Table of Contents
I typically try to be positive about every balance update. First of all, it is important to understand that the developers have the entirety of the game balance in their hands on top of other considerations we have no idea about. Just having such frequent changes is already great, and it regularly entices me to at least think about synergies that I haven’t considered or completely dismissed because of their previous power.
Unfortunately, none of these changes really ring either of those bells. I don’t see any of these buffs and nerfs bringing a meaningful change to the game balance. Even worse, it feels like Second Dinner went back on their desire to not touch the early series cards because it could have big repercussions on the experience of new players. I’m just really confused about this OTA as a whole.
As for the buffs making me curious about an under-the-radar synergy, I don’t feel that either:
- Devil Dinosaur doesn’t need more power, it needs to not compete with standalone cards that are able to easily match its contribution without requiring you to build your entire deck around them.
- Bishop getting an extra power is cute, but it barely makes a difference compared to Sage and other cards that hide their true power until the end of the match.
- Patriot as [3/2] is basically the exact same card, especially in a meta with Enchantress as one of the most popular counter cards. I’ll accept this as a real change when I see Patriot dodge Red Guardian because of that extra power. Until then, I see this as a lost opportunity to synergize with Ravonna Renslayer.
- Redwing as a [3/5] is still unreliable, difficult to build around, and too random when Vulture and other high power Move cards exist.
There is one sentence from Redwing‘s paragraph in the patch notes that I want to touch on:
We’re always on the hunt for giving unique build-arounds to our premier mechanical archetypes, allowing players interesting new options to build decks and hybridize existing strategies.
The reason those decks are not working at the moment isn’t because we can’t build them; it’s because they are completely eclipsed by incredible standalone cards that can be used in almost any synergy. Most players probably don’t feel the need to play roulette when they have a reliable and super strong deck available at all times. This leads me to the supposedly biggest nerf of this OTA: Rocket and Groot is now a [3/2].
Honestly, the card deserves that nerf, but this doesn’t make the 3-Cost pool any weaker when you only need two or three of them in your deck. With Copycat, Cassandra Nova, Red Guardian, Juggernaut, or simply Zabu to reduce the need of 3-Cost cards, it is going to take a whole lot more for the current dynamic of building around strong standalone cards to change.
I’ll play along and act like this OTA might change something in the current meta, but I don’t think I have been less enthusiastic about a balance change in a bit—and I was already among those who believed the Galacta and Iron Patriot changes were not going to change a thing (which they didn’t). Let’s not pretend a [5/4] Devil Dinosaur or [3/2] Patriot will.
Time to Play Juggernaut Again
Rocket and Groot was an important card to two archetypes: Toxic and Scream Move. In other builds, it was just one of those great 3-Cost cards you could use without any drawbacks so there were few reasons not to include it.
The ability to Move (and to sort of control a location) is huge. On average, a [3/5] Rocket and Groot was incredible and not too difficult to achieve with priority as long as you could anticipate where your opponent was likely to play. As such, I have nothing against this nerf; it was warranted. However, my critique is more that if a [3/2] Rocket and Groot was to be weak enough to be replaced, it won’t change the dynamic of most decks it was included in.
Both Scream Move and Toxic can simply run Juggernaut as a replacement, and that nerf will either have no impact or be a simple card swap for a few decks. At best, it will give another 3-Cost card a shot at seeing more play.
den
The First Ghost Rider and Redwing Didn’t Have a Power Problem
Giving more power to underused cards is something I wholeheartedly support—when the extra power can lead to one of two possibilities:
- The card was good enough but an unexplored niche, so its inclusion in the OTA reminds everyone it exists.
- The card has a cool but niche ability and needs more power to feel useful in more situations.
I don’t think The First Ghost Rider had either of those problems. Instead, it was limited by the fact that the Discard synergy shows the opponent what has been discarded. When they see Iron Man or Gorr in your discard pile and Khonshu flying in and out of your hand a couple of times, they simply hit the Retreat button.
In that sense, The First Ghost Rider isn’t limited by its power but by the synergy it was designed to support. When it works out, you only get one or two cubes from opponents who are fully aware when they don’t stand a chance. When it doesn’t work out, even a [2/7] card couldn’t salvage the match.
What The First Ghost Rider needs is more cards that it can use as targets, not more power to entice us into running unreliable strategies. This logic can be copied and pasted for Redwing as well.
Decks For the Buffed Cards
I stated my point in the introduction, so I won’t repeat myself here. Instead, let’s take a look at a few decks you can try if you want to assess the impact of the extra power granted to Devil Dinosaur, Patriot, Bishop, The First Ghost Rider, or Redwing.
Devil Dinosaur
Devil Dinosaur is at its best with the new card Kahhori and the created cards synergy. You can build it in a more generic way with Wiccan at the helm to improve flexibility in the later turns, or more Ongoing heavy by using Moonstone and Mystique for big combo potential.
For those with a limited collection, here’s a Series 3 friendly deck with Devil Dinosaur.
Patriot
I think the buff to Patriot is the one I like the least in this OTA, mainly because that extra power won’t impact the card much and removes the interaction with Ravonna Renslayer. At the moment, the Ongoing synergy is in a great spot with Goliath and Captain Carter, which has naturally attracted specific counter cards like Enchantress and Super-Skrull. I don’t see how an extra power makes Patriot competitive in an environment with such tough competition and counter cards roaming around.
For those with a limited collection, here’s a Series 3 friendly deck with Patriot
Bishop
Bishop feels awfully similar to what I just said about Patriot. The card lost its synergy with Ravonna Renslayer in exchange for an extra power that doesn’t feel like it changes much. Indeed, Sage and Hit-Monkey will likely still compete with it in terms of power, except you don’t have to play them at a specific time or give your opponent an easy target for Shadow King, Shang-Chi, or Red Guardian.
I could also mention the likes U.S. Agent, Mockingbird, and Sasquatch in terms of cheap, high power cards that do not give opponents information about your potential.
I say this all with the context of someone who has access to a full collection; Bishop will gladly take that extra power in decks built with only Series 3 cards.
Redwing & The First Ghost Rider
I don’t feel like Redwing and The First Ghost Rider deserved more power instead of some more targets to improve their reliability. At the moment, both cards have some great decks with a limited number of games, which showcases their abilities can help certain strategies when they click. Unfortunately, they both feel pretty high roll based at the moment, as the statistics crumble once you look at several hundred games.
Closing Words
Maybe this is my own perception of the game talking. Maybe a lot of players in the community will be happy about this OTA. I’ll make sure to read what others have to say about this update, but I can’t help but think this does not change a thing about the current state of Marvel Snap. The only exception I can think of is for players who do not own the dominant cards and have to cobble something together with what they have.
I hope to be wrong about my analysis, and I wish to see a breath of fresh air come out of this OTA. I don’t expect it one bit, but surprises are even nicer when you least expect them.
To reach out, find me on the Marvel Snap Zone community Discord, or shoot me a direct message (@den_ccg) for specific stuff or coaching.
Good Game Everyone!
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