Preparation Guide and Preview for the July 2023 Marvel Snap Patch Update – Patch Delayed Until July 12th

Introduction

Marvel Snap’s next major upcoming patch for July 2023 has a few important information for us to unpack and dissect! The new Spotlight Cache card acquisition system will be the highlight of the patch, and what cards and variants will be featured inside them this season. The meta is looking a little troubled too, so what could be in store in terms of rebalancing powerful or underused cards?

In this guide, we will breakdown step by step what’s happening and when, collecting all the information out there and help you decide what to do before the patch drops. We will cover the following topics:

• Patch Release Date and Time
• Spotlight Caches
• Card Balance Updates

We should also hopefully see a new Development Roadmap soon now that a lot of the “Coming Soon” features have now been checked off!

Patch Release Date and Time

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Firstly, the patch date for Marvel Snap was announced in the June 22 OTA Balance Update as July 11th, which coincides with the usual four weekly cycle on a Tuesday with the last patch being June 13th.

Thanks for stopping by! Please note that we will not have our regular biweekly OTA on July 6th in observance of our studio’s summer shutdown, so our next update will be our full-sized patch currently scheduled for July 11th. Happy Snapping, and good luck in your Infinite Conquests!

However, the patch has been postponed until July 12th with the announcement of the Spotlight Cache schedule:

If everything goes to plan, the timing of the patch should be around 8 AM Pacific Time, which has been pretty consistent for the last few updates. Be on the lookout for the patch notes here as they are generally released at the same time as the update, and come back after the countdown has dropped to 0 to see if there has been any updates regarding the patch time!

Spotlight Caches

The main highlight of this patch will be the Spotlight Caches and a change to the card acquisition system. These new type of reward boxes will be replacing the usual Collector’s Caches and Collector’s Reserves every 120 Collection Level and contains either the new card of the week, Series 4 card, or a Series 5 card. For a breakdown on the changes, read the official announcement article below:

So what does that mean for players? Hopefully, more cards! We made an early analysis on this topic with all the information we had at the time, and we were able to put together a more comprehensive (over 10,000 words) analysis of the system in our ultimate master guide which should help different categories of players strategize on the best way to acquire cards.

The TL;DR is that everybody should save opening their caches, but there are two approaches in the article for trying to game the transition and get the best of both worlds.

Going further, you could even not update the game until the system is properly in place, as you could potentially find out where the caches may be located on the Collection Track – but there may also be bugs. Keep in mind there has been issues with new feature updates over the past (e.g. High Evolutionary release, Silk Weekend Challenge, card interactions involving new cards such as Kitty Pryde, and so on).

The first featured Spotlight Cache cards of the week may be Jean Grey (the new card), Knull (Series 4), and The Living Tribunal (Series 5):

Variants

Jean Grey

Ongoing: Players must play their first card here each turn. (if possible)

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

view card details Start a deck Decks with Jean Grey

Variants

Knull

Ongoing: Has the combined Power of all cards destroyed this game.

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

view card details Start a deck Decks with Knull

Variants

The Living Tribunal

Ongoing: Split your total Power evenly among all locations.

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

view card details Start a deck Decks with The Living Tribunal

Also remember, Echo (Series 5), Legion (Series 4), and Mirage (Series 4) are up next. Along with them, the Series 4 and 5 card roster also changes. Check out the newly announced Spotlight Cache schedule below:

Card Balance Updates

Variants

High Evolutionary

At the start of the game, unlock the potential of your cards with no abilities.

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

view card details Start a deck Decks with High Evolutionary

In our latest Meta Tier List, we’ve concluded that The Phoenix Force is not enough to affect the meta in a meaningful way as High Evolutionary and Bounce decks have cemented their place on the top of the meta for a little while now. Has the meta been solved? Check out our latest breakdown ahead of the patch:

For now, it will be hard to see one new card a week having an immediate impact, so we’ll have to rely on these balance updates for now. What do you think should happen? Let us know in the comments below!

Conclusion

We hope you enjoyed this breakdown and preview of the upcoming patch! The Spotlight Cache system will continue to be the hot topic of discussion among the community as Second Dinner continues to tinker with monetization.

As usual, we could also be in for some surprises with the datamining! Be on the lookout for new cards, bundles, variants, potentially the September 2023 Season, and more, as soon as the patch drops.

We’ll see you again very soon! In the meantime, check back later for news regarding the patch!