Marvel Snap Balance OTA Analysis and Decks to Play: Is This Enough to Change the Meta?

I think nerfing Iron Patriot and Galacta was necessary to restore some balance to the game. As the developers have said in their notes, they are fine with some cards being strong and encouraging certain game plans or play patterns. I wouldn’t expect these nerfs to nuke either card (like they did with Hela in the previous OTA), but I think they could have been much harsher—especially with Iron Patriot to restore some diversity among 2-Cost cards. Firehair has basically just been dismissed because there was always a better option at the cost. It is a fine line, but there is a difference between strong and oppressive. Plus, the community might also just switch from one Season Pass card to another; Sam Wilson Captain America clearly represents the default option now.

With the buffs to Pixie and Sauron, as well as some 2-Cost cards with appealing abilities (Firehair, Adam Warlock, U.S. Agent, Victoria Hand…), here’s hoping the slightest possible nerf to Iron Patriot will be enough to open the door for other cards to exist.

Moving on to the buffs, they’re all pretty straight-forward because they all help a specific synergy. Sauron becoming a [2/2] will allow Shuri Sauron to drop Starbrand on Turn 3, but it will also allow the deck to run Zabu and play Sauron into a 4-Cost instead of creating a conflict on Turn 3.

As for Pixie and Ghost Rider, their additional power simply makes them a little more appealing in their respective decks. I still have a hard time believing this will have much of an impact on their contribution to the meta, though.

---

Best Decks Without Iron Patriot

Iron Patriot was every flexible build’s best friend, and it very well might still be after the update. These are the three best decks that were not using Iron Patriot before the OTA. As you can see, these are synergistic builds that focus on certain abilities, and they tend to be a little slow in the earlier turns because they’re setting up.

There are, however, a few things to note if the meta was to drift towards these:

• Sam Wilson Captain America is part of two of these three lists (the two best, in case you were curious).
• All three decks are focused on proactive development. With the exception of Red Guardian in Toxic (a card I would consider synergistic due to afflicting negative power) and Gorgon (which is an Ongoing card in an Ongoing deck), there aren’t cards in these lists that are designed to beat other decks.
• All of these decks want to build explosive late game turns where most of their power will be developed.

Iron Patriot was definitely a problematic card, and I’ve been a big advocate for a nerf to it for many weeks. However, all the best performing decks without it share a very similar formula, which could make the meta less diverse if they were to dominate.

There’s something the developers said in the OTA notes that I think is very important: “Encouraging players to care about the outcome of a location before the end of the game is a great incentive to make Marvel Snap feel more interactive.” I hope we don’t lose that part of the game as a result of these changes.

Just in case these super synergistic, energy cheating decks become too popular after the OTA, here’s a solid counter to all of them. Sam Wilson is still in there, though.

This feels like a good time to point out that Galacta as a [4/5] is most likely still good enough to play in most decks with Zabu or with a need to spread points flexibly.

---

Pixie, Sauron, and Ghost Rider

Here is the current best build for each of the buffed cards. I expected to find a good deck for Sauron, although I was surprised to see it was not a Shuri Sauron build and something more flexible instead.

I also knew there were some Pixie decks around, even if they were struggling to post decent results. The one above was one of the few that was able to post a positive Win Rate, but it kind of looks more like an Agent Venom deck than a Pixie one. Still, the now [2/2] represents another reason to Snap in addition to a way to bring a different set of cards than the traditional Small Good Cards list (in Iron Man, Gorr, and Mystique).

Ghost Rider was the worst of the three from a standalone card perspective, as the 4-Cost was never part of the best build for any archetype it was included in. Sure, Khonshu just released and the “Ghost Riders” discard deck is just starting its journey toward being refined. But that deck owes its name more to the [2/5] we got in High Voltage than the now [4/5]. I’m afraid an extra point of power won’t change that, and Ghost Rider might remain a peculiar inclusion or simply a stand-in for a missing card.

---

A Ton of Decks to Reconsider

This OTA could have little to no impact on the current meta, but let’s assume the change to Iron Patriot is enough to drive the card out of its current position; a lot of decks would be impacted. However, because almost every archetype included the 2-Cost, it would be logical to assume that the overall power of the game will be reduced while the rankings remain approximately the same.

Here are some archetypes that we have grown accustomed to during the Iron Patriot era, all of which are still able to perform even if the 2-Cost is not a part of the equation anymore.

Rather than decks, I feel like certain cards would lose a lot of their appeal since that appeal would have come from being an incredible follow-up to Iron Patriot. Rocket and Groot, Negasonic Teenage Warhead, and Juggernaut, although still great cards, will probably feel a little worse after this OTA.

---

Slow Starters to Keep an Eye On

I have covered the strong decks that are not using Iron Patriot and the flexible decks that might have to live without it. There is one last category, and it is probably the most important one: the decks that lost to Iron Patriot a lot. Indeed, most slow starters in Marvel Snap really didn’t enjoy being forced to give their opponent a big card at a bargain in the majority of their games. If the 2-Cost is out of the equation, these decks that are unable to flexibly contest a location could make a serious push in the near future.

Closing Words

Sauron is easily the most interesting buff, and Pixie could gain some popularity (although I don’t think the card will be much different with one extra power). But, at the end of the day, this OTA will be remembered as the time Iron Patriot was nerfed. Hopefully it’s not remembered as the time the first nerf to the card failed, prompting Second Dinner to act a second time.

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.