Marvel Snap is an incredibly balanced game with a ton of variety when it comes to competitive decks. While certain cards and decklists will inevitably rise to the top, there is enough variety to keep Discard, Destroy, On Reveal, and even Move enthusiasts satisfied. That being said, there are a select few cards in Marvel Snap that see play almost everywhere and are currently dominating the metagame. The developers at Second Dinner have made several big nerfs in the past to cards like Nova and Magik, changing their effects to be more balanced. Recent changes have been more tailored toward power adjustments - changing stats as opposed to effects.
However, Second Dinner has announced that balance changes will be coming to Marvel Snap on a monthly basis, where several cards will either be nerfed to be less oppressive or buffed to see more overall play. So, let's take a look at all the upcoming balance changes coming to Marvel Snap!
Marvel Snap Balance Patch - February 2023
Here are all the buffs and nerfs coming to Marvel Snap in the next balance patch:
Marvel Snap Balance Patch Buffs, Nerfs, & Adjustments:
- Darkhawk: 4/1 > 4/0.
- Dev Note: "Darkhawk is an especially powerful card. As we prepared this balance change before the Silver Surfer and Zabu nerfs went live, we didn’t want to hit him too hard. However, we definitely felt that knocking off at least one Power from him is warranted, and we will continue to monitor his performance."
- Thanos: 6/8 > 6/11.
- Dev Note: "We think Thanos is one of the coolest cards, and we’re a bit sad that he himself isn’t played often. Most Thanos decks focus primarily on making good use of the stones, but we want to make sure the mad titan himself has enough Power to play."
- Sandman: 4/1 > 5/5.
- Dev Note: "Many of the strongest decks right now have strategies centered around playing multiple cards on turn 6. Sandman should be a good answer to these decks, but he didn’t quite have the sand to stand up to them with his previous statline. We’re giving him a bit more Power to make him a more competitive card, but also subsequently bumping up his Cost."
- Spider-Woman: 5/7 > 5/8
- Namor: 4/5 > 4/6
- Dagger: 2/1 > 2/2
When Is The Next Marvel Snap Balance Patch?
Balance Patches in Marvel Snap happen every month. Along with the Series Drops, Second Dinner announced that they will be taking a look at the metagame and making adjustments on a monthly basis to cards that are both over and underperforming. This is fairly standard practice for card games, and regular balance patches are always welcome, especially when a certain card or deck is oppressing the meta. However, the developers have also stated, as per the above tweet, they can adjust very broken cards without a major patch and will do so whenever they want to.
Not much is known yet about any potential compensation for nerfs to Season Pass cards, but the likelihood is that no compensation will be given to players who purchased these cards. Fluctuating stats and effects are par for the course in other digital TCGs, and nerfing overpowered cards is much better for the overall health and longevity of the game.
