With the latest OTA and Patch happening so close together, this week's Good, Bad, and Ugly goes over all of the card changes from both and talk about some Good, Bad, and Ugly in general that has resulted from the latest patch.
Overall, the changes do not do too much to the actual metagame, which is nice because currently, the meta feels like it is in a lovely spot, and I'd rather have new cards that enter the game shake up the meta than changes to previous cards.
The Good
Luke Cage
Let’s start with a significant change that was made with Luke Cage. For a while, Shadow King has been the most powerful thing you could do at the 2 power card slot, and with Luke Cage being the counter card effectively useless as a one-lane protector, he wasn’t helping change that. Now that his effect has been reverted to whole board state status, Shadow King will be less effective, even if just slightly. However, that isn’t the main draw to why this change is good. Lane-specific cards are great, but it’s much easier to include and think about cards that affect all lanes simultaneously. Now that Luke is back to his old self and covering the whole board, he can potentially make a more significant impact in many games. This can help cards like Man-Thing or Typhoid Mary to come back since you don’t need Luke in the same lane to keep your low-cost cards at their usual power and keep all lanes safe from a potential Shadow King. Even better, he is at three cost, which fits nicely into a surfer-type deck, which is where I think it’s an excellent place for him to land since Surfer decks typically are vulnerable to Shadow King. Overall, this is an excellent change for Luke Cage.
Cage Surfer
Ghost
This is an exciting change because there was a lot of quick backlash from Ghost enjoyers that this was a nerf to the card. However, this is a buff in all senses of the word, and we sometimes need to separate the idea that just because you can’t use the card in the same spot anymore doesn’t mean it’s a nerf. Marvel Snap is still a numbers game at the end of the day, and Ghost now having five power, especially at three cost, is a fantastic buff. Previously at one cost, she was relegated to Ongoing Spectrum decks or maybe a Zoo-type deck. Now, because she has the power to back it up, she is a potential option for more decks that need a unique effect in the cost card slot. This change also makes one of the best decks in the game (Sera Tech) that has a relatively high skill ceiling because, as a pilot of Sera Tech, you need to thoroughly understand the priority and how to keep it or lose it throughout the game a lot easier to play. While that sounds like a significant change, more time is needed to see if it will cause the meta to warp around dealing with a top-tier deck that is made a lot easier to pilot with a card that also produces excellent power like Ghost.
Ghost Sera
Omega Red
While Omega Reds' stats did not change, his ability to add power to other lanes became much more straightforward. Effectively, he is now a 4/11 and, even better, a 3/11 if you have Zabu out on the board. This is a significant change. Omega Red was an incredibly bad card before this change, and while this change makes him playable, it makes him good. Unlike Ms. Marvel, which is just a little more power overall, Omega Red can be played on any lane to get benefits. Also, the cost to activate his ability is a lot easier than before the change. Omega Red is a solid card that deserves deck consideration, and he might be too good.
Helicarrier
While this might be a bad change for some, I think this is a good change because it doesn’t fundamentally change what Helicarrier does but changes the result. Instead of getting 3 cards, you get as many as your hand allows, and they can be any card in the game. This means it is a better early turn discard than before, adding some crazy combo potential. Just take this deck, for example,
Discard
Before the Helicarrier change, this was a fringe idea because other discard decks were just better. When you include Helicarrier, your Morbius and Collector get buffed immensely if Helicarrier is in your hand when you Modok. That means you have a fun, flashy combo that puts this in the excellent column because it is a relatively simple change that doesn't affect the meta overall.
The Bad
Hulkbuster
To be fair, I like this change and think it increases the utility of Hulkbuster. This is in the wrong category, mainly because the reasoning from Second Dinner is a little flawed. Now, I have trust that the people involved with balancing this game know what they are doing. However, recently, they have made some changes that have had many “feel bad” moments for players, and this is one of them. Here is what the developers said regarding the change for HulkBuster.
“Because the strongest Destroy deck by far was all about Deadpool, we also wanted to look at weakening some of the best ways to make huge Deadpools. Hulkbuster was one such card, but it's also a fun card for other strategies, like Move and the occasional kooky brew. Since the real problem was how much Power Hulkbuster was adding to Deadpool, we decided to keep it fairly efficient on rate and just shrink down the numbers. Hopefully this change actually creates some opportunity for play alongside things like Multiple Man and Werewolf By Night while weakening Deadpool specifically–we want to keep Hulkbuster a solid card”
They talk a lot about Deadpool and how Hulkbuster can make a huge Deadpool easily. While that is true because doubling 5 power after turn three provides the avenue to make a huge Deadpool over the last 30 days, most top-performing Deadpool decks didn’t even include the card Hulkbuster. So players are creating a huge Deadpool regardless of Hulkbuster. Moving Hulkbuster down to two cost means HB fits a lot easier into a Destroy decks curve. Yes, it has less power, but if you can add power to Deadpool and double it more times than before, he will still be huge. Not to mention, Hulkbuster is a lot easier to attach to both X-23 and Wolverine. All of these reasons make most people go, huh, this was supposed to be a nerf for Destroy, but instead, Hulkbuster is still good in that deck and just worse in the other decks they mentioned they still wanted him to be good in. Therefore, while I like this change, I think it’s a little on the wrong side.
The Ugly
Spider-Man 2099
Some have labeled this card the worst in the game, and honestly, I don’t blame those people for thinking that because he is. He has been regularly called for a buff since his release, so they finally tried to give him one, but it didn’t help. Spider-Man 2099 has an excellent effect but needs other cards around it to enable this effect, which I think is his primary downfall. His cost is too high to make the payoff for his effect worth it. They did buff him to nine power, which is excellent for a five-cost card. Still, outside of playing him and then playing Heimdall, he is pretty much a vanilla 5/9, and there are countless other things I’d instead do in a move deck on turn six than just Heimdall, even if that does happen sometimes. This change makes him worse because it takes away the option to move him with Cloak or maybe even use him in a Zabu-type deck. After all, he is five cost instead of four. Overall, it’s a sad time for fans of Spiderman 2099.
Beast
Beast has undergone several changes, but this one might feel ugly. At first glance, this change looks promising. Beast is now back down to two cost with the same effect. Then you read a bit more and realize that Beast only reduces the cost of the cards the very next turn. That is a significant change. While big changes are not necessarily bad, they do feel bad for a little bit most of the time. Initially, when they changed Beast to a three-cost card, they wanted to make Falcon more relevant as a possible bounce option, so moving Beast back down to two cost to share the same space will probably result in Falcon being used a little bit less, but it is too early to establish that fully. However, the main change is that the cost reduction lasts only one turn. No more having a zero-cost Kitty Pryde for the rest of the game or being able to play out zero-cost cards and then bounce them back with Falcon while remaining zero-cost. That feels ugly. The other reason this is ugly is not necessarily a play change for the card, but this change happens alongside the release of Black Swan, which makes all one-cost cards zero-cost next turn. Black Swan isn’t needed heavily if you already have a card that reduces cards for the whole game. But, if you take the whole game cost reduction away, Black Swan looks more appealing as a card you want to add to your deck. I am not trying to cry conspiracy here, but some people will think this way, causing a sour taste in the change overall.
But even an ugly change can be a good one, so while it feels ugly at the onset, it will be a decent change for the game going forward. Beast is now in the magical two-cost slot where many cards feel really good, and the ceiling for the skill needed to use him correctly rose immensely. No longer can you bounce because you want to. You need to think and plan out your turns accordingly.
Check this deck out and let me know how he feels at two cost.
Swan Bounce
Overall Ugly
With this new patch, Second Dinner has effectively removed the ability to datamine spotlight caches. This is an ugly take because many players used these datamines to plan months accordingly. In a game where resources to attain new cards are scarce, planning wisely and using your resources as effectively as possible is paramount. More and more cards are being released into Series 5, and for players who don’t want to spend cash resources to attain these cards effectively, it is becoming harder and harder.
Furthermore, this patch comes with zero new features. I understand that new features take time, and I want them to be well thought out before implementing them, but it is just mildly disappointing that we have to wait another month and probably more for some new features.
The Irrelevant
Heimdall
Speaking of Heimdall. They have buffed him up to 9 power to sit below that Shang-Chi threshold. While this is a positive change, it’s one of the changes that doesn’t affect anything, and there are many cards that I foresee getting this same buff of one power that still won’t change the game much, if at all.
Cerebro Watch
Some of this OTA's most significant changes are in the Cerebro space. So let’s start with something spicy that probably doesn’t work but might and is just fun.
C9
With Heimdall and Spider-Man 2099 moving to the 9-power slot, we can include this combo in a potential C9 deck. This deck utilizes Zabu and Wave to cheat out some of its bigger cost cards and Ghost Spider to help activate Spider-Man 2099 with a 5-cost card on turn six. This will not give you a ton of ranks or cubes, but laughs and fun are definitely on the menu.
This has been a known Cerebro deck for some time, and while not much has changed, it has stolen a possible card from its younger bro, C2, in Ghost.
C5
Ghost in this deck essentially acts as a protection system for your Cerebro and Mystique combo on turn six. With one of the best decks currently running Enchantress, it’s always a worry when running ongoing cards that make your deck powerful. It also allows your Spider-Man to pull cards and fill your opponent's lanes after they have all flipped instead of before, which has specific uses. I’m not sure how outstanding this will be since the 3-cost 5 slot has the best 3-cost cards in the game with some sound effects, so Ghost might not be applicable here, but it’s worth a shot.
Also, you could try out Luke Cage in this deck if you wanted to. It might help in specific locations and when up against High Evolutionary. Although, in my experience, you want as many 5 power cards to maximize those games that don’t get Cerebro down on the board.
C3
Ah, poor C3. While this didn’t gain a card, they lost a decent staple in Luke Cage. Now, will this change anything going forward? It could, but I’m assuming C3 will be in the same spot it was before. However, this opens up a slot to add Quake, or if you’re really in a pinch, you could run the current Hulkbuster and ensure it attaches to your Cerebro or Mystique. Give it a shot, and let me know how it goes.
C4
I previously posted a C4 High evolutionary list. While this one is very similar, it now includes the newly updated Luke Cage, greatly benefiting the deck. I don’t think this is that bad of a place to start. Some cards in this deck are vulnerable to Shadow King, so having Luke Cage function well and get the Cerebro Buff is also a good payoff. Again, give it a shot and let me know what you think.
C2
I thought about something along these lines the other day. While my initial thought was to slot Beast into a C2 deck that was already good, there was not a lot of On Reveals I was interested in getting a second time. Instead, this deck utilizes cards like Selene and Scorpian as good cards to bounce back, and on the off chance that you play a goblin and it gets stuck on your side, you can bounce it back into your hand and try again. Give it a shot, and let me know what you think.
That’s all for this week. Let me know your thoughts about the patch and your personal Good, Bad, and Ugly.