Balance Update: August 13, 2026

Howdy, Snappers! We’re keeping today’s OTA short and sweet. The Fractured Frontier is bustling, y’all seem to be enjoying this season, and with a solid metagame and the Golden Gauntlet ridin’ over the horizon, we’re not looking to kick up too much dust. This week, Wilson Fisk is paying a one-Power toll and a few underplayed favorites are getting buffs. Saddle up and let’s get to it!

Wilson Fisk

[Old] 5/9 – Costs 3 if you have the highest Power among cards in play.
[Change] 5/9 > 5/8

Wilson Fisk and big-character decks have been strong ever since he muscled onto the scene in Crimson Twilight. He’s never posted numbers extreme enough to demand action, but his knack for priority-bullying opponents into tech setups has kept him near the top of the charts for months. That is a play pattern we’re always wary of letting get too strong. Shaving a point makes Fisk a little less obviously the strongest card in a strong deck, and gives opponents a real shot at wrestling priority back with some commitment and multiple cards.

Mad Thinker

[Old] 1/2 – At the start of each turn (after drawing), +2 Power if your hand is full.
[Change] 1/2 > 1/3

Hydro-Man

[Old] 5/9 – On Reveal: Set the Cost of EACH deck’s top card to 1.
[Change] 5/9 > 5/10

And just like that, we’re onto buffs. Mad Thinker hasn’t seen much table time, and since we’ve generally raised the floor for 1-Cost cards to 3 Power, this one’s easy. Hydro-Man promotes exactly the kind of fun play pattern we love to see, and because his effect hits both decks equally, there’s plenty of room to give him some extra muscle.

Drax

[Old] 4/5 – On Reveal: If your opponent played a card here this turn, +4 Power.
[Change] 4/5 > 4/6

Groot

[Old] 3/4 – On Reveal: If your opponent played a card here this turn, +4 Power.
[Change] 3/4 > 3/5

Hawkeye

[Old] 1/1 – On Reveal: If you play a card at this location next turn, +3 Power.
[New] 1/1 – On Reveal: If you play a card at this location next turn, +4 Power.

Next up is a swath of changes aimed at the new player experience. We keep a close eye on how buffs like these ripple through the low-CL metagame, but this group has stayed niche even there, so we’re comfortable handing each of them a point. We think this will make them more satisfying to play with and that may have an impact beyond the new player experience soon.

Hawkeye is the exception. He already sees some niche competitive play in Bounce, so this buff doubles as a boost for that archetype. Proccing him turn after turn takes real setup, but now the payoff might just be worth the aim.

Firehair

[Old] 2/3 – When one of your cards is destroyed, this uses that card’s On Reveal.
[Change] 2/3 > 2/4

Our largest swing this week, Firehair has a ton of potential and a large ceiling, but is tricky to play with and also has quite a low floor. We’re bringing up the aforementioned with a 4th point of Power to make her a little enticing for folks to experiment with given the release of Death Fractured Frontier.

That’ll do it for today’s round-up! Good luck to everyone throwing down in the Golden Gauntlet and enjoy the rest of your ride through the Fractured Frontier. Happy Snapping!