the end of the game, or she’s more useless than The Thing.
Regenerators
Nothing but the best for our hungry zombie gal. There’s something truly diabolical about feeding basically immortal people to a zombie, but we might do it anyway. These guys can be destroyed over and over again with no lasting harm, so don’t worry about the moral implications here. All of these cards except Nimrod can easily fit together with ZCM to make a deadly deck. Nimrod requires a bit more strategy, but we’ll cover that in the deck section.
Morgan & Friends
Did you know that Morgan Le Fay is one of my favorite cards? She works best with 1-Cost cards to make the most of her powerful effect, so grab your favorites, my picks would be Nico Minoru and Uncle Ben. This seems great, but the issue with Morgan decks is that they don’t really have an alternative playline for when she doesn’t show up. That’s such a problem that some players use Air Walker to forcibly get her into the field. However, since both Morgan and ZCM cost 4, that playline becomes less reliable. We’ll need to test things out here.
Further Synergies
Since destruction is her main shtick, we should revisit the classics of the archetype to get the most out of it. As mentioned before, Kid Omega is the original Activate Destroy card, so it’s a good idea to run both for consistency. Death is a must-have in any deck featuring heavy destruction, and Knull is the second major payoff, growing huge enough to win locations easily. With ZCM moving to another losing location, you might just seal the win. Last but not least, Firehair can retrigger any On Reveals devoured by our rotten, yet kinda cute, powerhouse.
Weapon X
Thanks to the latest leaks from my good friend sanktaglia, we got a sneak peek at the potential future of the Destroy archetype. If you’re curious, click here to check it out yourself. I’ll restrain myself to just listing the upcoming Destroy cards. With these new toys, the archetype might become stronger than ever, and if Destroy gets better, it’s safe to assume that Zombie Captain Marvel will too. Keep in mind that everything from datamines is subject to change or may never release at all.
Destroy Weakness
Every time Destroy gets a little out of hand, this trio shows up to put things back in place. I don’t believe they’ll come in full throttle when ZCM releases, but once Weapon X arrives, we’re in for a season full of these party poopers.
Dualgloves's Day One Zombie Captain Marvel Decks
ZombieRod
Nimrod is all I want for Halloween. Use Surge and Pedro Fantastic to get discounts going, and go for the throat with a powerful combination of Nimrods, Panthers, and Phoenixes supported by your destruction cards. ZCM will be incredibly powerful in this list as a core Destroy piece.
Either 4 is fine
Morgan, my beloved, paired with our rotting powerhouse. This is mostly an experiment to see if Air Walker is enough to make the deck a consistent threat. Destroy as many cards as possible to maximize Morgan’s effect and fuel Death’s discounts.
Death, Death, Evil, Evil Deck
Classic Destroy, Halloween flavored. Headpool was a pleasant surprise this season, and I believe ZCM will be another great addition to the archetype of old.
Dead Weight
With our Hammer Bro’s help, we have no shortage of things to feed ZCM. With Firehair on the field, you get one more proc of those sweet hammers. Use ZCM to get even more value. If she doesn’t show up, you can still rely on Carnage and Misery to finish the job, though they won’t match her sheer impact.
Variants
Now this is a hard choice. Which variant would you consider to die for? I love cute stuff so my choice is obvious as Rian Gonzales always has my back with her chibi renditions.
Final Thoughts
I’ll definitely be grabbing this card. It’s unique, it’s weird, and it gives me new ways to experiment. I don’t think she’ll be a triple-SSS card, since high-cost Activate cards haven’t historically performed that well, but she could still find a niche in specific decks. I suggest waiting a bit to see if she fits your expectations. As the Destroy archetype grows, she might become a crucial inclusion or just another card sent to the shadow realm. That’s my take on her. Let me know what you think!