The Savage Lands season has simply kicked off in Marvel Snap, and like each season earlier than it, there’s a model new card you may get by buying the season cross. This month, we get Zabu, a 3-cost card that reduces the price of your 4-cost playing cards by 2. Should you’re in any respect acquainted with card video games, this could instantly strike you as a fairly rattling highly effective card on account of its value discount potential. And certainly, it’s solely been a couple of days however Zabu is already shaping as much as be top-of-the-line playing cards we’ve gotten by means of a season cross thus far. Is {that a} good factor, although? I’m not so positive.
First, we should always have a look again on the different season cross playing cards in Marvel Snap thus far. We’ve had Wave, Thor, Daredevil, Nick Fury, Miles Morales, and Silver Surfer. Out of all these playing cards, just one has been really meta-defining: Wave. She’s a 3-cost card that units the price of each card to 4 on the following flip. Wave signaled the creation of the DeathWave deck, and likewise shifted the meta in direction of ramp decks, the place you possibly can play Wave or Electro to cheat out your greater playing cards on earlier turns.
The distinction between Wave and Zabu, nonetheless, is that again when Wave launched, we solely had Sequence 3 playing cards to unlock. Though the cardboard acquisition system was gradual and considerably painful at instances throughout these beta days, it didn’t really feel fairly as unhealthy since you knew you’d unlock Demise and her supporting playing cards in the end.
However, Zabu has been launched throughout a time the place Sequence 4 and 5 playing cards at the moment are a factor in Marvel Snap. And these Sequence 5 playing cards, specifically, are extraordinarily troublesome to accumulate.
It may be a coincidence, and it’s a really painful one if that’s the case, nevertheless it’s onerous to disregard the truth that Zabu works very properly with playing cards like Absorbing Man and Darkhawk. The previous was launched as a Sequence 4 card final month, whereas the latter was launched as a Sequence 5 card only a couple weeks in the past. By pairing Zabu with Sera, you’ll be able to primarily dump your whole hand of 4-cost playing cards on flip 6 for an unpredictable and big energy push, which is just enhanced when you have Absorbing Man and/or Darkhawk.
The Marvel Snap meta is slowly getting formed by the rise of Zabu decks, the place pairing him with the Absorbing Man and Spider-Man combo appears to be the naked minimal to get his deck archetype to really feel good. The highest finish of the meta, nonetheless, appears to recommend that Zabu decks really feel finest with Sequence 5 playing cards like Darkhawk and Shuri.
This turns into slightly little bit of an issue as Zabu has began to essentially spotlight the gulf between F2P and paying gamers. The gamers who’re keen to shell out cash on Marvel Snap recurrently will have the ability to hoard Collector’s Tokens a lot quicker, permitting them to purchase Darkhawk or Shuri from the Token Store, whereas additionally having the (very small) probability of opening them from a Collector’s Reserve.
On the flipside, F2P gamers are just about omitted within the chilly. Except you’ve been hoarding your entire Tokens for the reason that December replace, you’re restricted to getting only one Sequence 5 card every month, which implies it’s just about unattainable to get both Darkhawk or Shuri proper now, sans getting extraordinarily fortunate when opening Reserves.
The problem is just exacerbated by the truth that Second Dinner has but to announce how incessantly Sequence 5 playing cards will get downgraded to Sequence 4 and under, which is meant to assist make the cardboard acquisition system really feel higher for all gamers throughout the board. Because the December replace, we’ve solely gotten extra additions to Sequence 5, and no downgrades but. Add on the truth that Zabu will get added to Sequence 5 as soon as this season ends, and it’s slowly beginning to really feel like Marvel Snap is veering dangerously into pay-to-win territory with its new card releases.
I’d be remiss to not point out that it’s not like Zabu can’t be countered. All the tech playing cards you get in Sequence 1 and a pair of like Shang-Chi and Enchantress can counter Zabu and its enabled playing cards fairly closely, as can Rogue from Sequence 3. This doesn’t change the truth that it’s going to take weeks for the common participant who solely buys the month-to-month season cross to get any of the Sequence 5 playing cards that really elevate the Zabu deck, although. And who is aware of what would’ve gotten nerfed or buffed by then?
I suppose the purpose I’m making an attempt to make right here is that the Token Store was initially billed as a technique to permit gamers to focus on playing cards they wished in Marvel Snap and work in direction of them extra simply, however as an alternative, it’s slowly developed right into a FOMO machine after you’ve accomplished your Sequence 3 assortment. Nothing feels worse than seeing Darkhawk exhibiting up in your Store and never with the ability to purchase it since you gained’t have the ability to save up 6,000 Tokens for one more month or so.
As a collectible card sport, this has been Marvel Snap’s downside for the reason that beta days. Card acquisition nonetheless feels fairly unhealthy, and except the cardboard downgrades occur incessantly sufficient, F2P gamers and low spenders could discover themselves dropping the sport ultimately.