Knights of Avalon: The Collector's Report

Hello and welcome to another edition of the Collector’s Report. I am Ambedo, an avid Variant collector, and I write seasonal op-eds here at Fourth Location focused on the upcoming cosmetics for Snap – mixed with trivia bits, fact-checking and more!

Allow me to share a major personal milestone with you: I recently passed the 3,000-Variant mark! Does that make my collection one of the most impressive ones? Not really! I hold the 31st position on SnapComplete's 22,000-player leaderboard. I must confess, I thought I'd place higher! The top-ranking player, content creator SuperTechGod, is only missing about 20 Variants – can you imagine?

Also, are you following my Four Years of Variants retrospective celebrating the game's fourth anniversary? The last installment will be published next Saturday. In the meantime, here's a link to Part 3, which includes links to the previous ones should you want to check them out!

In other news, the report's content gets expanded yet again! While these two new additions are rather discreet, they can be quite useful for players who watch their resources closely: each Snap Pack now includes its distribution broken down by Variant type, along with a helpful indicator showing how many of those Variants are tied to an Album! 

The Featured Four

As usual, let's kick things off with a few words about the Variants featured above! Here's why I selected them for this Report.

Fin Fang Foom, by Lemon Art Studio (Original Art)

I really enjoy being surprised by unsurprising studios! This season, an excellent Zombie Mr. Fantastic dropped, and I couldn't believe it was designed by Lemon Art. History repeated itself when I took a closer look at this Fin Fang Foom. Once again, Lemon Art has distanced themselves from the "digital brushstrokes" style we have come to know them for, delivering a very polished, à la Pandart rendition of the shape-shifting alien. This Variant stands out because one can almost see the whole creature without any other element getting in the way.

Red Wolf, by Grafit Studio (Original Art)

Did I mention I really enjoy being surprised by unsurprising studios? Grafit is definitely not the type to color outside the lines. While this Red Wolf isn't a major departure from their usual style, the decision to design the character in profile gives it such an impact – we don't see side views enough in the game. Paired with the studio's ability to harness kinetic energy, it makes for a pretty sweet alternate art piece!

Scream, by Divebound Studio (Original Art)

Much like other Symbiotes, Scream must be a treat to design. This Variant trades her signature bright yellow and red palette for the muted tones that bind together the Fantasy series. I selected this artwork because it avoids a somewhat lazy trope seen across so many of the 65+ Fantasy Variants: the simple addition of armor plates or Golden accessories. With this one, Scream appears as some kind of dragon-like creature, and it's pretty original! 'Fantasy' is a term that opens such inspiring doors! Let the creativity flow!

War Machine, by Marco Itri (Original Art)

This is one of the most seamless injections of Steampunk aesthetic elements into a character design! Aside from the glowing capacitors visible on his forearms, the treatment of certain armor sections is what makes this Variant a cohesive fit within the series. As a quick point of edification: the elegant swirling patterns one can see on this Variant and many others – such as Ant-Man, Ghost, Stature, Shocker, and Yellowjacket – are known as scrollwork or Victorian filigree. They are foundational elements of the steampunk aesthetic. Historically, this kind of ornate embellishment was used on luxury items like firearms or pocket watches to make industrial metal look elegant. Now you know!

Knights of Avalon's Season Roundup

Talk about a change of scenery! Next month trades blood-sucking and brain-eating for… chivalry! Marvel has a habit of borrowing and tailoring folklore and myths to its own liking, and this November, the classic Arthurian legend takes center stage! The Middle Ages meet superheroes – a mash-up made in heaven, right?

The relationship between this popular British and Celtic legend and the comics publisher isn't new. It began over 70 years ago – in 1955, to be exact! That year saw the release of Black Knight #1, introducing Sir Percy of Scandia and his mighty blade!

Marvel Comics gave a second life to many iconic elements and characters from the myth: Camelot, Avalon, King Arthur, Merlin, Morgan le Fay, Mordred, and the Knights of the Round Table (especially Sir Percival, who inspired the Sir Percy character), to name a few. And all of those adventures set in the sixth century are canon, Earth-616 stories! That obviously paved the way for some classic, Marvel-style time travel!

Statistical Summary

Here's the season's day 1 data – according to available datamined content at the time of this writing:

Seasonal Showcase

Divebound Studio again? This is the first time in Snap’s history that an artist or studio has been showcased two seasons in a row. Dardo, Divebound, and System Studios are all carving out a nice niche for themselves as creative agencies for Second Dinner! It does not bode well for individual artists when it comes to the seasonal showcase – the last one to receive the honors was Viktor Farro… six seasons ago. It appears the developers are distancing themselves not only from delving into Marvel's catalog and introducing new artists to the game, but from their established roster of individual artists as well. As an art aficionado, that really saddens me. Snap is discreetly giving up on one of its most attractive features. How long before I have nothing to say in my reports, I wonder? That being said, let's stay pragmatic: if switching primarily to studios is integral to keeping Snap afloat in the long run, then so be it.

New Blood

We're back on track here with three new artists joining the fold!

Uzoka's Doctor Strange looks pretty good, but it would have benefited from not being framed so tightly. The ensemble looks fairly dark, partly because of that. Magic circles, just like the one featured on He Tianyou's Strange Supreme, are always a nice added touch. While I'm totally unimpressed by Simeone's radioactive green first offering, Kim's Wolverine definitely hits home. The Canadian character has a long history with northern environments, routinely retreating to the frozen, snow-covered forests of the Canadian wilderness whenever he needs to isolate himself. It is surprising that it took four years to see such a Variant for him.

I also wanna say a few words about Cliff Cramp who was introduced this season, yet they wasn't mentioned in the previous report because the datamined content available at the time left him out.

Cliff Cramp – yup, that's his real name! – popped up in the Shop with this excellent Headpool bundle Variant. I believe zombies should be disgusting as well as threatening, which is why I consider this to be the best zombie artwork in the game so far! isn't it awesome?

Conquest Reward

Annnnd we're back to boring with next season's Conquest reward: Magneto, as penned and colored by Zoltan Boros! This comes as a surprise, since the Hungarian artist usually does very decent work for the game! With all due respect to the artist, this Magneto is unfortunately the blandest, most unimaginative Variant he has designed so far. (His Orka is mediocre as well, but that isn't his fault – one can't work miracles with such a character design!)

New Albums

System Studios' Happily Ever Etched

Original Art | 9 Super Rare Variants (New releases only) | 10,800 Gold

System Studios delivering the most original Variant series ever? Color me flabbergasted! While it is definitely one of the most unique collections yet, what makes it so special is just how visually daring it is. Titled "Storybook," the series draws stunning inspiration from stained glass art, cubism, and children's books – but not etching! While it forms the smallest album yet, the series itself boasts a total of 19 Variants, all scheduled to drop throughout the season. Most of them are gorgeous art pieces and I'll need them all. Remember when I told you that studios were upping the creative ante? This is the series I had in mind! I'm in love.

Winking Studios' Qi to my Heart

Original Art | 7 Super Rare Variants (New releases only) | 8,400 Gold

Behold, the smallest album yet! Just like the "Eat, Prey, Love" album that just came out, this one throws cohesion out the window – in terms of characters and styles! Does it matter? Not really. Albums are card selections designed to grant rewards as you collect them, deliberately or not – period. As such, any new album is welcome, even for non-collectors. As for the Variants themselves, the collection features three for seasonal cards (Merlin of Avalon, Mordred, and Sir Percy), mixed with Fantasy-inspired options for Beta Ray Bill and Wiccan, plus Air-Walker and the first non-Cyberpunk Jocasta Variant. That last one is pretty sweet. 

• Comics lore: Did you know thatJocasta was created by Ultron to be… his bride? How human of him! Also, the red accents on her existing Variants are not related to the Cyberpunk tag despite what one might think – artists sometimes use the Ultron color palette (silver and glowing red) to visually tie her to the Ultron "lineage."

New Ultimate Variants

In November, we're back to the regular three Ultimate Variants releases. Excellent!

Sam Nielson's Magus and Star-Lord

Believe me, I don't enjoy hating on Second Dinner's decisions regarding Ultimate Variant selections, report after report… But Magus, a card that no one plays? And a double dose of Sam Nielson? Those two Variants don't even look like they've been drawn by the same person. I'm at a loss for words.

• Comics lore: Did you know that Magus was Adam Warlock's evil alter ego before briefly becoming an independent character? When Adam Warlock gains control of the Infinity Gauntlet, he realizes that to be a perfectly logical god, he must eliminate his psyche's most extreme emotions. He uses the Gauntlet's power to expel his good and evil halves: his pure-good side manifests as The Goddess, while his pure-evil side manifests as an independent Magus. (Those independent forms don't last long, however!)

Divebound Studio's Fantasy Gladiator

An umpteenth Ultimate Fantasy Variant – and it's exactly what you would expect from that increasingly massive series. I suspect that Second Dinner alternates between safe choices like this one and more… exploratory options like the ones above. While it's a sound approach to keep things interesting and gauge community sentiment to a certain extent, it makes for an eclectic Ultimate Variant pool instead of the top-tier selection players expect. Oh well!

• Trivia: Did you know that Gladiator was created as a direct homage to Superman? The character was designed as a playful tribute, as evidenced by Gladiator's name, Kallark, which is a combination of Superman's Kryptonian birth name, Kal-El, and his human name, Clark Kent. Even his moniker is linked to Superman: it is a deliberate nod to the 1930 novel Gladiator, a book about a super-powered man that heavily inspired Jerry Siegel and Joe Shuster when they created Superman.

Upcoming Snap Pack

It's even more tempting to invest in Snap Packs now that Character Mastery is interesting! Here's what's on the menu in November:

Increase Power

25 Variants | 1,200 Tokens to open

Content: 14 Super Rare, seven Rare, two Bundle exclusive (Mirage, Ironheart), one Game mode exclusive (Stick) and one Season Pass Variant (Wolfsbane)

Alongside : Ultimate Fantasy Elsa Bloodstone and Spotlight Surge

Album Variants: 15/25

Not much to say about this one. As it is the biggest Pack yet, don't expect much of a common thread between its Variants beyond their core mechanics: self-Powering (12 cards) and giving others extra Power (13). The most surprising inclusions are Mirage, who isn't primarily focused on added Power, and Devil Dinosaur, whose Ongoing ability actually causes its Power to fluctuate.

Anything Else?

Production of Reaction Sets is Over

It took the developers quite a long time to realize that very few people use Reactions, making them poor Mastery rewards. After downgrading them on the ladder, the team decided to stop producing them altogether. The feature still exists for those who care, but there won't be any new ones added to the game. I say good riddance!

Variant Conversion

The upcoming Steampunk Pack comes with a subtle change to some of the Variants it contains. In fact, Bishop and Falcon weren't obtainable unless you picked them up during the Steampunk Rush event back in March… 2023! Now, you can acquire them not only from this Pack, but in the Gold Shop as well. Unfortunately, Steampunk Cerebro, Shocker, and Yellowjacket are not in the Pack, so it's harder to tell if they've been converted to Shop-eligible Variants as well. One thing is for sure: it is high time that all these "old" exclusive Variants once again become accessible to everyone!

New Chromatic Borders

New Borders were once again rolled out with the second iteration of Draft mode – and they're awesome! However, the somewhat futuristic design of those Chromatic Borders can make pairing them with the right Variants difficult. Could that explain why I've come across so few of them in the wild so far? (Their price tag certainly has something to do with it, too.) In any case, I personally bought two of each. Here they are for inspiration purposes! (Yes, they're a natural fit with Flaviano's Variants!)

Expand the Border Shop!

As you know, the Variant Shop was recently expanded with a legacy Variants subsection. Actually, "expanded" is not completely accurate – the added subsection introduced a distinction between old and new Variants, meaning legacy items are now out of the main section's rotation. This is a welcome change, and Second Dinner should implement something similar for the Border Shop. 

As of now, roughly 25% of released Borders rotate in the Shop's six slots, compared to 60% in the 11-slot Gold Variant Shop (70% when including the Token Variant Shop). Granted, nobody wants the five holiday Borders (Halloween, two Candy Canes, and two Snowflakes) entering the rotation, but I'm certain most players would welcome more choices. There is no point in making the glyph Border such a rare sight. Is having game-mode-exclusive Borders really a good approach? Certainly not for the players! Any Border should eventually join the general rotation so players can spend their hard-earned currency on something other than FOMO-driven, "who-knows-when-they'll-appear-again" cosmetics in the game mode Shops.

Conclusion

All things considered, I'm excited about the upcoming season! A very distinct medieval backdrop, sweet Variants, great Snap Packs, the return of the usual three new artists…! Snap manages to keep things interesting and exciting after four years, and that's what we want!

That's all for now, folks. Thank you for your time, and see you in a month!

Have something to tell me? Find me on Fourth Location's Discord server (ambedo0432), on Facebook (Joel Lelièvre) or drop me a good old fashioned email (joel.c.lelievre@gmail.com)!

Collector's Reports are made possible thanks to SnapComplete.com.