April 24th - Balance Updates
We’ve got a big update this week! Next Tuesday, Card Acquisition 2.0 is officially here, and with it we finally have the means to give players reliable access to high series Seasonal cards after their release.
Also note that we’ll be skipping our OTA update on May 15th, but will be resuming our normal schedule on May 29th.
With that, we’re going to be rolling out some changes to high series cards that we’ve had our eye on, but were shy about adjusting when players were going to have difficulty acquiring them.
Before that though, on the more business as usual side of things, we’re going to be making some downward adjustments to Sam Wilson and Scream, which have enjoyed continued success over a timeline which we aren’t quite comfortable with, and we’ll be addressing some cards that have come in lower than we would like from our current “What If?” Season.
Finally, we’ll be capping things off with a rework of one of the game’s original cards that doesn’t have much of a home anymore - something that we’ll be striving to do more often.
[h2]Sam Wilson Captain America[/h2]
Sam is a fun and strong card that we’ve avoided nerfing precisely because of how many people enjoy it and the high number of synergies it encourages. That said, the latter component of Sam has contributed to a high degree of ubiquity, with Sam showing up in a wide, wide, variety of decks and has frequently been in the list of top cards played on the ladder.
This combination of factors has resulted in Sam being closer to the “best in slot” 2 Energy card for most decks than would be acceptable over the long term, and as a result we’ll be removing a Power.
We considered cutting a Power from his Shield, but ultimately decided to go with the lighter nerf. A lot of Sam’s impact will still be present from putting him in your deck with his Shield retaining its power, but Sam’s ceiling will now be lower when you draw him and thus are engaging in his movement buffing shenanigans.
[h2]Scream[/h2]
Like Sam, Scream has been topping our charts for some time now, putting up large and consistent win rates, although with a relatively low play rate. In the interest of more metagame diversity, we’re dinging Scream lightly here to encourage a bit of a mix-up given how long it has been at or near the top.
Some of how light this Scream nerf is related to Sam’s nerf as it is likely that Scream has been keeping in check some of Sam’s total power level. If Sam’s play rate decreases, we suspect that Scream’s win rate will drop some, but the latter has been strong enough for a sustained enough period that we want to take action now. However, we’ll reevaluate if this set of changes don’t land in a spot we’re satisfied with.
[h2]Captain Carter[/h2]
Captain Carter has been more difficult to make work than we’d like. A lot of this is related to how forced her play pattern is, given that she needs to be in the front row on turn 4 when played.
This allows players only two turns to develop her location and leverage her synergy as well as provide any necessary points to another location.
In other words, she has a higher opportunity cost than we expected and doesn’t give players enough flexibility on how they get to play the game, which can lead to a disappointing experience.
We’re taking this approach of adjusting her Cost to loosen up her requirements on how you play the game, now affording you a whole additional turn to play your cards in a variety of different ways as well as giving more opportunities to buff her and combine her with cards that might have been too difficult to weave into your curve before.
To get out ahead of the elephant in the room, it is possible that her synergy with Moonstone is too strong for locking down a location, but we thought this was a more fun way to approach the problem by giving players more flexibility rather than adjusting Carter’s Power. We’re excited to see how this goes.
[h2]Infinity Ultron[/h2]
Transparently, we missed quite low on Infinity Ultron. Early numbers indicate a buff this large is warranted, and in actuality this is an even larger net points buff (every Power counts for more with Infinity Power Stone and Infinity Reality Stone).
A couple things worth mentioning: We’ve had a large disparity between the strength of 5 Energy cards and other cards near the top of the curve - 4’s and 6’s, that we’re trying to rectify.
Ultron also represents both your turn 5 and 6 plays, which means that his impact needs to be properly calibrated to his level of investment. On the other hand, we don’t want him to be so strong that he can be a one card tool that invalidates other expensive cards and end game packages.
That’s a pretty tough balancing act, and for now we’re starting here with some more power. However, we’re experimenting with more substantial changes to the package internally. This is another advantage of Card Acquisition 2.0 and Snap Packs; players will now have greater access to recently released cards, and we want to ensure more than ever that our cards land in appropriate and fun power bands.
Speaking of CA 2.0, here are some cards we’re buffing with the roll out:
[h2]Toxin[/h2]
[h2]Peni Parker[/h2]
SP//dr
[h2]Phastos[/h2]
There isn’t too much to call out here specifically. These are all cards that we think are fun and have been underperforming for some time. We’ll continue to be on the lookout for opportunities to raise weaker cards to try to encourage as diverse a metagame as possible as well as making opening packs as exciting as possible.
The one card that folks might be surprised by is Toxin. He has often been a prominent card in various bounce decks, but frankly it's just been a while since those decks have shown up in considerable numbers or strength. We’ve said it before, but it bears repeating, it is important to us that the core archetypes of Marvel Snap remain relevant over time for folks that enjoy them, and we’ll give them gentle nudges when necessary to make those decks interesting and justifiable choices.
[h2]Rhino - We are reworking Rhino[/h2]
Rhino’s original function was largely usurped by cards like Scarlet Witch and Nocturne, meaning he didn’t have a home anymore.
We hope that this design gives new life to the card and offers an interesting game piece - a slightly overstatted card with a drawback that also gives players the opportunity to leverage the Rock in a variety of different ways.
Our goal is to roll out these reworks of cards more frequently than we have in the past.
Finally,
[h2]Unintended Interaction:[/h2]
Toxie Doxie – Will no longer be able to hit skills in your hand.
That’s all for today, we hope you enjoy Card Acquisition 2.0 and happy Snapping!
Also note that we’ll be skipping our OTA update on May 15th, but will be resuming our normal schedule on May 29th.
With that, we’re going to be rolling out some changes to high series cards that we’ve had our eye on, but were shy about adjusting when players were going to have difficulty acquiring them.
Before that though, on the more business as usual side of things, we’re going to be making some downward adjustments to Sam Wilson and Scream, which have enjoyed continued success over a timeline which we aren’t quite comfortable with, and we’ll be addressing some cards that have come in lower than we would like from our current “What If?” Season.
Finally, we’ll be capping things off with a rework of one of the game’s original cards that doesn’t have much of a home anymore - something that we’ll be striving to do more often.
[h2]Sam Wilson Captain America[/h2]
- [Old] 2/3 - Game Start: Add Cap's Shield to a random location. Ongoing: You can move Cap's Shield.
- [Change] 2/3 > 2/2
Sam is a fun and strong card that we’ve avoided nerfing precisely because of how many people enjoy it and the high number of synergies it encourages. That said, the latter component of Sam has contributed to a high degree of ubiquity, with Sam showing up in a wide, wide, variety of decks and has frequently been in the list of top cards played on the ladder.
This combination of factors has resulted in Sam being closer to the “best in slot” 2 Energy card for most decks than would be acceptable over the long term, and as a result we’ll be removing a Power.
We considered cutting a Power from his Shield, but ultimately decided to go with the lighter nerf. A lot of Sam’s impact will still be present from putting him in your deck with his Shield retaining its power, but Sam’s ceiling will now be lower when you draw him and thus are engaging in his movement buffing shenanigans.
[h2]Scream[/h2]
- [Old] 2/2 - When an enemy card moves, steal 2 Power from it. (once per turn).
- [Change] 2/2 > 2/1
Like Sam, Scream has been topping our charts for some time now, putting up large and consistent win rates, although with a relatively low play rate. In the interest of more metagame diversity, we’re dinging Scream lightly here to encourage a bit of a mix-up given how long it has been at or near the top.
Some of how light this Scream nerf is related to Sam’s nerf as it is likely that Scream has been keeping in check some of Sam’s total power level. If Sam’s play rate decreases, we suspect that Scream’s win rate will drop some, but the latter has been strong enough for a sustained enough period that we want to take action now. However, we’ll reevaluate if this set of changes don’t land in a spot we’re satisfied with.
[h2]Captain Carter[/h2]
- [Old] 4/3 - Ongoing: Add this card’s Power to your back-row cards here. (can’t add to itself)
- [Change] 4/3 > 3/2
Captain Carter has been more difficult to make work than we’d like. A lot of this is related to how forced her play pattern is, given that she needs to be in the front row on turn 4 when played.
This allows players only two turns to develop her location and leverage her synergy as well as provide any necessary points to another location.
In other words, she has a higher opportunity cost than we expected and doesn’t give players enough flexibility on how they get to play the game, which can lead to a disappointing experience.
We’re taking this approach of adjusting her Cost to loosen up her requirements on how you play the game, now affording you a whole additional turn to play your cards in a variety of different ways as well as giving more opportunities to buff her and combine her with cards that might have been too difficult to weave into your curve before.
To get out ahead of the elephant in the room, it is possible that her synergy with Moonstone is too strong for locking down a location, but we thought this was a more fun way to approach the problem by giving players more flexibility rather than adjusting Carter’s Power. We’re excited to see how this goes.
[h2]Infinity Ultron[/h2]
- [Old] 5/6 - On Reveal: Add 2 of Ultron’s Stones to your hand.
- [Change] 5/6 > 5/8
Transparently, we missed quite low on Infinity Ultron. Early numbers indicate a buff this large is warranted, and in actuality this is an even larger net points buff (every Power counts for more with Infinity Power Stone and Infinity Reality Stone).
A couple things worth mentioning: We’ve had a large disparity between the strength of 5 Energy cards and other cards near the top of the curve - 4’s and 6’s, that we’re trying to rectify.
Ultron also represents both your turn 5 and 6 plays, which means that his impact needs to be properly calibrated to his level of investment. On the other hand, we don’t want him to be so strong that he can be a one card tool that invalidates other expensive cards and end game packages.
That’s a pretty tough balancing act, and for now we’re starting here with some more power. However, we’re experimenting with more substantial changes to the package internally. This is another advantage of Card Acquisition 2.0 and Snap Packs; players will now have greater access to recently released cards, and we want to ensure more than ever that our cards land in appropriate and fun power bands.
Speaking of CA 2.0, here are some cards we’re buffing with the roll out:
[h2]Toxin[/h2]
- [Old] 2/1 - On Reveal: Return your other cards here to your hand. +2 Power for each returned.
- [Change] 2/1 > 2/2
[h2]Peni Parker[/h2]
- 3/3 - On Reveal: Add SP//dr to your hand. When this merges, you get +1 Energy next turn..
SP//dr
- [Old] 3/3 - On Reveal: Merge with one of your cards here. You can move that card next turn.
- [Change] 3/3 > 3/4
[h2]Phastos[/h2]
- [Old] 3/3 - On Reveal: Give each card in your deck -1 Cost or +2 Power.
- [Change] 3/3 > 3/4
There isn’t too much to call out here specifically. These are all cards that we think are fun and have been underperforming for some time. We’ll continue to be on the lookout for opportunities to raise weaker cards to try to encourage as diverse a metagame as possible as well as making opening packs as exciting as possible.
The one card that folks might be surprised by is Toxin. He has often been a prominent card in various bounce decks, but frankly it's just been a while since those decks have shown up in considerable numbers or strength. We’ve said it before, but it bears repeating, it is important to us that the core archetypes of Marvel Snap remain relevant over time for folks that enjoy them, and we’ll give them gentle nudges when necessary to make those decks interesting and justifiable choices.
[h2]Rhino - We are reworking Rhino[/h2]
- [Old] 3/3 - On Reveal: Ruin this location.
- [New] 3/6 - On Reveal: Add a Rock to your side of this location.
Rhino’s original function was largely usurped by cards like Scarlet Witch and Nocturne, meaning he didn’t have a home anymore.
We hope that this design gives new life to the card and offers an interesting game piece - a slightly overstatted card with a drawback that also gives players the opportunity to leverage the Rock in a variety of different ways.
Our goal is to roll out these reworks of cards more frequently than we have in the past.
Finally,
[h2]Unintended Interaction:[/h2]
Toxie Doxie – Will no longer be able to hit skills in your hand.
That’s all for today, we hope you enjoy Card Acquisition 2.0 and happy Snapping!