Horror Blows Over Marvel SNAP; New Season Brings Darkness and Monsters
Halloween has come to Marvel SNAP much earlier. The October season brings with it a lot of news from slightly darker Marvel Comics stories.
September was definitely revolutionary for Marvel SNAP players. Loki for All Time introduced some really solid heroes to the game, who seriously messed up the meta. In addition, the devs repeatedly buffed and nerfed some cards during the season, which definitely affected the gameplay. However, what else could we expect from a season with Loki but chaos?
Darkness and revolution, or the October season in Marvel SNAP
This time we move from Asgard and TVA to the darker areas of Marvel. With Halloween approaching and the release of the colorized version of Werewolf by Night a season called Bloodstone has begun. For some time already, thanks to data miners, it was known that the main character will be precisely Elsa Bloodstone, a well-known monster hunter. And it is around her and her profession that the next month of the game will revolve.
With the start of the season, there was, of course, no shortage of announcements from the creators. This time, in the form of gothic horror and shape-shifting Ben Brode, who oversees the game's development, fans learned details of the cards that will introduce a new chapter in the history of Marvel SNAP.
First and foremost, a brand-new battle pass awaits the players, where, in addition to Elsa herself, they will meet Blade and Ghost Rider and their Nightforged variants. A few updates ago one would have thought that these cards are not particularly useful, but the recent change of the half-vampire has made it a solid 1/3 card that can give us a noticeable advantage when combined with the Spirit of Vengeance.
Elsa Bloodstone
Although the current season is only available since 24 hours, the titular heroine has already gained recognition from players and fans of low-cost cards. Elsa Bloodstone (2/2) has a really solid ability - it gives +3 power points to a card that has completed a location.
Players have already noticed that decks based on Falcon and Beast "boosting" low-cost cards have returned to favor, as well as finishing combos using Hit-Monkey.
Elsa, however, not only stirred the meta, but also became the explanation for the recent nerfs of Kitty Pryde. It is worth noting at this point that the mutant started as a 1 card, which with the start of a new turn returned to our hand and received a bonus of 2. After the latest nerfs, the bonus is now only 1, and Kitty herself has stats of 1/0. Thanks to Elsa, however, all these treatments by the developers make sense, as the wall-penetrating mutant enjoys the huntress' benefits like no other card.
Man-Thing
However, if you're already tired of spamming cheap cards, you'll be interested in another of the recently announced heroes. Man-Thing is a 4/5 card with a strong ability that lowers the power of all cards costing 1-3 by 2 points.
There is no doubt that he will be a kind of counter to all the decks that currently use Elsa's benefits. Man-Thing itself, however, can find use in decks that rely on sending unwanted cards to the opponent's side (such as Goblins or Viper's skill), as well as when covering up locations with stones using Debri. When playing this card, however, remember to include Luke Cage in your deck and pray that your opponent forgets about it.
Man-Thing will hit the game on October 10 and will be available in spotlight chests as well as in the store for 3,000 tokens.
Black Knight
Black Knight (1/2) is sure to please all players who enjoy discarding cards from their hand. Once per game, after you discard a card from your hand, you will receive an Ebony Blade with a cost of 4 with the power of the discarded hero in return.
I think it goes without saying that with proper use of Blade or Lady Sif, we can have a powerful card in our hand by the third turn, which we will play in turn four. However, it is important to remember that Black Knight activates on the first card discarded, so be careful with Coleen Wing, as it discards the lowest cost cards, as you could end up with a 4/2 Blade, and that probably wouldn't be a very good choice.
Black Knight will hit the game on October 17 and will be available in spotlight chests as well as in the store for 6,000 tokens.
Nico Minoru
Nico Minoru (1/2) is, in my opinion, the most original card of all those announced. The young witch casts a spell that activates when the next (after her) card is played. However, the effect of the spell changes with each turn, which is signaled to us not only by the text on the card, but also by the corresponding icon.
Nico Minoru Spells:
- Doubling the power of a played card.
- Add a copy of the played card to your hand.
- Swap the location in which the thrown card was placed.
- Give the played card +2 power.
- Move the played card to the right.
- Destroy the played card and draw two cards.
- Turn the card into a Demon 1/6.
There are seven spells, corresponding to the number of turns, if Limbo is included. However, they change randomly every turn and for the time being, it is not known whether they will be repeated. Nico itself, however, is an extremely versatile card. Thanks to its low cost, it will find its use in many different decks due to its huge possibilities and numerous combinations.
Nico Minoru will hit the game on October 24 and will be available in spotlight chests as well as in the store for 6,000 tokens.
Werewolf by Night
The last of the heroes to be announced is Werewolf by Night himself, which is sure to please fans of Move Decks and beyond. Werewolf has solid 3/3 stats and an ability that definitely allows for a tremendous amount of fun.
Every time, when you play a card with the On Reveal effect, it will jump to it and receive 2 power points. This means that the Werewolf is another very versatile card that can benefit various decks. Just think, with the use of cards with a cost of 1 and 0, we can strengthen him significantly already in the fourth turn. Additionally, the hero's constant movement makes him a tougher target for cards like Shang-Chi or Shadow King, who are just waiting to cut his fun short.
New locations
Hotel Inferno
Hotel Inferno is a very unusual location, but also extremely ingenious. It is another - after Mantis, Yondu and Cable - opportunity to remove a card from the opponent's deck. The appearance of this location, unlike the Pet Mansion, does not force us to discard card, but even encourages us to do so. Could it be that with the debut of this location, decks that effectively reduce the opponent's deck will come to the meta?
The Abbey
The Abbey is a location that fits in with the current season's theme of encouraging players to use cheap, easy-to-throw cards. The first player to lay down exactly two cards here will be able to draw an additional card.
An extremely fair location that can give us no small advantage, as we don't have many opportunities to draw cards in SNAP. I'm glad that we only draw one card, as drawing two would already be far too OP.
New variants in Marvel SNAP
As in previous seasons, plenty of new variants will be coming to the game. The developers have already announced that Bloodstone will bring us more than 40 of them. Their themes will be very much related to Halloween, black magic, horror and costumes. However, fans are most looking forward to cards that use tokens, as according to preliminary findings of data miners, Squirrel Girl, for example, will now summon zombie squirrels.
A full list of upcoming variants can be found here.
Marvel SNAP joins forces with Midnight Suns
The new season, however, is not the end of novelties in Marvel SNAP. The creators have announced a huge collaboration with 2K Games and their last year's Marvel's Midnight Suns. On this occasion everyone who logs into the game between October 3-6 will receive a variant for Doctor Strange.
In addition, on October 11-13 the store will exclusively offer variants of Midnight Suns, which are additionally representations of tarot cards. The variants themselves promise to be extremely interesting and, in my opinion, fit perfectly into the theme of the entire season. The only question is how much gold will we have to be spent on each character?
In addition, throughout October as part of Conquest mode, you will be able to get a variant of Iron Man in special armor from the game by 2K Games.
Iron Man already looks much better than last season's Odin, which will definitely make me try to get him as soon as possible. However, I am curious to see how Bloodstone will eventually perform. A month ago, I enthusiastically wrote about the September season, which ultimately disappointed me quite a bit, as Loki's dominance was quickly curtailed by Collector's nerfs and the arrival of Mobius.
And how do you guys look forward to October in Marvel SNAP?
