Burning Questions - 07/19

Hello, and welcome back to Burning Questions, where we tackle the topics burning up the Snap community! This week, we're discussing recent OTA balance changes, favorite variant types, and Spotlight Variants!

1) Was the Ajax buff just before release enough?

Initially datamined at 4-4, Ajax was set to release as a 5-5. Just before release, Second Dinner communicated via official channels that Ajax would release as a 5-Cost, 7-Power card.

Ajax

I think the development team's logic behind Ajax's release is roughly as follows:

• They believed that Ajax should have a weaker starting point than Gilgamesh since, by counting both sides, his top end is much higher.
• They don't want huge 4-cost cards (like Darkhawk was initially). Instead, they'd rather have many cap payoff cards that cost 5 (see Darkhawk, Devil Dinosaur, Ronan, Gilgamesh).

In practice, Ajax seems underwhelming when totally built around because getting a full combination required to grow him above 12 Power is inconsistent and difficult to achieve. The extra 2-Power they gave him just before release was important but not enough to make him a top-tier card. There is still hope for Ajax as a partial piece in a deck in a small package with Hazmat and possibly cards like Spider-Woman and Red Guardian, but as the centerpiece of an archetype, he still feels a bit too weak. I'd love to see a big 4-Cost beater again, but it seems like something we're unlikely to be given any time soon.

2) Will the Blob and Mockingbird changes affect Arishem decks?

In the most recent OTA balance changes, Arishem was left untouched, while Blob and Mockingbird received small changes. Both have seen a high amount of play in Arishem decks. Will these changes bring about a reduction in Arishem’s sky-high play rate?

First, I think the change to Mockingbird was necessary, irrespective of her role in Arishem decks. Mockingbird has been among the best cards in the game since release and arguably was the best card in the game during the last week or so. Being able to discount her with Squirrels, Mysterio, or Brood so easily was very strong. In Arishem decks specifically, you only needed to play one randomly generated card early to be able to play her on turn 3. She will remain strong in Arishem decks but will be weaker than in decks with large amounts of synergistic cards devoted specifically to enabling her.

As for Blob, the change is minor and removes a bit of the card's flavor. It was also fun to have one card that Cannonball could always demolish. Ultimately, this change should make Arishem decks a little more diverse while simplifying the card—two positive outcomes from such a minor change.

These changes may mildly affect Arishem's play rate and power level. More importantly, though, they should expand the diversity of Arishem deck lists, which was a bigger issue. I don't think Arishem was or is too strong, but the inbred, mirror-centric nature of the meta-game that grew around Arishem was unhealthy. Hopefully, this changes that because Second Dinner has shown they're reluctant to change Loki, the primary culprit in making Arishem decks very same-y. Overall, I'm quite happy with these two changes, and I expect Arishem's play rate will fall below 25% this week, as it was already trending in that direction before these changes. I think, with the impending release of Cassandra Nova, Arishem is in a good spot right now from a power-level perspective. However, if Arishem's play rate doesn't come down as much as I expect, I believe the developers will likely take another run at him in a future balance change. Doctor Octopus and, to a lesser extent, Leech may also make their way into the balance team's radar as players shift their Arishem builds towards strong 5-Cost effects.

3) Is there any variant that you try to stay complete with?

Silver Age

While Peach Momoko is my favorite artist in the game, I don't try to get every single one of her cards. I would probably try to stay Jim Lee complete, but I missed a couple of bundle variants. But there is one type that I will try to maintain completion of, even if I don't always play with them—the classic cover variants. This Captain America cover variant just released, and a bunch is slated for release soon.

Bronze Age

Bronze Age

Bronze Age

Bronze Age

Bronze Age

Bronze Age

Walt Simonson

Bronze Age

Bronze Age

Jim Starlin

Bronze Age

Bronze Age

The Kitty Pryde variant is probably my favorite of the unreleased ones. The Beta Ray Bill is also excellent and I love that comic issue. I'll try to get all of them and, luckily, they're largely for lower series cards so they're not all Spotlight variants as most previous cover variants were. I am holding out hope for more classic interior art. For example, Kitty from the first page of Uncanny X-Men #168 would immediately become my new favorite variant in the game.

Now, let's dive into the official Marvel Snap discord server in the Ask-the-team channel to analyze some developer responses to community questions!

4) Q: Does the new addition of spotlight variants to the general shop rotation mean they can be included in upcoming albums?

A: Since they are in the shop then they would qualify as being potentially part of albums in the future as either a bonus variant or part of the core album

-Stephen

Author's note:

While disappointing, this is not at all surprising. The purpose of albums is to drive sales. That's their sole function from the perspective of the developers. Not including the 2400 Gold Spotlight variants would be a surprise. However, I hope they're cognisant of how expensive these are for most players and vary the placement of various rewards, like emotes, within album tracks.

The other question is whether 2400 Gold is too expensive for Spotlight Variants after they spend their year in the vault. Surprisingly, I don't think so. They are meant to feel exclusive and drive people to spend additional Spotlight Caches to get them. Now, some people will consider simply waiting. I'm actually worried that the price is low enough that it could both slow sales and make the variants feel less desirable due to wider availability while still being perceived as overpriced.

5) Q: As an X-men fan, I’m sad that Blob can now be moved post OTA because his Ongoing was removed. I enjoyed the continuity with the comic lore that made Blob unique in a way that fit his mutant ability in the comics.

I agree that Arishem’s extra energy created a massive power imbalance by enabling a T5 Blob and a T6 Mystique and a 4-drop (like Shang). But couldn’t removing the Ongoing tag but leaving “Blob can’t be moved” have done the same thing? Is there a design or code reason that ability has to be Ongoing?

This almost feels like a slight buff to Blob since he can now move to avoid Shang. Before, at least you knew he was confined to a specific lane.

A: The effect is an Ongoing ability, and coded as such. We could remove the tag, but inconsistently using the tag would create more confusion than it would add gameplay.

-Glenn

Author's note:

I think this is one of those situations where something interesting but minor loses out to something that is more important. I think Blob is a lot more interesting because of his immobility, and I liked the interplay between him and Cannonball. However, I can see why simply making it a static ability rather than an ongoing is both technically challenging and an inelegant design change, especially considering Colossus has a similar Ongoing. Keeping the card simpler for new and casual players takes precedence over a fun gameplay quirk.

That's it for this week! Find me on Twitter to ask me any questions you have, and join in on the conversation in the comments below!