Marvel Snap Balance OTA Analysis and Decks to Play: Hooray for Meaningful Buffs!

Hi everyone! I am den, and I am extremely happy to discuss today’s OTA Balance Updates. This is exactly what I wish a Marvel Snap balance update would be: gentle nerfs and meaningful buffs.

Look at this beautiful picture. We have two cards losing a point of power due to their current strength in the meta, but both remain completely viable since their abilities are what we leverage first and foremost. Then we have five buffs, with two simply reverting cards that Second Dinner had to keep in check in the past. The other three are more impactful, and they open new potential avenues in the near future using these new tools.

What is there to say, then? Bravo Second Dinner; this patch is fantastic! Please give us more of these in the future.

Ah yes, I also have to discuss the potential impact on the meta.

Lady Deathstrike and Darkhawk Have Nothing to Fear

A nerf always sends a negative message about the future of a card because we all unconsciously compare it to what it was in the past. This is a big reason why we can sometimes let a perfectly fine card see no play, as it doesn’t stand the comparison with its old self.

For Lady Deathstrike and Darkhawk, I hope you won’t see either nerf as a reason to stop playing with them if you have a good deck with one included. Indeed, considering both cards heavily rely on their ability to perform, losing one power shouldn’t affect their performance too much.

Plus, while Darkhawk wasn’t seeing much play (it mostly relied on the surprise effect to boost its apparently “incredible performance”), Lady Deathstrike saw play in a variety of decks. As such, Darkhawk should still be able to benefit from no one expecting it, and Lady Deathstrike still has plenty of upsides for several builds.

It’s not like they nerfed Annihilus, after all. That would have been a bigger blow to both cards’ abilities to see play based on each of their best performing decks.

Darkhawk

Created by den

, updated 12 days ago

0

4x Collection Level 18-214 (Pool 1)

3x Collection Level 486+ (Pool 3)

1x Series 4 Rare – Collection Level 486+ (Pool 4)

4x Series 5 Ultra Rare – Collection Level 486+ (Pool 5)

3.1

Cost

0-
1
2
3
4
5+

4.4

Power

0-
1
2
3
4
5+

Lady Deathstrike

Created by den

, updated 12 days ago

0

2x Collection Level 222-474 (Pool 2)

3x Collection Level 486+ (Pool 3)

3x Series 4 Rare – Collection Level 486+ (Pool 4)

4x Series 5 Ultra Rare – Collection Level 486+ (Pool 5)

2.9

Cost

0-
1
2
3
4
5+

3.5

Power

0-
1
2
3
4
5+

Leech is Now a Great Blink Target

The new Season Pass card has quickly established a strong connection with Jubilee. A low power 4-Cost card is almost as good as Electro for Blink‘s ability. With this buff, Leech looks like a perfect candidate for that role as well. Exchanging it for another card in your deck is as good as it gets once the ability has triggered.

I’m not entirely sure which deck to throw Leech into yet, but, considering how many strong On Reveal cards are part of the current meta, it would be a waste to not give the now 4-Cost card a try. In the worst case, Leech should be a fine addition to Cerebro 2 since it’s an archetype that mostly relies on disruption to win games.

Here are a few ideas:

Thanos

Created by den

, updated 11 days ago

0

2x Collection Level 222-474 (Pool 2)

2x Collection Level 486+ (Pool 3)

7x Series 5 Ultra Rare – Collection Level 486+ (Pool 5)

1x Season Pass

4.3

Cost

0-
1
2
3
4
5+

6

Power

0-
1
2
3
4
5+

Cerebro 2

Created by den

, updated 12 days ago

1

1x Collection Level 1-14

1x Collection Level 18-214 (Pool 1)

2x Collection Level 222-474 (Pool 2)

5x Collection Level 486+ (Pool 3)

2x Series 5 Ultra Rare – Collection Level 486+ (Pool 5)

1x Recruit Season

2.6

Cost

0-
1
2
3
4
5+

1.8

Power

0-
1
2
3
4
5+

Move

Created by den

, updated 12 days ago

0

1x Collection Level 1-14

1x Collection Level 18-214 (Pool 1)

2x Collection Level 222-474 (Pool 2)

2x Collection Level 486+ (Pool 3)

1x Series 4 Rare – Collection Level 486+ (Pool 4)

4x Series 5 Ultra Rare – Collection Level 486+ (Pool 5)

1x Season Pass

3.5

Cost

0-
1
2
3
4
5+

4.3

Power

0-
1
2
3
4
5+

High Evo

Created by den

, updated 12 days ago

0

4x Collection Level 222-474 (Pool 2)

2x Collection Level 486+ (Pool 3)

2x Series 5 Ultra Rare – Collection Level 486+ (Pool 5)

1x Season Pass

3x Starter Card

4

Cost

0-
1
2
3
4
5+

6.3

Power

0-
1
2
3
4
5+

Lockjaw

Created by den

, updated 12 days ago

0

1x Collection Level 1-14

2x Collection Level 222-474 (Pool 2)

6x Collection Level 486+ (Pool 3)

1x Series 4 Rare – Collection Level 486+ (Pool 4)

1x Series 5 Ultra Rare – Collection Level 486+ (Pool 5)

1x Season Pass

4

Cost

0-
1
2
3
4
5+

5.1

Power

0-
1
2
3
4
5+

Mass Disruption

Created by den

, updated 12 days ago

0

2x Collection Level 18-214 (Pool 1)

3x Collection Level 222-474 (Pool 2)

2x Collection Level 486+ (Pool 3)

4x Series 5 Ultra Rare – Collection Level 486+ (Pool 5)

1x Season Pass

3.1

Cost

0-
1
2
3
4
5+

4.6

Power

0-
1
2
3
4
5+

Klaw and Ultron Got a Big Power Boost

Leech probably got the biggest buff considering the current environment, but both Klaw and Ultron got enough to be considered in certain decks. Klaw in particular should feel very different when granting eight power to another location instead of the current six. This number represent a Vision, an Alioth, or a Jeff the Baby Land Shark + Ms. Marvel or Doctor Doom. Alioth isn’t seeing much play anymore, but the others remain a significant part of the Marvel Snap environment. Now that Klaw is able to compete with them, he got a huge boost to his competitive potential.

As for Ultron, the card will have to be tested to feel how much power this bonus really means.

I compiled a few builds using both cards if you want to test them for yourself. I’m not sure which one I like more for Klaw, but the Ongoing Patriot deck that mixes Ultron and the The Living Tribunal synergy doesn’t look too bad.

Junk

Created by den

, updated 12 days ago

0

2x Collection Level 18-214 (Pool 1)

5x Collection Level 486+ (Pool 3)

1x Series 4 Rare – Collection Level 486+ (Pool 4)

4x Series 5 Ultra Rare – Collection Level 486+ (Pool 5)

3

Cost

0-
1
2
3
4
5+

3.3

Power

0-
1
2
3
4
5+

Ongoing

Created by den

, updated 12 days ago

1

1x Collection Level 1-14

3x Collection Level 18-214 (Pool 1)

3x Collection Level 486+ (Pool 3)

1x Series 4 Rare – Collection Level 486+ (Pool 4)

3x Series 5 Ultra Rare – Collection Level 486+ (Pool 5)

1x Recruit Season

2.9

Cost

0-
1
2
3
4
5+

3.5

Power

0-
1
2
3
4
5+

Move

Created by den

, updated 12 days ago

0

1x Collection Level 1-14

2x Collection Level 18-214 (Pool 1)

1x Collection Level 222-474 (Pool 2)

1x Collection Level 486+ (Pool 3)

1x Series 4 Rare – Collection Level 486+ (Pool 4)

6x Series 5 Ultra Rare – Collection Level 486+ (Pool 5)

3.3

Cost

0-
1
2
3
4
5+

3.8

Power

0-
1
2
3
4
5+

Lockdown

Created by den

, updated 12 days ago

0

1x Collection Level 18-214 (Pool 1)

3x Collection Level 222-474 (Pool 2)

2x Collection Level 486+ (Pool 3)

6x Series 5 Ultra Rare – Collection Level 486+ (Pool 5)

3.4

Cost

0-
1
2
3
4
5+

3.7

Power

0-
1
2
3
4
5+

Mocking Patriot

Created by den

, updated 12 days ago

0

1x Collection Level 18-214 (Pool 1)

7x Collection Level 486+ (Pool 3)

2x Series 5 Ultra Rare – Collection Level 486+ (Pool 5)

2x Recruit Season

2.8

Cost

0-
1
2
3
4
5+

3

Power

0-
1
2
3
4
5+

Ongoing Patriot

Created by den

, updated 12 days ago

0

1x Collection Level 18-214 (Pool 1)

7x Collection Level 486+ (Pool 3)

1x Series 4 Rare – Collection Level 486+ (Pool 4)

2x Series 5 Ultra Rare – Collection Level 486+ (Pool 5)

1x Starter Card

4

Cost

0-
1
2
3
4
5+

3.9

Power

0-
1
2
3
4
5+

Closing Words

I focused more on trying to build decks around the buffed cards than going into lots of detail about the current environment. Not only are we still very early in the season (meaning the meta is bound to change in the near future), that is also what this OTA inspired me to do: build decks around various ideas with each card to see what could be done with the buffs.

I already said this in the introduction, but I love this OTA and I hope for many similar ones in the future. Let me know what you think in the comments below, or find me in the usual places, the Marvel Snap Zone Community Discord or my Twitter page.

Good Game Everyone.