Marvel Snap Balance OTA Analysis and New Decks to Play: No More Disruption

When sharing this OTA with the content creators, Second Dinner asked us to help share their intent behind this peculiar update.
This time, they are taking a big swing at tech cards, probably the biggest we have ever seen in balance update. Their goal being to monitor the metagame for two weeks, see the impact of those chances, and likely adapt or reverse some of those changes in the next OTA.
Then, although this looks like several cards just got called to the chopping block, this balance update should be regarded as Second Dinner trying to mix it up more than anything.

Marvel Snap September 11, 2025 OTA Card Balance Updates

Nerfs

Shang-Chi just went from one of the most impactful cards in Marvel Snap history to one beginners will look at and quickly dismiss in their early journey. Arguably, this will feel like the biggest change due to Shang-Chi’s aura against 10+ power cards.

Valkyrie might have a lot of work in the near future.

This is probably the biggest nerf on the entire list if we look at the amount of archetypes impacted. Indeed, Killmonger was not used solely for disruptive purposes, it was also a key card for Destroy synergies.
With this nerf, Deadpool, Firehair, Morgan Le Fay and such cards also lose a lot of appeal.

Compared to the other cards, [5/8] isn’t so bad for Enchantress, which should remain a decent option to counter Ongoing heavy decks. Sure, we have Rogue and Echo available for that purpose, which might hurt Enchantress’ appeal overall. Still, the card remains playable when others look way worse.

Typically a turn 6 play, one more energy to Shadow King will change the play patterns we can build around the card. Plus, the card didn’t even get extra power like Cosmo or Enchantress received, so this is a pretty big blow, enough to reconsider using Shadow King as the go-to cheap disruptive option.

The later we get into a match, and the harder it is to grab priority, as more power is ddeveloped onto the board. Then, on top of Negasonic Teenage Warhead not being able to pair with another 3-cost anymore on turn six, the now 4-cost will also be more difficult to use as a disruptive tool during the course of a match.

Losing 3 power is a huge nerf, enough for me to completely dismiss Alioth for the time being. Instead, I will turn my attention to Galactus First Steps, Magneto or Emperor Hulkling as default 6-costs.

The release of Ghost Rider”] already hurt Red Guardian’s stock in certain archetypes. Now a [3/0], I doubt we will see much of the card in the near future.

Alongside Enchantress, Cosmo is the other card decently compensated for its cost change. [4/6] is on the lower end of the power spectrum, but enough to see play alongside a solid ability, which Cosmo still possesses.
I could picture the card as the other 4-cost in a Wiccan deck, since we have plenty of 3-costs available already.

New Decks

When you look at this OTA, one thing immediately comes to mind : “I’m going to be able to piece together all sorts of combo decks in peace”.
With that thought, we can either look for the decks able to pull the craziest patterns, expecting a free for all war for points. Or find the archetypes still able to disrupt those expected combo oriented strategies.

Disruptive Archetypes :

“You Better Disrupt Me” Archetypes

I feel like Enchantress and Cosmo remain playable, even as a [5/8] and [4/6], so I will focus on decks able to make the most of Shang-Chi, Killmonger and Shadow King likely being out of the equation.

No Shang-Chi around :

No Killmonger around :

No Shadow King around :

Closing Words

I’m sure there are more archetypes to find in each category, considering the impact of disruptive cards up until this point in Marvel Snap. I feel like it was exactly Second Dinner’s goal with this OTA : change the landscape.

Then, the goal isn’t to find a specific deck immediately after the OTA. Instead, we first need to figure out if flexible decks still have enough disruption in order to contain builds able to develop a ton of points when left unchecked. Once we have that answer, we’ll know if we should all build for points for lack of a way to counter, play very disruptive decks to not enter points shootouts every game, or still are able to play balanced archetypes.

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!