Marvel Snap Balance OTA Analysis and Decks to Play: Are Slight Nerfs Enough?

Each DoomBot 2099 losing one power should have some impact because it will reduce the overall power of Doctor Doom 2099 by an average of three to four power. It might not sound like much, but those decks are typically only able to win through sheer power since the 4-Cost requires you to abandon all hope of flexibility.

On the other hand, I am a little more skeptical about the changes to Wiccan and Surtur since both cards can still serve as foundational pieces to their archetypes.

Surtur not triggering more than twice will often mean it is a [3/11] rather than a [3/13] on game’s end, which is significant. However, this still allows the card to discount Skaar, which is the main play pattern for that deck. This nerf only matters if your opponent is playing Mobius M. Mobius in my opinion. They also included a buff to Scorpion in this OTA, which could end up being the more significant change in case the 10 Power archetype still needs to be targeted.

As for Wiccan, I think the card should have been a [4/6] from the very beginning. It’s still just as Snap worthy when you get it out on Turn 3 or 4 while meeting the requirement. This will at least make Wiccan a bit worse if you don’t trigger his ability.

I expect less of all three of these cards to be in the meta, but I will attribute most of that reduction to the psychological impact of a nerf rather than the cards being significantly weaker. Plus, if that lost popularity goes to Bullseye Discard or another popular deck, we might not really feel the difference.

I wish this OTA did more, either with harsher nerfs or by adjusting more cards, just for the sake of really shaking up the meta—especially with Sanctum Showdown and its three new cards pushed back to the last week of the season.

Fortunately, buffs are also part of this OTA, and all four of them actually look pretty good! I’m going to focus on those in this article to see if I can craft a deck or two that might be able to shake things up.

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Scorpion

Since Iron Patriot released, the power of early cards has been extremely important because winning the location you play Iron Patriot on is often Snap worthy. As such, extra power on an early card can have a major impact on its playability. This could be a big change for Scorpion!

And with this last one I have a perfect transition to talk about Sunspot!

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Sunspot

As a [1/0], I really didn’t like Sunspot. You had to pay an energy to do nothing and then had to pass on at least three more energy to grow it to the expected value for a 1-Cost in today’s game. This typically meant you needed to have at least two other cards that rewarded you for not spending energy for Sunspot to be worth it. Because of this, I was playing Nebula and Misty Knight and rarely Sunspot in all those decks. As a [1/1], Sunspot at least rewards you with one point when being played, which should already alleviate the feeling that the card does nothing in certain scenarios.

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Sera

One of the most powerful cards in the game back in the early days, we’ve seen a lot of new ways to cheat energy released, and Sera has slowly disappeared from the competitive discussion. I’m not sure an extra power will change the fortune of Sera much, but it could have some impact when combined with Wiccan also losing power.

Plus, Sera is already part of certain archetypes, so those just got an extra point for free. One area of concern I have is the presence of Mobius M. Mobius in the current meta, which could limit how impactful this change to Sera might be right after the OTA.

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Adam Warlock

I’ve already showcased a lot of decks, and I still have the most interesting card to discuss! Honestly, I could write an entire article about it. With this change, Adam Warlock goes back to its old incarnation with a significant boost: it now gives your opponent the choice to give you power or cards. Let’s take a look at the results of a Turn 2 Adam Warlock:

• Never win the lane from Turn 2 to Turn 5 → [2/4]. Decent to contribute to that lane for the final turn.
• Won the lane once from Turn 2 to Turn 5 → [2/3] + draw a card. They will never make a base [2/3] with “draw a card” as an ability. Possibly bonkers.
• Won the lane twice from Turn 2 to Turn 5 → [2/2] + draw two cards. Easily a contender for best card in the game.

You probably get the idea now, so I’ll skip the rest of the list. Also, I didn’t count Turn 6 since the card draw does not matter (unless Magik has something to say). However, the power gain could be impactful since losing a location by one point suddenly becomes a tie.

Overall, I really like this new Adam Warlock. It looks much more suited to the current Marvel Snap and like a strong addition to decks with a need to draw cards (that’s all the decks, by the way). Plus, the card synergizes extremely well with the current trend to start strong, which means you could very well draw on Turn 2 and then let your opponent pick what they want to give you from there.

In a sense, Adam Warlock wants to do the same thing as Iron Patriot, which happens to be one of the most impactful card in the game currently. These two in the same deck alongside the current Season Pass card Sam Wilson Captain America represent a scary trio of 2-Cost cards that you can run in almost any flexible archetype.

Just this synergy is enough to make me a believer in the new Adam Warlock. But the list doesn’t stop here! Bast and Agent Venom can boost its power, Ravonna Renslayer can lowers its cost, and you can even use Adam Warlock as bait for your Rocket and Groot or Negasonic Teenage Warhead… Red Guardian has never felt more necessary to have in your deck.

Unfortunately, it is probably already time to say goodbye to Thaddeus Ross because of this new Adam Warlock.

_{I’m highlight the decks I believe Adam Warlock makes the most sense in, either because the card draw would help these decks a ton or the zero power can be synergized with. I believe Adam Warlock could become a top tier standalone 2-Cost in a lot of archetypes, but I won’t list the likes of Arishem or 10 Power here.}

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Closing Words

I believe the buffs in this OTA are good ones, especially the change to Adam Warlock. The other three also deserved their extra power, so I’ve got nothing but thumbs up. I wish a little more was done on the nerf side of things, although I don’t think the current meta is in a bad place. Still, the game’s recent releases—especially the Season Pass cards—have made Marvel Snap a war zone for early points and priority. As such, I believe cards that benefit the most from this environment can receive harsh treatment with the possibility to bump them back up later on.

The game is in a good place at the moment, although we are slowly drifting towards the best standalone cards once again being dominant and used in most decks. I hope this OTA isn’t remembered for Adam Warlock joining Iron Patriot and Sam Wilson Captain America to form an Avengers-adjacent trio of 2-Cost cards. Otherwise, the game will remain mostly dominated by proactive flexible strategies that are able to slot in counter cards to target the synergistic decks, which puts them in total control of the Snap mechanic as a result.

That’s it for this OTA! 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.