Preparation Guide for the April 18, 2023 Marvel Snap Patch Update

Introduction

Marvel Snap’s next major patch is scheduled to be released on April 18, 2023 and there are a few important information to unpack and dissect! From the Series Drop, weekly card balance changes, Token Shop revamp, and more, the next patch will hopefully shake up the current meta.

In this guide, we will breakdown step by step what’s happening and when, collecting the scatter of information that is out there and help you decide what to do before the patch drops. We have already seen a glimpse of what’s to come in the latest Development Roadmap so be sure to check it out if you haven’t already!

• Patch release date and time
• 3 cards going down from Series 5 to Series 4, and 5 cards going from Series 4 to Series 3
• Token Shop revamp
• Potential card nerfs and buffs, and weekly Over the Air (OTA) balance updates
• New card: Jeff the Baby Land Shark
• Kitty Pryde fix and compensation?
• Ranked mode and Infinite rank revamp?

Patch Release Date and Time

We’ve already had confirmation of the scheduled patch day to be every four weeks, and for this month, the developers have confirmed the date to be April 18, 2023 (which means next one would be May 16, 2023).

The timing of the patch should be around 9 AM Pacific Time based on the previous ones, so the best case scenario is the patch goes live at that time. Of course, nothing is definite – we’ve had delays before! Be on the lookout for the patch notes here as they are generally released at the same time as the update.

Series Drop

The Series Drop for April 2023 has been announced, and there are some important things to consider.

• Players will eventually get the First Edition Badge (not yet implemented in game) to the Series 5 cards if you obtain them before they drop.
• You can also pin cards in the Token Shop now, and after the patch drops the the price will go down as well. Be careful not to unpin it (do not press Esc, back button, etc)!
• Developers have confirmed that for pinned cards going down from Series 4 to 3, their price will go down to 1,000 Collector’s Tokens as to not use up your free Series 3 card.
• Series 4 cards dropping to Series 3 this month will be offered as your free Series 3 card for the season after the patch if you have not claimed it yet.
• You may want to consider not opening your Collector’s Reserves and/or saving up your Credits as well until the patch to have a better chance of opening these cards.
• For the full expected schedule of Series Drops and new card releases, check out our dedicated guide.

Token Shop Revamp

As outlined in the Development Roadmap, the Token Shop should be getting further changes this month, which we reflected in our updated Token Shop guide by Kirallas.

New Series 5 cards should be available for purchase immediately after their release (Weekly Spotlight), as well as a further split for the Ultimate Variants having its own section now. This means you can get Jeff the Baby Land Shark as soon as it releases (see below). These changes, depending on the details, can have an impact to the overall economy of Marvel Snap!

Here is the excerpt from the Development Roadmap:

Token Shop is an awesome way to target the cards you want most, but we think we can do it even better. We’re dividing the Token Shop into a few different sections that will allow players to target  new and desirable cards faster. We’re also revamping the look and feel of the Token Shop so you can swipe through to see what’s new.

• Weekly Spotlight: When a new Series 5 card is released, it will be immediately featured in its own section for its first week in MARVEL SNAP. Once you buy the Weekly Spotlight card, this section will be hidden until the next new card is released. If you want the newest cards at release, here’s what you’ve been waiting for!
• Series 4 & Series 5: This section functions nearly the same as previously, but only features Series 4 and Series 5 cards. This section will feature a card you don’t own from all currently available Series 4/5 cards and rotates every 8 hours. Series 5 cards will be added to this section once they leave the Weekly Spotlight.
• Ultimate Variants: Ultimate Variants are some of the most epic variants in the game. We felt they deserved their own section too!  We’re moving Ultimate Variants out of the way of seeing Series 4 and 5 cards and into their own rotation for those of you who want to make your decks that much cooler. 

Card Rebalancing

As with most major patches, we can expect some sort of rework on a few cards to shake up the meta. A nerf to Shuri and another rework for Leader has been teased so far. We’ve done a preview for the new meta ahead, the current state of the meta, and a minor tier list update and in our article:

With that, it is important to note after this patch we will be getting weekly “Over the Air” (OTA) balance changes for a few cards on Thursdays. This usually involves changes to their cost or power, and should include at least one buff. Changes to abilities require a full patch, hence why Shuri could not be touched after her dominance all this time. For more information, check out the Balance Future article:

New Card: Jeff the Baby Land Shark

Variants

Jeff the Baby Land Shark

You can move this once. Nothing can stop you from moving or playing this to any location.

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

view card details Start a deck Decks with Jeff the Baby Land Shark

Not directly related to the patch, but Jeff the Baby Land Shark will be released as a new Series 5 card on April 18 as well. It is one of the most anticipated new card releases of Marvel Snap for multiple reasons, and many players would consider dropping 6000 tokens on this card. With the Token Shop change, the card should be available for purchase right away as a Weekly Spotlight card! For our verdict and some potential decklists, check out SafetyBlade’s theorycraft article on the card:

For the full expected schedule of upcoming new card releases and their Series Drop schedules, check out our dedicated guide.

Kitty Pryde

Variants

Kitty Pryde

When this returns to your hand, +1 Power. Returns at the start of each turn.

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

view card details Start a deck Decks with Kitty Pryde

Kitty Pryde will be returning to the game in the May 2023 patch since being disabled on March 30 due to game breaking bugs:

• It will have a reworked ability – [1/0] When this returns to your hand, +2 Power. Returns at the start of each turn.
• Current card owners (whether you purchased the card or opened it in a Collector’s Reserve) will receive 8,000 Collector’s Tokens and Kitty Pryde Base Avatar later this week as compensation.
• In the May patch, all players will receive the reworked Kitty Pryde for free.

For more information, check out the news article:

Matchmaking Changes

Marvel Snap’s matchmaking algorithm is always a hot point of discussion, and while Second Dinner has communicated they will be addressing the issues in the Development Roadmap, we haven’t heard further news yet. Here are the excerpts from the Development Roadmap regarding the topics, though there are no confirmation on what changes will be made or whether they will be happening this month.

Ranked Mode Improvements

We’ve been hearing your feedback about Ranked Mode and we agree it’s time to make some changes. Ranked Mode is a tough feature to get right and we want to find the right balance through some additional iteration. We’re making a few updates before our next season that will address issues with some players feeling unable to progress or players that feel they are not facing worthy opponents. 

• Matchmaking Algorithm: We’re improving our matchmaking algorithm to create higher quality matches for all players–including an update that will prevent players from matching against an opponent more than 30 ranks away.
• Infinite MMR Floor: When someone reaches Infinite Rank, we’ll take a snapshot of their MMR (Matchmaking Rating). For the rest of the season, their MMR cannot fall below that value. This change is to address players that could intentionally lose many games at the Infinite Rank floor to drop their MMR for the next season. You’ll still be able to increase your MMR while playing in Infinite Rank.
• Infinite vs Infinite Matchmaking: Players that reach Infinite Rank will only match against other Infinite Rank players.

We know there’s more work to be done. We think the current journey to re-climb to a previous season’s rank is too difficult. To that end, we are exploring changes to how many cubes are required per rank, how many bonus cubes are granted when a player achieves a new Tier, and potentially how much of a reset is incurred each season. These numbers are actively being crunched right now, so we don’t have more details to share, but rest assured, our goal is to deliver a satisfying seasonal experience for players who wish to get better at the game, and see their rank increase as a result.

We’ve also seen a lot of feedback around matching by MMR and why we don’t simply match by Rank. The team has been weighing the positives and negatives of both these options. In a pure match-by-rank situation, it can lead to an awful start-of-season experience, as players are matching up against opponents who are far superior to them. However, we are exploring alternate ways of matchmaking to try to deliver a more satisfying overall experience, as there are some upsides to matching-by-rank. We have some ideas that we think can capture the best of both worlds, and will be trying out updates to the matchmaker in future seasons. We’ll absolutely be sharing more as we lock in details–you’ll hear more from us soon!

Infinite Rank Revamp

For most of us, the climb to Infinite Rank has been our peak achievement… and we have great news! We’re completely revamping Infinite Rank so your experience doesn’t end at Infinite – it’s just the beginning! We want to create an exciting and fair battleground for our most skilled players to compete on the Infinite Rank Leaderboard. Once players reach Infinite Rank, they are separated into their own ecosystem that will highlight two important numbers:

• Skill Rating Score: This score is your personal skill rating score; it’s similar to your matchmaking rating. You’ll be able to see how your skill rating score changes after each match. If you’re more interested in increasing your personal skill from season to season, this is the number for you.
• Leaderboard Rank: Your friend has always claimed that they’re the Best MARVEL SNAP Player – well, now we’ll find out. This is the leaderboard number based on the ranking order of each Infinite player’s skill rating score.

We’re fine-tuning the experience and visuals for the new Infinite Rank ecosystem and currently scoping out the work, but we’re hoping to release it as soon as possible! More details on timing soon!

Conclusion

We hope you enjoyed this breakdown! We’re not sure if this patch will add too much to the game other than the mentioned changes, but we could also be in for some surprises with the datamining! Be on the lookout for new cards, bundles, variants, potentially the June 2023 Season, and more, as soon as the patch drops.

We’ll see you again very soon!