Marvel Snap Matchmaking Explained

Matchmaking inside of Marvel Snap is easily the topic we receive the most questions about here at the Marvel Snap Zone community, due to it’s importance to players in deciding when to progress and understanding who they’re playing against, and the overall Mystique around how and why it works the way it does. Today, we’re going to break down what we know about the matchmaking system, and try to dispel some of the myths surrounding how it works!

It is important to remember that all information here is subject to change as the developers release more information, and more facts and stats are datamined. This article will be kept up to date as more information becomes known and available.

March 2023 Update

The Marvel Snap Development Roadmap update for March 2023 shared some upcoming changes to the Ranked mode and the Infinite rank matchmaking experience. The timing of these changes are not yet known and final details are not yet locked in.

Ranked Mode Improvements

We’ve been hearing your feedback about Ranked Mode and we agree it’s time to make some changes. Ranked Mode is a tough feature to get right and we want to find the right balance through some additional iteration. We’re making a few updates before our next season that will address issues with some players feeling unable to progress or players that feel they are not facing worthy opponents. 

• Matchmaking Algorithm: We’re improving our matchmaking algorithm to create higher quality matches for all players–including an update that will prevent players from matching against an opponent more than 30 ranks away.
• Infinite MMR Floor: When someone reaches Infinite Rank, we’ll take a snapshot of their MMR (Matchmaking Rating). For the rest of the season, their MMR cannot fall below that value. This change is to address players that could intentionally lose many games at the Infinite Rank floor to drop their MMR for the next season. You’ll still be able to increase your MMR while playing in Infinite Rank.
• Infinite vs Infinite Matchmaking: Players that reach Infinite Rank will only match against other Infinite Rank players.

We know there’s more work to be done. We think the current journey to re-climb to a previous season’s rank is too difficult. To that end, we are exploring changes to how many cubes are required per rank, how many bonus cubes are granted when a player achieves a new Tier, and potentially how much of a reset is incurred each season. These numbers are actively being crunched right now, so we don’t have more details to share, but rest assured, our goal is to deliver a satisfying seasonal experience for players who wish to get better at the game, and see their rank increase as a result.

We’ve also seen a lot of feedback around matching by MMR and why we don’t simply match by Rank. The team has been weighing the positives and negatives of both these options. In a pure match-by-rank situation, it can lead to an awful start-of-season experience, as players are matching up against opponents who are far superior to them. However, we are exploring alternate ways of matchmaking to try to deliver a more satisfying overall experience, as there are some upsides to matching-by-rank. We have some ideas that we think can capture the best of both worlds, and will be trying out updates to the matchmaker in future seasons. We’ll absolutely be sharing more as we lock in details–you’ll hear more from us soon!

Infinite Rank Revamp

For most of us, the climb to Infinite Rank has been our peak achievement… and we have great news! We’re completely revamping Infinite Rank so your experience doesn’t end at Infinite – it’s just the beginning! We want to create an exciting and fair battleground for our most skilled players to compete on the Infinite Rank Leaderboard. Once players reach Infinite Rank, they are separated into their own ecosystem that will highlight two important numbers:

• Skill Rating Score: This score is your personal skill rating score; it’s similar to your matchmaking rating. You’ll be able to see how your skill rating score changes after each match. If you’re more interested in increasing your personal skill from season to season, this is the number for you.
• Leaderboard Rank: Your friend has always claimed that they’re the Best MARVEL SNAP Player – well, now we’ll find out. This is the leaderboard number based on the ranking order of each Infinite player’s skill rating score.

We’re fine-tuning the experience and visuals for the new Infinite Rank ecosystem and currently scoping out the work, but we’re hoping to release it as soon as possible! More details on timing soon!

What Do We Mean By “Matchmaking”

Fundamentally, Marvel Snap is a ranked game (at least for now, non-ranked gameplay is coming according to the Development Roadmap!) – Matchmaking refers to the process of how the game finds you an appropriate opponent in this ranked environment. The game doesn’t want you to be playing against unfair opponents, or accidentally creating an unpleasant play experience, and so it uses a variety of factors explained below to find the most suitable competitor to play against in a reasonable amount of time.

What Facts Do We Know About Matchmaking

The following statements are currently believed to be facts at time of writing. Where possible, we have confirmed this information with Teachers, Moderators and Development Team members inside the Official Marvel Snap Discord and provided a screenshot below:

– Matchmaking is Regional only, with the intention to evolve this to Global Matchmaking soon

Unsurprisingly, matchmaking was tied to region during Beta in order to keep animations smooth, the game flowing – and a number of other reasons a simple content creator isn’t privy to! – however, for now, this system has remained in place, likely to make sure these priorities remained smooth following launch with such a large increase in players expected. This explains why you’ll see the same players on the ladder more regularly than you might imagine, or why you may play more bots at certain times of the day. Global matchmaking will follow once Second Dinner are sure that no major issues will be caused by it.

– Matchmaking is determined by three different factors: MMR (Match Making Rating), Collector Level, and Rank on the ladder.

Matchmaking is neither a precise art, or particularly simple. The three factors that play a role in deciding your opponent are:

• MMR: MMR (or Match Making Rating) is a HIDDEN number that the Marvel Snap game keeps a track of. This number goes up when you beat players, and down when you lose to players. Your MMR will increase or decrease more dramatically if you are beating players the game believes are “better” than you, or losing to those it believes are “worse” than you.
• Collector Level: This is a big one – Matchmaking DOES NOT care what “Pool” of cards you are currently in, just what Collector Level you are currently at. We believe there is a range of levels the game sees as “okay to pair you against”, with this range increasing the longer you stay in the matchmaking queue.
• Rank: Every player has a “rank” on the ladder – that’s what the cubes you’re playing for add to! – resulting in a number and corresponding rank. These go from Rank 1: Recruit all the way to Rank 100: Infinity. Your current rank is taken into account when pairing you against an opponent, and much like Collector Level, it is believed the acceptable difference in Rank will grow and decrease based on the other two factors and time in the matchmaking queue. If you need more information about the Ranked Ladder, we have a full guide here:

At time of writing, we have no reason to believe any of these factors influence matchmaking more than any of the others, which leads us very nicely on to:

Update: New Developer comments seem to imply MMR has the most influence.

– “Waiting Around” At The End Of A Pool Of Cards WILL NOT Stop You From Playing Against Cards From The Next Pool.

Because your collection level is NOT the only factor in matchmaking, sitting at a lower collection level intentionally is by no means guaranteed to stop you playing against people with more or less “meta” decks than you, or cards from a Pool of Cards you are not currently in.

Additionally, Second Dinner have made it clear they don’t envision this tactic as following the designs they had about how players progress and play the game, and have developed tools and techniques to “encourage” people to progress as intended. While we do not currently have any details about what these techniques are, this statement is more than enough of a reason to throw the myth of “waiting to enter Pool Three” firmly in the bin.

– The Cards You Have, Deck Construction, And The Cards You Choose To Play Have NO EFFECT On Matchmaking.

Another commonly quoted belief in the undergrowth of Reddit, the Development Team have confirmed that at no point in your Marvel Snap journey does the deck you’re playing, the cards you have collected, or the amount of cards you choose to play from any Pool of Cards have any effect whatsoever on your matchmaking experience.

Closing Thoughts

There’s a lot of smokescreen around Marvel Snap Matchmaking – understandably so, given it’s a factor of the game most players really have no reason to have to involve themselves in and know the intricate details about – but as a result, many myths about the system and how it works have began to pollute the community, causing misinformation to spread and many players to wrongfully complain about factors that either simply don’t exist, or play no part in the matchmaking experience. Hopefully, with this breakdown, we’ll be able to help in putting some of those rumours to bed.

Have we missed anything important in this article? Know something we don’t, or disagree with what you’ve read? Feel free to join our community Discord to let us know, or come and talk on Twitter over at Marvel Snap Zone.

Until next time, I’ve been HowlingMines, and you’ve been amazing. See you out there in the Multiverse!