The drought has ended! Sweet, sweet datamined images and spoilers galore! I’d say we’ve got a whole slew of variants to look at like always, but with recent patches being empty to hide the anticipated upcoming Rivals season, this is the first big variant dump we’ve gotten in a while.
And so I’m here with a new article format: a Giganto-size jumbo round-up to cover all those sweet new datamined variants. We’ve got new artists! We’ve got returning artists! We’ve got dynamite existing covers and spectacular brand new art commissioned for SNAP! And, uh, without further ado, we’ve got a lot of ground to cover, so let’s get to it.
Marvel Rivals Crossover Variants!
Let’s start with the tac-shooter shaped elephant in the room: the new patch unveiled the long-awaited Marvel Rivals crossover assets, letting us finally see what Snap’s big end-of-year finish is going to look like. And it doesn’t disappoint! While Marvel Snap collaborated with the Midnight Suns art team for the Tarot variants all those suns ago, we’ve never had a crossover on this scale before. And while the Rivals variants look like they’re the existing base splash arts from Marvel Rivals, those existing base splash arts look terrific. NetEase’s sleek, stylized look for familiar Marvel characters gives them a cinematic new sheen that manages to be both distinct and stylish. And we’re getting a buttload of variants with that sheen on it— folks excited about Marvel Rivals will be happy to see the full roster represented in Snap! But I think any Snap player can enjoy a futuristic new take on characters we know and love. There’s already an album for 12 of these— and with it being labeled ‘MarvelRivalsAlbum1’ in the datamine, another isn’t far behind.
New Commissioned Artists!
The patch has also introduced a bevy of pieces from new artists commissioned by Second Dinner. These tend to be pieces that are more directly inspired by Marvel’s Snap’s take on these characters, and are often the best chance to see cool art for characters who don’t have a large catalogue of existing covers. And it’s always exciting to see what new artists enter the fray each patch, often bringing interesting different art styles to the table. If you want something new, take a gander at some of these artists and their work.
Brett Bean
I love the kooky, kids illustration book vibe that Brett Bean’s bringing in his bundle (say that three times fast), and in the ocean of conventionally cool, edgy, and attractive we often see in both Marvel and Marvel SNAP, this sort of style is a welcome breath of fresh air.
Tony Moy
Tony Moy is bringing a colorful, painterly-realistic style to several cards, joining the ranks of several artists that elevate these stylized characters into shades of realism. We actually have several upcoming variants for Tony Moy that already existed in previous datamines, and they’re all worth checking out; he’ll have a Blue Marvel bundle coming soon and several variants entering the general pool (at 700 gold, no less)!
Yo Shimizu
Yo Shimizu is a new artist that’s bringing an overt anime-flair to their art: and while that’s not something necessarily new to SNAP, I think Shimizu’s two debut variants have a sense of composition and energy that makes them top tier for anyone looking for some more anime-inspired work in their game. (I think the perspective on the Mirage in particular looks terrific).
Creees Lee
Creees Lee has a background body of work in comics, but they seem to be joining SNAP as a commissioned artist: with pieces colored by Ryan Kinnaird, they may actually be on board tackling more ‘house style’ variants, offering alternate art that remains within Snap’s base art style. And while that base style might not be what everybody looks for in a variant, I think Creees’ work looks great within those constraints. Luna and Misery (two characters we know will likely need more commissioned art than other more established characters) look good in particular.
Matt Dixon
We’ve got one variant for a particularly fun, cartoonish Jeff from Matt Dixon, here; he’s only got the one-off variant for now, but it’s a great gag variant for anyone looking for an even goofier take on our favorite movin’ mascot.
He Tianyou
He Tianyou is one of my personal favorite new debuts, bringing two really great variants to the table for characters that are in dire need of commissioned art. It’s my favorite genre of SNAP artist: someone who brings a stylish look to characters without a large existing catalog of art to pull from. Black Swan’s my personal favorite, of the two!
Salmon4dinner
They’ve got a fun name and a cute debut variant; what else is there to say! Salmon4dinner has a fun style that I’m sure we’ll see more of, but this well-lit and appropriately purple Kate Bishop variant is a great one-off to start with.
Erica D’Urso
Another artist with a background in comic art that seems to have been commissioned for original work, D’Urso seems like she’ll be headlining the Conquest Shop next month with this Chavez, using the SNAP layering and perspective to her advantage with that hand in the foreground. (Why Chavez for what’s a straight up Rivals season? Dunno!) But she’s got a fun, traditionally stylized look for comics, and I’d love to see more from her.
WMM
Because of their enigmatic name, I initially thought WMM was another new studio SNAP had commissioned. (There’s a lot of that, coming later). After doing some digging, they seem like an individual artist based in China, though; at least, that’s what I think. I couldn’t confirm based on the art from the artist posted online (it;s pretty stylistically different) but there’s not a real reason to believe they weren’t just commissioned in a more specific style. Until we receive confirmation otherwise, though, I’m assuming it's a new artist, and they’re bringing two solid variants: Hela, for the general pool, and Sif (my personal favorite of the two), for a bundle.
Justin Currie
Justin Currie is a cool new face to SNAP that I expect to see more of; he’s got a great vector-painting art style that’s both visually striking and distinct in a clean way, and I think he looks especially cool with this mechanical, almost exploded-blueprint look for Nimrod. It’s going to be a bundle this time, and time will tell if he’s one of those SNAP artists you can reliably assume will be filling out those bundles.
Jessica Fong
We’ve got two variants for fan-favorite characters from Jessica Fong, who’s seemingly another in the trend of Marvel artists brought on to do original commissions. Her cover work really is something, and I’d be excited to see some of that come to the game, but these two seem original, and I think they look great: both Pixie and Polaris are characters with less variants that I’d personally expect, and Fong’s work is jumping to the top for both characters for me, personally.
Ludo Lullabi
Interestingly, this variant (flagged as a season pass variant, likely for Dark Avengers) is credited to an individual artist/inker in Ludo Lullabi, but colored by Studio Grafit. Lullabi is an artist who’s worked on stuff like Battle Chasers as well as Blizzard and Riot Forge games, and his hyper-stylized art both looks great and works well for a game like Snap. I’m curious if Grafit’s role here might signal more collaboration between individual artists and studios down the line, but either way the end result looks great.
Marcelo Vignali
Marcelo Vignali is in the same boat here, with colors by Mooncolony (a game art studio) but art and inks credited to him. They’re both fun and striking (stylized in a way that might remind players of Grecke), and so, like above, the end result is solid— I am curious if this sort of combined approach between individual artist and studio is just a particular business situation (who was contracted to do what in this specific case) or a new trend we’ll see again.
As an editor’s note, there’s always a bit of back-and-forth when it comes to Second Dinner commissioning artists for SNAP directly versus using existing covers; plenty of discussion has been had surrounding the fact that artists are not re-compensated if their existing covers are used for SNAP because the art belongs to Marvel and the Marvel license. To be clear, that’s industry standard for existing art in comics, and SD is operating well within their right to utilize those existing covers. (Whether artists are given proper leverage when negotiating their initial contracts with Marvel is a separate, larger conversation). But it’s a goodwill move on Second Dinner’s part to commission established Marvel comics artists for original art, letting them pay artists directly for their work, and it seems like a growing trend in these latest datamines. Happy to see it!
Returning Favorites!
Of course, the next step is to look at the latest round of offerings from all the artists we do recognize from SNAP: are there any artists you love that you’ve been chomping at the bit to see more from? This is the section for you.
Iban Coello
Iban Coello is a great example of what I just mentioned above; while he’s a superstar artist currently(!) working at Marvel, and he’s even drawn Misery in the current Venom War even running right now, as far as I can tell this is an original commission for Second Dinner. He’s done SNAP commissions before too, being responsible for that wonderful Ultimate variant for Bucky, complete with a Venomized Winter Soldier Token. The game is all the better for any Coello art in it, and it’s very, very cool that he’s doing commissions for SNAP. Here’s hoping for more!
Viktor Farro
Viktor Farro is consistently eye-poppingly good; I thought he might have been a one-off commission for his run with the Thunderbolts season, and I’ve been happily proven wrong. This Shang-Chi in particular just might be my favorite of his, yet: I love how he’s tapping into the old, lushly-illustrated posters for old school action-kung-fu movies, a la Enter the Dragon. It’s gorgeous, and just cements Farro as some of the absolute best talent SNAP’s retained for its commissions.
Dan Hipp
Wake up, honey, new Hipp just dropped! And didn’t disappoint; Hipp’s perhaps the most prolific, original example of a SNAP-commissioned artist breathing life into variants for characters without a lot of existing art. Nocturne and Thena might be strapped for cover-level compositions, but Hipp brings his charm and style to bump these variants up immediately into some of the best in-game work for these two competitive staples.
Rian Gonzales
Its all chibis this time around for Rian Gonzales’ latest SNAP work, including one for new Marvel Mascot on the Block Galacta. As a specific style, Chibis aren’t necessarily for everyone, but Gonzales is the best you can get under that umbrella, both tapping into the best of that cutesy anime style and applying her own watercolor style. Move over, G-Angle— way over.
Kim Jacinto
Fans of this fan favorite will be happy to see another Jacinto piece, this time for good ol’ Juggs. Maybe it’s just a testament to Jacinto’s dynamism that this variant almost feels restrained for him— it’s not necessarily his most daring composition. But we’re still seeing Cain Marko burst straight out the page, and really, does a Juggernaut need to do more?
David Mack
David Mack is another artist straight from a comics pedigree that’s made custom art for SNAP, and I think people really need to appreciate how cool that is. We’re actually seeing both one piece from an existing variant cover for Moon Knight (2021) #1 and what seems to be an original commission for Misty Knight (done in that classic David Mack watercolor-noir profile). Both will be bundles, and both look great; it’s so cool to have current Marvel talent in this game.
Justin Fields
We’ve got another entry in Justin Fields’ set of shiny, futuristic variants for the likes of Silver Samurai and Ironheart; Fields has so far exclusively produced variants for bundles, and this Sentinel is no different! It looks great, though I’ll always jump on an example like this to point out the nature of variant pricing/rarity in this game. Art is subjective, but Fields’ style (with all its detail and rendering) just feels like a variant that’s worth a lot to a lot of people, and it looks like Second Dinner agrees.
Sweeney Boo
Sweeney Boo is another artist that I’ve personally followed for a while before SNAP, and it’s cool seeing her make the jump over into getting commissioned directly by Second Dinner. These two variants are probably my favorites yet, of her in-game work: the expressive Gamora in particular looks great.
Rose Besch
Rose Besch has her own album on the horizon, and its definitely deserved: her style and colors have a flair that makes any piece unmistakable hers, and these latest variants for Scarlet Witch, Thanos, Wave, and White Widow are no different. The former three are in the album, for any collectors out there; the White Widow is the reward, capping out the album for fans dedicated enough to fill out the whole thing. (Don’t mind a misplaced Jason Kang Ghost Rider in the data, there. That’s probably supposed to be a Besch variant, too. Whoops!)
Lee Woo-chul
Lee Woo-chul did a variant for Sword Master in a bundle not too long ago, and he’s bringing his incredibly real, well-rendered style to Silk this time. This is one of those pieces that’s just great, awe-inspiring art, and the fact that Silk’s reinterpreted in a grounded way feels in service of that. It’s definitely one of the strongest pieces in the datamines, and (knock on wood) it’ll be entering the General pool as a Super Rare.
Wooh NaYoung
Fans of Wooh NaYoung’s variant series featuring Ghost Spider and Silk in traditional Korean garb will be glad to see another pair of Spiders getting traditional with it. Miles and Peter round more of the Spider-Verse crew in NaYoung’s series as Super Rare variants; and I wouldn’t be surprised if this series continues.
Don Aguillo
Don Aguillo caught my eye as the artist behind the recent Spotlight Copycat variant. I think he’s got one of the more striking styles out of Second Dinner’s recent stable of artists, so I’m quite glad to see more; just like many of the other artists debuting in Snap through Spotlights, Aguillo is bolstering the variant ranks for characters who could use the love, and I think his sense for dramatic composition is a great addition to the game.
Kai Lun Qu
In the same stylistic vein as artists like Viktor Farro, Kai Lun Qu brings a beautiful painterly flair to the game, and this latest batch is probably my favorite of his work yet. Namora and Nocturne both feel realized in particularly tangible, portrait-esque ways, and I’m loving the scale and power out of that Sasquatch. On a side note, this both gives Sasquatch a second variant (finally) and confirms that we’re going to see both Heather Hudson (the white eXiles Sasquatch from an alternate universe) and Walter Langkowski (the Alpha Flight brown Sasquatch from the mainline universe) under the same moniker, in the game, at least for now. (If anyone out there is a believer in Walter Langkowski: Sasquatch as a card, though, you are seen and heard.)
InHyuk Lee
InHyuk Lee is a fan favorite artist at the same style and level as Artgerm, and so whenever he gets new variants in the shop people turn their heads. He’s also someone with both existing covers and SNAP commissions in the game, with the latter being more prominent in his recent run during the Spider-People season. As far as I can tell, this Sage is original, much like his recent work there: it’s especially bright and eye-catching, and done with his usual expertise in detail, rendering, and color. Nothing to say: it’s another Super Rare banger for any InHyuk fans out there.
Inkpulp (Shawn Crystal)
Shawn Crystal, or Inkpulp, has been one of the more quietly consistent presences in SNAP’s variant catalogue, and it’s really great to see him continuing to get work with Second Dinner. I love the trademark rich, dark colors on Miek, and the dynamic action with a side of classic comics coming from Mister Cage, here. Everything feels saturated and bright on both variants; maybe it’s just the variant datamine withdrawal speaking, but they might be my favorite work from him, as well!
Michael Ivan
Michael Ivan’s returning with a Kang and MODOK variant, both of which feel appropriately looming/menacing/villainous. His best work is still probably that terrific Alioth, but fans will be glad to see him hopefully return to work on more and more villains and monsters.
Vincenzo Riccardi
At the time of writing, Riccardi actually has a massive takeover that just dropped, featuring his near-psychedelic painting gracing a large swath of SNAP’s cards; they’re really quite eye-catching, and these two variants are just as. More importantly, there might be more in the tank for Riccardi in SNAP from here on out, if these mines follow a trend, so keep your eyes peeled!
Helen Jee
Helen Jee’s work for SNAP is yet to be released, but she’s already made an impact for anyone obsessively poring over datamined variants. (Me, she’s made an impact on me.) And while her Squirrel Girl and Stature are fantastic and also tragically bundles, this Kate Bishop is one for the people, entering the Super Rare pool with trademark Helen Jee style and colors and trademark Kate Bishop personality and purple.
Nikola Čižmešija
Another returning artist I’m really excited to see, we’ve seen the brunt of Čižmešija’s work through the series of variants he did that culminated in his album (complete with the Best Emote). This Grandmaster (lit dramatically and imposingly, in Čižmešija’s impeccable sense for both) is both welcome and encouraging; hopefully, we see even more!
Seth Adams
Seth Adams’ series of variants for the Black Order has been wonderful, and even though it’s dropped in pieces here and there as the Black Order’s members enter spotlights, every time I see a new one I’m reminded that the artists making art for these characters with less existing work are unsung heroes. The Black Order as individual characters have maybe 2 existing covers apiece, and Seth Adams is just out here making cover-quality work himself just for SNAP. This Black Swan wouldn’t be out of place on an album cover, and its telling that Black Swan in this game is probably some of the best she’s ever looked, ever.
Sean Galloway
Sean Galloway is always a win for me. He’s just got such charm and style— and the fact that the character designer/artist behind Spectacular Spider-Man (shameless rec, go watch it) is now doing variant covers for comics (shameless rec, check them out) AND for Snap? Incredible. We’re lucky.
Alberto Dal Lago
Alberto Dal Lago, together with Čižmešija above, is doing some heavy lifting when it comes to Grandmaster; he’s not exactly the most populated with covers. And Dal Lago’s painting style feels like its at its best here, actually, with lots of great lighting and life in the composition. It’s welcome to see more of his work, and especially welcome to see it in such form.
Luca Claretti
Another SNAP veteran at this point, Claretti’s bringing his A-game to this Gambit; I think my only critique for Claretti’s variants is that sometimes the compositions (and backgrounds) for his variants feel a bit spare, but none of that is present in this Gambit. He’s about to make a name for himself and look great doing it.
Jon Lam
Jon Lam’s other work in-game is just the recent Mobius variant, so it’s always nice to see some sort of confirmation that an artist will continue with more work in the game. It’s the High Evolutionary, looking Tough. That’s pretty much it, and that’s all it needs to be.
Andrea Guardino
Guardino’s currently the artist being spotlit in the whole 9 Realms season, and so it’s cool to see even more of his work here. We’ve basically got the fiercest Jane Foster variant we’ve seen so far, and its marked for Promo, meaning that we’ll be able to get the variant some way other than the shop or a bundle. It’s clear why Guardino’s the pick for this season’s variants, and it’s always cool to see an artist tackle a whole set.
Lemon Art
This is the second in a fashion magazine series by Lemon Art (who I’m assuming is an individual artist, based on the fact that they haven’t pumped out a bajillion pieces for Second Dinner), and it’s a fun one to see again after the Hope variant. I like the premise a lot, and the focus on style/fashion is something reminiscent of the Hellfire Gala, which I loved. I could definitely see this series persisting for lots of characters.
Junggeun Yoon
This feels like another case of a commissioned piece from an artist who previously just had an existing cover in SNAP; Yoon’s Miles cover was a cover originally, but some image searching makes me think this Mystique is a commission. And I can see why Second Dinner brought it back with them— even done specifically for the game, this Mystique feels like a classic cover in its composition.
Meghan Hetrick
This one also appears to be brand new art, which I had to double and triple-check, because it really does seem like straight cover quality. Hetrick’s got a great body of work in Marvel, and I think it’s a really great sign for the game’s art catalog that artists like her seem to be on to do more. Psylocke is spoiled for variants, but this one (with its vibrant colors and composition) is going to make it a lot harder for fans to pick a favorite.
Pulled Straight From The Stands!
Marvel SNAP never shies from honoring its source material, and people may not realize just how many of their favorite variants come straight from the comics, out of variant covers themselves.
Alex Garner
Here’s another grade-A piece of art from veteran comic artist Alex Garner— there’s not much else to say, other than its immaculate and wonderful and Skaar’s got a luscious mane going on here, so if that’s your fancy or if you just appreciate great art, keep your eyes peeled for how this Promo variant will drop.
Leirix Li
We’ve got a couple of bold variant covers from Sensational She-Hulk (2023) #1 and White Widow (2023) #1 from SNAP newcomer Lesley ‘Leirix’ Li, who adds to the ranks of art for players who enjoy high-rendered, stylized pieces with some anime flair.
Tyler Kirkham
There’s also this great Knull cover from Tyler Kirkham, a variant from Venom (2018) #28, giving players yet another take on a dark, grinning Symbiote God. (You know, in case you were on the fence about the other 10). This time, though, Knull’s the reward for his own album filled with Knullified variants. So only the symbiote-faithful will be rewarded: if you’re committed enough to get 8 of those guys, I think you just might appreciate another King-In-Black.
Skan Srisuwan
Don’t be fooled: Skan Srisuwan actually has several pieces in SNAP already, though a naming hiccup in their data marks this as the first variant labeled as done by ‘Skan Srisuwan,’ with the rest simply labeled as ‘Skan.’ (He did my favorite Ironheart variant! You can look through all his work.) Where a database might be fooled, though, anyone with eyes can probably figure it out: this is another terrific variant, this time coming from Warlock: Rebirth (2023) #1.
Jonboy Meyers
This variant cover from Elektra: Black, White, and Blood (2022) #2 is kind of neat because it's actually a piece by SNAP base art veteran Jonboy Meyers— someone whose style you’d like recognize in base art like Gamora, Falcon, or even Sabretooth. But where in those pieces he was responsible for establishing a base style, this cover draws on the visually striking premise for the entire series, letting us see Meyers’ flex some more dramatic, stylish work. This piece features the colors of Ryan Kinnaird too, which takes more of a front seat than his work normally does in Snap!
Valerio Schiti
This variant by Valerio Schiti is from the current Black Panther (2024) #9, and I think it’s just plain sick. Black Panther isn’t exactly a fella that’s strapped for variants, but the character just always invites such stark, strong interpretations from artists, which just makes for great art to bring to Snap. Schiti knocks it out of the park for a character full of homers in both his variant catalog and cover catalog as a whole.
Max Fiumara
Max Fiumara rescues Doom 2099 from only having art from the new Rivals game, and boy does he do it in style. The cover is from Doom 2099 (2019) #1, and it just captures the gravitas of Doom, in all his Doom glory… but in 2099. Fiumara makes the most out of those red eyes and shifted blue color palette to make Doom 2099 distinct, and even at Super Rare this variant feels like a steal for any fans of Doom.
Frank Brunner
Moving onto a slightly more benign practitioner, we’re getting a Bronze Age variant featuring a classic Frank Brunner cover from Doctor Strange (1974) #1, which the Snap team has done a remarkable job condensing and modifying into the card template. I always love to see more of these in the game, and I’m hopeful that at some point enough of these will be printed that we can start really seeing the majority of a deck rendered in classic inks and colors.
Kendrick Lim
We’ve got a saucy Magik variant from Kendrick Lim’s cover for Death of the Venomverse #5 (2023), which is basically catnip for a very, very large Venn diagram featuring 1.) fans of Magik, 2.) fans of spicy, pin-up style covers, and 3.) fans of Venom. But it’s a solid piece, and even if you aren’t in any of those circles you can admire the workmanship of a highly rendered comic cover. And if you are in any of those circles (or, daresay, in all three) you’ve probably already made up your mind about the best way to spend 1200 gold.
Skottie Young
The Rivals crossover is going to fuel a neverending debate on how far SNAP has gone with reprints, and whether that’s too far already, not far enough, or maybe juuuust right. (From anecdotal experience, that last category is by far the least common opinion.) But whether you love Rocket & Groot (understandable) as a card or hate that they exist (also understandable, but hurtful), there’s at least some great precedent for these two buds to share a cover in the comics. This Skottie Young variant cover for the collected hardcover for Annihilators (2010) reminds us that these characters go way back, back when Rocket and Groot were the furthest from household names imaginable— and also reminds us that Skottie Young, while most known for Baby variants, is a great artist even when operating in a slightly different, moodier (but no less cute) realm of style.
Stephen Segovia
I’m actually really impressed and excited that we’ve gotten so many variants of Laura as Wolverine proper, because while she’s understandably best known as X-23, it’s quietly become completely understood that she’s also Wolverine. This Spotlight is another one pulling from recent issues—Wolverine #39 (2023) sees Stephen Segovia homage her her own time on X-Force [specifically, Mike Choi's cover to X-Force (2008) #17] in the gray and red.
Winter Vacation is Coming!
We’ve also got special hint of some seasonally appropriate variants on the wintry horizon— with both a snowy handful of the fun existing Ski Chalet covers Marvel did last year coming to Snap and another set of house-style variants set in winter garb made to Second Dinner-order.
Lucas Werneck
The first bunch (by Lucas Werneck, David Nakayama, Russell Dauterman, and Greg Land, in that order) are all a blast— a fun little prompt elevated by some really great art. My personal favorite might be the the snazzy, stylish winter Storm, but I really do think all four of these are a blast.
And the other bunch are help round out a festive theme, done by Marco Failla, Eduardo Mello, Ryan Kinnaird, Afif Khaled, and Luca Pinelli (creditied in order). All of them are no stranger to these ‘base style’ type of variants for SNAP, and they’re good stocking stuffers for the season— and it’s worth noting the Negasonic Teenage Warhead variant is part of a pretty high-value bundle!
New Studio Work
Finally, we’re getting a genuinely staggering deluge of pieces from the various art studios Second Dinner works with. I’ve given these their own section because this article is both getting truly long and because without individual artist credits in the datamines I don’t feel as much need to split specific hairs from one studio to the next.
Staple Studios
PANDART
Pandart remains by far the most prolific of the studios in SNAP’s variant catalog, and its easy to see why— they’ve got a lot of broad appeal to them, but they’ve also proven able to adapt and change to match different distinct looks, like with the recent Symbiote season or the AvX season way before that. It looks like PANDART is getting another round as the main Spotlight art source for January’s Dark Avengers season, with a smattering of other variants to boot— including a bundle for meta-terror Shadow King (with maybe the coolest variant of the bunch) and a Promo source for X-23.
ADIA
ADIA is a studio with multiple series of variants with distinct styles under their umbrella. They’re getting a full album for its Pantheon series (which, full disclosure, I kept confusing for a whole separate studio), characterized by bold, flat colors and striking lighting, and Hela is going to be the full album capstone for that. There’s also a new Nightforged variant in bundle Zola (with an admittedly fun spectral take on Zola’s chest-face) and a new hyper-realized Ultimate rarity Fantasy variant for Madame Web. It’s one neat hallmark of ADIA to have multiple, very different stylized lines like that, so if you’re fan of any of them keep an eye out.
Wild Blue
Finally, the dark horse favorite from the SNAP PC client trailer from so long ago, Toonpool, gets an encore buddy in this ‘Toon World’ bundle variant for Annihilus, from Wild Blue. This might be my favorite of the bunch, both because it's such a distinct style and because it's genuinely quite well executed, from the glowing yellow pie-eyes to the cartoon flies around him to the old film effect on the entire piece.
New Studios
And below, the aforementioned deluge— it looks like SNAP really took a step to diversify its studio partners to help with the massive art demand the game requires— at a minimum, every Spotlight appearance for a series 4 or 5 card needs an entire variant set aside. Game art studios are a clear economic/efficient answer, giving SNAP some baseline level of output that I imagine is harder to get purely from individual artists commission to commission.
The drama surrounding a certain studio’s involvement with AI (and Second Dinner subsequently pulling those variants from the upcoming catalog) is likely a result of this expansion. Said studio isn’t below, and at the very least we know Second Dinner’s standard when it comes to the studios it continues to work with.
SIXMOREVODKA
If you saw the name SIXMOREVODKA and got a weird surge of nostalgia, you might recognize them from games like Legends of Runeterra or League of Legends. If you didn’t, it might be worth knowing that the studio was responsible for, frankly, a head-turning amount of quality in said games. This seems like a lot to write for just one solid Bill variant, but I’m a bit more interested in more work from this studio than the rest— a couple with serious comic pedigree, Marko Djurdjevic and Jelena Kevic-Djurdjevic, helm art direction, and several notable artists like Michael Ivan and Gerald Parel are among their talent. They’ve also got a pretty fun, if overstimulating website, which I just spent more than a few minutes checking out. Give them a look.
Creative House Pocket
Creative House Pocket seems to be a studio Second Dinner is tapping specifically for an overt anime style, and it seems they understand the assignment. I think any anime-fans might find these pieces strong enough to drop some gold on, and the standout is the actually stunning Peni Parker, cast in bright colors and spectacular lighting. Am I a studio skeptic? Sometimes. But is Pocket Peni a banger? Undeniably.
Winking Studios
There’s a bit less to write for Winking Studios here, though these are perfectly competent pieces. This side of studio work is the side that I’m a bit less interested personally in, but variants like these fill out the ranks of SNAP variants that are highly rendered with a sheen that conveys polish.
ARTTREE Studio
The ARTTREE Studio work mostly feels like ditto for above, though with some more personality from its anime stylization. The previous only entry was Thena’s most recent spotlight, and I do think these two variants (who will be both be headlining a bundle) pack a bit more punch and attitude.
DIVE Eight Studio
DIVE Eight is most notably behind some of the Ultimate Fantasy variants (alongside aforementioned ADIA) and continues the show with a hulking bipedal Brood (with its own custom matching token) and a sorcerous Ebony Maw, with the same level of impressive detail, rendering, and gravity that the Fantasy variants have in common.
Envar Studio
Next to Creative House Pocket, Envar Studio has the most new additions to its name in this set of datamines, and notably they don’t all fall under as uniform an umbrella. Marvel Boy and Caiera are Spotlights (which makes sense, seeing as those two characters are both prominent cards with small existing cover catalogs), while Ultron and War Machine are entering the general pool. Mister Negative has the most personality here, with a dramatic, manic pose, and Second Dinner probably knows it: he’s going in a bundle.
Fireball Studio
Both of Fireball Studio’s variant offerings are quite fun, which I hope to see more of; they’ve got entertaining compositions for both Luke and Rocket. Luke’s bemused walk in a ruined three-piece suit is going to be the Conquest variant in January, which is quite welcome; Rocket and his foul-mouthed little speech bubble will be available to the people for 700 gold.
Mooncolony
Wrapping us up is a Mooncolony variant for Ares, this time credited entirely to the studio. Presumably, Marcelo Vignali’s work from above was done outside the team and whichever individual artist did Ares was in-house at Mooncolony: it’s a great, fun, video-game splash for Ares, and it also makes me curious to see what further Mooncolony pieces will look like, standalone or collaborated with others.
Whew!
Holy smokes, I didn’t expect this article to go this long. (Foolish and shortsighted, really). I didn’t even really expect to write little blurbs for literally every artist in the new datamines. (Really.) But patch day is one of the most exciting days for SNAP players, and for an art nerd like me, digging through all the variants to find my favorites coming up is the best part. So let me know: Do you like digging through the variants too? What are your thoughts on this latest batch? And would you be interested in more articles like this for future patch days? I’m all ears in the comments, truly.
And either way, whatever shape it takes, look forward to some more variant content coming from me. I took the month off of card previews, but I’ve found an itch to start writing more SNAP anyways!