Balance Update: September 10, 2026

Alright folks, this week we’ve got a bit of a doozy. We’ve loved watching everyone dive into Draft mode and share their most epic 5 Win decks and wildest Augment combinations. But now that folks are back on the ladder in earnest, it’s time to shake things up. This OTA takes aim at some long-standing top dogs, plus a couple of cards that have proven frustrating to play against and blocking to future design space. After that, as usual, we’ve got a handful of buffs for new and old cards alike. Let’s jump in!

Venus

[Old] 3/3 – When your cards in play are Empowered, give those cards an additional +1 Power.
[Change] 3/3 > 3/2

Venus didn’t land as one of the strongest cards in MARVEL SNAP on release, but a few OTAs, new card releases, and the community’s refinement of strategies like Aurora have since carried her to the throne. She’s likely the strongest 3-Cost card in the game right now.

Her synergies are vast: Aurora, Zombies, Silver Surfer, Jane Foster, and many others. We like that she doesn’t dominate from one singularly strong shell, but she’s outmuscling other 3-Cost options, so we’re trimming a point of Power. She can still do extremely powerful things when you distribute a bunch of buffs; she just demands a little more of that work before she outclasses a rate card.

Scorpion Brand New Day

[Old] 6/8 – Ongoing: Double the Power reductions on all enemy cards.
[Change] 6/8 > 6/6

Blink

[Old] 5/8 – On Reveal: Swap the last card you played with a card that costs more from your deck.
[Change] 5/8 > 5/7

We’re dinging the base Power of the Scorpion Brand New Day combo package. The conclusion is firm: this is the strongest non-interactive deck in the metagame. Rather than attack its extreme point output when the strategy is firing, we’re lowering the deck’s floor, which should open the door to a little more deck diversity.

Isca the Unbeaten

[Old] 4/3 – End of Turn: If you’re losing this location, double this card’s Power.
[Change] 4/3 > 4/2

Gambit Horseman of Death

[Old] 3/5 – Objective: Play 6 total Cost of created cards → Randomly destroy up to 3 total Cost of enemy cards. (0/6)
[Change] 3/5 > 4/6

These two cards sit just past the level of frustration we’re willing to tolerate relative to their strength. Isca can make for an interesting game of cat and mouse, but at her current rate she solos a location by herself too often without much further investment, and End of Turn synergies can make it trivial. This change should push her toward more strategic play and give opponents a real chance to outmuscle her when the Isca player doesn’t invest further.

Gambit, on the other hand, is less about his impact on the average game and more about his outsized effectiveness against particular strategies, along with the incentive to copy his card and complete his Objective again and again. The interaction he provides is relatively healthy at face value, but the matchup variance he creates, especially in decks built around repeating his ability, isn’t something we want to tolerate long term.

Making him a clunkier 4-Cost card should encourage players to use him as intended: a one-shot interactive piece in a created card strategy.

Nicholas Scratch

[Old] 1/2 – After you play a skill, +1 Power.
[Change] 1/2 > 1/3

Vulture

[Old] 1/3 – When this card moves, +3 Power.
[New] 1/3 – When this card moves, +4 Power.

The Collector

[Old] 2/2 – When a card enters your hand from anywhere (except your deck), +1 Power.
[Change] 2/2 > 2/3

Spider-Sense

[Old] 6/- – On Reveal: Give your characters here +3 Power. Costs 1 less for each Moveable card you’ve played.
[Change] 5/- – On Reveal: Give your characters here +3 Power. Costs 1 less for each Moveable card you’ve played.

We’re handing out a few straightforward buffs. These cards have been weak for some time, and with Scarlet Witch Queen of Chaos releasing, now is a good time to give some skill cards a push.

Vulture is by far the least played Move payoff, so we’re bridging the gap a touch.

We missed the mark on Spider-Sense last OTA; increasing its Cost at the same time was too conservative. We’re rectifying that and trying the strictly buffed version: +3 Power at 5-Cost.

Superior Iron Man

[Old] 5/7 – Double Cost reductions to this. Ongoing: Double Power increases to this.
[Change] 5/7 > 5/8

Mister Fantastic First Steps

[Old] 3/5 – End of Turn: Give a card in your hand -1 Cost or +2 Power.
[New] 3/5 – End of Turn: Give a card in your hand -1 Cost or +3 Power.

Majestic Wingbeat

[Old] 1/- – On Reveal: Give the leftmost card in your hand +2 Power. If it’s 5-Cost or more, -1 Cost too.
[New] 1/- – On Reveal: Give the leftmost card in your hand +3 Power. If it’s 5-Cost or more, -1 Cost too.

Lastly, Superior Iron Man has performed far below our expectations and struggled to compete with other expensive payoffs. We’re giving out a swath of buffs targeted at improving him, including a base Power increase for the card itself. His text box is a lot of fun and an interesting quest to go on, and we want players who enjoy him to keep finding him worth the trip!

Alright folks, that’s all for today. Happy Snapping!