Marvel Snap Balance OTA Analysis and New Decks to Play: Hitting the Right Spot!

For Second Dinner to pull the trigger on big nerfs, a deck really needs to hurt the game. Then, although many agree the metagame has not been very enjoyable as of late, we don’t have one particular dominant. Instead, we have dominant cards powering multiple archetypes.

In this OTA, Second Dinner timidly started to tackle that problem, with two nerfs I feel are far from enough. However, I love many of the buffs in this OTA, which I believe have the potential to shakes things up.
I’ve always advocated for balance through buffs whenever possible, so players can pick their deck, rather than be limited to just a few picks. In that regard, I feel like this OTA delivered.

Card Reviews

Nerfs

Sunspot as a [1/0] was a pretty bad card, to be honest. We had to spend at least 4 energy to get it on par with the [1/3] norm. Second Dinner tells us the “End of Turn” synergy has become too strong this season so it required a nerf.

I just wonder why is it Sunspot taking the beating when it is a card available to all players, while the problem clearly stems from the cards added this season. If Sunspot proves to still be good enough to be included in that deck, [1/0] changes absolutely nothing. If [1/0] isn’t good enough, we’ll simply build a different deck around Fantasticar and High Evolutionary. Nebula, Hydra Bob, Clea, Misty Knight… We got options.

I’m not really wondering why they picked this card, by the way. Sunspot is a safe target the community won’t complain about while the new cards can remain strong for a bit longer. This is exactly why this nerf won’t change a thing.

I was afraid the target would be Surge, which would have changed absolutely nothing now that Mister Fantastic First Steps does the same job more efficiently. Then, I am very glad Second Dinner picked Gwenpool as the card to nerf in order to tone down the Good Cards archetype a bit.

Unfortunately, we have been down that road with Galacta already, and the harsher nerf to the other 4-cost didn’t change the deck one bit. As a [4/5], Gwenpool remains a [4/11] before factoring in the many synergies with the likes of Brood, Mister Sinister, Scarlet Witch and such cards.

This is cute, but probably a timid attempt that will produce little to no results.

Buffs

I’ll take the minus one power for minus one energy deal for almost every card in the game. Indeed, the last ritual only costing 2 opens a ton of new synergies, especially the 4-cost cards we can now play alongside it on the last turn of play.

Summoning Dormammu should win that location. Now, we have a Shang-Chi or Enchantress to help on another one. Also, how about that Sentry into Summoning Ritual 3 to get rid of The Void ?

Since Hydra Bob was nerfed to become a [1/4], the five power mark for cheap cards has always been linked with a condition. Ant-Man, Titania, or Martyr are all great power for their cost, but it is their reliability to actually turn into 5 power which makes them good or a flight risk.
Black Cat should be a consideration for any deck able to spend 1 energy flexibly through the course of the match, and probably remains a fine card for Hela.

Slowly but surely, [2/4] is going to become the norm amongst 2-cost cards, which is only logic when we see the abilities attached to certain [2/2] or [2/3].
This buff does not make Invisible Woman any more resilient to Cosmo, Enchantress or Alioth. However, it does help a bit to grab priority the turn we play Invisible Woman, opening certain proactive patterns early on before switching to hidding our cards.

I like this change because this is a real point, not a maybe or a situational thing. If you have Domino in your deck, you typically have that card only for turn 2, meaning you will play every single game.

I’m not sure if it will be enough considering the amount of fantastic options we have amongst 2-cost cards, but this should make Wiccan, Arishem or maybe Ramp consider Domino from time to time.

The most impactful change in this OTA, by a landslide and a niche mustache, Mobius M. Mobius already was one of the most impactful cards in the game. As a [3/4], the card might help for priority at times, but this buff mostly puts the card in the spotlight and lets everyone know it is an option to stop the energy cheating fiesta this metagame has become.

Agony as a [1/2] wasn’t a bad card, but gives our opponent too much information for the payoff she carries, similarly to Symbiote Spider-Man. As a [1/3], the card is mostly the same, but should entice us to accept more risks, as we get more power in return.

This is a good change considering Blink was playable already, and remains under the Shang-Chi threshold with this buff. I would love to see Sersi and Black Bolt next on this list, as they also feel like good abilities we don’t use enough due to other cards feeling better.

I’m not ready to call the fact we will replace Sunspot with Zabu and run enough 4-cost cards in the High Evo Fantasticar deck. Yet, it would be quite ironic to nerf two decks and see them merge into one.

Good Cards High Evo Fantasticar anyone ?

Most players have yet to collect the card and it already receives a buff ? I guess [3/3] really needs a fantastic ability, and Mole Man didn’t really fit that mold.
The card was off to a decent start according to the date, with stints in Patriot, Hela or Iron Hand so far. It was not part of those decks’ best performing build, so maybe that extra power will help.

New Decks

From my review of each change, you can guess I don’t think there is a need to change anything to the High Evo Fantasticar deck, or the way we build Good Cards. Maybe Sunspot doesn’t make the cut anymore, but that will be a one for one change. If these two decks undergo significant changes, it will be due to Mobius M. Mobius finally stopping Mister Fantastic First Steps.

If you feel the 1-cost has become a liability, you can simply replace it with Nebula, build the deck with Squirrel Girl and Marvel Boy. You can also switch to Zabu and three 4-cost cards, ore more if you want Shang-Chi or Enchantress into that mix.

The buffs are a little more interesting, although the performance of most cards impacted by this OTA was awful heading into this update. Dormammu got a big buff, but the others will mostly rely on finding their way into strong archetypes :

Mobius M. Mobius is a bit different, as it doesn’t pertain to any specific archetype. Instead, you simply include it in your deck whenever you feel like stopping your opponent from discounting cards will win you games.
Then, feel free to consider the now [3/4] in a variety of decks. The only one suffering from this change is Cerebro 3.

Here is my favorite heading into this OTA :

Closing Words

I feel like the buff to Mobius. M. Mobius makes this OTA a nice balance update. Without that change, this would have felt like two feeble nerfs and a lot of extra one power buffs.
Dormammu is exciting, but I expect that change to mostly lead to Shang-Chi or Enchantress being playable alongside Summoning Ritual 3. It will definitely improve Dormammu, but not really feel different from what a lot of other decks are doing.

As for the other changes, I like the fact they aren’t afraid to buff many cards at once. Blink and Domino specifically appeal to me, but everyone can find a card they like in that bunch.

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!