Marvel Snap Balance OTA Analysis and New Decks to Play – April 30, 2026

I have never been a fan of balance updates with a lot of nerfs, as I feel it doesn’t open the metagame much, instead reducing the amount of good decks we have available. However, the first trimester of 2026 brought many strong cards, several nerfed already, who prevented the new Objective keyword from taking off as intended. In that context, if we are going to nerf those cards again to open for new releases, might as well shoot all of them at once.

Marvel Snap April 30, 2026 OTA Card Balance Updates

I’m not a fan of this OTA because of my personal preferences, but this is a very good OTA for the metagame, and future cards coming to Marvel Snap.

Nerfs

Now a [5/8] granting +2 Power

This was bound to happen, and represents a huge blow to most decks using Shou-Lao the Undying. Indeed, when you target Maverick or Scarlet-Spider, you would now lose two power per increment, which can quickly amount to 8 or 10 power total.

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Now a [5/7]

One less point will not change the card’s ability to impact an entire gameplan. However, it might impact its ability to seize priority, and make sure Arnim Zola, Odin, Grand Master and such cards are not met with Cosmo or Juggernaut.

Now a [7/12], only gains the power of one front-row enemy card.

This is a colossal change considering the impact of the 7-cost on the entire metagame. Not only is the card much weaker, and possibly random when enemy cards in the front row have very different power. This change also impacts the likes of Stryfe, Jubilee, Blink, on top of every single Ramp deck.

Now a [1/2]

Alongside Shou-Lao the Undying also taking a big hit, this will likely be too much for archetypes built around Maverick and such cards.

Back when she was a [1/2], the card didn’t see much play. As a result, I expect Nico Minoru or America Chavez to see more play following this OTA.

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Buffs

Now a [4/6]

A well deserved Buff for a 4-cost we have not seen do anything for a long time.

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Now a [1/3]

Maria Hill never made it as a 1-cost in decks designed to create cards. We know [1/3] is a good enough power to cost ratio to see play, so expect Maria Hill to appear in some lists from now on.

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Now a [1/6]

Already used to grab priority early on in some decks, Martyr will become even better in that regard. Iron Patriot or Askani’son might also consider the card to anchor their location, while decks designed to fill the board should also enjoy a [1/6] with no downside.

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Now a [2/4]
Resurrects with +5 power

The card released way too weak in order to be competitive, especially for a niche ability. This is a large buff, but Archangel Horseman of Death needed it to be a consideration in the Destroy archetype.

At least, I’m curious to test it now.

New Decks

That’s it for this OTA review. You can find everyone from the Marvel Snap Zone team in our community discord, alongside plenty of people to share your excitement about those changes.

Good Game Everyone!