Marvel Snap OTA Balance Update Analysis and Decks to Play: WAIT, Shuri is Back?!

Lately, the changes in the OTAs have been a little timid in my opinion. The good folks at Second Dinner were mostly trying to help cards that were struggling, but many of the changes haven’t managed to have an impact on the metagame (outside of the few days the cards were played due to curiosity). Today might be a whole different story. Indeed, today’s OTA card balance updates comes with a mix of cards we know were good in the past, cards we have been dying to see buffed for months now, and, arguably, the best 6-Cost card in the game taking a nerf. I’m not taking many risks when I say this OTA will impact the metagame, one way or another.

First, as you probably read in the title, Shuri gets two of her best friends buffed in Red Skull and Nimrod. We already know what happened the last time Shuri and Red Skull paired up together. It would be quite ironic to see the deck back at the same time we also have a Lockjaw deck dominating the fray.

Then, Nimrod gets a long awaited buff, in a moment where Destroy is doing some nice things in the metagame (since it has been left completely unchecked so far). Most lists are not playing the 5-Cost right now, instead building around Knull, Death, and Deadpool most of the time. But, with an extra power, maybe Nimrod will find a spot in the deck and bring Shuri along for the ride.

The other changes are not to be overlooked either. Nick Fury as a 4-Cost puts it in the discussion for the Devil Darkhawk deck, where Zabu is a core piece. The Collector and Devil Dinosaur will definitely want to try the new support card.

Last, we have Mr. Marvel Snap himself, the most played 6-Cost card, the auto-include whenever you don’t know what to top your deck with. He’s Wave‘s new best fiend since her change, as well as a powerful ally in the Lockdown synergy: Doctor Doom.

To be honest, this change will either lead to nothing or be one of the most impactful ones in recent memory. The card is now 13 power in total, which is still among the best 6-Cost cards. Nevertheless, we all have a tendency to compare a nerfed card with its previous version, judging it very harshly as a result. If Doctor Doom no longer makes the cut in just half the decks it is being played in, it could be a huge change. On the other hand, I could very well imagine Doctor Doom keeping its spot in most archetypes and just having a slightly weaker global power level as a result.

I could write for days on this OTA. Still, decks tend to tell a much better story than words in a card game, so let’s explore some builds!

Red Skull Rekindles Its Love For Shuri

Shuri Ongoing

Created by den

, updated 10 months ago

0

3x Collection Level 18-214 (Pool 1)

1x Collection Level 222-474 (Pool 2)

6x Collection Level 486+ (Pool 3)

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

1x Series 5 Ultra Rare – Collection Level 486+ (Pool 5)

2.8

Cost

0-
1
2
3
4
5+

4.5

Power

0-
1
2
3
4
5+

Shuri Stature

Created by den

, updated 10 months ago

0

1x Collection Level 18-214 (Pool 1)

7x Collection Level 486+ (Pool 3)

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

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

3.4

Cost

0-
1
2
3
4
5+

4.9

Power

0-
1
2
3
4
5+

Shuri Move

Created by den

, updated 10 months ago

0

1x Collection Level 18-214 (Pool 1)

8x Collection Level 486+ (Pool 3)

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

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

2.9

Cost

0-
1
2
3
4
5+

4.5

Power

0-
1
2
3
4
5+

Invisible Shuri

Created by den

, updated 10 months ago

0

1x Collection Level 1-14

1x Collection Level 18-214 (Pool 1)

1x Collection Level 222-474 (Pool 2)

8x Collection Level 486+ (Pool 3)

1x Series 5 Ultra Rare – Collection Level 486+ (Pool 5)

3.3

Cost

0-
1
2
3
4
5+

5.2

Power

0-
1
2
3
4
5+

Shuri and Red Skull have been so strong they created an entire archetype around them, which is the first deck on the list. The duo has also proven it can be strong enough to just be added to several decks where one already had other strong 5-Costs to target with Shuri.

Black Bolt and Stature come to mind, as that deck existed at the start of the Nebula season. Vision and Aero have been solid targets as well, and they could serve as the top cards in a Move package that received a lot of help this month.

Last, the Invisible Woman build enables a different play pattern, where one can play Shuri on Turn 4, hide Taskmaster on Turn 5, and still double the power of the card played behind Shuri on Turn 6.

We should expect big things from this Red Skull buff. I mean, literally, expect a card with a very big power number on it.

Nimrod Was Just One Power Away From Being Good

Destroy Ramp

Created by den

, updated 10 months ago

1

4x Collection Level 18-214 (Pool 1)

1x Collection Level 222-474 (Pool 2)

5x Collection Level 486+ (Pool 3)

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

3.6

Cost

0-
1
2
3
4
5+

3.3

Power

0-
1
2
3
4
5+

Nimrod never really made it in the all-in Destroy decks, mostly because five energy was too much to invest in one card. However, Nimrod has some dedicated builds with Destroyer, Shuri, and sometimes Galactus (although the change really hurt that synergy). In this deck, the concept is fairly simple; we are playing similar to an Electro Ramp deck, except we destroy things.

There are two basic patterns to follow:

• Electro → Nimrod → Destroyer or Arnim Zola → Arnim Zola on Destroyer or Knull, or just Destroyer.
• Shuri → Nimrod → Destroyer.

With cards like Nova, Bucky Barnes, and Wolverine, we can have some impact in the early stages of the game and then get some nice fireworks when everything blows up with Destroyer.

DeathPool

Created by den

, updated 10 months ago

1

5x 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)

2.9

Cost

0-
1
2
3
4
5+

3.3

Power

0-
1
2
3
4
5+

Another curiosity I have around Nimrod is whether the card can now fit in the more traditional Destroy builds. To be honest, I have never been a fan of Knull here, as Turn 6 felt better playing multiple cards in a flexible way rather than slamming a big Knull.

With a Shuri into Nimrod setup, Turn 6 with two destroy abilities sounds quite strong, allowing you to develop points on all three lanes (especially if Venom is one of those effects). It sounds like a decent back-up plan when one does not draw into Deadpool, and Shuri can still contribute to that primary game plan if needed.

Nick Fury Finally Looks Like the Boss

Furious Darkhawk

Created by den

, updated 10 months ago

1

2x Collection Level 18-214 (Pool 1)

1x Collection Level 222-474 (Pool 2)

5x Collection Level 486+ (Pool 3)

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

1x Series 5 Ultra Rare – Collection Level 486+ (Pool 5)

1x Starter Card

2.9

Cost

0-
1
2
3
4
5+

3.1

Power

0-
1
2
3
4
5+

Nick Fury released as the September 2022 Season Pass card, and it has never seen play since. For the last nine months, not one metagame has featured Nick Fury, while Devil Dinosaur has had a deck in every single one of them. This should tell you how bad a 5-Cost Nick Fury was.

So why would a 4-Cost be better? Don’t get me started!

• Zabu synergy to discount Nick Fury, potentially playing Mystique plus Nick Fury on Turn 6 with a Devil Dinosaur played on Turn 5.
• Devil Dinosaur synergy. Now both cards do not conflict in the 5-Cost slot.
• Quinjet synergy. We now have an extra turn to play the 6-Cost cards we get from Nick Fury.
• The Collector synergy. Nick Fury potentially seeing play would be a big boost to the card.

SafetyBlade sent me some decks if you want to take a look at them. In mine, Iron Lad is the flexible card. I’m on the verge of playing America Chavez because of how impactful the Quinjet into Zabu start might be now. Shang-Chi could also be totally valid.

Safety 1

Created by den

, updated 10 months ago

0

1x Collection Level 18-214 (Pool 1)

2x Collection Level 222-474 (Pool 2)

5x Collection Level 486+ (Pool 3)

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

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

1x Starter Card

2.5

Cost

0-
1
2
3
4
5+

3.4

Power

0-
1
2
3
4
5+

Safety 2

Created by den

, updated 10 months ago

2

2x Collection Level 18-214 (Pool 1)

2x Collection Level 222-474 (Pool 2)

5x Collection Level 486+ (Pool 3)

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

1x Series 5 Ultra Rare – Collection Level 486+ (Pool 5)

2.7

Cost

0-
1
2
3
4
5+

2.8

Power

0-
1
2
3
4
5+

Closing Words

The nerf to Doctor Doom is honestly very difficult to assess, so I thought I would touch on that in this last section. Before the nerf, here are the archetypes where Doctor Doom was a popular inclusion:

• Lockjaw
• Good Cards Wave
• Good Cards Stature
• Iron Patriot
• Lockdown
• Pure Evolutionary
• Devil Darkhawk
• Electro Ramp

Yes, that’s quite a lot of archetypes, which is exactly why it’s impossible to know the true implications of the change.

In my opinion, Electro Ramp, Lockdown, Lockjaw, and Good Cards Wave should keep the card. It is important to their game plan, so those decks will naturally become a little worse than they were. Iron Patriot, Devil Darkhawk, and Good Cards Stature should be able to move on from it quite easily. Even Pure Evolutionary should be able to run a card like Magneto instead and be just fine.

No matter what, this change – and this OTA in general – should have a huge impact on the metagame. I have a big tournament this weekend, the UK Creator Clash hosted by Kawatek, so this should be fun to prepare for.

As usual, you can find me on the Marvel Snap Zone community Discord, or follow my Twitter page where I share decks and biased opinions about the game.

Good Game Everyone.