Marvel Snap Balance OTA Analysis and Decks to Play: AT LONG LAST!

Light nerfs to the dominant cards paired with meaningful buffs to open new avenues in terms of strategy. This is exactly what I want to see in an OTA, and I feel like it’s coming at the perfect time.

There is a lot to discuss about these changes, so there’s no need for a long introduction (and we have a picture for that anyway). Let’s dive right into it!

Toxin, Phastos, and Peni Parker Deserve Your Attention

I’ve said this plenty of times in the past: I really like it when borderline strong cards get an extra point of power. It’s usually not enough to make them significantly better, but it does remind us that they exist as options to build a deck around.

In this OTA, three cards received that treatment. I don’t think there’s a need for some long analysis here; the decks below were already using Toxin, Phastos, and Peni Parker, and they’re all happy to have an extra power to work with:

Infinity Ultron Becomes a Good Card

The last deck of the previous section was the only build I managed to have success with while testing Infinity Ultron. Basically, playing the card on Turn 5 felt so bad that it was often either a Turn 4 play or a skip. With Sera in the mix, it felt fine to play Infinity Ultron on Turn 5 because the Stones could be played with another 3-Cost on Turn 6. Plus, the deck loved to pull Ultron Mind Stone for a double Silver Surfer or Sage.

Now at [5/8], I still expect the card to be tricky to build around if the plan is to play it on Turn 5. Sure, the Stones that double its power and summon a Drone have tremendously improved, but the others won’t feel much better. This keeps Infinity Ultron pretty random on average.

For decks that are able to play the card on Turn 4, however, if they’re flexible enough to do something else when the Stones don’t fit the game plan then the card looks excellent. The other deck that was able to routinely play Infinity Ultron on Turn 4 was Arishem, so I guess there are two decks to try with the now [5/8] following this OTA.

Captain Carter Becomes an Even Better Card

By the standards of previous Season Pass cards, Captain Carter has been struggling throughout the season. It benefited from the Ongoing synergy and Zabu both being great in this meta, but we never got a “Captain Carter deck”, or even a “Captain Carter package of cards”.

That might change with the card becoming a [3/2]. Although that is less power (which, of course, decreases the overall buff Captain Carter can grant to your back row cards), it dramatically improves the card’s flexibility. It also gives the card a nice little synergy with Silver Surfer.

There will be a lot more to discuss about the card, as well as plenty of other ways to build a Surfer deck. Still, this synergy has to be on everyone’s mind after the OTA. Also, I feel like it’s a good time to share that I feel Sam Wilson will probably remains a top tier 2-Cost in the game… but we’ll touch on that later.

In decks that were already using Captain Carter, such as Thanos Ongoing, there is no reason to stop using the card. As a 3-Cost, Captain Carter will be much easier to use in the later turns. On Turn 6, for example, you can pair the Season Pass card with Captain America or Speed. If Wiccan is part of the equation to give you eight energy, you can play Captain Carter alongside Thanos (discounted by Time Stone) or Blue Marvel.

Speaking of Wiccan, Captain Carter now also makes her decks more reliable in triggering the 4-Cost to gain two energy.

The only potential negatives to note about this change are the loss of one power and the lost synergy with Zabu. Still, this change probably helps those decks be more reliable and less dependent on Zabu, so I would consider this a buff in all scenarios.

But Rhino Wins the “Most Interesting Buff” Award

While Infinity Ultron and Captain Carter should be improved versions of themselves with their buffs, Rhino is a completely new card. Let’s take a look at the synergies to explore with this now [3/6] that says On Reveal: Add a Rock to your side of this location.

Since Strange Supreme released, I’ve been using it in a Clog deck and feeding the new 2-Cost Rocks from Debrii (while using Viper to send them to my opponents in other cases). Naturally, Rhino should fit like a glove in that kind of strategy, representing a good follow up to Strange Supreme while also creating a target for Viper when the 2-Cost isn’t around.

A Rock isn’t the most appealing card, but there are plenty of ways to buff it in Marvel Snap, especially among the early pools of cards for players with a low collection level.

A Rock can also synergize with Dazzler and Mockingbird, granting extra power to the former and discounting the latter.

I am no fool; I know this new Rhino is coming into a super competitive 3-Cost pool, and I know it likely will not become a meta staple. But I don’t think every change needs to lead to a powerful card that can be used as a meta staple. Simply piquing our curiosity and giving us an hour or two of fun as we explore the various new ideas is enough for a successful change in my books. This new Rhino is exciting, so for now I don’t really care whether it is a “good card” or not.

Let’s Talk About Sam Wilson and Scream

First, let me start by saying I shared this feeling with the devs. It led to a discussion about the power of Scream and Sam Wilson over the past few months. We disagreed on some things, but I just wanted to give them a shout out for being open about it and taking the time to answer.

Now, in a lot of people’s minds (and in Second Dinner’s internal metrics), Scream was the best card in the game. I’m not particularly shocked by that news, but I do feel like this is only a quick look at a lot of parameters:

• Scream is mostly used in one deck: Scream Move
• Scream is typically joined by Sam Wilson, Iron Patriot, and other very strong cards in Marvel Snap
• Scream is a natural counter to Sam Wilson, which has been the most popular card in the game leading up to this OTA
• Scream‘s popularity, at least in the data I have access to, decreases as you look at ranks outside Infinite, meaning the card is mostly played by the best or most invested players

On the other hand, Sam Wilson Captain America is played in a ton of decks at all ranks, and it’s often the card players count on to stabilize their early game. I’ve never heard anyone say “You have an empty spot in your deck? Run Scream!”, but I have tons of YouTube comments telling me that about Sam Wilson from just yesterday.

Is Michael Jordan better than me at basketball? Yup. Would I win a match of basketball against Jordan if he had to play with a 100 kg weighted vest on? I like my chances.

All of this digression to say that I don’t mind the change to Scream; the card was indeed able to grow to a huge amount of power for its cost. Plus, Scream has been a top tier card—maybe the best in the game—before Sam Wilson even released. I guess it helped to be the counter to the best deck (Surtur 10 Power) back then, too. Still, it’s crazy how Scream continues to be the default way to keep in check all the synergies that end up being nerfed.

I feel like nerfing Sam Wilson would already make Scream less appealing since the card she draws the most power from would lose some popularity. Plus, if the problem is Scream‘s ability to scale, make her a [2/3] that steals one power. We’ve been down that road with Angela already, haven’t we?

My analysis here is that Sam Wilson as a [2/2] probably stays in a lot of decks because it’s still a potential [2/7] split across two cards. And we just got Strange Supreme to synergize with Cap's Shield.

I don’t disagree with the changes, though; rather, I feel like they will hurt Scream Move, which is one deck, instead of Sam Wilson Captain America, which is in almost every deck in the game at this point.

I would have loved to see the former Season Pass card become a [2/1]. Then if Scream Move was still a problematic archetype, just keep the nerf to Scream as well.

Closing Words

I love this OTA, don’t let the last section fool you. Would have I liked a harsher nerf to Sam Wilson? Absolutely. But that’s probably just me enjoying a chaotic meta from time to time, and I feel like we haven’t had one in quite a while.

However, I salute the quick change to Infinity Ultron, the risk represented by making Captain Carter a 3-Cost, and the rework to Rhino. As for the extra power, I don’t necessarily think Toxin needed it, but considering I see these small power-ups as a way to remind the community that these cards exist and are able to contribute, Toxin fits the bill.

This is a great OTA overall. Thank you Second Dinner!

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!