Infinity Splits and Frame Breaks
Splitting cards in Marvel Snap are among the game's most fun and unique ideas. While other games have a collection aspect revolving around getting specific cards, Marvel Snap instead uses infinity splits to meet the collecting need and provide a vehicle to fuel their central design concept of unique growing collections across the whole player base. However, infinity splits are some of the most misunderstood concepts within the game. This guide will help you understand the ins and outs of splitting your cards.
Upgrading cards
Before we get to the fun of splitting cards, we need to talk about upgrading your cards. Each card in Marvel Snap has 7 different rarities with a unique border, cost, and effect. Upgrading your card's rarity is how the game's main progression works. Here is a table of the different costs and rarities.
Working through the different rarities for your cards is a well-known concept. The game walks you through this as you progress through the early levels. However, the fun and confusion begin when you get to that infinity border and what happens afterward.
Infinity Splits
So, what is an infinity split? After upgrading a card to its infinity border, you can tap a button and reset the rarity of that card back to the base rarity. They might seem odd because it erases all your hard work obtaining the infinite border. However, every time you split your cards, instead of getting the same thing, you receive the art of your card now featured with a different background (finish) combined with a specific flare.
These various backgrounds or Finishes and flare combinations make your collection incredibly unique. Specific finish and flare combinations are also highly sought after and incredibly rare. This is truly where the collection aspect of this game takes place.
Split Options
There are, in total, 128 different split combinations for any particular card. Now, I want to make a distinction between splits and variants. Variants are a completely different art of a specific card. A split is the same card and art with a different finish and flare. Each variant has a possibility of 128 split combinations. So, you could split the base variants of Hela 128 times and then split the Qi Mang Variants of Hela above another 128 times. That is a lot of splits. So what are all the options?
Finish
There are 4 different finishes. Foil, Prism, Ink, and Gold.
Foil
This simple, clean effect makes the background of the card a shiny rainbow-type color. Sometimes, these can obscure the card's background, or you can still make out the details. This is one of the game's two most common finish effects; on your first split, you are always guaranteed this or a prism finish.
Prism
This simple finish also provides a rainbow-type color onto the card's background. However, this also adds a block-type appearance— as if you were looking through a kaleidoscope. This is also one of the most common finishes in the game, and, like I said earlier, a 50/50 shot on your first split with foil.
Ink
This finish is one of the main finishes people are after because it drastically changes the whole card, not just the background. Ink Finish removes all the color and leaves a black-and-white version of the card's art. This finish still includes all the background details of the card but just with a black-and-white filter. This finish is only possible on a single card's fourth split and beyond.
Gold
This is also one of the main finishes people seek when splitting their cards. Gold Finish changes the card's background color to a completely gold background, framing the character in gold. This finish keeps all of the colors of the main character but can sometimes hide the details of the background. This finish is only available from a single card's 5th split and beyond.
Flare
There are also four different types of Flare. Tone, Glimmer, Stardust, and Krackle.
Tone Flare
This flare provides a dotted effect to the border of your card and two revolving lines that circle the card as you look at it.
Glimmer Flare
This flare is a subtle effect that has revolving particles on the outside of the card that shoot out and then float in and out of visibility when looking at the card.
Stardust Flare
Like Glimmer flare, this has revolving particles on the outside of the card, but instead of just being a random assortment of little circles and squares, these particles are slightly bigger and in the shape of stars.
Krackle Flare
This flare is the same idea as the previous two, with different particles revolving and moving around the outside of the card. However, Krackle is made up of different-sized circles that are much more prominent. This flare is nicknamed Kirby Krackle due to its appearance mimicking the Kirby Dot, a method of showing a crackle of energy such as a lightning bolt or a battle aura first developed by influential artist Jack Kirby in the 1960s. This Flare is only available from the sixth split of a single character.
Colors
Each flare also comes in 1 of 8 different colors. These colors are Red, Purple, Blue, White, Green, Gold, Rainbow (a mixture of all), and Black.
With 128 different combinations, you can claim and see endless amounts of incredible splits while playing the game. Now that we know all about the different possibilities of splitting our cards let's get into the nitty-gritty of obtaining the split we want.
How to get certain splits
Now that we have seen all the fantastic splits, how do we get these specific splits? Well, it takes a lot of time and credits, but each time you split a card, the odds of getting particular combinations change. So, for example, the first time I split a card, I am guaranteed one kind of combination, and then if I split that same card again, I will get an entirely different combination. This is on a tiered system, so each time you split a card, it unlocks a new finish or flare. However, this is not an overall number for your account— splitting Captain America and then splitting Spider-Man doesn’t mean you are now on to the 2nd split tier. Each separate character has its specific split count. That means to get a gold finish with a krackle flare, you would need to split the same character at least six times. Notice I said character; you can split a variant of a character four times and then another variant of the same character two times, and the overall count would still be six. This is important to consider because if you want a specific finish on a variant, you don't need to split that variant 4 or 5 times. You might need only to split it once if you have already split that character several times.
Here is a table to tell you what split unlocks what -
Now, I can split a card up to 128 times to get every possible combination, but that would cost 195200 credits and 19840 boosters. That is a lot of resources. Instead, consider your odds of getting a particular split for your favorite variant.
Colors for each particular flare also are weighted differently. Here is a table with colors in the 1 column being the most common and the colors in the 3 column being the least common.
This means that a Gold or Inked Finish with a Black Krackle is one of the rarest splits in the game.
Currently, there is a bug that disregards the normal chances for colors and makes Glimmer Green on the 6+ split the rarest flare color combination by a slight amount.
Can I get duplicates?
Yes and no. You can not receive the same split in a row every time you split a card. So, If I have a Foil finish with green stardust flare and I split my card, I will not get a Foil Finish with green stardust flare again. At least one aspect will be different. This means that the more and more you split a single variant, the more of the 128 different split combinations you are taking up, which increases your odds of getting the combination you want. However, you can get the same split on different variants of the same character. Here are my two Thanos variants with Ink finish and gold-tone flare.
Using your resources
Splitting your variants is one of the best parts of Marvel Snap, and there is nothing better than finally getting that split on your favorite card you've been waiting for. However, trying to get the best split can take a lot of time, but it is possible if you have the time and are willing. Marvel Snap has implemented a more accessible system to chain splits by being able to use gold to buy both credits and boosters simultaneously. Disclaimer: gold is a paid-for currency within the game. While playing, you get some gold from ranking up or weekly quests. Most gold gained is from actual purchases, so this is not advice on splitting your cards this way. Use your resources as you see fit. But if you want to split this way and hunt for your favorite split, here is how it works.
Cost Break Down
As seen in the table at the start of the article, the cost to upgrade your cards totals 1525 credits and 155 boosters. However, you can use gold to purchase the missing credits and boosters you need if you are short on these numbers.
Each booster you need to complete your split costs 4 gold, so if you need 10 boosters, that is 40 gold. If you need 155 boosters, that is 620 gold. Since we use credits in increments of 25, there is no equal cost for 1 credit; however, each chunk of 25 credits you need to complete your split is 20 gold. That means if you need all 1525 credits to complete a split, it will cost you 1220 gold. That brings the total value of one split to 1840 gold. That’s quite a lot of resources, so use your resources wisely.
Weird Splits
Sometimes, the background finish and variants don’t mix well, or they remove a cool key feature in the background. Here are just a few variants that look slightly different than people initially anticipated. This doesn’t make them wrong, but they are different.
Both of these splits have just a tiny portion of the background changed, and while this isn't bad, it can be off-putting for those expecting something different.
Snap.Fan Split Features
Luckily, though, Snap.Fan has a feature that lets you see what possible finishes and flare look like on specific cards. All you have to do is navigate to the specific character on the site. A customize button lets you select different aspects and see what those character variants look like with the selected effects.
I mainly use this to figure out what border I want on a specific split, but it is useful when you are also trying to see if you want Ink or Gold or when looking at a variant in the shop to see if you will like the art even when it is split.
New Finish
During one of the recent data mines and on the roadmap released by Second Dinner, they stated they would be adding new split background effects. These images we have of the finish we call space because they add a space-like view to the background. This has no release date, but I hope they add them soon.
As always, things are subject to change with data mines and are not final.
Final Thoughts
Splitting your cards and chasing rare splits are two ways that Marvel Snap meets the needs of those who like to collect. It is also a fun aspect of the game and can help you tailor your collection to something unique. Second Dinner has also announced that some features will be introduced soon, allowing players to have a selectable border. In the meantime, I hope this guide helps you understand splitting your cards a lot better— now, there is nothing more to do than to go out and get some fantastic splits!