The Lost Locations
New locations are added to the game every season, but some have been removed on rare occasions. With one of them recently returning, let's look at them, what they were, why they were removed, and explore what the locations could be if they returned with custom designs!
Krakoa
Original description:
On turn 5, takes over and plays both players’ cards for them.
Krakoa was a one-turn ego, but on one of the more prominent end-game turns, turn 5. Ultimately, this was the issue with this location and why it was removed. It was just too similar to Ego and ruined the flow of gameplay. Krakoa didn’t bring anything new or exciting to the game.
However, Krakoa has recently been reworked! What does it do now?
Your first play here adds its Power to the top of your deck.
Following the America Chavez rework, we can see Krakoa has been Chavez’d. Does this effect fit with the theme of Krakoa? I’m on the fence about this one.
How would I have changed it?
Add a 1/1 flower to your hand when you play a card here.
When you play a card here, add a 1/0 Pollen grain to another location.
Ok, I have two for this one. In the comics, Krakoa is alive, hence the original effect of ‘takeover.’ Its flowers have various unique properties and produce large quantities of pollen. Krakoan flowers have been featured several times, which could have been the focus. So, in Snap, your hand or board would fill up, giving you that feeling of growth and nature. Without the draw card effect, the flowers could be essential a 1/1, or have simple effects like Thanos stones. Either way, the more you play there, the more your hand or board gets clogged up, leading to exciting decisions about board space management.
Decks that manage or take advantage of full boards would shine here. Destroy to manage space, or buff cards to use all the flowers.
Custom Krakoa
Destroy 2
Plunder Castle
Although there are other cost-based restriction locations, having a single, expensive cost is too prohibitive and reduces surprises and player agency in interacting with the location. Gee, where will my opponent play on turn 6?
How would I change it?
At the start of turn 4, whoever is winning this location gets to see the opponent’s play before they make their own
Daredevil spent some time at Plunder Castle (against his will), so this would be an exciting approach to the location and give some tension to the players. Do you contest the location for the information advantage? Is your opponent also going for the location, giving you free choice of the other lanes? Decisions, decisions.
Reactive decks would work best here, such as Guardians, to capitalize on the telegraphed plays your opponent would make, or tempo decks to gain an easy lead.
Custom Plunder Castle
The Sandbar
The number of cards that can interact with this location is minimal, and outside of heavily influencing the decks on a hot location day, it’s not particularly interesting for the vast majority of decks in the game.
How would I change it?
The Sandbar can present its text in one of two ways once revealed, which could be:
Even cost cards can only be played here on even-numbered turns
Odd cost cards can only be played here on odd-numbered turns
Players still have some choices; the tide moves in and out, changing what can be played here each turn. Surf’s up!
Who better to ride the waves than Silver Surfer? With Brood and Absorbing Man, filling up the location is more manageable, so you’re less disadvantaged on turns when it’s unplayable and still interact with it.
Custom Sandbar
Milano
Opening a location for only one turn is uninteresting, messes up a lot of decks, and is highly telegraphed for what your opponent is going to do.
How would I change it?
The Milano is the ship the Guardians of the Galaxy uses, so let's add some Guardians flavor to it.
Your first play here adds an ‘On Reveal’ card to your hand.
On Reveal cards can be very impactful, so this effect encourages the opponent to play there, giving you a better chance of triggering your own Guardians on-reveal effects. You also get an On Reveal card so that you might get another Guardian! Don't we all want to see more Kris Anka's Star-Lord in a game?
Playing into the Guardians theme and knowing where your opponent will play can make the most of this location.
Custom Milano
Yashida Base
Ok, so this was an interesting one. On release, it had some issues which led to an early removal from the game. It’s not clear how much it was a coding problem and how much it was just unintuitive in how it worked.
What does ‘get here’ mean? What if a card ‘gets there’ last and then moves away? What about if a card carries another card, like Magneto? Technically, he hasn’t finished resolving, so should he be destroyed or the card he pulls over?
How would I change it?
This location created an exciting tension, like a game of chicken. I want this location to return unchanged with more precise wording and intuitive interactions.
Moving decks with this location would be pretty fun and keep your opponent constantly guessing which card will be the last to get there. Ghost Spider and Dr Strange can make for some sneaky plays, while Cloak could lead to serious mind games.
Thanos with Killmonger and moving your opponent’s pieces would also be strong here. You can play a stone there for an easy sacrifice, Killmonger the stone to surprise your opponent, making their card the last one and destroying it instead, or use a move effect from Magneto or Aero to move something in or out. Caira might seem contradictory with Killmonger; however, it’s another way to protect yourself if you can’t control Yashida.
Custom Yashida 1
Custom Yashida 2
Closing thoughts
So what do you think? Do you want to see any of these locations come back? Did I wildly miss the mark with my designs? What other locations would you like to see removed or changed? Share your designs in the comments!
Happy snapping!