Table of Contents
OTAs like this one with a lot of cards gaining or losing a power are my favorite, but they’re also the most disliked OTAs. I love them because they show that the meta is in a pretty good place if the developers believe we’re only a few small adjustments away from ideal balance. On the other hand, most of these changes are very straightforward, which leaves little space for guessing.
Hela is much worse—except when you get Luke Cage to cancel the afflicted cards. Naturally, the 3-Cost will have to be slotted in basically all future Hela decks. Considering it was already a popular inclusion, the Goddess of Death should be just fine.
Marvel Boy is almost the same card since you care much more about the power it grants to your 1-Costs rather than its own power. The card now synergizes with Ravonna Renslayer, too, so there might be something to dig into there. Last among the nerfs is War Machine. Still, we all would have welcomed a [4/6] War Machine with the ability changed to Ongoing at the start of the season, so it still is a much better card overall in my book.
The buffs are much more interesting to look at, especially because multiple cards can transform one power into a game winning situation. Black Panther will make that power become two at the very least, and Symbiote Spider-Man is now more exciting when you merge him with power related abilities. Obviously, Galactus is part of that group as well; alongside being a great Symbiote Spider-Man target, that one power can be the difference between a successful On Reveal or a miss. These three all have my attention as potential players in the future meta.
Speaking of cards that are able to make an impact, I don’t think Kraven and Hercules will be much stronger with an extra power. However, the Move synergy is a top tier contender right now, so these cards have the perfect environment to shine in if they’re good enough to find a slot in a Move deck.
Negasonic Teenage Warhead rounds out the buffed cards, but this is a card that you clearly play for its ability. The fear of missing and getting nothing for your three energy is the biggest hurdle for the card to see play, though. An extra power doesn’t make Negasonic Teenage Warhead insanely better, but it does improve the card’s floor.
Overall, the nerf to Hela and the buff to Galactus are the biggest changes to note here. They should directly impact the play rate of both cards as soon as the OTA goes live. While the other two nerfs might not lead to any meaningful impact, several buffs are intriguing enough to give Negasonic Teenage Warhead or Symbiote Spider-Man a new look.
With all that said, one question remains: what should you play?
Move Out of Move’s Way!
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This is one of the best decks in the game right now, and nothing in the OTA looks like it will be a threat for it. Quite the opposite, in fact, with Kraven and Hercules potentially joining in on the fun. I didn’t add either of the two buffed cards because I don’t think they will ultimately make it into the deck, but, if you want to try them, this is the place to start.
Cloak and Doctor Strange would be my first choices to remove for Hercules. I do believe the 3-Cost is stronger than either of those cards, but it is too much of a risk considering how many Move opponents you might face.
Also, the synergy has started to mix with Lockdown lately, creating of the best Cube Averages in the game in the Infinite rank (0.5 at the moment I’m writing). This will be a great opportunity to see if one less power on War Machine means anything. Also, this is probably where I would test Kraven if I had to pick an archetype.
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Multiple Buffs to the On Reveal Deck
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Whenever I have to find ideas for buffed cards, I like to go and check the best performing decks (even if they are posting very average numbers). This time, I found this one, except it ran Forge instead of Zabu (but I believe the deck wants to get its 4-Cost cards out as early as possible, hence the swap).
The deck I found had a 46% Win Rate and just barely made it to a positive Cube Average. Still, with three of the buffed cards here, who knows what it could become in the near future.
If you aren’t a big fan of the Eater of Worlds, you could also test a build focused on Symbiote Spider-Man and Black Panther. Here’s an idea that uses a touch of the Lockdown synergy.
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NTW Gets a Shot to Join Arishem
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Alioth and Cosmo have been a huge benefit in Pure Move. Since the deck burst to the forefront of the meta, they have served as great protection for a big Vulture or Dagger, but they also just shut down certain synergies.
I don’t think Negasonic Teenage Warhead is at the level of these two with just one extra power. However, if there was a deck that could easily seize priority and was flexible enough to include yet another disruptive card, a [3/3] Negasonic Teenage Warhead might be able to make the cut.
In my opinion, that deck is Pure Arishem. The archetype already has enough points, and it typically fills that slot with a strong 3-Cost card like Copycat. Negasonic Teenage Warhead has some tough competition to go against, but why not give it a chance?
More Decks to Explore
Do you lack wacky ideas? Here is plenty of food for thought if you want to try some under-the-radar strategies using some of the cards in this OTA.
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Closing Words
Overall, I don’t expect this OTA to change the current Marvel Snap meta a lot, but I also don’t think there is a need for much change either. I believe this OTA is a good one because it limits some of the biggest players in the meta without completely removing them, and all the buffed cards look intriguing with an extra power added to them.
Combined with a new season starting next week, there is plenty here to keep the game fresh. And at the end of the day, that’s all I’m asking for.
I hope this breakdown helped you get a better grasp of what to expect with this patch. 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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