Table of Contents
I am always conflicted when I see unused cards get an extra point of power as a buff. On the one hand, it is great to see Second Dinner remind the community that these cards exist; it incentivizes us to give them another try. On the other hand, these cards are so far back when it comes to competitive options that just one power never feels like enough to truly get them back in the discussion.
I like this OTA overall, but, as always, I find myself wanting more to create a bigger ripple across Marvel Snap. In particular, I would like to see more than just one of these six buffed card make it into an archetype we have been playing for a while already.
I also have to talk about Move a little (even though the patch note tells us everything we need to know). Bounce Move was a great yet difficult-to-master deck. At first, only the best players used it; however, as time passed, more people invested the needed time to play it well, which led to Bounce Move proliferating outside just the high Infinite ranks. The deck should still be playable, but it might struggle to dominate through sheer amount of points—especially against other decks with a very high ceiling. This could push Pure Move to be more of a threat since that build packs disruptive cards (which means it doesn’t rely solely on its own development to win games).
The whole point of this OTA is to find which of the buffed cards have a shot at being a competitive option once again. To that end I’ve built some decks for each to see what looks appealing and which cards are doomed to be forgotten again in the near future.
Spectrum
Out of the six buffed cards, I believe Spectrum might have the strongest synergies to explore in the current meta. Indeed, Doctor Doom 2099 is still a great card that summons plenty of Ongoing DoomBot 2099s for Spectrum to buff. Plus, the Ongoing synergy as a whole is doing great at the moment, with Iron Hand being an elite archetype ever since Victoria Hand and Moonstone released. As such, I think this one has a shot at seeing some action after this OTA.
Namora
Namora already has a couple of solid decks, so the extra power can only help them out. Still, I doubt this change will have much of an impact. Instead, I would have loved to see Namora actually lose a power to become a [5/5] and grant an extra power to her allies, from +5 to +6. This is still effectively +1 power overall, but it incentivizes players to build around Namora‘s ability rather than just seeing if her decks improve with an extra point of power added to the card.
Leader
This is the change I have the least faith in, especially if the current meta doesn’t drastically change. At the moment, the synergistic decks are dominant while the flexible decks don’t pack many 6-Cost cards that would be great to copy. As such, apart from the occasional Alioth that would cancel itself (if you have priority), I don’t see Leader impacting many games.
There is the dream of copying a Gorr or The Infinaut from certain decks, but this occurrence won’t happen enough for Leader to be worth running instead of playing Gorr or another strong 6-Cost yourself.
One scenario that would make Leader more appealing is if the change to Sandman helps the card return to the meta. This could push for more high-cost cards to be played, helping Leader‘s stock in the process.
Basically, Leader needs to be played in specific situations or environments, neither of which are happening at the moment. Here are some decks that try to create those situations in case you want to give Leader a chance.
Sandman
Mobius M. Mobius is growing in popularity at the moment as a possible answer to several dominant synergistic decks, so I guess Sandman would probably annoy those as well. It wouldn’t kill the Bullseye Swarm duo, nor would it make Mister Negative Retreat on the spot, so I don’t expect Sandman to become a huge part of the meta like Mobius M. Mobius is becoming. However, the card is annoying to basically any deck trying to be flexible with their energy usage, so it could impact more games than Mobius M. Mobius does.
Ms. Marvel
The condition can be difficult to respect with so many strong cards available in the 2- to 4-Cost range. Still, Ms. Marvel was a potential [4/14] before the OTA and is now a [4/15], which is arguably one of the highest power outputs possible for that much energy. As time passed, a lot of 4-Costs without such strict requirements have emerged (Galacta, Wiccan, Doctor Doom 2099, etc.), so Ms. Marvel naturally lost her appeal. This might still be the best standalone card on the list of buffed cards in this OTA, especially for those who skipped Doctor Doom 2099 back in December.
Luna Snow
As the most recent release on this list of buffed cards, Luna Snow might still be fresh in the memory of some players, which means finding decks to slot her into could be a little easier than for the other cards. Plus, her extra power breaks the typical “3-Cost cards are good with five power” mold, in addition to being an energy provider. In this meta with Iron Patriot being prevalent, Luna Snow could become a great follow up since she would beat the typical [3/5] cards that opponents play. I think Luna Snow will likely see play after this OTA.
Closing Words
Overall, I like this OTA because it goes in the direction I support the most: give the players more options and let them find what works and what doesn’t. However, I’m still not convinced that most of these changes will be impactful enough to change the current landscape. At best, the extra power given to these six cards will serve as a reminder that they exist and still have some merit. But, after the Oh I forgot this deck was fun to play period, I’m afraid we might go back to the usual suspects because they are either more reliable or packing more power.
If some change to the current meta was to happen, I don’t think it will come from any of these six cards. However, if it does, I believe several of the buffed cards will have a shot at seeing play.
I hope this breakdown helped you get a better grasp of what to expect from the OTA. As usual, you can find me on the Marvel Snap Zone community Discord to chat, or shoot me a direct message @den_ccg on discord if you were looking for coaching.
Good Game Everyone.
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