Welcome to Target the OTA, where we rate the latest OTA and build around the changes. This week's OTA is a whopper that is sure to shake up the game! There are changes to the strongest decks in the format and some buffs to old favorites! I'll let you know how each change will impact things and give you some decks to try right away!
Just as Kate Bishop has the arrows in her quiver, Second Dinner has OTA balance changes as they balance arsenal. I'll give each change a rating from 0 to 4 arrows and a final overall rating as well.
- [Old] 2/2 - Gains +2 Power from merging. End of Turn: Merge one of your created cards into this.
- [Change] 2/2 -> 2/1
In an ideal world, we would get a major nerf to the tech Thanos decks, while Ongoing Thanos is left viable. Hitting Strange first makes me think Second Dinner agrees. This is a very slight nerf, but I agree with the philosophy.
- [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
From a design and flavor perspective, I'm sad to see the shield hit 0. However, Sam Wilson has been one of the best cards in the game, even after his slight nerf, and was even the most played card in the recent Golden Gauntlet tournament. A lot of that is down to him being in nearly every Thanos build, so this nerf is clearly aimed at the mad titan as well. Sam doesn't get as much hate as more flashy cards like Iron Patriot or Shang Chi, but he's been just as prevalent as those cards for a long time.
- [Old] 1/1 - On Reveal: Give Thanos -1 Cost. Draw a card.
- [New] 1/1 - On Reveal: Give Thanos -1 Cost.
Ok, now we're talking. This is a direct Thanos nerf. This is also the kind of nerf that people mistake as minor, when it's actually going to have an impact. Current Thanos decks thrive on being able to play stones out and never be punished for playing a bunch of little cards. They do this by having Strange feast on them and by drawing cards to replace them in your hand, meaning the stones aren't limiting your options.
Losing the draw will make players reconsider playing this over a different stone, will make Thanos players a smidge more unlikely to draw the tech card or key card they need, and just generally lowers the consistency of the deck. Will it be enough? Thanos will still be one of the best decks in the format, but hopefully more reasonable. An unkillable 5/12 (or 22) still seems excessive to me though, so I wouldn't have minded a hit to Thanos’ power or the Soul Stone instead, though.
- [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.
They keep trying to push Sauron—he gets a second cost reduction in two months. Will this one be a buff or a nerf? Honestly, he's still fine. Sauron was already not in a terrible spot before and getting to play him as early as the first turn with an above-rate body is a sizable buff. Plus, leaving the hand unaffected opens more lines with Armor.
Sauron with Armor
- [Old] 4/5 - On Reveal: Flood this location. Next turn is the last turn cards can be played here.
- [Change] 4/5 -> 3/2
- This is the last turn cards can be played here.
- Functional Change: Flooding no longer "combos" with Legion
- Cards can't be played here.
- (No change)
I've made no secret of the fact that I disliked the decision to change Storm to 4. Storm has been an important part of Snap since the beginning and I'm happy to see her back at 3-Cost. You can no longer simply play Legion onto a flooding lane and end up with three flooded lanes afterwards. Instead, you'll have a flooded lane and two new flooding lanes with their own timing. However, a sequence of Storm, War Machine, Legion is still incredibly strong since a Legion played on a flooded lane will still give you three flooded locations.
This perfect curve play line was always the preferred one for those decks instead of Legion onto a flooding lane anyway, so this will definitely return that trio to the metagame in a big way. We've gotten a lot of new cards since Storm was at 3-Cost and it will be interesting to see which ones she can take advantage of.
2099 Lock
Bird Lock
- [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.
I really didn't think Toxie Doxie was as bad as most people did. She wasn't great, but there were a couple of fun synergies. Giving her an extra 2 power means you're not stuck with a 2/1 on board and should make a big difference for Toxie, who is now a potential 2/7 with additional upside in synergistic packages.
Toxie Buff
- [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.
It may seem surprising that this would be considered a buff. After all, doesn't Hercules provide an element of disruption to the opponent? In actual fact, allowing the opponent to get in between you and Hercules’ toss, made him less potent. This change makes him more controlled and predictable, which is incredibly important for combo move decks. I don't know if it wilal be enough, but it is a buff.
Herc Tech
- [Old] 5/7 - On Reveal: Your cards with Power below 0 switch sides. Destroy those that can't.
- [Change] 5/7 -> 5/8
While clog has been great, Annihilus hasn't been a part of it. I'm skeptical that an extra point will change that, but this is the type of change that will get some players to put in the work to find out if Annihilus has been underrated.
- [Old] 3/3 - On Reveal: +1 Max Energy. Ongoing: You can only play 1 card a turn.
- [Change] 3/3 -> 3/4
With so many new ramp options, Electro had fallen behind. Even some traditional ramp decks opted for Wave and Luna Snow and left out Electro entirely. I'm not sure how much this helps Electro (his best use case is still probably to Blink him back into your deck), but it doesn't hurt. The bigger issue Electro has is competing with all of the decks that play entire handfuls of cards these days. Jeff plus a 5-Cost isn't what it used to be either. Maybe a li’l Jeff buff please, Second Dinner?
- [Old] 2/0 - Ongoing: Your highest-Power cards have +2 Power.
- [New] 3/0 - Ongoing: Your highest-Power cards have +3 Power.
And I thought the buff down to 2/0 was aggressive! I said at the time that Cerebro was at risk of becoming completely irrelevant and that it needed an aggressive change. Despite Prodigy revitalizing C4 to a degree, Second Dinner felt like an even more aggressive buff was in order. +3 increases the potential output dramatically. You can count on people opening their deck builders the second they see this change and there's a strong possibility Cerebro will be a top tier archetype.
C2 Low
C4 Pro
- [Old] 3/4 - End of Turn: Runs from your hand to a random location. (if possible)
- [Change] 3/4 -> 3/3
Man, Makkari was on my list of underrated cards for a long time. There simply aren't any other cards that do what she can do for you. She fills space, empties your hand, provides potential reach, grabs priority, and is essentially free. Filling space is what has allowed her to see a spike in play recently with cards like Captain Carter and Prodigy that turn what was once a liability into a benefit.
Luckily, I don't think this nerf kills her ability to do the above things. I honestly think this may be a bit of a preemptive nerf since the changes to Storm and Toxie Doxie both benefit Makkari and she would have been an auto-inclusion in Cerebro 4 decks.
- [Old] 2/2 - On Reveal: Afflict all other cards with -1 Power.
- [Change] 2/2 -> 3/3
Just as a fan of the character Jennifer Takeda and the variants I own for her, I'm sad. But as a player, I'm fine with this archetype taking a hit. Malekith can still grab her, but this is a major nerf and makes her far worse with cards like Surge and Sera.
Final Rating
These changes will definitely be impactful! I rate this OTA as a 4/4 arrows. The only additional change I would have liked to see is Thanos back down to 10, but that's nitpicking since the deck was targeted. It's hard to find fault with an OTA with so many major changes to older cards.
After the long gap, it is great to see an OTA that includes some major changes. Given that there is another OTA coming up in just a week on June 5th, I am interested in seeing if that one will be smaller or have a different type of focus. As a fan of changes that make you want to open a deck-builder, I hope that one is big as well!