Hey, it’s been a while! We’re glad to be back to the routine with an OTA this week, and aim to resume our regularly scheduled programming soon–we know everyone enjoys a consistent pace. However, we will be having a slight stutter in June as well, while our team works on some architectural updates under the hood. That means you can expect to see OTAs on June 5th and June 26th, and hopefully things will be back to normal for July.

Metagame Refresh

With a lengthy reprieve from OTAs, the metagame did settle into a more rigid structure than we’d like to see. To that end, we’re making several nerfs to high-profile cards in our top decks, aiming to ensure some churn within the metagame.

Strange Supreme

• [Old] 2/2 – Gains +2 Power from merging. End of Turn: Merge one of your created cards into this.
• [Change] 2/2 -> 2/1

Cap’s Shield (Sam Wilson)

• [Old] 0/1 – Ongoing: This can’t be destroyed. Give your Cap +2 Power when this moves to Cap’s location.
• [Change] 0/1 -> 0/0

Time Stone

• [Old] 1/1 – On Reveal: Give Thanos -1 Cost. Draw a card.
• [New] 1/1 – On Reveal: Give Thanos -1 Cost.

We’re taking aim at the current metagame tyrant with a smattering of small changes that should weaken some of today’s strongest cards, fostering additional competition in the midrange archetypes especially.

An obvious candidate was Strange Supreme, who has proven to be a force alongside the Stones in Thanos. That’s definitely a role we knew the card would play, but Supreme’s strength has exceeded our expectations enough to merit a nerf. It may not seem that this Power update will have a big impact, but It’s easy to remember the blowout games where Supreme got huge enough to force a retreat.There are plenty of close games that tend to be worth a lot more cubes!

Our first swing at Sam Wilson was light, in part because we didn’t want to make a huge shift. While very popular, Sam was a solid card in a lot of decks rather than being the best card in a very strong one, which is generally what we’d like to see. Since then, Sam’s stock has continued to rise and fuel the metagame’s strongest decks, so we’re shifting our approach to better compensate for the consistency Sam affords by moving base Power to Sam. This weakens the Shield’s impact on the early game, and specifically makes it worse fodder for Strange Supreme.

Alongside these changes, we’re taking more direct aim at Thanos by removing a draw from the Time Stone. A major strength of Thanos has become the deck’s capacity to justify playing more “tech cards” with lower Power than other decks can sustain, because the Stones turn into Power without using slots via Strange Supreme while Thanos himself has become a very efficient play. We love to see that–we want Thanos in play! Time Stone has been the strongest Stone at enabling Thanos while adding access to all the tech cards, so this change should have a large impact.

Hazmat

• [Old] 2/2 – On Reveal: Afflict all other cards with -1 Power.
• [Change] 2/2 -> 3/3

While Thanos has earned the majority of players’ ire, the other candidate for “best deck” has quietly been an afflict-based deck leaning hard on Hazmat, by far the worst matchup for Thanos. Beyond supporting a very strong deck, Hazmat also constrains our design space by being arguably the best enabler for synergy designs–a similar challenge we’ve encountered with Luke Cage. We’d like to create more room for those cards to exist at a more diverse range of strength, so we’re going to explore weakening Hazmat in this role and monitor how that impacts the performance of other designs. This will also make the one-two punch of Luke Cage and Hazmat more difficult to deploy.

Sauron

• [Old] 2/2 – On Reveal: Remove the abilities from all Ongoing cards in your hand and deck.
• [New] 1/3 – On Reveal: Remove the abilities from all Ongoing cards in your deck.

Backed by the relatively recent buff to 2/2, the Sauron deck has quietly positioned itself as one of the best decks in the metagame for a while. We’ve been fine to let it fly a little under the radar, but the changes above are aiming to create a lot of shifts at the top. We don’t want to leave this heir apparent in the pole position, given all of its tough matchups are receiving nerfs and the deck itself is pushing out other midrange strategies that don’t often deploy 20 power by turn 4. To that end, we’re narrowing Sauron’s effect to create more pressure on the drawbacks of cards like Ebony Maw and Starbrand, pushing players to navigate the downsides more often.

Makkari

• [Old] 3/4 – End of Turn: Runs from your hand to a random location. (if possible)
• [Change] 3/4 -> 3/3

It’s taken a while, but Makkari has begun carving out some significant space in decks, whether that’s as a bonus 3-Cost in Silver Surfer or extra Power in decks that rarely fill locations or play their entire hand. However, she’s also become one of the highest-performing cards in those decks, with a winrate on par with Silver Surfer himself! That’s a bit too extreme for a card that’s as random and “free” as Makkari, so we’re taking away a little Power here.

Tidying Up

These aren’t the spiciest changes, but we’re making a couple minor quality of life updates.

Text Update: Kahhori

• [Old] 4/6 – On Reveal: Each card in your hand gives one of your cards in play +1 Power.
• [New] 4/6 – On Reveal: Each card in your hand gives one of your other cards in play +1 Power.

This is just a text update to clarify that Kahhori ignores herself for her buff effect.

Location Enabled: Isle of Silence

• Ongoing effects are disabled here.

We disabled Isle of Silence (oh, the irony) due to a VFX bug occurring with a few cards, especially Iron Patriot. We’ve addressed that issue and are simply adding this location back to the pool.

Buffing Cards

Beyond the updates targeting metagame balance specifically, we’ve got a variety of updates for aiming to push some underperforming cards into limier lights, and a few small changes for clarity.

Storm

• [Old] 4/5 – On Reveal: Flood this location. Next turn is the last turn cards can be played here.
• [Change] 4/5 -> 3/2

Flooding

• This is the last turn cards can be played here.
• Functional Change: Flooding no longer “combos” with Legion

Flooded

• • Cards can’t be played here.

• (No change)

We previously changed Storm to 4/5 primarily to weaken her synergy with Legion, as a War Machine + Legion deck was proving popular and frustrating. That gave us the opportunity to explore different potential executions on the way Storm worked, but along the way we also decided to evaluate how Legion should work with similarly timed locations, as Flooding itself was inconsistent. We built it that way in part because so many playtesters expected Legion to flood the board in a single turn.

In the end, rather than change the explicit functionality of Storm, we decided that copies of locations would not inherit the turn timing status of the original. This will weaken the interaction with Legion by delaying the copies of Flooding for another turn, meaning we can safely move Storm back to 3-Cost.

Toxie Doxie

• [Old] 2/1 – On Reveal: Give 2 cards in your hand +2 Power. You can’t play them next turn.
• [New] 2/3 – On Reveal: Give 2 characters in your hand +2 Power. You can’t play them next turn.

Toxie Doxie was aimed to be a novel addition to cards that benefit from “handbuff” effects, like Sebastian Shaw and Mister Sinister. However, the card released a touch on the weak side, and hasn’t been able to earn its slot in those decks. We’re taking the soft and simple approach here with a buff to Toxie’s own Power, along with a text correction to make it clear that Toxie ignores skills.

Hercules

• [Old] 3/5 – The first time another card moves here each turn, move it to another location.
• [New] 3/5 – The first time another one of your cards moves here each turn, move it to another location.

This is a fairly minor change, but we’ve seen a surprising number of pleas to limit Hercules to your own cards. We’re happy to try it out and see what happens, especially with more automated movers like Xorn, Batroc, and Topaz in the game now.

Annihilus

• [Old] 5/7 – On Reveal: Your cards with Power below 0 switch sides. Destroy those that can’t.
• [Change] 5/7 -> 5/8

The story is almost completely opposite for Annihilus, who immediately joined the metagame in a big way before sliding into obscurity. With players filling locations a bit more often and additional disruption like Strange Supreme weakening “Clog” strategies, Annihilus has room to receive some more strength.

Electro

• [Old] 3/3 – On Reveal: +1 Max Energy. Ongoing: You can only play 1 card a turn.
• [Change] 3/3 -> 3/4

The Power will continue to increase until morale improves! Electro is a card that tells a great story and has a lot of interesting potential synergy options, such as War Machine and Blink. We don’t want to disrupt the card’s base function, as it’s a pretty satisfying card–we just want it to win a bit more. To that end, we’re once more increasing its Power.

Cerebro

• [Old] 2/0 – Ongoing: Your highest-Power cards have +2 Power.
• [New] 3/0 – Ongoing: Your highest-Power cards have +3 Power.

Cerebro saw a small surge when we shifted from 3/0 to 2/0, but has since then had a rough go of things. Some of that is the “splash damage” it takes from cards that are targeting Ongoing, but there’s also a stronger metagame and more cards that threaten to impact Cerebro. So we’re going to try something a little stronger for one of our favorite deckbuilding challenges.

—

That’s all for this week. Until next time, happy snapping!

To me, my New X-Men! Assemble your decks, gather your wits, and prepare for a global challenge! From May 12-26, The New X-Men – Global Bounty invites players worldwide to join forces to win games using select New X-Men-themed cards. The more victories you secure, the greater the rewards for everyone who participates.
This is not just about individual glory—it’s about working together as a global community to unlock great rewards including two NEW Variants and a Collector’s Series 5 Snap Pack!

How It Works

The Bounty Cards

High school is hard enough without Sentinels trying to vaporize your chemistry lab.

This season, we’re heading back to Xavier’s Institute with the New X-Men! But just because they’re new doesn’t mean they’re not powerful. Whether they’re navigating teenage drama or defending the school from the latest mutant-hating Sentinel, the next generation of X-Men is ready for anything.

So put down your pencils and put up your fists. Class is now in session.

SEASON PASS

Our newest character is one of the five telepathic Stepford Cuckoos, clones of Emma Frost. Esme is ambitious, rebellious, always seeking power, and not afraid to use those around her to win.

NEW CHARACTER: ESME CUCKOO

On Reveal: Copy a card from your deck into your hand. Set its Cost to 3 and Power to 4.

SEASON REWARDS

NEW CHARACTERS!

There’s nothing “junior varsity” about these new characters. Each week we’ll be adding one of these new superpowered X-Men to the starting lineup.

SERIES 5

On Reveal: Give the top card of your deck -1 Cost and +1 Power. After you play it, repeat this ability.

SERIES 5

On Reveal: If this is in the back row, copy the text of the card in front of it.

SERIES 5

On Reveal: One of your cards destroyed last turn gets revived here.

SERIES 5

After ANY 3 or 4-Cost card is played here, move it to another location.

New Card Release Schedule

New Series 5 cards will launch weekly as the spotlight card in the Card Shop and will also be available in the Seasonal Series 5 SNAP Packs. All new Series 4 and 5 cards will remain in their respective Seasonal SNAP Packs for both the current and following season. Additionally, the previous month’s Season Pass card will be added to the Seasonal Series 5 SNAP Packs on the first day of the new season.

• May 6th: Surge – Seasonal Series 5 Release
• May 6th: Captain Carter – Seasonal Series 5 Release
• May 13th: Prodigy – Seasonal Series 5 Release
• May 20th: Elixir – Seasonal Series 5 Release
• May 27th: Xorn – Seasonal Series 5 Release

NEW LOCATIONS

BRAND NEW ALBUMS

BRAND NEW ALBUMS Get all new Avatars, Variants, and Emotes by completing two new albums!

You may know him as Gabe, but this time Mike Krahulik is suiting up as a SNAP artist. Maybe this album will earn us some more mentions in a certain web comic… The new album with super cool new variants will be here on May 8th!

Collect 2: 1000 Credits

Collect 4: Devil Dinosaur – “Cool” Emote

Collect 6: Devil Dinosaur – Penny Arcade Variant

Collect 7: 8 Penny Arcade Borders

Rian Gonzalez is on a mission to turn your whole deck into Chibis with the latest Chibi Supremacy album. Check it out on May 15th.

Collect 3: Redwing – “Shocked” Emote

Collect 6: 3 Cosmic Rainbow Borders

Collect 9: Cassandra Nova – Rian Gonzales Variant

Collect 12: 6000 Collector’s Tokens

Do you like to dance? How about an entire album of Marvel’s finest. The Disco ball drops on May 30th.

Collect 3: 2 Cosmic Red Borders

Collect 6: Dazzler – “Vibin” Emote

Collect 9: Deadpool – Disco Variant

Collect 12: Spider-Man – Disco Variant

SHOP TAKEOVERS

Heads up… must be good luck. This Penny Arcade takeover features FIVE new variants taking over the shop on May 8th.

Rian Gonzales variants are taking over the shop on May 15th. Grab those Chibi!

Prepare for your next dance battle, Disco variants are taking over the shop on May 30th.

TWITCH DROPS

These new heroes may still be figuring themselves out, but if they can handle midterms from White Queen, you should be able to handle a few New X-Men. And don’t forget your homework… Go share your big brain plays on Discord and socials or we’ll be seeing you in the Danger Room!

MARVEL SNAP is evolving! We’re thrilled to introduce Snap Packs, a major upgrade to how you unlock new cards and expand your collection. Whether you’re a newcomer looking to catch up, a returning player filling in the gaps, or a dedicated fan eager for the latest releases, Snap Packs offer an easier, more streamlined way to build your collection.

To celebrate the launch of Snap Packs, all players will receive a FREE Series 5 Collector’s Pack in the inbox after they update to the new patch!

What Are Snap Packs?

The Token Shop is transforming into a full-fledged Card Shop, bringing a host of exciting changes:

✅ Snap Packs – Each pack guarantees 1 unowned card (no duplicates!) and includes 2 bonus rewards.*
✅ Spotlight & Rotating Pinnable Cards – These will remain available, at the same Token prices.
✅ Free Daily Tokens – Log in every day to claim them!
✅ Token Packs – Purchase Tokens directly using Gold from the Card Shop.

*Bonus rewards can include additional cards, variants, cosmetics, or in-game currencies (odds vary). View the full odds tables at the bottom of this blog.

The Five Snap Pack Types

Seasonal Series 5 Packs – 5000 Tokens –  Includes all Series 5 cards from the current and one previous season (updated weekly).

Seasonal Series 4 Packs – 2500 Tokens – Includes all Series 4 cards from the current and two previous seasons (updated each season).

Series 5 Collector’s Pack – 4000 Tokens – Contains all Series 5 cards not in the “Seasonal Packs” .

Series 4 Collector’s Pack – 2000 Tokens – Includes all Series 4 cards not in the “New Series” packs.

Series 3 Collector’s Pack – 650 Tokens – The best way for newer players to complete their Series 3 collection.

Token Economy Update

• Spotlight Caches are being retired – All existing Spotlight Keys will convert into 3,000 Tokens per Key.
• Tokens replace Spotlight Keys for 3000 Tokens in Collection Level track rewards every 120 Collection Levels.
• Token Packs allow Gold-to-Token purchases, letting players catch up quickly.

Coming In The Future

• Custom Packs like “X-Men”, “Discard”, or “Creator’s Deck of the Week” are in the works. We’re just scratching the surface of how Snap Packs can evolve over time! This addition will arrive in a future patch, exact timing is still to be determined.
• Whenever you acquire a Variant for which you do not own the base card, you will be granted the base card for free along with it!
  • It will also be retroactive for all players!
  • This change will arrive in a future patch, exact timing is still to be determined.

FAQ: Your Snap Packs Questions Answered

What are the prices of individual cards outside of Snap Packs?

These won’t be changing.

• Series 5 Spotlight Card: 6,000 Tokens
• Series 5/4 Pinnable Daily Cards: 6,000/3,000 Tokens
• Ultimate Variants: 5,000 Tokens – Staying the same as before

What are the odds for the extra “goodies” in each pack?

Each pack distributes its bonus rewards differently. Those rewards can also change based on your Series 3/4/5 completion status. You can view the full odds and information at the bottom of this blog.

Can you receive duplicate bonus rewards?

Yes! Each bonus reward is rolled separately, meaning you could receive the same reward twice (e.g., two bonus cards).

What happens if you own every card in a Snap Pack and try to buy it?

The purchase button will be disabled and marked as “Complete!”. However, if a new card is added to that pack, it will become available again.

How many new cards will be released each month?

• Series 5: 5-6 new cards per season (1 Season Pass card + 4-5 weekly releases).
• Series 4: Aiming for 4-5 new cards per season, though some may be event-exclusive for the season.

Will there still be Series Drops?

Series Drops are being evaluated. The focus is on making Snap Packs the best possible system before adjusting old systems or introducing new ones.

What happens to players who don’t update their game when Snap Packs launch?

While Snap Packs are coming on April 29th, players who don’t immediately update their game will still see the Spotlight Cache system. On May 1 we’ll be forcing all players to update their games to the most recent patch. That means there’s a 48 hour period where players can interact with the previous system. See what cards and variants will be available here.

How many free Tokens will be available daily?

Players can claim 50 Tokens every 24 hours.

Will you be able to see the contents of each pack in-game?

Yes! By tapping on a pack and selecting “View Cards”, you’ll see the included cards and how long they will remain available.

Can you buy Packs directly with Gold?

Gold can be used to replace missing Tokens, but Packs themselves are not purchasable with Gold alone.

What happens if you roll a card as a bonus reward, but already own every card in that Series?

Fallback rewards include:

• Seasonal Series 5 & 4 Packs → Tokens (S3: 850, S4: 2,500, S5: 5,000)
• Collector’s Packs (S3/4/5) → Tokens (S3: 650, S4: 2,000, S5: 4,000)

Will Ultimate Variants still be available?

Yes! Ultimate Variants will continue to be sold in the Daily Cards section for 5,000 Tokens.

What’s happening to Spotlight Variants?

Spotlight Variants will move into the “Offers” section of the Shop. We’re still working on the finer details of how to best present them to players going forward.

Will limited-time events still offer new cards as rewards?

Yes! Typically, these will be Series 4 cards. The following season they’ll be moved into the appropriate Seasonal Snap Pack.

How often can Snap Packs be opened?

No limit until you’re out of available cards in each pool.

Snap Pack Drop Table Odds

In addition to earning an unowned base card when purchasing a Snap Pack, you will receive 2 additional rewards.

Seasonal Spotlight Series 5 drop table odds

[su_table responsive=”yes” alternate=”no”]

[/su_table]

*If you are Series 3, 4, or 5 complete you will earn Tokens instead:

Seasonal Spotlight Series 4 drop table odds

[su_table responsive=”yes” alternate=”no”]

[/su_table]

*If you are Series 3, 4, or 5 complete you will earn Tokens instead:

Collector’s Pack Series 5 drop table odds

[su_table responsive=”yes” alternate=”no”]

[/su_table]

*If you are Series 3, 4, or 5 complete you will earn Tokens instead:

Collector’s Pack Series 4 drop table odds

[su_table responsive=”yes” alternate=”no”]

[/su_table]

*If you are Series 3, 4, or 5 complete you will earn Tokens instead:

Collector’s Pack Series 3 drop table odds

[su_table responsive=”yes” alternate=”no”]

[/su_table]

*If you are Series 3, 4, or 5 complete you will earn Tokens instead:

PLEASE NOTE: If you haven’t updated your game yet, get the latest in the App Store!

PATCH HIGHLIGHTS

MARVEL SNAP is evolving! We’re thrilled to introduce Snap Packs, a major upgrade to how you unlock new cards and expand your collection. Whether you’re a newcomer looking to catch up, a returning player filling in the gaps, or a dedicated fan eager for the latest releases, Snap Packs offer an easier, more streamlined way to build your collection.

To celebrate the launch of Snap Packs, all players will receive a FREE Series 5 Collector’s Pack in the inbox after they update to the new patch!

What Are Snap Packs?

The Token Shop is transforming into a full-fledged Card Shop, bringing a host of exciting changes:

• Snap Packs – Each pack guarantees 1 unowned card (no duplicates!) and includes 2 bonus rewards.*
• Spotlight & Rotating Pinnable Cards – These will remain available, at the same Token prices.
• Free Daily Tokens – Log in every day to claim them!
• Token Packs – Purchase Tokens directly using Gold from the Card Shop.

Learn more about Snap Packs in [our launch blog].

FEATURES

We’ve improved the way we store your Collection in the cloud to speed up common Collection operations. You’ll notice it most claiming new rewards such as Collection Track Rewards, Infinity Splits, and Shop purchases, but many operations are faster now.

When first logging in after this patch, you may notice a longer-than-normal load time. It’ll be barely noticeable for most players, but players with the very large collections might have a one-time longer wait than normal. The larger your collection, the more improvement you’ll see.

ART, VFX, & AUDIO

• The following cards now have VFX and SFX:
  • Giganto
  • Red Skull
  • Uncle Ben
• Updated logos for Ares, Galacta, and Sam Wilson Captain America

BALANCE UPDATES

CARD UPDATES

• Lasher no longer adds Power to cards if its own Power is negative. This aligns with how The First Ghost Rider works (this change went live via OTA a few weeks ago).
• Sebastian Shaw received a slight tweak to its text for brevity (no functional change)

[OLD] – When this card permanently gains Power, gain +2 more Power. (wherever this is)

[NEW] – When this permanently gains Power, gain +2 more Power. (wherever this is)

LOCATION UPDATES

• Deep Space is back in the game now that its bug with Iron Patriot has been fixed.

BUG FIXES

Card & Location Fixes in 40.x

• Fixed an edge case that could see Banished versions of Agamotto be buffed by Temporal Manipulation under some circumstances
• Spells played on locations such as Death’s Domain and Altar of Death should now be properly displayed in the Banished section of the Graveyard
• Celestial Burial Ground should no longer be able to generate the same card that it discarded
• Cap’s Shield should no longer throw a VFX related exception that was potentially causing performance issues

Card and Location Art Fixes in 40.x

• Dagger’s Envar Studio variant should no longer visibly break at 3D or higher rarity levels for iOS devices
• Iron Patriot’s VFX should no longer play repeatedly on Deep Space
• Captain Carter’s VFX should no longer continue to play when the ability has been disabled
• Images of Ikonn’s VFX should no longer reduce performance or introduce significant stutter when played with effects such as Wong and Odin
• Gorgon’s VFX and SFX should no longer inadvertently indicate to the player how many created cards their opponent has drawn
• Gorgon’s SFX should no longer loop indefinitely when played on Onslaught’s Citadel
• Khonshu’s logo should be properly aligned between the card itself and the reference tokens when viewed in the Card Details view
• Titania’s VFX should no longer incorrectly display while staging a card to move to her location
• Ka-Zar’s VFX should now play properly in instances where a 1-cost card is already in play
• The First Ghost Rider should have its appropriate Booster and Mastery icons and colors
• Cleaned up a visual artifact that displayed on the ARTTREE Studio variant for Wave when at Framebreak

Other Fixes in 40.x

• Attempting to claim credits that would exceed the 10k credit cap should now appropriately display a UI modal informing the player that they’re at the cap
• Long-Press and Right-Click should once again open the Deck Management UI appropriately
• The Sanctum Showdown carousel should no longer inadvertently display while other non-Sanctum events are running
• Closing the Card Back detail view should no longer throw an exception and run the risk of softlocking the game
• Players should once again be able to swipe (or us arrow keys on PC) to navigate between cards while in the focused detail view of the Collection
• Cleaned up some asset layering issues between the Mission Refill tooltip popup and the Weekly Missions progress bar
• Fixed a minor visual issue where the avatar icon would briefly persist when transitioning between Game Modes and other elements of the UI
• The “Next” button on the Conquest results screen should no longer disappear after upgrading a card
• Gold Pass icon in its detailed view should no longer be oversized
• Custom Card UI elements should no longer display when viewing a card’s detail view in a match
• The assets on several of the Premium Mystery Variant bundles should no longer be weirdly small

Alliance Fixes in 40.x

• Suggested Alliances should be visible again on the initial Join page

PC Fixes in 40.x

• [PC] The Album and Cards tab button in the Collection should once again be functional
• [PC] Small residual VFX should no longer be visible by the retreat button when Goliath is resurrected by effects like Phoenix Force

Localization Fixes in 40.x

• Fixed the ToS link found in Japanese transactions

—————————————————

KNOWN ISSUES

UPCOMING CONTENT

• Hydra Stomper’s power may visibly flicker between the base value and the increased value when new buffs are applied
• [PC] The VFX for Surge may not be be properly centered on affected cards

HIGH

• Due to an issue causing games to crash, the location Great Portal has been disabled until this can be resolved
• Iron Patriot’s cost reduction is not properly disabled on locations such as Deep Space
• Symbiote Spider-man benefits from Nebula’s ability twice after activating
• Cards Shop – Pinning and then unpinning cards suddenly may result in an Aw Snap occurring
• Cards Shop – Under some circumstances, client requests to pin a card may not be respected by the server and may immediately unpin
  • Note: If this happens, it should be seen pretty immediately and be fairly obvious, but we’ll be keeping an eye on the scope and impact and will respond
• Cards Shop – The shop’s information and details UI elements are occasionally cut off in some languages
• Location reference tokens can not be cycled through and viewed properly as the input clicks through and closes the location detail view
• [PC] Navigating between the Alliance UI and the Main Menu and then back again may result in the chat UI becoming quite narrow

MEDIUM

• Jean Grey’s VFX and UI may occasionally indicate that the player can play a card on a location that they are not able to when initially staging
• Cards Shop – New Card notification pips may not be displaying properly on Snap Packs when a card is added to a new pack
• Cards Shop – New Card notification pips may persist when viewing the contents of a pack and examining a card in its detail view
• Cards Shop – The Daily Cards section of the shop doesn’t properly show “Complete” over the Series 5 slot when you are Series 5 complete
• Cards Shop – When observing the possible content pools of a given Snap Pack, the card assets may visibly adjust vertically when initially loaded
• Cards Shop – The refresh timer of the Daily Cards section of the shop isn’t properly displayed if the player pins and then unpins all 3 cards
• Cards Shop – Some Snap Pack content pools show the available cards not in alphabetical order
• Cards Shop – The Free Series 3 seasonal claim timer doesn’t properly display after claiming a card until the next daily refresh occurs
• Cards Shop – Some text elements associated with Snap Packs don’t display properly in Russian
• The player’s position within the shop is reset back to the top upon making a purchase
• The currently selected deck of the player does not persist when upgrading their client
  • Note: Check your selected before playing your first match of the new patch!
• Current total token quantity is not visible from the Collection Track UI or after claiming tokens off of the track
• The arrow for sorting by Card Quality got flipped
  • Note: Up is down, down is up!
• Xorn’s VFX may be partially cut off along the edges of the screen
• The red notification pip indicating that the player has a pending Gold Pass claim may not display along the top shop category tabs
  • Note: The notification should still be visible on the Gold Pass UI itself when scrolling through the shop
• Some of the elements of various Skill Cards may exceed beyond the borders of the new Skill Card UI
• Some of the elements of various Skill Cards may not fully fill the new Skill Card UI frame
• Card Back assets may display as pink fallback assets within the Collection when equipping a new back to one or all decks
• Elements of the background can be interacted with while the Report a Bug UI is active
• Joaquin Torres’ hover SFX are missing whenever a 1-cost On Reveal is staged on his location
• [Android] Some devices may see elements of the Login Bonus UI cut off along the top
  • Note: Rewards should still be claimable, this is a visual issue only
• [PC] The blur scrim may remain active when exiting the Card Back focused view using the ESC button
  • Note: This can be cleared by pressing ESC again
• [PC] The Collection can still be scrolled in the background while viewing a card in it’s focused detail view
• [PC] Cards and Locations can still be tapped through the blur scrim of the post-match results screen
• [PC] The ESC UI button can be clicked through the blur scrim from several focused reward views
• [PC] The UI can become distorted upon toggling between Portrait and Landscape repeatedly

LOW

• Cards Shop – UI elements of the section tab tooltips can be cut off along the edges of the screen on some devices
• Cards Shop – Credits value text and icon may overlap when viewed in the shop
• Cards Shop – Newly released cards will be shown as “Complete” rather than “Purchased” when acquired through Snap Packs rather than purchased directly
• Some bundles with Premium Mystery Variants have the text for the PMV obscured by the purchase button
• The Daily Offer punchcard may show the Tokens and Premium Mystery Variant assets overlapping or layered incorrectly
• [Android] Using the Android back button to exit from the Card Back focused view may result in the text remaining on screen until pressing back again

We’ve got a big update this week!  Next Tuesday, Card Acquisition 2.0 is officially here, and with it we finally have the means to give players reliable access to high series Seasonal cards after their release.

Also note that we’ll be skipping our OTA update on May 15^th, but will be resuming our normal schedule on May 29^th.

With that, we’re going to be rolling out some changes to high series cards that we’ve had our eye on, but were shy about adjusting when players were going to have difficulty acquiring them.

Before that though, on the more business as usual side of things, we’re going to be making some downward adjustments to Sam Wilson and Scream, which have enjoyed continued success over a timeline which we aren’t quite comfortable with, and we’ll be addressing some cards that have come in lower than we would like from our current “What If?” .

Finally, we’ll be capping things off with a rework of one of the game’s original cards that doesn’t have much of a home anymore – something that we’ll be striving to do more often.

Sam Wilson Captain America

• [Old] 2/3 – Game Start: Add Cap’s Shield to a random location. Ongoing: You can move Cap’s Shield.
• [Change] 2/3 > 2/2

 Sam is a fun and strong card that we’ve avoided nerfing precisely because of how many people enjoy it and the high number of synergies it encourages.  That said, the latter component of Sam has contributed to a high degree of ubiquity, with Sam showing up in a wide, wide, variety of decks and has frequently been in the list of top cards played on the ladder.

This combination of factors has resulted in Sam being closer to the “best in slot” 2 Energy card for most decks than would be acceptable over the long term, and as a result we’ll be removing a Power.

We considered cutting a Power from his Shield, but ultimately decided to go with the lighter nerf.  A lot of Sam’s impact will still be present from putting him in your deck with his Shield retaining its power, but Sam’s ceiling will now be lower when you draw him and thus are engaging in his movement buffing shenanigans.

 Scream

• [Old] 2/2 – When an enemy card moves, steal 2 Power from it. (once per turn).
• [Change] 2/2 > 2/1

 Like Sam, Scream has been topping our charts for some time now, putting up large and consistent win rates, although with a relatively low play rate.  In the interest of more metagame diversity, we’re dinging Scream lightly here to encourage a bit of a mix-up given how long it has been at or near the top.

Some of how light this Scream nerf is related to Sam’s nerf as it is likely that Scream has been keeping in check some of Sam’s total power level. If Sam’s play rate decreases, we suspect that Scream’s win rate will drop some, but the latter has been strong enough for a sustained enough period that we want to take action now.  However, we’ll reevaluate if this set of changes don’t land in a spot we’re satisfied with.

Captain Carter

• [Old] 4/3 – Ongoing: Add this card’s Power to your back-row cards here. (can’t add to itself)
• [Change] 4/3 > 3/2

Captain Carter has been more difficult to make work than we’d like.  A lot of this is related to how forced her play pattern is, given that she needs to be in the front row on turn 4 when played.

This allows players only two turns to develop her location and leverage her synergy as well as provide any necessary points to another location.

In other words, she has a higher opportunity cost than we expected and doesn’t give players enough flexibility on how they get to play the game, which can lead to a disappointing experience.

We’re taking this approach of adjusting her Cost to loosen up her requirements on how you play the game, now affording you a whole additional turn to play your cards in a variety of different ways as well as giving more opportunities to buff her and combine her with cards that might have been too difficult to weave into your curve before.

To get out ahead of the elephant in the room, it is possible that her synergy with Moonstone is too strong for locking down a location, but we thought this was a more fun way to approach the problem by giving players more flexibility rather than adjusting Carter’s Power.  We’re excited to see how this goes.

Infinity Ultron

• [Old] 5/6 – On Reveal: Add 2 of Ultron’s Stones to your hand.
• [Change] 5/6 > 5/8

Transparently, we missed quite low on Infinity Ultron.  Early numbers indicate a buff this large is warranted, and in actuality this is an even larger net points buff (every Power counts for more with Infinity Power Stone and Infinity Reality Stone).

A couple things worth mentioning: We’ve had a large disparity between the strength of 5 Energy cards and other cards near the top of the curve – 4’s and 6’s, that we’re trying to rectify.

Ultron also represents both your turn 5 and 6 plays, which means that his impact needs to be properly calibrated to his level of investment. On the other hand, we don’t want him to be so strong that he can be a one card tool that invalidates other expensive cards and end game packages.

That’s a pretty tough balancing act, and for now we’re starting here with some more power.  However, we’re experimenting with more substantial changes to the package internally.  This is another advantage of Card Acquisition 2.0 and Snap Packs; players will now have greater access to recently released cards, and we want to ensure more than ever that our cards land in appropriate and fun power bands.

Speaking of CA 2.0, here are some cards we’re buffing with the roll out:

Toxin

• [Old] 2/1 – On Reveal: Return your other cards here to your hand. +2 Power for each returned.
• [Change] 2/1 > 2/2

Peni Parker

• 2/3 – On Reveal: Add SP//dr to your hand. When this merges, you get +1 Energy next turn.

We’re adjusting SP//dr.

SP//dr

• [Old] 3/3 – On Reveal: Merge with one of your cards here. You can move that card next turn.
• [Change] 3/3 > 3/4

Phastos

• [Old] 3/3 – On Reveal: Give each card in your deck -1 Cost or +2 Power.
• [Change] 3/3 > 3/4

There isn’t too much to call out here specifically.  These are all cards that we think are fun and have been underperforming for some time.  We’ll continue to be on the lookout for opportunities to raise weaker cards to try to encourage as diverse a metagame as possible as well as making opening packs as exciting as possible.

The one card that folks might be surprised by is Toxin.  He has often been a prominent card in various bounce decks, but frankly it’s just been a while since those decks have shown up in considerable numbers or strength.  We’ve said it before, but it bears repeating, it is important to us that the core archetypes of Marvel Snap remain relevant over time for folks that enjoy them, and we’ll give them gentle nudges when necessary to make those decks interesting and justifiable choices.

Rhino – We are reworking Rhino

• [Old] 3/3 – On Reveal: Ruin this location.
• [New] 3/6 – On Reveal: Add a Rock to your side of this location.

Rhino’s original function was largely usurped by cards like Scarlet Witch and Nocturne, meaning he didn’t have a home anymore.

We hope that this design gives new life to the card and offers an interesting game piece – a slightly overstatted card with a drawback that also gives players the opportunity to leverage the Rock in a variety of different ways.

Our goal is to roll out these reworks of cards more frequently than we have in the past.

Finally,

Unintended Interaction:

Toxie Doxie – Will no longer be able to hit skills in your hand.

That’s all for today, we hope you enjoy Card Acquisition 2.0 and happy Snapping!