OTA Changes April 16 with Decks!
The latest OTA balance changes in Snap includes quick buffs to a couple of brand new cards, a double nerf to one deck, and a handful of 1 point Power buffs. All that, plus a big global change for the better! Will this OTA manage to shake up the metagame?
The Changes
- Wolverine, Horseman of War: +3 Power ⇨ +4 Power
- Techno-Organic Virus: +2 Cost ⇨ +1 Cost
- Ka-Zar: 4/5 ⇨ 4/6
- Odin: 6/9 ⇨ 6/10
- Bucky Barnes 2/1 ⇨ 2/2
- Black Bolt: 5/7 ⇨ 5/8
- Moondragon: 2/2 ⇨ 2/1
- Chamber: 2/2 ⇨ 2/1
- Cards that reference 1, 2, and 3 Cost or 4, 5, and 6 Cost changed to “3 or less” and “4 or more.”
- Hela (minor change): Picks targets as she resurrects them, rather than picking them all at once at the start.
Come join our Discord to share your thoughts on the changes!
Wolverine, Horseman of War
- [Old] 4/3 - Objective: This has 5 or more Power, Give one of your cards at each location +3 Power. (3/5)
- [Change] +3 Power ⇨ +4 Power
Wolverine landed flat, despite having his Objective made easier before release. He was just awkward. It's hard to get enough bodies down to make his buffs worth it. Now, at +4, a bit more of a linear game plan with Namora or other cards could develop. This is a massive buff, but ordering and sequencing issues will remain. There are also some nasty upcoming combos with this Wolverine.
Techno-Organic Virus
- [Old] 1 - On Reveal: Copy this to your hand with +2 Cost. Infect your other cards here. (replace their text)
- [Change] +2 Cost ⇨ +1 Cost
TOV landed about where I expected – a niche deck-building puzzle, but not powerful as an all-in strategy. While Wolverine's buff may change the dynamic of the card, this buff isn't likely to have the same impact. First of all, we already had Mobius, Quinjet, and Black Swan to reduce the cost. The card is still too expensive to play multiple times without one of those cards. Still, MMM becomes less obligatory and TOV might thrive with the other two more.
Ka-Zar
- [Old] 4/5 - Ongoing: Your 1-Cost cards have +1 Power.
- [Change] 4/5 ⇨ 4/6
Zoo has spent quite a bit of time as an underrated archetype, but it's been hard to play anything that tries to compete wide, across all three lanes, lately. Even the rocks decks didn't even give Ka-Zar a look, so he deserves a buff. But I doubt it will move the needle outside early Series play. A change to 4/4, +2 would have been more attractive.
Odin
- [Old] 6/9 - On Reveal: Repeat the On Reveal abilities of your other cards here.
- [Change] 6/9 ⇨ 6/10
They keep buffing Odin in an attempt to keep him relevant. Stryfe and Zola have become the de facto ways to repeat abilities on the last turn, but there are quite a few solid decks that can run Odin at the moment.
Bucky Barnes
- [Old] 2/1 - When Destroyed: Replace this with the Winter Soldier.
- [Change] 2/1 ⇨ 2/2
It's certainly the smallest whisper of a buff to hit the Bucky Barnes instead of Winder Soldier. This is directly a buff for Dormammu that can gain his power or Archangel decks that may accidentally bring him back. If that's the goal, though, just make him a 2/3 at least. Note: Bucky is one of the absolute best cards in the game on Altar of Death hot location days, which is coming up this weekend!
Bird Mam
Black Bolt
- [Old] 5/7 - On Reveal: Discard the card that costs the least from your opponent’s hand.
- [Change] 5/7 ⇨ 5/8
The best thing I've done with Black Bolt lately is leave him in my hand for Stryfe to copy since spending 5-Energy on this effect doesn't feel at all worth it. The only way I see this type of strategy surviving in the current world of Marvel Snap is if you can strip your opponent's hand of multiple cards. For disruption, you're far better off just playing a Supergiant deck, incidentally another deck that eats Black Bolt alive.
Moondragon
- [Old] 2/2 - End of Turn: +2 Power if you played 1 card this turn and spent all your Energy.
- [Change] 2/2 ⇨ 2/1
Chamber
- [Old] 2/2 - Activate: +2 Power for each 5-Cost or higher card you have here and in hand.
- [Change] 2/2 ⇨ 2/1
These cards were indeed punching way above their weight. They allow decks that are heavy at the top of the curve to sacrifice nothing in early game power, which is not an ideal dynamic. The nerfs are small but it's noticeable they were both hit – this is a direct hit to Doom 2099 decks which must have been doing quite well in Second Dinner's statistics.
As an example, instead of saying "4, 5, and 6-Cost cards here have -3 Power." USAgent will say "Cards with 4 -Cost or higher here have -3 Power." Malekith will now say "Add a card with 3-Cost or less here, but don't reveal it until the game ends instead of "add a 1, 2, or 3-Cost card from your deck here, but don't reveal it until the game ends."
Affected cards and locations:
- US Agent
- Goose
- Iron Patriot
- Malekith
- Man-Thing
- Moonstone
- Crimson Cosmos
- The Big House
This is best change of the OTA! It's definitely something I've been begging for, but wasn't expecting them to get it done so soon! Some of these cards a benefiting more than others. Goose will be great as a limit on Foom and USAgent will be able to see more play for the same reason. Both will be useful on their respective Cerebro decks, but they're also just solid cards in this metagame. Moonstone gets back her tricky utility with Sam Wilson's shield, while Iron Patriot will draw from a wider pool, for better or worse. Ok, but where is Leech on this list? We could fend off Fin Fang Foom with the little Morlock!
Hela
Hela Now picks targets as she resurrects them, rather than picking them all at once at the start.
This is just a functional change, but it is definitely a slight buff. Keep that in mind if you find yourself wondering why Hela is back. Here is the example from the blog: "If you have a Ghost Rider (4-Cost) and 2 Hulks (6-Cost) in your discard pile, previously Hela could revive Ghost Rider and whiff on reviving a Hulk when Ghost Rider resurrects the one she picked. Now in this scenario, you’ll always get Ghost Rider and both Hulks granted you have enough space."
Star-Rider Hela
No Nerfs to Foom or Shou?!
These are the nerfs that players demanded most. Shou is running roughshod over the high-infinite ladder, while Foom is an ever-present threat and looms especially tall over any LTGM.
Foom essentially did get a nerf in the form of buffs to Goose and USAgent and the change to The Big House. Notably, these cards also block Stryfe, Foom's best enabler currently. While these cards also technically limit Shou-Lao, they don't stop what Shou-Lao is buffing. I think we're going to have to wait until the Shou show trickles down the ranks a bit more before we see a buff. I wouldn't be surprised to see buffs to both of these cards in the next OTA, though, once they've had more time at the top.
Final Thoughts
I am really excited by the Costs change. It's something I think the game really needed and I'm glad it didn't take too long for Second Dinner to notice and implement. I think we'll see plenty of people trying out Horseman Wolverine with this change, but don't expect to see much of a rise in Techno-Organic Virus' share. Those who have been facing a ton of Doom 2099 should see it a tad less, but if you're not in the matchmaking bubble that Doom is prevalent, the meta might not feel too much different to you. I think this round of 1-point buffs was especially uninspiring and they should have been more brave with some of these cards so that we have more legitimate options. The miniscule change to Hela is likely to do more for her play rate than the extra point will do for Bucky or Ka-Zar.
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