January 4, 2023 Marvel Snap Patch Update Brings Card Balance Changes, and “Other Cool Stuff” (Now Delayed)

Update: The patch notes have been leaked:

Update: The patch apparently had last minute issues that will delay the patch no longer than a week.

Introduction

Marvel Snap has released the January 2022 Developer Update as well as its new season Savage Land on schedule! From new Series 5 cards, bundles, announcement of the Battle Mode, and more, the next patch and season hopefully is one to start 2023 with a bang. If you’ve missed the news, check out the article below:

Last season we saw the patch drop before the new season, but this time we will see the new patch hit just 2 days after according to Ben Brode:

Balance Changes

It’s no doubt there are some cards currently that may be on Second Dinner’s “watch list” that seem to be pretty powerful and played in a lot of decks such as Aero, Leader and even Series 5 cards such as Galactus. We break down some of these cards below:

What are your predictions for the balance changes? Will the high powered Series 4 and 5 cards be nerfed for the first time despite no refunds being issued?

Card Series Downgrades

With the new cards announced for Series 5, no announcement has still been made regarding cards trickling down to Series 3 and 4. This seems to be a vital part of the economy so it looks like Second Dinner is holding their cards tight until they can confirm the final system. You will be able to see the schedule here once announced:

No Battle Mode this Patch

Marvel Snap’s friendly challenge mode will be arriving towards the end of the season (likely to be early February), according to Ben Brode’s Tweet. In summary:

• Marvel Snap sees an exciting new game mode “Battle Mode“, where two players play multiple games against each other with the same deck.
• Each player uses an unique code to match up against each other.
• Each player starts with 10 Health, and each player loses Health equal to the value of the Cube.
• No ties – winners or losers only.
• It’s a friendly battle so your rank is not affected.
• There will be a tournament format that players can also use for organizing events, and so on.
• Rules, insights, and history of the Battle Mode will be released in a few days.

Other “Cool Stuff”

There are a few items mentioned in the Development Roadmap for 2023 in Marvel Snap, which you cn check out below:

Ben Brode has confirmed that Name Change and Battle Mode are not coming this patch (and the Token Shop bug will not be fixed either) on Twitter, so realistically speaking we may see:

• Artist Credits (given the Savage Land variants have been mentioned as Alex Horley variants)
• Russian and Vietnamese Language Support
• Infinity Split Mod Details

These would be in addition to the new cards, variants, and Bundles announced already. You can also see some more things that might be in the works in the previous Developer Update posts:

• Developer Update for the Week of December 14, 2022: Game of the Year Winner Edition
• Developer Update for the Week of December 7, 2022: New Season Edition
• Developer Update for the Week of November 30, 2022: Post-Patch Edition!

Conclusion

With the major patches coming in monthly, this is always an exciting time for Marvel Snap’s early development. As always, make sure to check out our YouTube channel for the latest video updates, and our Discord community to discuss further. We’ll see you again very soon!