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Marvel Snap September 12, 2024 update buffs Hela decks

Agatha Harkness is also getting a rework ahead of her Disney+ premiere.

Ozzie Mejia

September 11, 2024 10:40 AM

Second Dinner

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The latest Amazing Spider-Season for Marvel Snap has seen the meta shift back to Move decks, especially with this week's release of Madame Web. The Discard deck, on the other hand, has been played less and less over the last few weeks, so Second Dinner is hoping to give that archetype a bit of a push. The September 12, 2024 patch notes will give two big Hela tools a little extra power while also bringing some Thanos-style balance to some other cards.

Marvel Snap September 12, 2024 update patch notes

The following was posted to the Marvel Snap Discord (via X (formerly Twitter):

Sandman

• [Old] 5/6 - On Reveal: Players can only play 1 card next turn.
• [New] 5/7 - On Reveal: Next turn, cards cost 1 more. (maximum 6)

We've relied on Sandman to be a negative pressure against strong decks that can threaten several cards at the end of the game. However, we've seen over time that when the metagame provides Sandman with that kind of an opening, those decks tend to become a frustration unto themselves. In some ways it's reminiscent of Leech, and we're pursuing a similar adjustment. Softening the penalty on Sandman will make it less effective at locking down the game, while still meaningfully impacting enemy plans to play tons of cards.

Mockingbird

• [Old] 6/10 - Costs 1 less for each of your cards in play that didn't start in your deck.
• [Change] 6/10 -> 6/9

Mockingbird has been one of the strongest cards in a couple dominant decks lately, so we're taking away a Power here. It's not uncommon for some players to assume that a 6/9 may be stronger than a 6/10, due to the vulnerability to Shang-Chi, but this has never been the case in the past. If, by some chance, it proves true for Mockingbird, we'll cross that bridge when we come to it.

Aero

• [Old] 5/9 - On Reveal: Move the last enemy card played anywhere to this location.
• [Change] 5/9 -> 5/10

We're aware one of Mockingbird's roles of late has been providing some amount of support for Skaar, so we looked for a few candidates near 10 Power that felt ripe to receive a buff. Aero was just such a card, and an ideal candidate among 5-Costs given the ability isn't strictly beneficial.

Black Cat

• [Old] 4/9 - If this is in your hand after the turn, discard it.
• [Change] 4/9 -> 4/10

Likewise, Black Cat's seen a big dip following adjustments to Hela and Black Knight, so we're adding a Power here as well to see how it impacts the play rate.

Ghost Rider

• [Old] 4/3 - On Reveal: Bring back one of your discarded cards to this location.
• [Change] 4/3 -> 4/4

Ghost Rider's an exciting card, and we'd like to find the right spot for it to feel like a fun miniature combo for decks to play. We know from the early days of the beta how strong 3-Cost Ghost Rider was, so we decided not to risk such a drastic change. We'll see how some Power goes and evaluate from there.

Moon Girl

• [Old] 4/4 - On Reveal: Duplicate your hand.
• [Change] 4/4 -> 4/5

Another card capable of fueling some unique combos, Moon Girl's time in the sun faded pretty fast once Loki hit the timeline. We'd like to explore pushing this card back toward some of that former glory, and in fact we started by trying a 3-Cost version internally… but it was totally cracked, so don't expect to see that change anytime soon. We might have considered more Power here, but given how strong decks with Mockingbird have been lately we erred more cautiously.

War Machine

• [Old] 4/7 - On Reveal: Until the end of next turn, nothing can stop you from playing cards anywhere.
• [New] 4/7 - Ongoing: Nothing can stop you from playing cards anywhere.

Many players noted that the new activate keyword had the potential to benefit War Machine. We also thought that might be true, but it turned out that even at 3/5 War Machine wasn't quite as effective as one would hope–a card that packs most of its punch leading into turn 6 just isn't an ideal home for activate. So we're going with the backup plan here, changing the On Reveal to an Ongoing.

Agatha Harkness

• [Old] 6/14 - Agatha starts in your hand and plays your cards for you
• [New] 6/14 - Agatha starts in your hand. She plays your cards for you on even turns.

We're as excited as everyone else to see Kathryn Hahn back for Agatha All Along, so we decided to celebrate by letting our own Agatha out to play a little bit. You'll find Agatha more interested in an equal partnership these days, sharing turns with the player rather than keeping them all to herself. We haven't adjusted any other functionality–you'll still see her showing up in your hand as a bonus card, too!

Some noteworthy changes, aside from the Black Cat and Ghost Rider cards often seen in Hela decks, include an intriguing nerf to Sandman. The Sandman rework should feel like a deterrent on paper, but it's one that's completely nullified by Mobius M. Mobius, so expect that card to see some more play to counteract this effect. Mockingbird being taken out of Shang Chi range is interesting, though as the developers note, it's also a penalty to anybody running Skaar. The War Machine change is a fascinating one, as it basically becomes open season on dropping The Infinaut anytime as long as it's in play.

The last big change is to Agatha Harkness and it's one that almost violates the spirit of the card. Agatha's whole deal is that she plays your cards as long as she's in your hand, but total control should mean total control, not control some of the time. It'll be interesting to see how this change is received both in the community and in the meta.

We're still checking out the Amazing Spider-Season all month. We'll continue to keep an eye on all things Marvel Snap, so keep it on Shacknews for the latest updates.

Ozzie Mejia

Senior Editor

Ozzie has been playing video games since picking up his first NES controller at age 5. He has been into games ever since, only briefly stepping away during his college years. But he was pulled back in after spending years in QA circles for both THQ and Activision, mostly spending time helping to push forward the Guitar Hero series at its peak. Ozzie has become a big fan of platformers, puzzle games, shooters, and RPGs, just to name a few genres, but he’s also a huge sucker for anything with a good, compelling narrative behind it. Because what are video games if you can't enjoy a good story with a fresh Cherry Coke?