Marvel Snap Balance Patch Update Analysis and Decks to Play: Discard Is Unstoppable

I love the direction Second Dinner has taken with their balance philosophy lately. I’ve never hidden my enjoyment when they give us plenty of changes at once. It often leads to some unbalances in the meta with an archetype being too harshly punished by a nerf (or one largely ahead of the rest thanks to an ill-advised buff), but I don’t mind that risky approach. It also leads to a different environment with new cards to test. Whenever I go to the patch notes, I hope to see as many changes as possible.

Once again, they didn’t disappoint!

From these changes, three obviously stand out: Elsa Bloodstone, Miek, and Leech. Indeed, all three cards already have a role in the meta (or at least a strong deck they can easily fit in).

Elsa Bloodstone is tied to the latest season pass card, Hope Summers, since both share a similar ability, and they are already a pair in the Move archetype. Leech needs no introduction; it’s a staple in the InSheNaut deck (which also got a nice push with Hope Summers), and it also sees play in Thanos at times. Finally, Miek isn’t particularly popular, but it has always been a consideration in Discard Dracula (which just so happens to be one of the strongest decks in Marvel Snap at the moment). Seeing that archetype receive a buff is a scary prospect, even if the card deserved a little push.

Mantis and Cable both needed some help since they very rarely saw play in a Loki or Big Hand deck, and the arrival of Mockingbird is a perfect opportunity to raise their game. M'Baku and Yondu are cards that almost nobody was using, so they naturally had a claim to be on the buff list as well.

Last but not least, we have the Time Stone. It’s basically the backbone of all Thanos archetypes. The Time Stone is Professor X‘s best friend at times, a way to get a big 6-Cost down on Turn 5 to discount Skaar, and the reason some were still playing Lockjaw with Thanos. This change alone could completely alter the competitive landscape of Marvel Snap.

Mockingbird’s Waiting Room has Two New Guests

Variants

Mantis

On Reveal: If your opponent played any cards here this turn, copy one of them into your hand.

Collection Level 18-214 (Pool 1)

view card details Start a deck Decks with Mantis

Variants

Cable

On Reveal: Draw a card from your opponent’s deck.

Collection Level 18-214 (Pool 1)

view card details Start a deck Decks with Cable

Buffed in 2023, Cable saw play in some Loki decks, so it should be worth trying as a [2/3]. It now competes with Sentinel and Mirage for the 2-Cost slot alongside Zabu in the deck. I believe Cable has a real shot at feeling good now. The meta has plenty of decks that rely on a specific engine that, if stolen, can be worth an immediate Snap.

While Loki might start running the card, I can also picture a disruptive deck using Cable (paired with Spider-Ham, for example) where you have multiple shots at taking out your opponent’s key card.

Loki

Created by den

, updated 2 months ago

0

1x Collection Level 18-214 (Pool 1)

1x Collection Level 222-474 (Pool 2)

3x Collection Level 486+ (Pool 3)

3x Series 4 Rare – Collection Level 486+ (Pool 4)

4x Series 5 Ultra Rare – Collection Level 486+ (Pool 5)

3.2

Cost

0-
1
2
3
4
5+

4

Power

0-
1
2
3
4
5+

Disruptive Bounce

Created by den

, updated 2 months ago

1

2x Collection Level 18-214 (Pool 1)

1x Collection Level 222-474 (Pool 2)

4x Collection Level 486+ (Pool 3)

2x Series 4 Rare – Collection Level 486+ (Pool 4)

3x Series 5 Ultra Rare – Collection Level 486+ (Pool 5)

2.1

Cost

0-
1
2
3
4
5+

1.8

Power

0-
1
2
3
4
5+

As for Mantis, I believe the card is much better now than it was before the patch. However, Mantis looks like a tech card more than a staple inclusion like Cable. I would see Mantis as a nice card to keep in mind and not much else.

Elsa Bloodstone + Hope Summers: Round Two

Variants

Elsa Bloodstone

Each card you play to fill your side of a location gains +2 Power.

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

view card details Start a deck Decks with Elsa Bloodstone

Variants

Hope Summers

After you play a card here, you get +1 Energy next turn.

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

view card details Start a deck Decks with Hope Summers

The synergy of this pair was obvious from the get-go, but it’s not necessarily strong. Indeed, in most decks I’ve tested with the quartet of Elsa Bloodstone, Hope Summers, Angela, and Kitty Pryde, and I often ended up just playing the latest Season Pass card and finding other options to surround it. The return of old Elsa Bloodstone, however, is a big enough change for me to reconsider that position.

There is already a Bounce deck in the section above with these cards, but there are plenty of other decks we need to discuss. Indeed, Hope Summers has already proven she can be a part of many archetypes, and Elsa Bloodstone was the meta back in October 2023. She is one more energy than before, but I’ll still take a [3/9] in my deck.

Bounce for Points

Created by den

, updated 2 months ago

1

5x Collection Level 486+ (Pool 3)

2x Series 4 Rare – Collection Level 486+ (Pool 4)

4x Series 5 Ultra Rare – Collection Level 486+ (Pool 5)

1x Starter Card

2.5

Cost

0-
1
2
3
4
5+

2.3

Power

0-
1
2
3
4
5+

Move

Created by den

, updated 2 months ago

0

1x Collection Level 1-14

1x Collection Level 18-214 (Pool 1)

2x Collection Level 222-474 (Pool 2)

3x Collection Level 486+ (Pool 3)

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

4x Series 5 Ultra Rare – Collection Level 486+ (Pool 5)

3.2

Cost

0-
1
2
3
4
5+

4.4

Power

0-
1
2
3
4
5+

Bounce and Move naturally look like the first archetypes you’d want to explore with Elsa Bloodstone back at her peak. I left Angela out since she did not regain some of her past strength, but you could definitely include her if you like the card. Simply remove either Alioth or Mysterio in Bounce, or Silk in Move.

I went back to our October 9th Tier List, the one published right after Elsa Bloodstone released, and found some decks that abused her ability really well back then. I don’t know how good they would be in today’s world, but you might find something you like in there (don’t worry, I updated them, too):

Loki Collector

Created by den

, updated 2 months ago

0

2x Collection Level 18-214 (Pool 1)

1x Collection Level 222-474 (Pool 2)

2x Collection Level 486+ (Pool 3)

2x Series 4 Rare – Collection Level 486+ (Pool 4)

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

2.4

Cost

0-
1
2
3
4
5+

3.2

Power

0-
1
2
3
4
5+

Hammer Miracle

Created by den

, updated 2 months ago

0

1x Collection Level 1-14

2x Collection Level 18-214 (Pool 1)

4x Collection Level 486+ (Pool 3)

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

4x Series 5 Ultra Rare – Collection Level 486+ (Pool 5)

2.7

Cost

0-
1
2
3
4
5+

3.1

Power

0-
1
2
3
4
5+

Sera Miracle

Created by den

, updated 2 months ago

1

2x Collection Level 18-214 (Pool 1)

1x Collection Level 222-474 (Pool 2)

3x Collection Level 486+ (Pool 3)

3x Series 4 Rare – Collection Level 486+ (Pool 4)

3x Series 5 Ultra Rare – Collection Level 486+ (Pool 5)

2.8

Cost

0-
1
2
3
4
5+

2.5

Power

0-
1
2
3
4
5+

Shuri Kitty

Created by den

, updated 2 months ago

1

2x Collection Level 18-214 (Pool 1)

2x Collection Level 222-474 (Pool 2)

4x Collection Level 486+ (Pool 3)

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

3x Series 5 Ultra Rare – Collection Level 486+ (Pool 5)

3.3

Cost

0-
1
2
3
4
5+

3.8

Power

0-
1
2
3
4
5+

Discard Sits Atop Marvel Snap

The Discard synergies were already in a fantastic spot since the second half of February when Corvus Glaive and Proxima Midnight joined the game. As such, it might be a little weird to see Discard receive another buff with this patch.

Sure, the buff goes to a card that’s not part of the top Discard builds, but those builds have enough flexibility in them to adapt and include the card. Plus, I would argue Miek is now more interesting than The Collector in the deck. As such, this shouldn’t be a hard prediction to get right:

Discard

Created by den

, updated 2 months ago

0

3x Collection Level 18-214 (Pool 1)

2x Collection Level 222-474 (Pool 2)

3x Collection Level 486+ (Pool 3)

2x Series 4 Rare – Collection Level 486+ (Pool 4)

2x Series 5 Ultra Rare – Collection Level 486+ (Pool 5)

3

Cost

0-
1
2
3
4
5+

3.8

Power

0-
1
2
3
4
5+

What is more intriguing are the nerfs to the other big time players of the current meta: the Time Stone and Leech. Indeed, Thanos has been a Tier 1 synergy since Blob released; it’s even survived a nerf to both Blob and Lockjaw! With Mockingbird joining the game (and the developers revealing that the card will work with Thanos‘s Infinity Stones), many anticipated the Mad Titan would be unstoppable.

I don’t know how impactful the nerf to the Time Stone will be regarding the power of the deck. Mockingbird still represents a [0/9], which is definitely a big buff to mitigate this nerf. Still, there are certain cards – Professor X in particular – that might not make it into Thanos decks anymore. As such, I anticipate Thanos will embrace its proactive side even more, and maybe even turn to Loki with Mockingbird in the mix.

New Thanos

Created by den

, updated 2 months ago

0

1x Collection Level 222-474 (Pool 2)

1x Collection Level 486+ (Pool 3)

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

9x Series 5 Ultra Rare – Collection Level 486+ (Pool 5)

4.4

Cost

0-
1
2
3
4
5+

6.3

Power

0-
1
2
3
4
5+

Don’t worry, Thanos will be fine. Mockingbird will most likely bring more upsides than the nerf to the Time Stone will hurt the deck. I just think Discard might get more from the Miek buff overall. Plus, Discard was much weaker to Leech than Thanos was, so that change is even more good news.

Speaking of Leech, the card could be a decent replacement to Professor X in Thanos now. Getting it down on any turn can still turn off a lot of decks.

Thanos Control

Created by den

, updated 2 months ago

0

2x Collection Level 222-474 (Pool 2)

2x Collection Level 486+ (Pool 3)

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

7x Series 5 Ultra Rare – Collection Level 486+ (Pool 5)

4.4

Cost

0-
1
2
3
4
5+

5.9

Power

0-
1
2
3
4
5+

Mark my words: Thanos will be fine.

Is Leech Better or Worse?

If you play the new Leech on Turn 5, you basically get the old ability except you only touch the On Reveal cards in your opponent’s hand. Overall, I would consider this a downside; even if you don’t allow them to play The Infinaut restriction free, you still let entire synergies like Ongoing run free. However, because Leech is an On Reveal card now, you can play it earlier in the match and potentially disable some cards your opponent would use as a set up.

For example, if you get Leech out on Turn 4, there is a solid chance a Discard deck won’t be able to discard cards next turn, or a Destroy deck won’t be able to keep building Deadpool. More importantly, you have a shot at countering Hela on Turn 5, a routine play since Corvus Glaive joined the game.

While I can see how Leech is more restricted now, I don’t think the card is necessarily worse to use. Especially in the InSheNaut deck (which is the iconic archetype for Leech), I wouldn’t mind playing Hope Summers and Wasp on Turn 3 into Leech on Turn 4 behind Hope Summers. Then you can still pass six energy for She-Hulk after disabling their On Reveal cards on Turn 5, which limits their ability to fight back with points. Shocker hitting Leech also has its merits now, while it did basically nothing in the past.

I think the new Leech will require some testing to assess its real strength, but I wouldn’t call this a huge nerf just yet.

InSheNaut

Created by den

, updated 2 months ago

0

3x Collection Level 222-474 (Pool 2)

2x Collection Level 486+ (Pool 3)

3x Series 5 Ultra Rare – Collection Level 486+ (Pool 5)

4x Starter Card

3.2

Cost

0-
1
2
3
4
5+

5.3

Power

0-
1
2
3
4
5+

Closing Words

I didn’t discussed M'Baku and Yondu in this patch analysis, mostly because I don’t think their changes will have much of an impact. Yondu is much worse at feeding Knull now, which is something I loved about the card. I’ve read what the developers said about the card, but I can’t really get behind the reasoning. All in all, this is a disappointing change in my opinion.

As for M'Baku, the card is for sure better, but it remains a [1/2] that you can basically only use with Lockjaw. Yes, the card that was nerfed in the previous OTA. Let’s not fool ourselves: the nerf to Lockjaw was much bigger for M'Baku than this buff is. Plus, all the good Lockjaw decks are now Discard oriented, which means you’ll likely discard M'Baku more than anything else.

Here’s a deck if you want to test the card, but I wouldn’t get my hopes up. I’m pretty sure Spider-Ham or Nightcrawler would have more upsides than M'Baku with Lockjaw.

M’Baku

Created by den

, updated 2 months ago

0

1x Collection Level 1-14

1x Collection Level 222-474 (Pool 2)

7x Collection Level 486+ (Pool 3)

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

2x Series 5 Ultra Rare – Collection Level 486+ (Pool 5)

3.8

Cost

0-
1
2
3
4
5+

5.3

Power

0-
1
2
3
4
5+

Overall, I’m pleased with these changes. Elsa Bloodstone and Cable have a shot at being real contenders now, which will hopefully bring some more diversity into the meta. I’m a bit concerned about Discard being too reliable with Miek bringing controlled flexibility. I have no doubt that Thanos will once again bounce back from this nerf since Mockingbird should bring more to the deck than the Time Stone lost. Leech has my curiosity, especially because I didn’t consider the card a problem to begin with. This new take on the definitely isn’t terrible.

I’m curious to know what everyone thinks about this balance patch. Leech has been a big talking point in the community, and I could see why some might be scared about an Elsa Bloodstone return.

To share your take, drop us a comment, or join us on the Marvel Snap Zone community Discord. You can also follow my Twitter page where I share decks and biased opinions about the game.

Good Game Everyone.