First Marvel Snap Patch for 2023 Slightly Nerfs Leader, Aero, and Galactus
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The folks at Second Dinner Studios revealed the game’s first patch of 2023 for their online card game Marvel Snap, which slightly nerfs cards like Leader Aero, Galactus, and Nova. Cards such as Drax, Groot, Hazmat, Black Cat, and Nakia where buffed in this patch to hopefully make them more viable.
Here’s the breakdown of the balance changes.
CARD UPDATES
Aero 5/8 -> 5/7
Developer Comment: Aero’s effect can be a very powerful disruption and control tool. While previously, we buffed Aero up to her current statline, players have since learned to utilize her to great effect, so we think it’s appropriate to reduce her Power a bit.
Galactus 6/3 -> 6/2
Developer Comment: Even at the highest ranks of play, Galactus and decks using him are demonstrating concerningly high cube-gain and win rates. Not all of these decks overtly herald his approach, and the range of cards that can complement him has proven wide and difficult for some decks to counter. We're taking one Power away from Galactus now and evaluating whether or not we should make more meaningful changes to his design in the future.
Leader 6/4 -> 6/3
Developer Comment: Leader’s effect is proving to be very frustrating to many players and polarizing in its ability to lock down games and discourage playing some other 6-Cost cards. We are taking a bit of power away from him for now and exploring further changes to the card in the future.
Nova 1/2 -> 1/1
Developer Comment: Nova’s effect makes him much stronger than an average 1-Cost card, so we don’t think it’s appropriate that he has the stats of an average 1-Cost card.
Drax 4/4 On Reveal: If your opponent played a card here this turn, +4 Power. -> 4/5 On Reveal: If your opponent played a card here this turn, +3 Power.
Groot 3/3 On Reveal: If your opponent played a card here this turn, +3 Power. -> 3/4 On Reveal: If your opponent played a card here this turn, +2 Power.
Developer Comment: We believe the Guardians’ effects create fun moments, but they can feel too sink or swim. We’re giving Drax and Groot a small buff to their baselines to make them less risky to play and hopefully open them up as more viable contenders in the 3 and 4-Cost slots.
Hazmat 2/1 -> 2/2
Developer Comment: While we are aware of the Hazmat combo decks that may feel strong, Hazmat is actually doing fairly poorly overall. We’re giving the decks she enables a small buff with this update.
Black Cat 3/6 -> 3/7
Developer Comment: Black Cat sees virtually no play, so we’re giving her an extra Power to make running her more worthwhile.
Nakia 3/1 -> 3/2
Developer Comment: We think Nakia’s effect is a fun mechanic to play with, but she’s currently seeing very little success. We’re hoping a small buff will make her a more appealing option.
LOCATION UPDATES
Oscorp Tower will no longer swap card sides if Professor X is there
Raft and Vibranium Mines text-only updates
Warrior Falls will appear less often
The balance changes are all power adjustments, no real change to how a card works. We’ll see if this will lessen Leader being a strong 6-card drop or if we see the buffed cards have more play time.
For bug fixes and other changes made in the patch, you can check out the full patch notes here.
Another great feature added in this patch is the addition of improved artist credits. Each card now properly credits the artists that worked on the card art by pressing its card type found at the top.
Marvel Snap’s latest season is Savage Land, which features a new card called Nabu. Through the rest of January,a new Series 5 card will be added to the pool each week.
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