November was a short month for the Most Wanted list, but that doesn’t mean it wasn’t an impactful one. With four highly ranked characters entering the game, a wide-open space was left for fresh faces to join the fray at the top of the list.
Something I haven’t thought much about, but in retrospect I should probably consider, is what people are looking for when they vote. Are they voting for specific characters that they like? Do people vote based on potential game mechanics? Are there corners of the Marvel universe that they want to have more representation in the game?
The four characters that graduated were all Spider-Man related. Three of the new characters who entered the Top 20 (all for the first time!) are also Spider-Man related. Perhaps there exists a group of voters that vote based on connections to Spider-Man, and with their favorites now in the game, they’re moving on to a new group of Spidey friends and foes.
These new members include The Spot jumping from a rank in the 30s all the way up to number 2! Tombstone, forever datamined, never joined, is now at number 7, and clinging to a spot in the Top 20 is J. Jonah Jameson at 17.
Here are some other interesting things of note from the list:
- The highest rated newcomer on the list is Moondragon, coming in at 22. Moondragon’s stay on the list is not likely to be long, however, as it looks like she’s tentatively slated for a Guardians of the Galaxy themed season in February.
- For the first time ever, four characters have an average of higher than 4. Mephisto is joined by The Spot, and Brother of Mutant members Toad and Pyro.
- The lowest rated character this month, Kindred, would not have even made the bottom 10 list last month, based on his totals for November. This is a sign that the quality of characters on the list is improving. I don’t believe this is a trend that can hold, but I have a plan to address this that will make its debut in the December poll next week.
- J. Jonah Jameson at 17 represents the highest any civilian character has appeared on the list. You have to go all the way down to 78 for the next civilian, Mary Jane. What are everyone’s thoughts on civilian characters in the game? Do you want to see more of them? I don’t think Victoria Hand would have been a highly requested character, but I can’t imagine Marvel Snap without her.
The Top 20
There’s only so much I can write about Mephisto in Marvel Snap. Today I want to focus on the number two spot, which for three straight months has been occupied by a different character. In September, on the heels of Fantastic Four seasons, Franklin Richards was fresh in everyone’s mind. Last month was an old school X-Men favorite in Banshee. This month, appearing out of nowhere, The Spot occupies the second to top spot.
When I try to find trends in the data over the past few months the following characters have been in the Top 5 more than once: Pyro, Fin Fang Foom and Banshee.
Next in popularity are the only other characters to make the Top 20 every month: Toad, Wonder Man, Rachel Summers, Captain Britain, Firestar, Doctor Voodoo, Goblin Queen and Molecule Man. I think about these groups of characters in their own tier of popularity, and wouldn’t be surprised if some of them get the Season Pass card treatment down the line. Some of them could even be released together. Toad and Pyro would make great additions as part of a Brotherhood of Mutants season. Wonder Man could join twice-Top-20 member Tigra for a season featuring the West Coast Avengers. Over the next year I’m excited about the potential for all of these characters to make their way into the game.
I talked about the new Spider-Man themed characters on the list, but finishing things off, we have one of my personally most wanted characters, The Maker, on the list number 6, and one of editor BEWD’s most wanted, finally making his Top 20 debut, with Ikaris at number 14! Congrats Ikaris (and BEWD)!
The Bottom
We can’t talk about our top performing characters without saying goodbye to our lowest polling. I can’t say I’m surprised by some of the characters at the bottom of the list, especially because they’ve been close calls before. Without further ado:
- Battlestar
- Ex Nihilo
- Ch'od
- Veranke
- Necroko
- Kid Colt
- Manphibian
- Huginn & Muninn
- Abraxas
- Kindred
Another month, another unpopular Spider-Man villain finds their way onto the list. For all his exciting rogues, Spider-Man sure has a number of villains who bring out the haters. Last month we said goodbye to Wasp Goddess Shathra. This month we say goodbye to Kindred, centipede-styled demon-spawn of Harry Osborn and Mephisto, whose full back story is so convoluted, you would need a few hours and a PhD. to understand it.
To send some of these characters off with style, here are a few ideas for what their cards could have been:
Kindred - Skilled in resurrection and possession, I would probably want him to bring back a destroyed character, and then merge with it.
Abraxas - A destructive cosmic being, grown out of Eternity, Abraxas could potentially be the first character to destroy a single location.
Huginn & Munnin - Great Odin’s Ravens! I can’t believe we’re saying goodbye to these two. I pictured them as a mini-Odin with a low cost, and an On Reveal that only worked on 1-cost cards. (In further bird-terms, think of it like this: Wong is to Joaquin Torres, as Odin is to Huginn & Munnin)
Manphibian - The first green monster to go, Manphibian would be a card that dives beneath a location, and returns at the end of the game with more power, the more turns it spent “underwater”
Kid Colt - Marvel Snap needs Western representation! Kid Colt would be related to gun-toting Punisher, or Rocket & Groot, taking shots at the cards placed across his lane.
Necroko - Magical Girl symbiotes can do anything they want. Necroko might use her magical hair-bow to turn the cards in the lane across from her into a symbiote. A devastating combo with Shadow King.
Veranke - The leader of the Secret Invasion, Veranke would be the Skrull we deserve, disguising herself as one of a variety of cards, until the end of the game.
Ch’od - Our second Starjammer to go, after Raza a few months ago. Ch’od would come to the game with his pet Cr’reee, adding it to another location on the board when he reveals.
Ex Nihlo - Perhaps my favorite Jonathan Hickman creation, Ex Nihlo would terraform the location he’s played on, adding one of a variety of random effects to it, without changing the base location. (Think regular location, plus a randomized special minor effect.)
Battlestar - Perhaps the Patriot-support the game so desperately needs right now. Maybe a low cost On Reveal that buffs Vanilla cards in your deck?
Newcomers
I’ve already talked about newcomers Moondragon and Necroko, at respective opposite ends of the list, but what about everyone else?
Old Man Logan debuts at 29, and Archangel and Mar-Vell are not far behind at 37 and 38. Ronin and Nick Fury Sr. both crack the Top 100. Trapster, Xemnu, Demolition Man, Leapfrog and Maystorm are all in the Top 200, and Xavin is at 233, which certainly puts him in danger next month.
Overall, other than Necroko, some solid entries on the list, and I think that Necroko’s performance is based on lack of familiarity more than anything else. In December I plan on highlighting some lower-performing characters, an effort to boost their chances on the list.
Conclusion
Thank you to everyone who voted on the list this month! For those who want to see the full list for this month, it’s available right here. I am thankful for everyone that takes the time to read these Most Wanted write-ups, and I hope that you’re enjoying reading them as much as I enjoy writing them. I’m also thankful for Snap.Fan and all the writers and editors for giving me the opportunity to share the Most Wanted. And finally, I’m thankful to Second Dinner for continuing to support Marvel Snap, now into its third year.
I’m going to have some new features in next month’s vote, and I hope that you’ll join me again soon for another round of Most Wanted!