April 6th – OTA Balance Update Analysis and Decks: The King Rises as the Queen Falls

The good folks at Second Dinner surprised us with the new Over The Air Balance Updates, weekly small metagame shifts. In this series, aiming to be released mere hours after the announcement, I’ll try covering those two to four buffs/nerfs and share a few decks worth considering as well.

For the first installment, the nerfs are following up what was started in the last balance patch and hitting Shuri Zero first and foremost. Once again, Red Skull had its power reduced. It seems the card is the default target in order to break the deck’s synergies, over Shuri or Taskmaster. In a more surprising turn of events, Sunspot also lost a point of power, something that was discussed ahead of the big March balance patch but a bit forgotten since. According to our tracker, Sunspot was the most used card in Marvel Snap and a top ten card when it came to win rate and cube rate (only behind Titania among 1-cost cards).

When it comes to buffs, we have two Series 4 cards being buffed: Shadow King and Sentry. Both are gathering dust in the token shop as barely anyone has managed to justify their cost so far. Sentry is now in the discussion for highest power among other 4-cost cards, only edged out by Namor when alone in a lane and Darkhawk with support. The card joins the likes of Attuma and Typhoid Mary, great cards in dedicated decks, and might entice a few players to look at how to mitigate the negative impact of the Void.

Shadow King might end up being the highlight of this first ever OTA update. The card as a 3-cost becomes much more flexible and gains a few new synergies as well.

There were just four cards today, and we’re only talking about numbers being changed. Still, this could be the first of a long series of eventful Thursdays on Marvel Snap, and I can’t wait to know what Second Dinner has in store for us!

Note: The card stats will be updated later today.

Is Shuri Zero finally down?

Shuri Patch

Created by den

, updated 1 year ago

2

3x Collection Level 18-214 (Pool 1)

2x Collection Level 222-474 (Pool 2)

7x Collection Level 486+ (Pool 3)

3.2

Cost

0-
1
2
3
4
5+

5.1

Power

0-
1
2
3
4
5+

Sunspot getting nerfed is a hit to many more decks than just Shuri Zero, and as you can see, we can build the deck without it if we wanted to. The big loser in the Sunspot nerf might be She-Hulk, a card who sees her best friend take a hit after she lost a power in the previous balance patch. We can consider slotting Sauron and Ebony Maw in the deck if we think Sunspot isn’t good enough anymore. Let’s talk about the Red Skull nerf, because this one is definitely not leaving the deck.

Going from a 30 power synergy to a 26 power one already did something to the deck. Obviously, Red Skull was still dominating lanes against most opponents, but cards like Iron Man and Devil Dinosaur were able to give him a run for his money. At 24 power, I think those other high potential 5-costs get even better, and there might be a few extra names to add to the list, particularly two popular decks with the new season: Bounce and Thanos Death Lockjaw.

Both decks have to fight Shuri Zero in the points department to win the match, and they typically have to beat either Red Skull or Taskmaster to get those hard-earned four or eight cube wins. Now at a 24-point threshold, both decks could have a better shot at doing so:

• For Lockjaw, 24 represent two of its biggest cards in the deck – Magneto and Death. It might sound like a lot of investment, but considering we can cheat them out with Lockjaw and Wave, it could be a meaningful change. Also, the deck would now edge out Red Skull when it has a 12 power card, alongside an 8 or 9 (Odin, Chavez…) and a Doombot on the location. In those scenarios, I’m also not accounting for the bonus Red Skull gives to the opponent’s cards, which should help as well in most cases.
• The logic is similar for Bounce, or other decks with very flexible last turns. When Red Skull is so big that the Shuri Zero player has nothing to worry about, the flexibility of how the opponent might spread their points isn’t so relevant in the end. Now, if the fear of Red Skull being beaten exists, it should make Turn 6 much more intricate to navigate for Shuri Zero.

Overall, I think Shuri Zero easily retains a status of being a deck to beat with these changes, especially if one has Sauron to play around with the build. I’m very curious to see if it can keep the top spot in a Tier List, though, since I could see a few decks giving it a run for its money now.

Should you still play Sunspot in every deck now?

Variants

Sunspot

After each turn, gain +1 Power for each unspent Energy.

Collection Level 222-474 (Pool 2)

view card details Start a deck Decks with Sunspot

Outside Shuri Zero, Sunspot was mostly regarded as the premier 1-cost card in the game. It saw play in every build without a specific need for another 1-cost. From DoomWave to Discard to Electro Ramp, if you pulled a deck at random from our Tier List you would have about a one in three chance to have Sunspot in it.

With the loss of a power, Sunspot now requires at least have three to four unused energy during the game to have it compete with other 1-cost cards. Alongside She-Hulk, the card retains most of its power since it keeps absorbing five energy and setting up for an explosive Turn 6.

In the other scenarios most decks were playing Sunspot, most of the time as an insurance policy for a bad draw, it might become a little trickier. Up until this point, Sunspot on Turn 1 made the card worth running simply if you didn’t have a Turn 2 play. Then, Sunspot would become a 1/3, on par with the solid 1-cost cards power grade, and serve as a flexible tool for the rest of the game and allow you to voluntarily not use energy to buff the card.

Now, skipping Turn 2 only nets you a 1/2, which is the same as other popular picks, such as Korg, Iceman or Nightcrawler. This means that if you use all your energy for the remainder of the match, Sunspot would have been better as a 1/2 with an ability, even without a Turn 2 play. Simply losing this trait of being profitable if you miss Turn 2 could hurt the card a lot. It could lead to Sunspot being more dedicated to decks planning to lose some energy on the way, rather than those afraid they might do so.

Also, Kitty Pryde might have become the uncontested best 1-cost now, so it would be nice to have her back someday. Another curiosity of mine is to know how much of an impact this nerf will have on Killmonger. I mean, Sunspot was the biggest reason to run the card, so who knows if we still need it as much.

What to play with Shadow King and Sentry?

Variants

Shadow King

On Reveal: Set all cards here to their base Power.

Collection Level 486+ (Pool 3)

view card details Start a deck Decks with Shadow King

Variants

Sentry

You can’t play this at the right location. On Reveal: Add a -10 Power Void to the right location.

Collection Level 486+ (Pool 3)

view card details Start a deck Decks with Sentry

Nerfs always feel super impactful because they touch cards we see and play with (or against) every day. As such, it is much easier to figure out how the card will evolve in the aftermath.

On the other hand, buffs can be more of a hit or miss, and the only way to know which one we’re facing is to test the buffed card. For that reason, I won’t tell you that Shadow King or Sentry have become busted, nor that they are still unplayable. Here a few decks worth testing, if you have the cards, so you can make your own opinion.

For what it’s worth, I think Shadow King got a really sweet deal today. It can join the Silver Surfer synergy, and that alone can make a card playable:

Shadow Surfer

Created by den

, updated 1 year ago

2

1x Collection Level 1-14

1x Collection Level 18-214 (Pool 1)

2x Collection Level 222-474 (Pool 2)

8x Collection Level 486+ (Pool 3)

2.8

Cost

0-
1
2
3
4
5+

2.9

Power

0-
1
2
3
4
5+

Sentry is just more powerful, but numbers are what we fight with in Marvel Snap in the end. In a deck like this one, where we have both Viper to give the Void and Valkyrie to change it into a three power card, Sentry’s 10 power can be very useful. Also, with Thanos, we should have the opportunity to simply fill the right most lane and not summon the Void if we plan to play Sentry on Turn 6.

Sentry

Created by den

, updated 1 year ago

2

2x Collection Level 18-214 (Pool 1)

8x Collection Level 486+ (Pool 3)

1x Series 5 Ultra Rare – Collection Level 486+ (Pool 5)

1x Recruit Season

3.6

Cost

0-
1
2
3
4
5+

4.1

Power

0-
1
2
3
4
5+

Last on the list is a deck from TheJollyRoger, with both Sentry and Shadow King included in case you want to try both cards together. They explained the strategy in the tweet associated with the deck, so I encourage you to go read it from the creator themselves!

Sentry plus Shadow King

Created by den

, updated 1 year ago

0

2x Collection Level 18-214 (Pool 1)

8x Collection Level 486+ (Pool 3)

1x Series 4 Rare – Collection Level 486+ (Pool 4)

1x Recruit Season

2.8

Cost

0-
1
2
3
4
5+

3.8

Power

0-
1
2
3
4
5+

Closing Words

I can’t think of anything bad to say about today’s announcement. While we definitely do not need a balance patch every week, seeing little shake-ups like a push to a couple of unused cards should be great to keep things fresh. In this first week, I am curious how will things pan out for Sentry in particular. When it comes to the other three cards, I have little doubt the changes will be impactful in some way, even for Shadow King!

With very little time to write this piece after the announcement, I’m sure I missed some detail somewhere. If you would like to add anything, join us on discord, or find me directly on Twitter!

Good Game Everyone!