Marvel Snap’s newest OTA patch just hit the airwaves, and it’s chock full of changes that could have an immediate impact on how the game is played.
The biggest nerfs in today’s update are for two quite popular cards, Galactus and Kitty Pryde, who both have had their base power reduced by two. Galactus is now a six-cost, five-power card, and Kitty is a one-cost, zero-power card.
For Galactus, the blame for the nerf is being placed on the new Loki for All Time season card, Alioth.
“We expected Alioth to find a fast home in Galactus decks, which wasn’t a problem in and of itself,” Second Dinner said. “Exciting new cards shouldn’t hit the cutting room floor because existing cards might like them too much, especially if that card is Galactus–the whole reason we reworked him was to give us a knob that could rein him in. Given his metrics spiked well outside our acceptable range for over a week, we’re taking a harder line with this change than usual based on the impact we need. We liked Galactus right where he was before Alioth, so that’s our target range for his performance.”
Kitty, meanwhile, will retain her ability to gain power after each turn she’s played when she returns to the player’s hand. But now, she will start at two less power, which will likely make her way less prevalent outside of decks where she pairs with Angela.
“Kitty has been places,” Second Dinner said. “She’s seen things. And it’s been a fun ride! Kitty was an integral player in the metagame’s best deck at least four different times, and each of those decks was meaningfully distinct from the rest. That’s a pretty rare feat, and speaks to her raw strength as a card that both eats excess Energy and has cool mini-combos, like Angela and Hulkbuster. However, as we continue to make similar synergies, we want other cards to get their opportunities to compete with Kitty. This change is a little preemptive, as we expect Kitty would be too strong in October without it, and we’ll likely continue to explore different executions of Kitty for a future patch.”
When it comes to the other tweaks in the OTA, three cards are being changed. Squirrel Girl is getting a one-power buff to now be a one-cost, two-power card, and Psylocke is getting a one-power buff as well. Meanwhile, recent meta-resurgent cards Snowguard’s Hawk and Bear are changing.
Snowguard Hawk will be increasing its cost from two to three, while Snowguard Bear will also be increasing both its cost and power to now be a three-cost, four-power play.
“We’re happy that Snowguard’s rework brought her in from the cold,” Second Dinner said. “However, the bulk of her strength has proven to be in concert with Loki and The Collector, where the extra cards she generates are the primary reward and the auroras are secondary. We don’t mind that much–the auroras are situational themselves–but they don’t need to be so efficient in that case, either. The Bear is gaining more Power because his effect has proven by far the weaker of the two.”
Second Dinner said the Snowguard change is the “first of a larger series of adjustments you’ll see go live in next week’s patch, as we shift the cost and power of several small cards that add cards to your hand to get a more diverse spread of enticing options for different goals and playstyles.”
Marvel Snap’s new season begins on Monday, Oct. 2, at 10pm CT. The full list of notes from today’s update can be found on the game’s official website.
