It’s another week full of variants for SNAP, and the forecast is looking pretty studio-heavy this time around— whether that translates as a bright n’ sunny week or an overcast projection for you really does depend! So fans of Creative House Pocket or Envar should keep their eyes peeled— we’ve got multiple highlights from them coming out. But don’t take my word for it; let’s turn it over to the forecast, proper!
04/08
Spotlights!
Artists (in order): Envar Studio, A.J. Nazzaro
Source: Spotlight Cache
I’m talking as if I’m turning it over to anyone but myself. But hey! We’ve got another Spotlight, as always, and I’m looking forward to covering every one of these leading up to the Spotlight Cache’s final retirement. But it’s not dead yet; we’ve got Envar Studio headlining here with not one but two variants, covering both Kahhori (like with every new card this week) and Hydra Bob. Kahhori is a close-to-brand new character, and so it’s nice to see her get the immediate new art for her release; I like the icy white and blue palette, and while it might be a bit soft on the colors for me personally, it’s definitely going to be solid work for anyone looking for alt-Kahhori art. Hydra Bob from Envar brings a lot more personality into the equation, giving us the cowardly minion himself almost uncharacteristically swashbuckling as he shoots finger guns tumbling out of a building. Is it maybe a little devil-may-care for a career coward? I like to think it’s Bob taking a page from his oft-companion Deadpool at last. Finally, A.J. Nazzaro’s got their Cull Obsidian, applying a fun, almost Disney-villain-minion energy to everyone favorite big Black Order lug. I think a couple of artists have taken a crack at applying a more animated style to the Black Order, but Nazzaro’s might be the most effective at it, giving us a clean, dynamic crack at boiling down those craggy features into a playful, iconic type of menace.
Lee Woo-Chul’s Luna Snow!
Artist: Lee Woo-Chul
Source: Bundle
Wrap it, folks— Luna’s new best variant is here! I don’t make claims like that lightly, but there’s something so perfect about such a specific Korean character being rendered by such a specific Korean artist. I think Woo-Chul elevates above the standard ‘appealing’ gloss of many artists in this similar vein, still operating in that stylized type of rendering but with a kind of lively realism to it that really ties the whole piece together. I’m not even the hugest Luna Snow fan— something about the character sometimes strikes me as a focus group-ish— but I think Woo-Chul has done a terrific job putting the character in a whole new light. It’s a tempting gold bundle: you’ll have to feel for yourself just how bad you want the best Luna Snow.
Mooncolony’s Emperor Hulkling
Artist: Mooncolony
Source: General Pool (Rare)
I constantly forget he’s officially ‘Emperor Hulkling’ in this game… but Mooncolony hasn’t! This fantastical Hulkling is brandishing that sword to prove it, and Mooncolony has notably stepped away from the more three-dimensional look that’s bound lots of their existing variants together, opting instead for a more animated look that gives Teddy here a lot of chipper personality. It’s a nice contrast between all that emperor regalia and a smile that wouldn’t look out of place in a high school anime, and I think that dichotomy might be sweet enough to win lots of folks over for the price of 700 gold.
04/09
Creative House Pocket’s Chibi Kahhori
Artist: Creative House Pocket
Source: General Pool (Rare)
Creative House Pocket’s got a big week this week, and they’re kicking it off with Kahhori’s shop variant to accompany her release; like Rian Gonzales has done in the past, they’ve used the opportunity to give Kahhori a variant in a more different style for the shop variant. And, like Rian Gonzales, that style is Chibi! (Though it might not be labeled as such in game.) I think this variant might land a bit closer to a G-Angle Chibi than a Rian Gonzales Chibi, personally, but I think that fans of a Chibi style will appreciate it regardless.
Creative House Pocket’s Beta Ray Bill Bundle
Artist: Creative House Pocket
Source: Bundle
But what can I say? Does this studio have range, or what? (Or multiple artists working there, headlining different projects, of course). But it is a very different Creative House Pocket variant from the chibi, with a much more traditionally comic-style piece, complete with dynamic pose and detailed musculature. Creative House Pocket does have a penchant for bright colors and lighting, which is on full display here, really saturating Bill’s orange skin and casting his ordinarily-red cape into an almost neon pink-purple. It makes for a specific look, though it may work for more folks than others; if you’re looking for something different, though, those colors may be the difference maker.
04/10
Creative House Pocket’s Juice Album Takeover
Artist: Creative House Pocket
Source: General Pool (Rare)/Album Reward
Like I said— big week! Creative House Pocket’s big album is out, strung together by the theme of Marvel’s most iconic character enjoying a beverage. All of these are decidedly operating within the confines of the anime style; I’ve said before that I’m not always the biggest fan of Creative House Pocket’s particular take on that style, if only because it feels more surface level than some of the best anime art that I know is out there. But I think they understand that these variants are supposed to be fun more than anything: there’s great novelty in seeing all the different drinks these character have ended up with, from Shaw’s coffee to-go to Howard the Duck’s fruity vacation drink. And speaking of Howard, he’s the reward of the album, aptly-titled Duck, Duck, Juice. (Which is great.) If you’re down for the duck, it’ll be a relatively low hanging fruit: all of these variants are 700 gold!
Justin Fields’ Cerebro Bundle
Artist: Justin Fields
Source: Bundle
Justin Fields continues his Bundle-exclusive streak with a clever Cerebro composition, shifting some of that considerable artistic talent with technological characters and artifacts towards a more in-your-face conceit to the cover: a silhouetted Professor X in the far background, tiny shadow dwarfed by Cerebro in the foreground. It’s a great, elegant way of communicating exactly what Cerebro allows Charles to do, reaching out and expanding his psychic abilities to locate mutants, and Fields brings all of that to life with his classic, lavishly detailed rendering. I love the use of the foreground, and whether or not Cerebro has ever been competitively relevant, I’m sure another cool piece of art for your favorite bad build-around card is quite the incentive already.
04/11
Envar Studio’s Pixie
Artist: Envar Studio
Source: General Pool (Super Rare)
Pixie’s finally getting some more art to fill out her roster of variants, which feels overdue! A cute, pink girl in a comic book card game feels like a no-brainer to have lots and lots of variant art for, and Envar Studio feels like one of the surer signs that Second Dinner is commissioning to help with that problem. I think the best thing about this particular variant is definitely the colors here, which give Pixie a warmer skin tone that interacts with her pink hair and eyes in a different way than usual for her. Speaking of eyes— one of the more interesting quirks of commissioned art in SNAP is how clearly they reference the base art as the ‘original’ vision of the character. Pixie usually (though, admittedly, not always) is drawn in comics with black, bead-eyes to further align her with her namesake, and the original art having more human eyes on her is one of the more glaring departures a base art has taken with a character. As a result? Many of the original commissions made for the game give Pixie similarly human eyes— a win for some people, maybe, but I’m a bit partial to the girl bug-eyed. Maybe next time!
04/12
Creative House Pocket’s Odin
Artist: Creative House Pocket
Source: General Pool (Super Rare)
The last Creative House Pocket variant is yet another stylistically distinct card from their usual roster, with Odin feeling more like his son the Thunder God than ever before. I think it looks dope, and the different hair alongside his faithful spear Gungnir helps sell that this character is in fact the Norse king of gods. I really like the composition angle here, with us looking up and askew at it; whenever I see a large studio put out some strong work, I’m mostly drawn to whoever must have drawn the majority of it in the first place. But alas! For now, all we’ve got here is probably the strongest Creative House Pocket variant this week by a mile, and anyone willing to get him for 1200 gold should surely consider.
04/13
Ivan Fomin’s Leech
Artist: Ivan Fomin
Source: General Pool (Rare)
Ivan Fomin’s Leech is genuinely in the running for one of my personal top variants for the week, and that’s not just my blasé attitude towards studios as a whole. I love when mutant stuff really leans into the fantastical high school element of the classic School for Gifted Youngsters stories, and this piece giving Leech one of those classic boxy grade-school backpacks with the patches takes me all the way back. I love the expression on him (How could you hate that guy? Don’t answer that.) and I think that framing it as a candid at his locker really puts more life into this piece than many of the other pieces we’ve seen today. And for 700 gold! Art pricing, arbitrary. Imagine!
04/14
Envar Studio’s Cassandra Nova
Artist: Envar Studio
Source: General Pool (Rare)
Cassandra Nova finishes us out this week, and seems to be a reminder that she’s just better than all the other cards that released as a game mode reward— at least, as far as variants are concerned. Now I’m not sure exactly why most of those Series 4 Reward cards don’t have variants (I suspect it’s to do with shorter notice on the release cadence and subsequent unalignment with the art pipeline) but Cassandra Nova seems exempt, having gotten multiple variants in Shop and Spotlight. And now there’s another! And I think I like this Envar piece more than I like plenty of them. I think the face is a well done expression in particular, but there’s some energy in how she’s approaching the camera with her coat billowing. It’s a fine pose for a fun character, and hopefully an ongoing sign that the likes of Uncle Ben, Laufey, Lasher, and the rest will eventually get variant catalogues that will make them feel a bit less perfunctory.
Wrapping Up
Like I said, the week’s crop quality ultimately depends on whether or not you’re a big studio fan! There’s certainly something for everyone in here, but I think fans of Creative House Pocket are eating especially good, let alone fans of Envar. But what do y’all think? Is the apple of your eye that jaw-dropping Luna Snow? Are you angling for something else? Or is it a save week? Let me know below. And see you next time!