The massive amount of new information we receive on Patch days can be hard to parse. Luckily, you have your Patch Sherpas here at SnapDotFan! I’ll walk you through everything in the patch and tell you what it means and what to expect in the future. This patch was pretty different from most previous patches, so let's dive in and see what we found.
Activate Additions
The Activate Alliance bounties just got a lot less burdensome. As expected, Hellcow and Black Swan received the Activate keyword. Additionally, Swordmaster got some added accuracy.
All three cards seem strong and playable at first glance. Black Swan as a 2-Cost card allows her to combo well with Falcon in bounce decks. Hellcow and Swordmaster will bring about the return of Hela decks.
Snap Packs
We've learned quite a bit more about Snap Packs. It appears this will be a limited-time event rather than a permanent new alternative acquisition system. Something called “Pack Charges” can be charged up to earn Snap Packs. When you win a game, an activated Pack Charge will be converted into a Snap pack, which automatically opens.
Essentially, it sounds like a secondary betting system. You will have a certain amount of Charges you can choose to risk by charging them up before a match. If you win, you get Snap Packs for each, but those Charges are presumably lost if you lose. There is a Pack Charge regeneration system that will give you more charges every so often—we don't yet know the regeneration times. I would also expect Snap Charges to be available for gold or other currency.
Whether or not this system is good or not will depend entirely on the drop rates. We know there's a pity system for getting new cards from Snap packs, but there's no indication of how generous that will be. Expect new series 5 cards and cosmetics to be available in Snap packs. I'm currently expecting Uncle Ben and Tombstone to be the first two new cards offered in Snap packs, with a couple of new cards that are thematically tied to each season as future Snap Pack pulls.
Shuri's Lab
There have been multiple lines of code in previous patches referencing “Bot invasion,” “high voltage,” and “custom game.” They appeared to be connected to a new game mode that Second Dinner was tinkering with behind the scenes. Now we've found a connected term, “Shuri's Lab,” which appears to be a new game mode with its own reward track. One of the rewards is an Agony avatar, which implies that we may be able to unlock the Agony card by playing this mode, much like Cassandra Nova was available in Deadpool's Diner.
What might this new game mode be like? We don't know much, but it appears Snapping is disabled. I suspect it is a bot-battling mode of some sort. There is probably a twist of some sort that explains the “high voltage” references. Perhaps Snap packs and Pack Charges are involved. Maybe some of the new datamined cards will be part of a PvE mode. It's also possible to include the ability to control the parameters of the match, like a Sandbox mode or test mode, explaining the “custom game” references. We don't know much yet, but it appears to be yet another way that cards and rewards will be distributed in addition to or alongside Snap Packs.
New Borders
Some new borders and custom card screens have been rolled out in the cosmetics shop. These are available for Collector's Tokens, marking the first time (but probably not the last) that you can spend Tokens on cosmetics like these.
November
We finally have an ability for Frigga (though nothing for Malekith yet). Frigga could be strong with Mjolnir and Stormbreaker but will also be used with Venom and Death in destroy decks. Any other discounted cards like Mockingbird or Stature are good targets. She also seems strong with power-scaling On Reveal cards like Hit-Monkey, Sage, Silver Sable, and Rocket Racoon.
We also finally have card art for Laufey. I think the “Ice” card found in the data files will somehow be a token that Laufey generates.
Season Pass card Surtur has also been changed a bit. He was likely too strong with +4 in testing, but the cost reduction gives him some extra flexibility.
December, January, and Beyond
There were some exciting new cards referenced in the files.
We're getting something called “Cap’s Shield.” Is this a new stand-alone card? Is it part of one of the new game modes? Is Captain America finally getting a rework commensurate with his iconic status?
Doom Bot 2099 joins the already-found Doom 2099, which is expected to join the December season. It looks like Doom makes Doombot tokens in any era!
Dormammu is one of the most anticipated characters that has never been data mined before. He is important enough to anchor a season, but it's unclear where he fits yet. Doctor Voodoo, not listed above, has also been found and fits thematically with Dormammu. They may form the core of an upcoming season.
Ross Red Hulk and Thaddeus Ross join Bruce Banner and Banner Hulk cards expected for December. Strangely, we're getting Thaddeus and Bruce cards that will seemingly transform into their respective Hulk characters already in the game. Will these Hulks be totally new, or will they transform into the cards we already have?
As discussed last month, I expect January’s theme to be Dark Avengers. Toxie Doxie and Gorgon join previously found Iron Patriot, Moonstone, and Victoria Hand.
Avengers 1,000,000 BC
It looks pretty likely that we've uncovered the February season theme: Avengers 1,000,000 BC! This storyline in the comics centered around ancient Avengers, brought together by Phoenix host Firehair to fight, among others, the ancient moon god Khonshu. So far we have Firehair, Starbrand, and Khonshu. A potential future addition is Agamotto (maybe he makes 3 Eye of Agamotto tokens?).
There are also quite a few references to Falcon-related characters. Again, I'm unsure how this will work since we already have a Falcon card. Could Sam Wilson and Joaquin Torres transform into Falcon? Is Falcon getting reworked? Redwing seems like a good candidate to be a token, but he could also get his own stand-alone card. We also have Serpent Society members Diamondback and Cobra. While it would be cool to get a whole Serpent Society season, I think it's more likely these two will come in a season along with the Falcon cards since Joaquin’s origin is primarily tied to the Serpent Society. Add in the Night Nurse/Claire Temple card that has been in the game files for ages, and this could constitute an entire season of cards, perhaps for March?
Coolest Variants
This patch was very light on variants. It's possible that Second Dinner has found a way to hide some upcoming variants from us or they've changed their cadence for adding new variants to the game. Still, we got release dates for these previously mined Helen Jee variants and a new Jane Foster Conquest variant for November.
Best Bundles
Conclusion
This patch was heavy on cryptic lines of code and light on art and visuals. Still, with the info about Snap Packs and Shuri's Lab, vague as it is, I think this patch teases a lot of massive changes coming in the near future. It makes sense that we won't know exactly how these work until they are released or Second Dinner officially reveals them, but I expect them both quite soon. I've seen some talk that this patch is disappointing, but new game modes and ways to acquire cards make up for fewer than normal variants, in my opinion. There is also a reference to something set for the next patch called “SuperPremium,” which could be a new type of Mystery Variant or rarity level for cosmetics. Plus, this new patch finally allowed us to name our decks like this:
