MARVEL SNAP News

 We're closing down Young Avengers season with another OTA! This week's changes aim to tweak a handful of major metagame players and buff a couple others, while also reworking some older cards that could use their day in the sun. Let's get to it!

• Attuma
  • [Old] 4/10 - After each turn, destroy this if you have another card here.
  • [New] 4/10 - After each turn, destroy one of your cards here with less Power.

This would-be warlord of the seas saw some meaningful play early on, combining with Armor or Zero to be an efficient 4-Cost source of Power. However, the surge in strength of cards that can fill enemy slots at a location has made it very difficult for Attuma to justify play in any deck even with synergy cards like Skaar. Given we also want more cards that are good against these clog strategies, we decided to "UNO Reverse" with Attuma here and rework the design to focus on maximizing Attuma at the cost of the other cards. This simultaneously makes Attuma an enabler for things like X-23 while also a counter against cards like Green Goblin. 

• Loki
  • [Old] 3/5 - On Reveal: Replace your deck with your opponent's starting deck. Give them -1 Cost and draw a card.
  • [New] 2/2 - On Reveal: Replace your deck with your opponent's starting deck. Give those cards -1 Cost.

When we updated Loki earlier this month, we said we'd come back quickly if necessary. While some doubted its strength early on, we've since seen Loki's performance prove that the updated card was one of the strongest in the game. That overshot our goal by a bit, though we were happy to see some of the resulting shifts. We're going to try and tone Loki down by making the Power less efficient for the Cost as we remove the draw and move the card down the curve. If this doesn't work, we may return to adjusting the effect.Why not just take away the draw and leave it at 3/5, or maybe 3/4? Well, one element of Loki we heard loud and clear from our earliest playtests was that the number of "Loki cards" you can access was a big part of enjoying the card. Three often felt too low–that's why we added the draw in the first place last time. 

• Copycat
  • [Old] 3/5 - When you draw this, steal the text from the bottom card of your opponent's deck.
  • [New] 3/5 - When you draw this, copy the text from the bottom card of your opponent's deck.

We're making a light tweak to Copycat here, as the card has seen a more dramatic play rate than we expected and decks have also been shuffled more often than we guessed they would be. Stealing a card's ability isn't a huge part of the fun for the Copycat player–getting an exciting ability and the information is most of the play. The ability being stolen has mostly turned out to just be a frustrating part of the opponent having the card, so we're replacing it with a simple copy. 

• Beast
  • [Old] 2/2 - On Reveal: Return your other cards here to your hand. They cost 1 less next turn.
  • [Change] 2/2 -> 3/5

While it's true that Bounce decks have been very strong lately, that's only part of why we're making this update. We have some upcoming new cards and changes to existing ones that will impact Beast's strength, and we determined the most appropriate solution was to return to "big Beast" and move it back up the curve to 3-Cost. 

• Taskmaster
  • [Old] 5/0 - On Reveal: Set this card’s Power equal to that of the last card you played. (if that card's in play)
  • [Change] 5/0 -> 6/0

This change might seem a bit more out of left field, but it's oddly similar. Players sometimes ask about cards like Silver Surfer and Killmonger being design constraints, and they can be–Taskmaster has quietly been another as well, offering a clean and consistent way to duplicate pure Power. While it's been a while since Taskmaster was truly problematic, our most competitive playtesters identified some upcoming decks where 5-Cost Taskmaster was just going to be Way Too Much.Normally, our default practice is to let the metagame sort itself out in these kinds of situations–discovering something busted is often pretty fun! However, in this case the concerns were so substantial, and the deck so strong, that we've decided to shortcut to the post-nerf state (which we still believe supports some great decks). Have fun looking for them! You shouldn't expect to see this sort of preemptive action often going forward, either. 

• Cannonball
  • [Old] 5/7 - On Reveal: Move the highest-Power enemy card here away. If you can't, destroy it with a Rock.
  • [Change] 5/7 -> 5/8

We adjusted Cannonball's Power down in an abundance of caution earlier this year. The card's play rate and win rate were very high, and we wanted to ensure (in concert with other changes) that the metagame would shift appropriately. It has, and we're comfortable returning Cannonball to 5/8 now. 

• Destroyer
  • [Old] 6/16 - On Reveal: Destroy your other cards.
  • [New] 6/14 - On Reveal: Destroy your cards at other locations.

We're sure many of you have a soft spot for Destroyer from those early Series days, using Zero, Armor, or Cosmo to dodge the downside–maybe with a side of Warpath to win the second location. However, this rad card has struggled to find its legs in later-stage play, so we've decided to change the effect to give it a better chance at supporting cards like Nimrod and Death. Given how well Destroyer can challenge to win its own location now, we're also taking back a bit of Power as compensation. — That's all for this week. Until next time, happy snapping!

PLEASE NOTE: If you haven’t updated your game yet, get the latest in the App Store! [h2]PATCH HIGHLIGHTS[/h2]Feature improvements is the name of the game in this patch. From new rotating Cosmetics to Custom Card updates to Alliances, we’ve got some frequently requested changes coming. On top of that, a few Card Balance and Location updates are included as well. Without further ado, let’s dive in.[h2]FEATURES[/h2]

• Finishes Update
  • Foil Finishes now have a classic sleek and shiny reflective back.
  • Prism Finishes now have a color blasted prismatic theme.
  • If there's a specific card background you love, good news! You can now use any Flare you've unlocked with the Base Finish.

 

• Rotating Cosmetic Shop (Custom Card/Shop)
  • In both the Shop and Custom Card screen, players will be able to purchase a rotating set of Cosmetics like borders. The available offerings will match in each location.
  • The Shop now has more Cosmetics offerings than it did previously.

 

• Custom Card Improvements
  • The Custom Card interface has been improved to make it easier to edit the Custom Card slot for each card/character in the Collection screen. This includes UI updates to Finishes and Flares.

 

• Alliances Improvements
  • Added a Deck Share button to Alliance Chat. This allows players to share their decks right into Chat. They can also use this button to paste a deck code.
  • Player variants are now shown on 8-cube wins in Chat. As well as for the new Deck Share feature.
  • Updated Bounties to limit the amount of same type bounties that appear. Now, only three of the same time of bounty can appear on the Bounty Board.
  • More Emblems! Check ‘em out!

 [h2]AUDIO[/h2]

• Added voice lines for the following cards:
  • Killmonger
  • Ghost Rider
  • Doctor Strange

 [h2]BALANCE UPDATES[/h2]CARD UPDATESWe’re focusing OTAs on making metagame balance updates as they can react more quickly, whereas patches like this will focus on longer term projects and quality of life improvements. Today’s focus is the latter; all of these card changes are text only while their function remains the same. 

• Shadow King
  • [Old] 2/2 - On Reveal: Set all cards here to their base Power.
  • [New] 2/2 - On Reveal: Reset all cards here to their original Power.

Last time we changed Shadow King’s function to remove Power modifiers rather than adding new ones. Despite that approach being more intuitive in isolation, a lot of people expressed confusion around Valkyrie behaving differently with such similar words, and existing cases like Quantum Realm being less clear. We agree, and are updating Shadow King’s words to better convey his unique effect. 

• Moon Knight
  • [Old] 3/3 - On Reveal: Discard a card with an even Cost from each player’s hand.
  • [New] 3/3 - On Reveal: Discard an even-costed card from each player's hand.

As we mentioned in the last patch notes, the updated Moon Knight’s wording ended up mismatched with the update to how we write cards that care about costs. Now they match! 

• Baron Zemo
  • [Old] 3/5 - On Reveal: Recruit the lowest-Cost card from your opponent's deck to your side of this location.
  • [New] 3/5 - On Reveal: Recruit a card that costs the least from your opponent's deck to your side of this location.

We inadvertently left Baron Zemo out of that same round of templating updates, so are rewording him to help clarify that, like Jane Foster, he checks the card’s current cost in the deck (and always has). LOCATION UPDATESWe’ve been taking a hard look at our location pool and expect to make more changes as we reevaluate location designs. We’re starting with some of the locations longtime players have found most frustrating to encounter. 

• Location Removal: Lamentis-1 and The Peak

Data indicated that many players deeply disliked the experiences these locations created, even at fairly low frequency. So we’ve decided to take them offline while we workshop changes. 

• Location Appearance Change: District X

District X was much more divisive. Many experienced players found it frustrating not to play with the decks they’d constructed, but many players who were still in the midst of discovering cards found it fun and exciting to have a window into playing with ones they don’t have. In order to support both groups, District X will no longer appear in games for the majority of players, but will still show up for those early in their MARVEL SNAP journeys. 

• Location Redesign: Weirdworld
  • [Old] Both players draw from their opponent's decks.
  • [New] Draw 2 cards from your opponent's deck.

Weirdworld faced a similar issue with keeping players from playing with their own decks. Many people enjoyed trying to use their opponent’s cards, but didn’t enjoy losing the chance to use their own strategies. So now you can use both! 

• Location Redesign: Sandbar
  • [Old] Cards with abilities can't be played here.
  • [New] Cards that didn't start in your deck cost 1 more. (max 6)

We removed Sandbar a while back because the set of cards it interacted with was too narrow, leaving it not all that fun or interesting to play with. Now we’ve found it a new niche. We like to have locations in the pool that throw a wrench in various decks’ game plans that they have to maneuver around. With the locations that stop you from using your deck going away, we wouldn’t have much to interact with Thanos and Arishem pumping a bunch of extra cards into decks or Kate Bishop adding them to hand. [h2]Card and Location Logic Fixes in 31.x[/h2]

• Absorbing Man can now successfully copy Hawkeye’s ability text
• Fogwell’s Gym now stacks with itself and provides many boosters if copied by an effect such as Legion
• Leader now properly copies cards that were destroyed regardless of who has priority that turn

[h2]Card and Location Art Fixes in 31.x[/h2]

• Fixed an issue that was causing cards to occasionally display way too large in Artist Detail view
• Moon Knight’s discarded card asset no longer displays underneath the End Turn button
• Cancun’s location text no longer is partially highlighted when a card is dragged over its icon

[h2]Other Fixes in 31.x[/h2]

• Fixed a missing localization string for the Profile button
• Clicking on the buttons within News items that redirect to other areas of the game no longer results in the bottom navigation bar disappearing
• Clicking the area where the “Copy Code” button in Friendly Battle was no longer triggers the button press SFX after the button’s been removed
• The Play button no longer stops functioning if a player quickly clicks it and another button on the navigation bar immediately after

[h2]Alliance Fixes in 31.x[/h2]

• Fixed an issue that was causing Alliance points earned by a member who recently left the Alliance from being taken into account for Alliance-wide rewards
• Resolved several layering and layout issues with Alliance chat
• Spaces should no longer display as squares in Alliance chat when using the Pinyin keyboard
• Fixed an issue that was causing an Alliance’s current week progress bars to display incorrectly
• Android users should no longer see a single character deleted when accessing text input fields for Alliance information
• Adjusted the spacing and scaling of some of the headers on the Alliance UI to ensure they fit properly for all supported languages
• Resolved a timing related UI issue that could occur when an Alliance applicant withdraws their application within the same window of time as the leader accepts their application
• Cleaned up the animation of the celebratory VFX for when a player joins an Alliance
• Fixed an issue that would cause the Alliance progress bar to no longer update until claiming the next bounty

[h2]PC Fixes in 31.x[/h2]

• [PC] The chat input field should not longer be occasionally pushed off screen
• [PC] A red notification pip on the Main tab should no longer stubbornly persist

[h2]Existing Known Issues[/h2]

• The favorites icon may unintentionally be highlighted when equipping new cosmetics
• The “Claimed” banner on the season pass may be misaligned for some levels

 

 We love Jeff, you love Jeff… EVERYONE LOVES JEFF. With his adorable, toothy grin and his knack for getting into the cutest trouble, Jeff has charmed his way into the hearts of Marvel SNAP fans everywhere. Whether he's munching on villains or heroically sliding into inaccessible locations, Jeff brings a playful and lovable spirit that’s hard to resist. This is why we decided to carve out an ENTIRE WEEK to show our love and appreciate the awesomeness that is Jeff. In the realm of the best bois, Jeff the Baby Land Shark reigns supreme! [h2]IT’S JEFF WEEK! JEFF EVERY DAY![/h2]Jeff is a loyal and friendly shark that wants to see you every day of the week. That’s why he’s offering fun login bonuses from August 20th-28th! [h2]TURNING THE TIDE![/h2]

Find this Wave bundle coming ashore from August 19th-26th!

• Wave w/Jeff Variant
• Wave w/Jeff Avatar
• Title: #1 Jeff Fan
• 4000 Credits
• 155 Wave Boosters
• 1 x Distressed Blue Card Border

[h3]Price: $24.99[/h3] [h2]JEFF THE BABY SPOTLIGHT STEALER![/h2]Jeff also says he’s faster than Speed, which is why he sprinted into the Spotlight Rewards before we could lock them down! Find the Jeff - Max Grecke Variant and Iron Lad w/Jeff variant in the Spotlight Caches from August 20th-26th! [h2]TWITCH DROPS[/h2][h2][/h2]Watch your favorite MARVEL SNAP Twitch streamers to earn Boosters, Credits, and a special Jeff Week bonus of a Storm Variant featuring Jeff the Baby Land Shark! Drops will be available from August 19th-27th. Don’t miss out!

• Watch 2 hours to earn: 65 Storm Boosters
• Watch 4 hours to earn: 350 Credits
• Watch 6 hours to earn: Storm Variant featuring Jeff the Baby Land Shark!

Head over to marvelsnap.com/twitchdrops to link your accounts today. [h2]JEFF X PEACH MOMOKO!!![/h2]

An all new Venomized Jeff Ultimate Variant will be released into the wild starting August 20th! [h2]JEFF INFILTRATES LEAGUES![/h2]

Jeff wanted to make sure that you had all of the resources to split your favorite Jeff variants, so the new Jeff League will have you competing for up to 310 Jeff the Baby Land Shark boosters! All you have to do is login between August 22-24th and play! [h2]JEFF FOREVER![/h2]Keep the Jeff love going all week, tell all your friends, and make sure you have an epic week. And remember, Jeff is Always Watching to See if you’ve been a good snapper!

We have a bevy of balance changes in a diverse set of directions today. While the metagame has overall been fairly healthy, we've seen a little too much strength isolated in a small number of decks, so we're shaking things up a bit to provide some opportunity for decks on the fringe to see more play. 

• Arishem
  • [Old] 7/7 - At the start of the game, +1 Max Energy. Shuffle 12 random cards into your deck.
  • [New] 7/7 - At the start of the game, +1 Max Energy. Shuffle 15 random cards into your deck.

"The Judge" to his peers, Arishem has certainly presided over SNAP for the last month. The play rate on release was unprecedented in the game's history, and we're happy to see a card we aimed to be fun and strong clearly hit for so many players. We gave Arishem some time to see how things would settle and whether Cassandra Nova would impact his performance, and things did even out a little bit. However, the play rate is still a bit higher than we'd like for any particular archetype, even given the inherent randomness of Arishem, so we're taking a step to reduce how often the deck can access its strongest cards, like Loki and Blob, and better challenge players to improvise with the cards Arishem generates. 

• Cassandra Nova
  • [Old] 3/1 - On Reveal: Steal 1 Power from each card in your opponent's deck.
  • [Change] 3/1 -> 3/0

Speaking of Cassandra Nova, we loved seeing how many of you enjoyed Deadpool's Diner! It was a fun way to tie-in with an awesome movie, and we were excited to debut Cassandra in a totally new way. In fact, that debut led to Cassandra becoming the most-played card in the game for a week among multiple player groups we analyze for balance–that's right, more than Shang-Chi. However, unlike Shang-Chi, Cassandra's play rate accompanied one of the highest winrate and cube rates in the game as well, and that's a combination of factors that would be inappropriate to let stand for too long. This was the latest we could make a change to impact Young Avengers season, so we're tuning the card down a touch now to ensure a more robust metagame can develop. 

• Mind Stone
  • [Old] 2/1 - On Reveal: Draw 2 Stones from your deck.
  • [Change] 2/1 -> 1/1

Other than Arishem, Thanos was another archetype heavily impacted by Cassandra Nova. We've been happy with the new "Thanos-centric" design of the stones, and we're ready to start returning strength to it in the wake of Mockingbird moving to 6-Cost. Welcome back to 1-Cost, Mind Stone. 

• Thena
  • [Old] 2/1 - After each turn, +3 Power if you played (exactly) 2 cards.
  • [Change] 2/1 -> 2/0

The existing and already powerful Angela shells quickly incorporated Thena, and have remained strong ever since. In fact, while Arishem was perceived to be the best deck for many weeks, Thena was often the best card in the actual best deck during this time. So we're making a small tweak to bring the 2-Cost powerhouse more in line with an appropriate amount of Power for the Cost. 

• Sandman
  • [Old] 5/7 - On Reveal: Players can only play 1 card next turn.
  • [Change] 5/7 -> 5/6

As often happens, the rise in prominence of the Angela shell led to a surge in Sandman recently. While that's generally expected and fine, this was the first time it had really happened with the new and improved Big Sandy. To our surprise, these multi-play Angela decks weren't even among the best matchups for Sandman decks, and it has maintained a very robust presence in the metagame ever since, with few vulnerabilities. We're never targeting Sandman to be a key player in the #1 deck, so this nerf is something of a slap on the wrist to make the deck's strongest draws more beatable. 

• Lady Deathstrike
  • [Old] 5/6 - On Reveal: Destroy each card here with 3 or less Power.
  • [Change] 5/6 -> 5/7

Another way we're grinding the edges off Sandman is by sharpening an analogous option. Lady Deathstrike can also be a reasonable way to attack swarm strategies without restricting their ability to actually play the game, so we're returning some Power here to create more competition among the options for these 5-Cost "control" slots in decks. 

• Man-Thing
  • [Old] 4/5 - Ongoing: 1, 2, and 3-Cost cards here have -2 Power.
  • [Change] 4/5 -> 4/7

A similar case can be made for Man-Thing. This card has languished as a fringe option for most of its life, but we think now might be an ideal time to give ita shot at becoming a meaningful player within the metagame. It's a reasonable counter to lean on against decks like Silver Surfer as well as Angela, and the 4-Cost slot is often hard to fill for decks wanting some strong but simple roleplayers. 

• Nocturne
  • [Old] 3/5 - You can move this once. When this moves, replace its location with a random new one.
  • [Change] 3/5 -> 3/4

We gave Nocturne a lot of rope, but in the end we needed to make a change to preserve healthy competition among the 3-Cost cards in the game. Nocturne was just becoming the default best card in too many decks, and warping the strength we started to position other cards at in future seasons. There's also something to be said for preserving the way location variance impacts the game here, as Nocturne could throw some real curveballs. 

• Angel
  • [Old] 1/2 - When one of your cards is destroyed, this flies out of your hand or deck to replace it.
  • [Change] 1/2 -> 2/3

Last but not least, we're trying a little tweak to Angel. We're not sure how much this will move the needle–it might even be considered a nerf for a small number of decks aiming to use Killmonger to get an extra destroyed card for Death. But what's become clear is that the 1/2 Angel isn't cutting it for competitive decks, so we're making this small adjustment to observe the impact and potentially inform a later change. — That's all for this week. Until next time, happy snapping!

 Deadpool has put out a call-to-arms! The very first League event has arrived. Leagues are limited-time events where you compete with similarly skilled players and earn bonus rewards based upon your performance.Much like guacamole on a chimichanga, Leagues are the perfect topping to pair with your usual SNAP gameplay. Ready to compete? Just login from August 8th to 10th and play!

  Leagues match you with 30 players of similar skill levels in a competitive leaderboard format. From August 8th to 10th, join our first-ever event, the Deadpool League, and show off your skills! Simply play your regular games, rack up League Points through victories, and watch your ranking climb. 

• Event Duration: August 8th-10th
• Entry Fee: None
• Top 3 Prize: Exclusive Deadpool emote

 Joining is easy! The Deadpool League is open to all players, with no entry fee required for the Standard League. Just hop into your standard games, and your League Points will adjust based on your performance. The more cubes you win, the more points you earn.If you’d like to join a Heroic League, you can pay to compete for increased rewards. For this first Deadpool League event we’re not including Heroic Leagues. However, we hope to bring this feature in future editions.  Everyone participating in the Deadpool League will earn rewards, but the top spots on the leaderboard will get the best loot. For our inaugural event, the top three players per League will win an exclusive Deadpool emote, alongside other great prizes like Mystery Variants, Borders, and Deadpool boosters. 

• 1st - Deadpool Emote, Premium Mystery Variant, 2x Matte Black Borders, 310 Boosters
• 2nd - Deadpool Emote, Mystery Variant, Matte Black Border, 310 Boosters
• 3rd - Deadpool Emote, Mystery Variant, Neon Blue Border, 310 Boosters
• 4th-5th - Mystery Variant, Neon Blue Border, 310 Boosters
• 6th-10th - Mystery Variant, Neon Blue Border, 155 Boosters
• 11th-15th - Neon Blue Border, 105 Boosters
• 16th-20th - 65 Boosters
• 21st-25th - 35 Boosters
• 26th-30th - 15 Boosters

 [h3][/h3]Mark your calendars and get ready to climb the ranks in the Deadpool League. Play hard, win big, and compete to earn the coveted Deadpool emote. Let the games begin!Good luck, and may the best bubs win!