Table of Contents
I’ve already explained in previous balance related pieces how I tend to dislike an update that contains mostly nerfs. It isn’t so much about the nerfs being necessary; I have no problem with Arishem, Cassandra Nova, Thena, Nocturne, or Sandman being slightly tweaked for the worse. My issue lies in the feeling I get following the patch with all my decks being slightly worse.
When I see so many nerfs, even if none of them make a card unplayable, I’m particularly curious about the buffs because they represent the first step towards finding a replacement archetype.
I love the Mind Stone change. I think I actually asked for it in the OTA review after Thanos‘s rework, so it would be weird for me to not give this one a thumbs up. Man-Thing is also a good change, as the card definitely required some help to see more play (and the Junk archetype has been struggling a little lately). As for Lady Deathstrike and Angel, I will probably need to play with them to see if anything has really changed. I’m leaning towards a no, but I’m happy to be wrong here.
Overall, I think this OTA is pretty great. None of the nerfs are killing an archetype, just slightly lowering the power level of several of them. Plus, there are at least two new deckbuilding avenues to explore with Thanos and Man-Thing.
Only one question remains then: what should we play after the OTA?
DeathJunk
Marvel Boy and
den
Arguably, you could also play Destroy with Lady Deathstrike slotted in, but DeathJunk has a better surprise factor, which is ideal for racking up cubes after an update. If you wanted to test Angel, however, I would recommend doing so in a pure Destroy deck.
Fast Junk
There might be a lot of Destroy around after this OTA, and did I just suggest playing DeathJunk, so you might want to consider Armor in this deck instead of Polaris or Titania. Outside that constant threat for the Junk archetype, this OTA is pushing all the right buttons for it to thrive:
- The average power level of decks will be lower than it currently is considering the many slight nerfs, which is perfect for a deck built around disruption.
- Historically, Junk has been a very difficult match up for Thanos, so it would benefit from the return of the Mad Titan.
- A nerfed Nocturne and Thena means less flexibility to prevent a lane from being junked. Move cards are great against Junk, and Thena made Kitty Pryde a popular card in the meta.
Thanos
Okay, I know I just recommended two decks that would capitalize on you playing Thanos, so maybe this ends up being a bad idea. Still, the Thanos just got its most important Infinity Stone back, so I feel like we need to give it a shot. Plus, Thanos was known for being a very flexible archetype back in the day, so someone might find a good build in a difficult meta after a few tries. Early on, here’s what I would suggest: the KaZoo core has proven to be solid, and it could get more flexible with Thanos providing plenty of 1-Cost cards.
den
I know a lot of players enjoy this archetype, so you could also test the Ongoing build while you’re at it.
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Mill
Baron Zemo and his crew have been absent from Marvel Snap ever since Arishem joined the game since you can’t run a 24 card deck out of gas. If this OTA proves to be the one that finally stops Arishem from dominating the competitive sphere of the game, Mill might have a shot at finally coming back.
Plus, Nocturne‘s nerf means Magik is more reliable, which is more good news for the Mill archetype.
den
Killmonger is the twelfth card here to account for Thanos, another annoying deck due to it having an 18 card deck. It’s also for the current popularity of KaZoo and the possible return of Junk. However, plenty of other cards can fit the bill, such as Juggernaut, Red Guardian, or Rogue.
Closing Words
As I said in the introduction, I don’t think any of the nerfs are enough to make an archetype bad. Midrange Sandman, Good Cards Thena, and Silver Surfer will all remain very strong contenders, although it might feel like they have a little less power available at first. Arishem Loki is the only question mark; adding more cards to the player’s deck was suggested in the past, but it was only done after multiple cards that were played alongside Arishem were nerfed in previous OTAs.
I tried to offer options that currently aren’t seeing much play, but I’m sure you could easily keep your current deck after the OTA since nothing jumps out as super strong (except for maybe Junk and Destroy synergies).
Overall, this OTA might not change the meta much—especially if Thanos needs another round of buffs, which feels like it might be the case. If the Mad Titan already becomes competitive after this OTA, it could simply replace Arishem in the meta by representing that flexible tool box archetype. I don’t think we’re there yet, but the similarities between Thanos and Arishem decks have been glaring when you compare lists from both cards’ dominant periods. One replacing the other isn’t entirely out of the picture.
I hope this breakdown helped you get a better grasp of what to expect once the OTA goes live. As usual, you can find me on the Marvel Snap Zone community Discord to chat, or use my Twitter page for a direct message.
Good Game Everyone.
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