I don’t know about all of you, my fellow Marvel Snap (free) players, but these days, when I see balance updates, I find myself clenching… teeth And be prepared for the impact on my deck. After all, they are hot lately. What will happen in the latest issue? Of course, we’ve seen a lot of Arishem play since this card was added, and I have a feeling a lot of what we’re about to see is going to be centered around nerfing him and not, you know, directly weaken him. Let’s dive into all the details, shall we?
To be honest, this update has more buffs than nerfs. It’s nice to see this because no one is really happy with the nerfs. Especially nerfs to fairly new cards that some people might be spending their hard-earned money on. I think the cards being hacked today are mature enough that we can accept it and move on, even if the real purpose behind these adjustments is the pursuit of the beautiful new Arishem.
So the first one, Blob. The once motionless and immensely powerful Blob suffered another minor blow today. There are no changes to his stats or primary abilities, but he now loses his sustained ability, which renders him unable to move. This mostly depends on how the other cards interact with the cards in progress, with Mystic being mentioned providing the double blob that an Arishem deck can provide. Fair enough, but it does ruin a lovely mechanic for the actual character.
Robin has gone from a high-level threat to an over-the-top threat since Alisham came on the court, which means she’s going to get hit with a weakening bat. So far she has been a 5 power 9 cost card, but from now on she will be in the 6 cost tier. As an apology, she gets an extra strength point, but that means that with 10 strength points, she’s officially in Shang-Chi’s attack zone. Uh oh!
The final nerf is for Lavona Rensselaer. This is another stat boost that shaves off a bit of strength, turning her from 2 cost 3 strength to 2 cost 2 strength. In the official patch notes, Second Dinner mentions that she’s a difficult card to deal with, as adjusting the power of certain cards may actually buff them around her. This has nothing to do with Arishem, just to see if her usage could be toned down a bit.
Okay, buff time is up. Hydra Bob sucks. It’s an unfortunate thing considering he’s a new card, but he’s terrible. Apparently for the upcoming Deadpool’s diner mode, but if that’s all he’s going to be used for, then he’s pretty useless. His abilities are slightly enhanced from 1-Cost 4-Power to 1-Cost 5-Power, but the abilities remain the same. On the one hand, it’s pretty powerful for a 1 cost card. On the other hand, there are better ways to use that slot in your deck.
Viper’s abilities have been adjusted. Previously she just moved a card from your position to the opponent’s side without playing a favorite, so you had to be very careful not to send anything useful. She now sends you a card with the lowest energy, which allows her to target Hoods and Goblins more accurately for special deliveries.
Three quick strike power buffs! Sauron, from three-cost and three-power to three-cost and four-power! Night Werewolf, from 3 cost 1 power to 3 cost 2 power! Hit-Monkey, from 3 cost 2 power to 3 cost 3 power! The abilities of these cards haven’t changed at all, so it’s just a little gravy and powdered sugar to help them out.
Our sweet boy Lockjaw is finally back to his normal self! He is suffering a slight stat debuff, going from 4 cost 5 strength to 4 cost 4 strength. but! but! He now starts exchanging as many cards as possible each turn instead of just one. Yes, the nerfs a while ago did hurt him a lot, which also weakened the Asgardian’s value. We’ll see if they all recover.
That’s it for this update. What do you think of these balance changes? Do they hit your favorite deck particularly hard? Are you planning to add these polished cards to your rotation? Leave a comment below and let us know. Good luck!
