Marvel Snap May 11, 2023 OTA Card Balance Updates: Rockslide and Enchantress Nerfed, Drax and Venom Buffed, Location Frequency Adjustments

Marvel Snap’s “Over the Air” hotfixes to cards are now live for May 11, 2023 – no need for a game update! Four cards have been changed as part of a weekly balancing cycle. Check out the full details below, as well as an announcement regarding the future of Marvel Snap’s balance.

Summary:

• Drax – 4/5 On Reveal: If your opponent played a card here this turn, +3 Power. -> 4/6 On Reveal: If your opponent played a card here this turn, +2 Power.
• Rockslide – 4/6 -> 4/5
• Enchantress – 4/6 -> 4/5
• Venom – 3/1 -> 3/3
• 7 Locations have had their appearance frequency reduced

For our analysis and some decks you can try on the first day, check back later for our article!

Drax

Variants

Drax

On Reveal: If your opponent played a card here this turn, +2 Power.

Collection Level 486+ (Pool 3)

view card details Start a deck Decks with Drax

[Old] 4/5 – On Reveal: If your opponent played a card here this turn, +3 Power.
[New] 4/6 – On Reveal: If your opponent played a card here this turn, +2 Power.

The Guardians can create some of the most exciting gameplay in SNAP with their predictive playstyle. While they’ve been doing better with the release of Nebula, they’re still performing poorly overall at the moment. Out of all the Guardians, Drax stood out to us as the clearest buff candidate. Compared to other cards like Rockslide and White Queen with good stats and a guaranteed upside, Drax had below average stats for a very inconsistent upside. We’re giving him a small buff by moving some of his Power from his ability to his base stats to improve his baseline performance.

Rockslide

Variants

Rockslide

On Reveal: Shuffle 2 Rocks into your opponent’s deck.

Collection Level 486+ (Pool 3)

view card details Start a deck Decks with Rockslide

[Old] 4/6 – On Reveal: Shuffle 2 Rocks into your opponent’s deck.
[New] 4/5 – On Reveal: Shuffle 2 Rocks into your opponent’s deck.

Rockslide’s viability took a leap forward with the release of Darkhawk and Zabu, so it’s easy to look at this nerf and assume that we’re targeting Darkhawk by weakening one of his support cards. And sure, you’d be right–Darkhawk has been one of the 10 winningest cards in the game since release and featured in multiple strong decks. In fact, Rockslide often mirrors (or improves upon) Darkhawk’s stats, as they’re both in the top-performing “DinoHawk” deck. Since Rockslide’s easier to adjust, we’re making this tweak with the aim of weakening that deck slightly.

Enchantress

Variants

Enchantress

On Reveal: Remove the abilities from all Ongoing cards at this location.

Collection Level 18-214 (Pool 1)

view card details Start a deck Decks with Enchantress

[Old] 4/6 – On Reveal: Remove the abilities from all Ongoing cards at this location.
[New] 4/5 – On Reveal: Remove the abilities from all Ongoing cards at this location.

Enchantress has grown in popularity since our buff to her two weeks ago, which was expected. While we’re excited by how much more she’s affecting the meta, she’s become one of the most played cards in the game, which is a bit over a mark. We’re optimistic that a small nerf to 4/5 will put her in a good position going forward. But hey, it was fun while it lasted!

Venom

Variants

Venom

On Reveal: Destroy your other cards at this location. Add their Power to this card.

Collection Level 486+ (Pool 3)

view card details Start a deck Decks with Venom

[Old] 3/1 – On Reveal: Destroy your other cards at this location. Add their Power to this card.
[New] 3/3 – On Reveal: Destroy your other cards at this location. Add their Power to this card.

Venom has been the worst destroy enabler for a while now, averaging lower Power in destroy decks than his peers Deathlock and Carnage. While he’s seen fringe usage in decks with Taskmaster, we haven’t seen any of them really take off. We’d like to give one of Marvel’s most iconic anti-heroes space to shine, so we’re feeding him a hearty +2 Power buff.

Bonus OTA: Location, Location, Location

Variants

Attilan

After turn 3, shuffle your hand into your deck. Draw cards.

released

view card details Start a deck Decks with Attilan

Variants

Krakoa

On turn 5, takes over and plays both players’ cards for them.

released

view card details Start a deck Decks with Krakoa

Variants

Lechuguilla

After you play a card here, shuffle 3 rocks into your deck.

released

view card details Start a deck Decks with Lechuguilla

Variants

Morag

You can’t play your first card here each turn.

released

view card details Start a deck Decks with Morag

Variants

Plunder Castle

Only cards that cost 6 can be played here.

released

view card details Start a deck Decks with Plunder Castle

Variants

Sanctum Sanctorum

Cards can’t be played here.

released

view card details Start a deck Decks with Sanctum Sanctorum

Variants

Subterranea

Shuffle 5 rocks into each deck.

unreleased

view card details Start a deck Decks with Subterranea

As our library of locations increases, we’ll be making ongoing adjustments to hit the sweet spot we like for dynamic games. To that end, we’re reducing the appearance weights on a few of our existing locations, which means they’ll show up less frequently in your games. It’s unlikely you’ll consciously observe these changes, but we thought you’d like to know.

• Attilan
• Krakoa
• Lechuguilla
• Morag
• Plunder Castle
• Sanctum Sanctorum
• Subterranea

That’s all for now, thanks for stopping by! This is the second to last week of our OTA trial period, with a full-sized patch coming next week and the final May OTA coming on 5/25. While we’re not yet set on a plan going forward, we know that we want to continue doing regular OTA balance updates, just at longer intervals between changes. We’ll let you know when we have more to share!