Remember OTA's? They are over-the-air updates. This is just a reminder because we haven't had one since the 1st of this month. We did have the power couples event with the temporary buffs (which I enjoyed well and enjoyed), but nothing feels quite like an OTA. You know what else doesn't feel like an OTA? Me rambling. Let's get into it!
Adam Warlock
● [Old] 2/0 - After each turn, draw a card if you’re winning here.
● [Change] 2/0 -> 5/4
Developer Notes
Whenever we're developing an OTA, we always check in on cards that have been languishing, which has included Adam Warlock for quite some time. We want every card to succeed somewhere, but Adam Warlock is a special case given how powerful the character is creatively. And make no mistake, this effect is very powerful–drawing a card is one of the strongest things you can do in SNAP, as decks are only 12 cards. Consequently, the card is designed to make that fairly difficult to do.
We've considered reworking Adam Warlock, but like Spider-Man 2099 last time, we're going to try something else first. As a 2-Cost card Adam needs to be dramatically more limited, because even 1 Power could help draw multiple cards. As a 5/4, you have to jump through more hoops to accomplish that. That said, drawing one card is a fair bit easier, as Adam carries a chunk of Power to compete for the location. That's why we're staying conservative on Power here–the effect isn't one we want to make commonplace for a lot of decks, especially given it can fuel combo decks. But if you want to work for it, there are cards to be drawn, and maybe this is enough to get it done.
*Oh, you look at the cards that have been languishing? Did you miss the Captain of Languishing from the Island of Languish, Colossus? I think you might have. We moved Spider-Man 2099 to 5-cost and that...Did nothing. Let's see how this one pans out!
Darkhawk
● [Old] 4/0 - Ongoing: +2 Power for each card in your opponent’s deck.
● [Change] 4/0 -> 5/4
Developer Notes
This change has been in and out of our builds for several months now, as Darkhawk has consistently flirted with individual performance rates at the top of the metagame and fueled multiple decks to similar heights. We resolved to wait and see what happened after Blob and, well, it looks basically the same. Darkhawk has spent a long time at the top of the mountain as an individual card, so we're making this change to freshen the landscape. There's every chance we'll revert this down the road, in a different metagame.
We do also recognize that Zabu is a huge part of Darkhawk's strength, of course. But it's not all on Zabu, and there are other decks with the cat that are fun and healthy. Let's see what Zabu looks like with a new best friend in March.
*I feel like the balance team sat down to discuss balances, and someone must have suggested we have a 5-cost a thon. I don't quite get this one. This makes Darkhawk incredibly slow and prevents you from many compliments to the Darkhawk package, such as Leech and other shells the standard Korg, Rockslide, and Darkhawk package could fit into.
Forge
- [Old] 1/1 - On Reveal: Give the next card you play +2 Power.
- [Change] 1/1 -> 2/2
Developer Notes
Funny enough, this is the exact Forge change we started internally all those months ago. It's been a wild ride, but Forge is a great case study in what we like about OTA balancing–things can ebb and flow. For the last few months, Forge has been a lynchpin card for multiple decks and (more importantly) really dwarfing the influence of other 1-Cost cards. In fact, Forge has appeared among the top five most-played of all cards in the game some weeks! It's been a bit much, so we're dialing Forge down to reduce that impact. We expect to improve a few more 1-Cost cards to compensate for this loss in the near future.
*The 1-Costs cards are hurting right now. I get what this was supposed to target, but we need to couple these changes aimed at "reducing the impact" with proper changes to multiple cards impacted negatively by this one specific change. They did this same thing with Beast and left all the other cards tweaked and adjusted within the Bounce archetype leading up to the Beast nerf untouched. And would you look at that? Another change to hurt Bounce once again, although not the primary target. Forge was not as good as a two-cost card, and I expect the card to return to not very good.
Ant-Man
● [Old] 1/1 - Ongoing: If your side of this location is full, +3 Power.
● [New] 1/1 - Ongoing: If your side of this location is full, +4 Power.
Developer Notes
And we're starting with this one! Ant-Man's one of our favorite cards, playing well for new players while maintaining some longer-term use thanks to Spectrum and Ka-Zar, among others. Given the inherent disadvantages of being a 1-Cost card, putting a little extra Power into Ant-Man's conditional shouldn't shake things up too much but is a meaningful amount of additional strength.
*This is an excellent change to help the Zoo and Ongoing decks that frequently run Ant-Man. I hope they stay true to their word and address the 1-cost cards to make turn one feel impactful. Sometimes, in the game's early stages, it feels as if the cards being played aren't meaningful to the end result, which is disappointing.
America Chavez
● [Old] 2/3 - On Reveal: Give the top card of your deck +2 Power.
● [Change] 2/3 -> 1/2
Developer Notes
As we're sending Forge to 2-Cost, it made sense to swap America Chavez down to 1-Cost. These effects are similar enough to seem like they overlap, but America has proven slightly too weak at 2-Cost while Forge was very strong at 1-Cost. Both changes together should leave us with two reasonably healthy cards.
*I agree that America Chavez seemed weak as a 2-cost card. She is a diet Forge in that you can play her out, and that's all good, but you don't know what you are hitting. With Forge, you are targeting what you are trying to assign the power to. This is a good adjustment for the card's strength but a step down from 1-cost Forge.
Lockjaw
● [Old] 3/2 - After you play a card here, swap it with a card in your deck. (once per turn)
● [Change] 3/2 -> 4/5
Developer Notes
Hela and variations on Thanos have both been leaning heavily on Lockjaw lately, and while the decks are fair on performance the card is a bit of an outlier. Lockjaw is fairly clearly a design risk, as a card that "cheats" Energy and kind of draws cards. However, Lockjaw is also a blast to play with! We've tried to maintain a good balance around the effect, but in the last few months it's been a growing concern that even affected future design work. Moving Lockjaw up to 4-Cost takes away an entire turn of swaps, which is a big loss but reins in the raw potential quite a bit. We're compensating that with a healthy amount of extra Power.
*Lockjaw is quite a unique card, but this was a necessary adjustment. Let's see how it pans out. A cost change could be exactly what was needed to bring Lockjaw into line, although that is a fair power stat with the same ability. If not, it would be sad to see the dog get reworked, even though it might be necessary if this change doesn't have the targeted impact.
Sword Master
● [Old] 3/6 - On Reveal: Discard a card from your hand.
● [Change] 3/6 -> 3/7
Developer Notes
It's fairly clear that our "simpler" discard enablers struggle to remain competitive, as we've made many strong options in recent seasons. However, even in smaller collections Sword Master is struggling to become a reliable option, which is indicative that the card could improve. This buff makes Sword Master a more reasonable substitute or a complementary card in Discard decks looking for robust amounts of Power.
*Ahh, yes, as a Discard enjoyer, these are exactly the things I love to see. It has been hard to justify Sword Master in Discard lists due to Sif providing targeted discard along with Moon Knight and Gambit impacting the opponent and hopefully moving your game plan forward. Now that Sword Master has two more power than Sif, it could see more play, but I have always thought that Sword Master should be in discard decks that want to play more low-cost cards. So, is Sword Master replacing Sif? No. Is this a win for the players that haven't reached Series 3 yet? Yes.
Vulture
● [Old] 3/3 - When this card moves, +5 Power.
● [New] 3/3 - When this card moves, +6 Power.
Developer Notes
This increase to Vulture's move ability is another instance of an ongoing trend we're enjoying, which is adding a little bit of strength to some older cards that have narrowed as the game grows. There was a time when playing Vulture was nearly synonymous with playing a Move deck, but that hasn't been the case for a while now. With Shang-Chi now eliminating cards with 10 or more Power, single-move Vultures are also safe at 9 Power, which is a nice bonus for players trying to set up something like Heimdall.
*These changes to move that they have been implementing since the release of Hercules have been a long time coming. I hope it doesn't get out of hand. It probably won't, but I hope to see a day when Move is prominent within the meta. Maybe that day is soon. Vulture, show us the way!
That concludes the OTA updates for this week. What do you think about the changes? Let me know in the comments!