Marvel Snap balance changes (November 14): All card buffs and nerfs explained
The Marvel Snap balance changes that rolled out on November 14, 2024, are major since it nerfed and buffed more than ten cards in the title. With the company’s holiday season coming soon, they decided to release a big “balance break” with a bigger OTA (Over the Air) update outside Marvel Snap’s semi-monthly balance changes. This balance update focuses on nerfing some of the top meta decks in Marvel Snap, while also tweaking some of the lower-performing decks.
This article will explain all the Marvel Snap balance changes introduced with the November 14 update that aims to balance the game's meta after the launch of the new Marvel Snap War of the Nine Realms season.
All Marvel Snap nerfs and buffs this update (November 14, 2024)
1) Agent Venom - Nerf
- 2/4 - On Reveal: Set the Power of all cards in your deck to 4. [Old]
- 2/5 - On Reveal: Set the Power of all cards in your deck to 3. [New]
Agent Venom in Marvel Snap is slightly nerfed in this update since its ability to turn the power of all cards in your deck to 4 seemed a bit more than the developers expected. This led to the best Agent Venom decks rising up the ladders, with many new powerful deck variations emerging. These offbeat variations saw a lot of play in the higher ranks, while the decks the devs hoped to see didn’t see much play.
After the update, this card gives all cards in your deck three power instead of four. To compensate for this change Agent Venom’s power has been increased to three from two.
2) Surtur - Nerf
- 3/5 - After you play a card with 10 or more Power, this gains +3 Power. [Old]
- 3/5 -> 3/4 [Change]
Surtur is one of the latest cards in Marvel Snap, introduced with the launch of the new season. When this card was being tested internally, the devs thought that it would work well with the best Skaar decks, boosting its win rate marginally. However, it seems that the new Skaar decks with Surtur are performing a bit too well at the higher ranks, significantly better than the devs wanted.
Hence, they are nerfing this card, reducing its power to three from four, earlier.
3) Skaar - Nerf
- 6/11 - Costs 2 less for each of your cards that have 10 or more Power. [Old]
- 6/11 -> 6/10 [Change]
Since most of the best Surtur decks in Marvel Snap now have pushed Skaar into the spotlight, the team has decided to nerf him a bit, reducing his base power to 10 from 11.
4) Silver Sable - Nerf
- 1/1 - On Reveal: Steal 2 Power from the top card of your opponent’s deck. [Old]
- 1/1 -> 1/0 [Change]
Over the past few months, Silver Sable has become one of the most dominant one-cost cards in Marvel Snap, since it consistently became a one-man three-power card in the first round without any drawbacks.
Since the best Silver Sable decks in the game happen to be Bounce decks relying on returning cards you played back to your hand, you could play her repeatedly, gaining +2 power every time. This is why her power has been nerfed from one to zero.
5) Shadow King - Nerf
- 2/3 - On Reveal: Reset all cards here to their original Power. [Old]
- 2/3 -> 2/2 [Change]
Shadow King was buffed in the last Marvel Snap OTA update. This doesn't seem to have impacted its use and win rates significantly. However, since it has performed above average so far while working well with most deck archetypes, the devs have decided to curb the card's power slightly, reducing it from three to two and reverting his last buff.
6) Black Widow - Change
- 3/3 - On Reveal: Add a Widow's Bite to your opponent’s hand. [Old]
- 3/4 - Activate: Add a Widow's Bite to your opponent’s hand. [New]
Black Widow is one of the best two-cost cards in Marvel Snap, especially with Bounce decks that can return her to your hand, re-unleashing her On-reveal ability repeatedly. Since she locked the opponent from a drawing card for a turn, doing so would make her an annoying card that players might grow to hate over time. This is why she was nerfed from being a 2/3 to a 3/4.
However, this didn’t impact her use rate in decks and their win rates, which became a concern for the devs. This is why they decided to change her ability completely, making her a 3/4 card (slightly buffed) with her On-reveal ability being replaced as an Activate ability (nerf).
7) Destroyer - Buff
- 6/14 - On Reveal: Destroy your cards at other locations. [Old]
- 6/14 -> 6/16 [Change]
Destroyer, as the name suggests, is intended to be a game-changing card that you play in the final turn. However, since it destroys all your other cards, its 6/14 stat was a bit too weak to make the trade favorable for you. Therefore, the devs are buffing him, making him a 6/16 card. Now, Destroy can appear in more Marvel Snap meta decks compared to other six-cost cards.
8) Valentina - Buff
- 2/3 - On Reveal: Add a random 6-Cost card to your hand. Give it -2 Cost and -3 Power. [Old]
- 2/3 - On Reveal: Add a random 6-Cost card to your hand. Give it -2 Cost and -2 Power. [New]
The six-cost card you generate using Valentina suffered majorly as its power was always reduced by three. Therefore, to make those cards more viable, the developers are buffing Valentina, taking away only two power instead of three. This is expected to make the best Valentina decks more popular in the upcoming Marvel Snap meta.
9) Winter Soldier (Bucky Barnes) - Buff
- 2/6 -> 2/7 [Change]
Since most Marvel Snap Destroy decks rely on Bucky Barnes, it failed to provide much value after being destroyed and turned into a 2/6 Winter Soldier. Therefore, he now poses a more menacing presence with an increased 2/7 stat.
10) Jessica Jones - Buff
- 4/5 - On Reveal: If you don’t play a card at this location next turn, get +4 Power. [Old]
- 4/5 - On Reveal: If you don’t play a card at this location next turn, get +5 Power. [New]
Since Jessica Jones forces you to not play on her location the next turn to get a +4 power boost, it wasn't enough to make her a part of various Marvel Snap decks. Therefore, the devs have decided to buff her, giving her +5 power and making her a 4/10 card on the field.
This will allow her to be included on various Skaar decks, without helping her set off Surtur’s ability as well. However, this makes her susceptible to being destroyed by Shang-Chi’s ability to destroy a 10-power card, which balances her out in the grander scheme.
11) Heimdall - Buff
- 6/9 - On Reveal: Move your other cards one location to the left. [Old]
- 6/9 -> 6/10 [Change]
To make Marvel Snap Surtur decks more viable in the current meta without making his 10-power decks stale, the devs have buffed Heimdall to be a part of the 10-power crew.
12) Crystal - Buff
- 3/3 - On Reveal: Each player draws a card. [Old]
- 3/3 -> 3/4 [Change]
Marvel Snap developers always felt that Crystal was an underperformer, despite her ability to draw a card. Therefore, they have buffed her power slightly, increasing it from three to four.
13) Agatha Harkness - Text update
- 6/14 - Agatha starts in your hand. She plays your cards for you on even turns. [Old]
- 6/14 - At the start of the game, draw Agatha. She controls your cards on even turns. [New]
Many players were confused about this card’s text. Since it says “starts in your hand” many players thought it was similar to Quicksilver and Thanos. Moreover, players were unsure about what “she plays your cards” meant.
To clear doubts, the devs have decided to change her card text so that players can better understand it.
14) Thanos - functional change
- 6/10 - Starts in your opening hand and shuffles the six Infinity Stones into your deck. [Old]
- 6/10 - At the start of the game, draw Thanos and shuffle the six Infinity Stones into your deck. [New]
Thanos also gets similar treatment to that of Agatha Harkness. On top of this, the update also changes Thanos' functionality slightly. Instead of being one of the three cards in your opening hand (like Quicksilver), you draw Thanos as an additional fourth card. While this might seem like a textual update on paper, some might say that it’s a buff since you get to draw an additional card on turn one.