Hello and welcome back to Burning Questions! This week, it's not just me answering your questions; we've got a special guest, ReZSnapper! We go through our thoughts on a story mode, new archetypes, and show off our favorite frame breakers! All that and the return of developer questions and answers! Let's dive in!
Guardians' Greatest Hits Vol. 2 - Card Changes
Before we dive into Burning Questions, we have uncovered some unexpected changes to a few cards for next season including the season pass card Star-Lord Master of the Sun, Drax Avatar Of Life, and Kraglin.
[Old] 4/5 - On Reveal: Next turn, you get +1 Energy for each turn you've ended with unspent Energy.
[Change] 4/5 - On Reveal: Next turn, you get +1 Energy for each turn you've ended with unspent Energy. This gains that much Power.
[Old] 4/4 - End of Turn: +4 Power if your opponent played a card with greater Power this turn. Move to that card if you'd be winning its location.
[Change] 3/4 - End of Turn: +3 Power if your opponent played a card with greater Power this turn. Move to that card if you'd be winning its location.
[Old] 3/2 - On Reveal: Banish the top card of your deck. If it was 4-Cost or higher, +2 Energy next turn, otherwise give this +4 Power.
[Change] 3/3 - On Reveal: Banish the top card of your deck. If it was 4-Cost or higher, +2 Energy next turn, otherwise give this +4 Power.
Remember all datamines are subject to change and nothing is confirmed or final.
Back to ScoSco & ReZSnapper!
1) What might a PvE mode look like in Marvel Snap?
ReZSnapper’s Answer:
I’ve always wanted to see a ‘Story Mode’ and think it’s surprising we’ve not been treated to one yet! I can envision a story track (instead of a reward track), where you make progress through different locales - maybe you start in the halls of the Helicarrier, selecting missions to complete.
A mission could be a game with either a specific set of outcomes (it could act like a puzzle you need to solve) - so it may always have a specific location, or the opponent (a bot) always starts with a certain card. It could have unique dialogue, special effects, and there could even be ‘Boss Cards’ that appear.
With the current season in mind, there could be an amped-up version of Fin Fang Foom that appears, who triggers his effect at the end of each turn instead of as an On Reveal.
Each season could drop a new section of the story track, and it could have easy jumping-on points for new and returning players, and special rewards for anyone who’s completed the whole thing.
Scosco's Answer:
I love the idea of a PvE mode, especially one that leans into familiar comic or on-screen storylines. There was a short-lived game called DC Dual Force, and while that game had some serious issues, I loved that it gave you the ability to “play through” a comic book.
Imagine a famous comic storyline like the Dark Phoenix Saga, where each round is a different chapter of the story with accompanying visuals and opponents that ramp up in difficulty as you go. In the first match, you could acquire Kitty Pryde and Dazzler cards that you need to use to defeat the White Queen. In the second round, you could get powerful new Phoenix and Wolverine cards and do battle against the entire Hellfire Club. In the final match, you would go up against an intimidating and powerful Dark Phoenix. Marvel Snap does such a great job of making the Marvel IP come alive, but it's not taking advantage of one of Marvel’s greatest strengths — the stories.
2) Ozymandius and Sandstorm have been found in the data files, which might give us a new “rock” archetype. What other existing cards, tokens, or otherwise, are ripe for a new archetype?
ReZSnapper’s Answer:
I’m so excited for the Rocks archetype! Bring on the sandy madness.
But there’s another neglected subset of characters, and the most recent rendition of Grand Arena gave us a taste of what we could get for them. Sentinels!
There are only a few things that create (or are) Sentinels, which include Sentinel (duh), Master Mold, and Orchis Forge. Then there are a few Sentinel-centric characters like Nimrod and Bastion. Trying to think of a mechanic that synergizes well with all of these might be a challenge, partially restricted by the specificity and uniqueness of Master Mold, giving your opponent Sentinels.
How about a Dr Bolivar Trask card? Something like:
1/1, Ongoing: Your Sentinels cost 1 less for each Sentinel in play.
With no minimum cost, it allows you to flood locations more easily. But Sentinels are humble 3-Power cards. Maybe that isn’t strong enough, so it needs some more help. How about Juston Seyfert from the cult classic “Sentinel” miniseries, which I haven’t read, and I know almost nothing about it, but it looks like a homage to The Iron Giant, but with some mutant and their pet Sentinel.
3/4, After a Sentinel is played or added, give your lowest-Power Sentinel +1 Power for each Sentinel in play.
Scosco's Answer:
There is one forgotten and neglected token in Marvel Snap that has a ton of potential: the ninja!
I would love to see more cards that create or interact with ninjas. A proposed buff I've always had for Elektra is that she not only destroys your opponent's 1-Cost cards, but that she replaces them with a ninja!
There are a ton of ninja-related Marvel characters that could fill out a potential ninja archetype.
- A Stick card that creates ninjas on both sides
- A Hand card that gathers ninjas into it to gain strength, similar to Strange Supreme
- An Ogun card that gains power for each Ninja card on board, like Morbius or Gilgamesh
- A Kirigi card that makes all ninjas indestructible
- Cool alternate versions of characters we already have, like Sai, Kwannon, Shadowcat, and Elektra Woman Without Fear, that tie into the ninja archetype
3) What is your favorite variant where the art extends beyond the card?
There's something particularly satisfying about a card that extends beyond the frame. Boy-Thing Blade’s sword and Pandart Venom’s tongue almost reach into other lanes! The force bubble the new Winking Studios Invisible Woman is casting reaches well beyond her board spot.
Scosco's Answers:
ReZ Snapper’s Answer:
Now let's hop over to the official Marvel Snap Discord and grab a couple of developer questions and answers!
4) Question:
I'm seeing so many questions, so many "we did it intentionally," there wasn't a lot of engagement," "it's for the longevity of the game," etc.
And that's all well and good, but it would be nice to know just what the plan is here. Does the team even know yet?
Are alliances going to be dismantled? Are they going to be overhauled eventually, even though they're not a priority right now? I mean what's the plan? With such little engagement, and now even less after the removal of mystery variants, can the team give us some kind of insight into what the plan is moving forward?
Will Alliances live in limbo for the foreseeable future? Will they be replaced with a new feature?
Answer:
We touched a bit on this in our initial message:
"The Alliances feature is not where we want it to be and it deserves a larger update, however it’s not at the front of our list of priorities at the moment."
"The team has some ideas for how to bring Alliances to life in the future and we’ll continue to read and digest your feedback on the feature."
We don't have a hard plan for Alliances right now. Just some concepts and ideas that can change and evolve over time.
Scosco's Note:
Alliances have never felt particularly social, which is the main thing I wanted out of them. Sure, the few committed players who engaged with the feature got a free variant most weeks, but I'm not surprised the feature didn't have high engagement, and they're deemphasising it. It would be nice to have clear and direct communication about where those rewards are being shifted. And if there's one thing I know about the Snap community, it's that they love getting Mystery Variants! Just give us some MVs and PMVs elsewhere in the game!
5) Question:
Now we have Spider-Man 2099, Redwing, and Line Lie for cards that encourage moving a card once. Can you talk about what the design space is for that kind of moving?
Answer:
Same kind of thinking as On Reveals vs. abilities you can trigger all game, just for a different condition. Those effects can be stronger and more special, since they are a narrower range that's less polar, but still has enough variation.
Scosco's Note:
It's great that some cards can move once, some that can move multiple times, and some that reward you the more you move them. But can we please buff Jeff to move numerous times? It's not like every card needs to stay great forever, and I'm not saying he needs to be as crucial as he once was, but I really do think it's in Second Dinner’s best interest to keep this card relevant. Both Snap and Rivals have learned that Kelly Thompson’s baby boy is incredible marketing. Jeff appears in the art of other cards more than any other character, and his new variants are always shared around on social media. Please, let Jeff move more!
That's it for this week! Be sure to check out Targeting the OTA from yesterday for changes to cards releasing next season. We're back to the usual format for next week, but I plan to bring in a lot of guests throughout this year! Come find me on social media, and be sure to check out my new project, Fourth Location on YouTube! And be sure to check out ReZSnapper on YouTube. Here's one of his best recent videos. I highly recommend it!