Spotlight: Cash - October 2023
Welcome back to Spotlight: Cash, Snap.Fan’s monthly look at upcoming cash bundles and the role that money plays in Marvel Snap. In the ever-shifting in-game economy, Second Dinner can dial back the gold players receive, credits only stretch so far, and Token Tuesdays will come and go, but there is one currency whose flow the players–not Second Dinner–can control, and that currency is cash. Join us for a deep dig into the datamine as we preview October’s cash bundles. As always, bundle details are subject to change.
Mystery Machine
In fitting with the spooky season, October’s mystery offerings come in an odd array of shapes and sizes. Counting September’s holdover, there are nine of them to choose from, though two are available for gold instead of cash and outside the purview of this article. The remaining range from commonplace to downright monstrous in terms of return for your money.
At $9.99, September Mystery 6 and October Mystery 6 supply a pedestrian 1,250 credits along with the mystery variant–assuming the latter has a variant added before it goes live–yet they far exceed the value of October 2023 Mystery 1. As datamined, that bundle comprises 700 gold and no mystery variant at $9.99. We can expect one to be added before release; otherwise it is no different from buying 700 gold in the shop. Either way, when compared to the premium season pass at the same price point offering 900 gold, 300 credits, a new card, and six variants, October Mystery 1 looks like highway robbery.
Once again, the data show October Mystery 2 without a variant, but even with one the $14.99 price tag should bring along more than 1,000 gold and 500 credits. Magik’s Birthday, a bundle running almost the entire month, offers 1,500 gold and 750 credits for the same price, along with a variant, title, avatar, and boosters. October 2023 Mystery 3 is the only $4.99 mystery bundle on offer this month, and like the latter two from September, it pairs a variant with 650 credits for a middling value. If you are only planning to spend $5 this month, A Year of Marvel Snap! is a better investment with its payout of 1,000 gold and a title.
That leaves only the two $20 offerings. October 2023 Mystery 7 far outstrips Mystery 8 in total value, contributing 1,000 gold and 1,500 credits while 8, which doesn’t actually start until November 4th, give you 1,250 gold and a mere 500 credits. The best mystery for overall return is number 7, but considering the many other bundles with high rates of return, it is probably best to give the mysteries a miss this month.
September 2023 Mystery 6
Credits per dollar: 125
October 2023 Mystery 1
Gold per dollar: 70
October 2023 Mystery 2
Gold per dollar: 66.67
Credits per dollar: 33.33
October 2023 Mystery 3
Credits per dollar: 130
October 2023 Mystery 4 and Mystery 5
Gold offers not examined in this article
October 2023 Mystery 6
Credits per dollar: 125
October 2023 Mystery 7
Gold per dollar: 50
Credits per dollar: 75
October 2023 Mystery 8
Gold per dollar: 62.5
Credits per dollar: 25
This Magik Moment
One day after the Festival of Unity, Snap is already kicking off another party. One gold bar per cent is a pretty good rate; I bought a wedding ring recently, and, let me tell you, you will not get that kind of value in real life. Throw in 750 credits and an appealing variant of Magik–an opportunity to nab this series 3 card that unlocks a few deck archetypes–enough boosters to take her to infinity, and some cosmetics, and you’ve got a great bundle.
Magik’s Birthday Party!
Gold per dollar: 100
Credits per dollar: 50
Playing with Not Enough Power
Most months, 600 gold and 700 credits with a variant, avatar, and boosters for $9.99 wouldn’t look like a bad deal, and, compared to historical bundles, it isn’t. It’s actually above average, but in a month like October packed with high-value cash offers, Batteries Not Included is the worst available outside of mystery bundles. Not only is it in the unenviable position of being a $10 bundle that delivers less value than the season pass, but it is also up against the combination of Festival of Unity and A Year of Marvel Snap! which, together, offer 1,000 gold, 900 credits, another series 3 variant and the usual accoutrement at the same price. Still, if you are looking to add Arnim Zola, admittedly a fun and versatile card, or you have a special nostalgia for cramped thumbs and the eyestrain from those tiny fields of green on green on green, this buy is easily justified.
Batteries Not Included
Gold per dollar: 60
Credits per dollar: 70
Contents May Have Settled
Like the last one, Put That in a Box suffers for being a good-value bundle in a month of great-value bundles. It has an advantage in that it is the cheapest option for buying tokens this month. 700 of them won’t exactly empty the shop, but every little bit helps. Alas, the remainder of the bundle is an uninspired 200 gold, a variant of a starter card, and the usual accompaniment of avatar and boosters. Even the art is weird. It’s Iron-Man in a cardboard Iron-Man outfit and, well, is that a joke of some kind? Is it cute? Dare we call it . . . irony? Anyway, you can move on from this bundle unless you want to pick up a few tokens without breaking the bank.
Put That in a Box
Tokens per dollar: 70
Gold per dollar: 20
Golden Anniversary
Doling out gold at more than three times the shop rate, this is the second best purchase the game has ever featured, after only the Welcome Bundle. Assuming you already have that, this is the one to buy if you are going to spend any money in October. Not much more needs to be said.
A Year of Marvel Snap!
Gold per dollar: 200
The Cost of Inflation
Brace yourself, because the end of the month gets expensive. There are three bundles in the last nine days of October all costing $19.99 or more, or four if you count Mystery 7. They do all, except the Mystery, feature great returns, so they could be worth the outlay if it is within your budget. Clever Girl can boast the most balanced payout at 1,000 tokens, 350 gold, and 1,000 credits to carry its variant and the usual array of accompaniments. It is, however, surpassed in overall value relative to price by the next two.
Clever Girl
Tokens per dollar: 50
Gold per dollar: 17.5
Credits per dollar: 50
Golden Calf
The Power to Moo You not only offers the largest lump sum of gold this month, but it is the first bundle in the game’s history to offer 3,000 gold for less than $29.99. It compares favorably to May’s Trash Panda and September’s Days of Summer Past, which came in with 500 and 100 more credits, respectively, but the same amount of gold for $5 more. You could turn that $5 toward a Festival or even cheap Mystery bundle and come out ahead in credits. As with last month’s Hail Hydraulics, the biggest negative with The Power to Moo You is simply the price, as $25 is not chump change. It is an opportunity to pick up a series 3 card, but in the current metagame Hellcow is only notable as a poor man’s MODOK.
The Power to Moo You
Gold per dollar: 120
Credits per dollar: 20
Three Bags Full
Now for the largest of the lot, Wolf in Sheep’s Clothing is an unprecedented bundle containing more tokens than any bundle ever costing less than $75–at least until Peach, You’re So Cool the following week. That bundle, however, is $65, so Wolf still delivers great value at a relatively low price. 800 credits, a silly variant, avatar, and boosters round out the package, but most of the value lies in the tokens. That puts this bundle squarely atop October’s pay-to-win watch, but there is no ignoring that it offers a fantastic number of tokens for the price.
Wolf in Sheep’s Clothing
Tokens per dollar: 83.33
Credits per dollar: 26.67
The Bottom Line
If the trends in September were less gold, fewer tokens, and cosmetic-focused bundles with multiple variants, October really flips the script. The payouts are bigger, the currency-per-dollar values are better, and the cosmetics seem almost incidental. There are great options for every kind of spender from dabbling ducks to krakens–so many good cash bundles, in fact, that a player buying on a budget might want to consider skipping the season pass for purchases with better currency returns. As always, make a budget that you can afford, stick to it, and plan your purchases accordingly.
Best tokens per dollar
- Wolf in Sheep’s Clothin (83.33)
- Put That in a Box (70)
- Clever Girl (50)
Best gold per dollar
- A Year of Marvel Snap! (200)
- The Power to Moo You (120)
- Magik’s Birthday Party (120)
- Season Pass Premium [if you reach at least 49] (90)
- October 2023 Mystery 1 (70)
Best credits per dollar
- Festival of Unity (180)
- October 2023 Mystery 3 (130)
- September 2023 Mystery 6 (125)
- October 2023 Mystery 6 (125)
- October 2023 Mystery 7 (75)
Best overall currencies per dollar*
- A Year of Marvel Snap! (250.50)
- Festival of Unity (185.37)
- Magik’s Birthday Party! (176.78)
- Wolf in Sheep’s Clothing (173.39)
- The Power to Moo You (171.07)
*Expressed as credits per dollar, valuing gold at 1.25 credits (shop rate) and tokens at 1.4 gold (modern Token Tuesday rate), and adding 25 credits for each new card and variant
Thank you for joining us on this haunted romp, and we will see you back here for a look at the November bundles in a month!