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50: The Tragedy of Sunspot
214 Plays13 days ago
☀️ Sometimes a card gains 1 power and sometimes a card loses 1 power…It’s the circle of Snap balance updates and the cohosts discuss it all 🦁
For our esteemed listeners’ consideration:
- 🏹 Weeks in (Grand Arena in) Snap ⚔️
- 🪨 Thing First Steps 🧠 Mad Thinker 🪨🪨🕳️ Mole Man 😶🌫️ Invisible Woman First Steps 👿 Galactus First Steps Silver 🏄♀️ Surfer First Steps ⭐ Stardust 🔺 Red Shift 🪓 Terrax the Tamer
- ⚖️ OTA Balance Updates
- Secret Homework 🤐: Arena Champions 🗡️🛡️
- 🥳 SoT!! anniversary prep
📮 Please submit questions to be used in our upcoming anniversary special! 🙏🙏🙏
Follow us on Twitter/Bluesky:
Check out the other great shows in the Snap Judgments Network:
- Snap Decisions
- Snap Judgments
- The InfiNOT
Join us on Discord! 👾
- Join the server
- Head into the channel "welcome-rules-and-tickets"
- Find the "SJPN Podcast Fans" message, and press the button for Snap On This!!
Featured decks:
Credits:
- Cover art by Lauren
- Snap On This!! Theme by Ben
- YouTube thumbnail by Lauren’s kid, Reggi
Timestamps:
- 0:00:00 Intro / Our Week in Snap
- 0:17:52 The Thing: First Steps
- 0:23:14 Invisible Woman: First Steps
- 0:27:49 Galactus: First Steps
- 0:30:40 Silver Surfer: First Steps
- 0:33:56 Stardust
- 0:39:32 Red Shift
- 0:41:40 Terrax the Tamer
- 0:44:25 OTA Discussion
- 1:02:23 Secret Homework: Design a Champion for Grand Arena
- 1:12:15 Next Week's Secret Homework
- 1:14:54 Housekeeping / Closing Remarks
Recommended
Transcript
Introduction and Episode Overview
00:00:01
Speaker
Welcome to episode 50 of Snap on This, a Marvel Snap podcast. This week's secret homework to transform an existing card into a grand arena champion.
00:00:13
Speaker
I'm your host, Lauren Wodez, here today with my usual co-hosts.
Ben's Experience in Grand Arena and Card Buffs
00:00:16
Speaker
First up, Ben. How was your week in Snap? And keep it snappy. Well, my weekend snap, endeavoring to keep it snappy as I occasionally do. You know, I i say i' mostly I mostly do keep it snappy, sure.
00:00:29
Speaker
um You know, I played a bit of Marvel Snap. I played a bit of Grand Arena. ah I have to say, i um i'm getting... A little bit less excited about it as I play more of it.
00:00:43
Speaker
ah In fact, i have sort of given up on going through nine tickets a day. That's a lot of tickets. I mean, like, it's probably not a lot of tickets if... I don't know. If if you really...
00:00:56
Speaker
are trying to grind out all the prizes and stuff, maybe maybe nine tickets a day is not enough tickets for you. And hey, that's a very valid way to feel. And I'm sorry it works like that. But for me, I'm like, oh, there's no way in hell I can burn through nine tickets. ah that like that that's a lot of That's a lot of Marvel Snap to play.
00:01:15
Speaker
And you don't even get to Snap.
Streaming Hades 2 and Community Interactions
00:01:18
Speaker
Honestly, ah so I've been playing a lot of ladder and about as much Grand Arena as I can bring myself to do. i think i think I will get one of the cards.
00:01:29
Speaker
I don't know. I've really slowed down on it. If it looks like I will have to try really hard or play a bunch in the final days to get one of the cards, to to get those 2,000 for the Mole Man or the Mad Thinker or whatever. i I wish they would tell us which one they're going to buff because, like, you know, these cards are not especially playable. as One of them is getting buffed.
00:01:50
Speaker
We'll talk about that later. Oh, that's true, but that's not... that That's not what I'm talking about. like thats that that buff is not You don't think it's enough? and No, no, no. We'll get there. We'll get there. But that that is, it's of of the change of the cards that changed, that was not on the ah more impactful end of the spectrum, I will say. Uh, anywho, we'll, we'll get there when we get there. Uh, yeah. So I, I wish they would tell me and like, are they going to buff mad thinker to be like good? If it grows in the hand, I would be excited about that. I don't know. Like I'll probably get mole man. Cause I like the character of mole man. Mole man is the coolest thing about the fantastic four, in my opinion.
00:02:32
Speaker
Um,
00:02:34
Speaker
Moloids. Anyway. Anywho, I don't know. I've got some Heroclix figures of Moloids. Those are the subterranean dr dwellers that Mole Man is the, you know, the any yeah y'all y'all have read comic books, probably more of them than I have.
00:02:51
Speaker
But if I know about Mole Man, you you deserve to know about Mole Man to let him into your heart. He dresses funny and he's in goofball. Anywho, um other than that, played Mad Hades 2 on stream a lot. Again, I'm shouting out the original good egg, Wombat Combat, who has been a regular presence while I've been trying to get this night one clear.
00:03:14
Speaker
Also, Hot Tub Tony popped back up again. witnessed a pretty solid attempt i'm telling you i'm a little well i'll tell you this next week i will probably be talking about my my night one journey in hades 2 in the past tense because i'm gonna get it any fucking no way it's it's it's got like i'm getting so close so frequently that like i can I can smell the blood in the water. Grandfather is going to be so embarrassed when Melanoid just beats him into the ground on night one.
00:03:49
Speaker
Because it's going to happen. Might even happen tonight. Might happen like right after we record. i don't know. i'm Is there a unique story when that happens?
Grand Arena Strategies and Deck Experiments
00:03:57
Speaker
Like was there in the first Hades? Yeah. I don't know because I've never gotten a night one clear in the first Hades. I believe that is also where I where i have left things there. I think I've gotten a night two clear, but not a night one clear.
00:04:09
Speaker
ah But I will say there is a unique piece of dialogue, just like one one like little text box Kronos will give you if you run into him before you encounter him in Erebus.
00:04:20
Speaker
Because that's usually when, like the first time I played the game, that's where you encounter Kronos first. After the end of the first region, he'll show up as a shadowy figure and he won't identify himself. And he'll be like, pray tell who might you be, girl. And then Mel's all like, I'm not your girl, old man.
00:04:37
Speaker
and ah she's not. i Yeah. Anywho, but if you happen to make it all the way to the, to the, to your father's house on night one, Kronos will be like, he'll ask you some other version of like, Oh, who who are you? what What are you doing here? Cause like, he's not expecting visitors.
00:04:56
Speaker
And, um, so you get a unique piece of dialogue either way. If you get there on night one, or if you don't get there on night one, you will hear something that you wouldn't have heard if the other thing had happened.
00:05:06
Speaker
Um, But mostly there's not unique missable dialogue in Hades, either one of them. Almost all of the dialogue is like unmissable and you'll get it whenever you get it and have done the things that would make it happen.
00:05:19
Speaker
So that is highly unusual. And I am curious to know. Am I going to get some unique dialogue if I get that 9-1 clear? and I'll report back. I will have the information.
00:05:29
Speaker
But to take it back to Snap, what was I playing on Ladder? I'm still playing that beautiful golden move deck from the Golden Gauntlet like more than a month ago, or maybe, I don't know. I don't remember when i when that was.
00:05:44
Speaker
Maybe it was in July. i don't know. The second one, who can say? Time, it flies when lots of stuff is happening. And it often is. The world's a big place. A lot of stuff is happening most of the time.
00:05:56
Speaker
um Yeah, I've been playing all the same decks I was playing last week. i've ah I don't know. We're probably going to talk more about Grand Arena.
00:06:07
Speaker
i've I've sampled some other people's Grand Arena decks. They're all right. You know what else is all right? Or what was especially all right earlier in Grand Arena? Just the stock Herbie deck.
00:06:17
Speaker
I mean, like you can modify it, make it cool, but it really doesn't mind all the all these like junk things that I've seen people playing. Like, oh no, you stuffed up my board with stuff that...
00:06:29
Speaker
is going to get blue marveled and, you know, like it's, it's a pretty resilient little pre-constructed deck. The, the stock Herbie, unlike the stock Dr. Doom deck, which I did try to play to, um, get my weekend missions for Mr. Fantastic first steps. Holy wow.
00:06:47
Speaker
That, that pre-con is, uh, Not it was not worth it. I was ah not having fun, not winning games and definitely not doing that weekend mission in a timely fashion. I think I got one win with Mr. Fantastic starting in my deck with the Dr. Doom pre con and I played a lot of games to get that one win.
00:07:07
Speaker
So I decided to call it quits there and I did not collect my 150 gold or tokens or whatever it was, but I think it was gold.
Rhi's Grand Arena Journey and Pre-Con Deck Trials
00:07:15
Speaker
Anywho, that's probably been more information than anyone needed about my weekend snap. And here I was endeavoring to keep it snappy.
00:07:21
Speaker
Ugh. It was fairly snappy. I think you're good. ah By the way, sorry for the music I started playing in that. It's ah the second time that's happened in the entire show. I hit a key. I don't even know which one, so I don't know what key to avoid.
00:07:34
Speaker
And Zencaster started playing delightful background music. like Oh, Lauren, you are wearing your Huntrix shirt. I see it. I am. i did it. There's Mira, my queen. um Yes.
00:07:46
Speaker
I've been complimented on it many times. i K-pop Demon Hunters is a force of pop culture. It's cultural phenomenon. Those the singles are blowing up. Yep, yep.
00:08:00
Speaker
Please do. It's so fun. Please do. It's very it's very fun. ah That's addressed to not only my co-host, but all listeners. Rhi, how was your week in Snap? And keep it snappy.
00:08:13
Speaker
too, was drafted to fight endlessly day after day in the Grand Arena. And it did try all the pre-con decks out. And then it was a lot of fun at first because they played I have played almost exclusively, Lauren's Human Torch deck that I'm sure she'll talk about in her Week in Snap.
00:08:35
Speaker
um But it was a ton of fun for quite a while. I felt so good. I was like, this is going well. We could get all the way to the top. We could win the glory. I mean, I've done some, like, Colosseums and, like, Final Fantasy games and whatever. So, like...
00:08:50
Speaker
feel pretty confident. And I got these. So I bought the the little season pass because it was like, OK, it's only a variant. And I assumed it would help me get both cards. I don't know.
00:09:02
Speaker
Lauren told us, but I forgot. And then it's going to make your journey to getting one or two cards a lot more chill. Yeah, so, and then, like, after that, of course, that's when all the, like, for me, at least, it's when all the Urbi control decks, which, like...
00:09:23
Speaker
Oh, it's like, okay, you can still win a control deck, v but here's, you know, here's how you do it. It's like you've got to hold your Joaquin Torres or your Wong back so that, like, you can play it at least get one use out of it before they enchantress it.
00:09:38
Speaker
And you've got to make sure that your torch doesn't get a shangable before the last round of the game. And it's like, I did not, like, play a min-max deck to fucking play with reserve.
00:09:51
Speaker
So it really kind sort of started ruining all my fun. Because it was that. It was like all humans were like either that or occasionally I was getting a break with people playing the Doom Agatha deck, you know? Because like Doom skill dropped, right? Means Agatha will play herself on turn two. and um ah Anyway, so then started – then I was like, don't know. Maybe I'll mess around with the pre-cons again. And I went back to – I tried, like, the Carnage one because I only played, like, that one once. And it's like, I don't know. Sometimes when you're in a mood, like, destroying a bunch of shit is fun.
00:10:29
Speaker
And, like – Then it was immediately against one of those Doom decks that was like, that deck plays armor. And I was just like, yay. I only have to grind out like 100 more XP or whatever for my, I think it's little more than that. gotta get the next like two levels to get both cards. So picked up Mole Man, but I'm committed to getting Medthin, but I'm so tired. So I'm glad, you know, I guess we're talking about later that they're,
00:10:56
Speaker
Making some changes, you know, i foreshadowing, not foreshadowing, teasing. do you call it when you like highlight things? All the above. Foreshadowing correct. Like when show used to do it, like here, see the whole show. And it's like, why is that I was about to watch it? You didn't have to.
00:11:14
Speaker
Okay, anyway, so yes. I'll be glad for that because I have so much more arena to do. I'm so tired of it, and I'm actually kind of annoyed that it's running now into the end of the season because I wanted to do some more um Like, I have all these infinity tickets that I actually wanted to use this month and try and get some more avatars, but it's like I need to do this because I committed to getting both cards.
00:11:38
Speaker
And then that's like where my snap time's been going. So, sad. um that But my week's been um thus far. I don't even know deck I want to take if i if I do get to do any Infinity Conquest.
Lauren's Grand Arena Progress and Meta Reactions
00:11:56
Speaker
If I know what safety's up to, probably. don't know. I know at least one thing safety is doing uses Mad Thinker. ah there's that. Oh, yes? Yeah. Okay, into it.
00:12:07
Speaker
All right. I gotta find out. Yeah, so that's what I've been doing, Lauren. Tell us what you've been up to. Sure. ah First up, gonna get a little bit realer than we usually get on the podcast, but I'm gonna keep it short and sweet.
00:12:24
Speaker
I had one of our listeners reach out with concerns because I talked about Regina Spector last week, and apparently it was news to me that day ah that she has been pretty openly ah Zionist before.
00:12:38
Speaker
um And there were concerns about that. And I just like, you know, we generally try not to bring like real world bummers into this. It's supposed to be a fun snap themed thing.
00:12:48
Speaker
I'll just say, I'll keep it simple that all three of us are generally against genocide. Like, obviously not a good thing. um And then also that when I'm bringing up art that I like, I'm not necessarily endorsing every political opinion of an artist. And I think that just goes for anybody who we bring up like...
00:13:06
Speaker
We talk about comics, we're gonna, you know, and and other media, we're gonna bring up people who are problematic and ah whether we're aware of that or not, that's that's not to say that we love their ethics.
00:13:19
Speaker
Anyway, moving on. ah Grand Arena. i I finished the Grand Arena track without buying the premium pass. There's a lot of games, but I was having a ton of fun and I haven't played a single game since hitting 4000 glory.
00:13:38
Speaker
That does make me question how much fun I was having. um But I thought I was having fun, and I was clearing my nine tickets a day or whatever. um I didn't do it totally for free. I did buy 100 gold worth of the daily ticket bundle, so that's 20 extra tickets.
00:13:55
Speaker
It's a good deal. ah You know, two Series 4 cards for 100 gold? Not bad at all, as long as you've got the time to spend. um Considering I finished it with a week, more than a week to spare, I didn't need to buy those tickets, but...
00:14:08
Speaker
I was having fun and I had the time, so I did. I did probably 90% of Arena with that ah Human Torch deck that Ree brought up. That deck came from me looking and like, oh, I wonder if any of the skills are one-cost cards.
00:14:24
Speaker
And I believe two of them are. um Who's the other Oh, Carnage. Carnage and Human Torch have one cost skills. And i was like, oh these are Walking Torres cards. And Carnage kind of awkward because he would destroy Walking Torres. I mean, you could you could do stuff with it, especially with like a Wolverine and X-23. Maybe you hit them twice. maybe um But Human Torch, I was like, ooh, what if we just make a really greedy deck where we make a huge torch and then we proc Flame On twice, if not four times with a Wong Walking Torres. We get some redundancy there.
00:14:55
Speaker
And honestly, it's beautiful. I've laid down. Many cards, well over 50 power over this past week. My record was a Shang that hit over 200 power. There was probably like Onslaught Citadel or something involved.
00:15:08
Speaker
um Maybe Shuri's Lab, i don't know. Anyway, this is the deck. It's Human Torch as the champion. And then Zabu, Echo. Echo is a flex card, but has single-handedly flipped my win rate on Mr. Fantastic. So she's there for that.
00:15:25
Speaker
ah Nico Minoru, Joaquin Torres, Mr. Fantastic First Steps, Pedro. Grandmaster, Ironheart, Wong, Shang, because i mean just so if you're going to bring a tech card, Shang is the one.
00:15:39
Speaker
I guess I have Echo also. but Gwenpool, Kohori. And it's all about making a huge fat torch. Like I said, sometimes it's okay even if torch gets destroyed because then you just win one lane with Shong and the other lane with your gigantic card.
00:15:56
Speaker
Flame On still works if torch is dead, um which is kind of funny. i But I will say my experience in Grand Arena i is maybe unique. i seen a lot of people complaining about the meta, and I just haven't seen that much of that.
00:16:12
Speaker
I think the matchmaking has been extremely generous to me because of two months of clip hunting. Um, so I've seen probably like 50% bots and I've seen a lot of low CL players.
00:16:22
Speaker
It's not that I haven't seen any tech Herbie decks or any of the Agatha Doom. Like I've seen some of it, but it's not like 90% of my meta. Like some people make it sound like it is. um
00:16:34
Speaker
And I like, I don't know, like Ben, you've said before, like in in Sanctum Showdown, it's more fun when you're winning. Like, that's just the reality of it. Even if you're not a spike, like ah game is more fun when you're winning. And so, yeah, my win rate, I calculated it as soon as I hit the 4000 glory and it was like 76%.
00:16:53
Speaker
Like, so I'm not telling everybody to go play this deck, although I have heard of several people playing it and having success with it and having fun with it. So, you know, if you haven't tried anything else,
00:17:04
Speaker
I did play early on. I was playing a little bit of, uh, Scott denim's invisible woman tech deck and that was strong, but this was so much more fun that I just stuck with it.
00:17:16
Speaker
Um, yeah. So I don't know if it, if it's, if it's working okay for you, like maybe it's okay to have a slightly lower win rate, but have more fun, especially if you have tickets to spare.
00:17:27
Speaker
Um,
00:17:29
Speaker
I also played Scott's Invisible Woman deck. Thumbs up. A little bit of it too early on before before the Torch deck because you know how it was pick fun. Yeah. and yeah it's like
Evaluating Recent Cards and Synergies
00:17:41
Speaker
It's a great deck especially for a theory-crafted deck before any of us had played in the mode um you know and before the meta settled and all that.
00:17:50
Speaker
Okay, we'll move on. do we have any new thoughts about last week's card, the Thing First Steps, who is, what, 5-6 at end of turn, plus 2 power, if the location is full once per game.
00:18:02
Speaker
Also destroy a card on your enemy's side with less power. Have you had more time with him? What do you think? You know, I've seen him around. He seems...
00:18:14
Speaker
I don't know. i've I've heard people say kind things about him. I haven't noticed myself losing to him a bunch or anything. But like, I'm also not seeing so many that I would like know necessarily if it were a very effective card, because like, I don't think it's a very popular card. And sometimes unpopular cards are very effective. and it's just ah not how things shake out. So, like, i don't I'm looking forward to... My plan is to acquire this card next month once ah the snap pack things rotate and I don't have to worry about getting any of those Masters of the Arcane cards that I skipped with the great confidence and purpose.
00:18:50
Speaker
um So, yeah, i'm I'm really looking forward to next month. Yeah. seeing if I like this card. Who knows? Great. I don't think will, but maybe... have played it a bunch more, actually, because, like, the few times I've escaped Arena briefly... It's turned into such a slog. It started out so fun.
00:19:11
Speaker
Um... I've been playing that that Doom 2099 deck, getting more infinite tickets. Like, once I, like, just the other night, I lost.
00:19:23
Speaker
This person was so mad. I had already muted them. And I know once, because they were roping me so hard, that they were definitely spamming something that I wasn't seeing. um like, retreated the first game, because they were going to clearly want win. And then I lost in eight cubers. So I was down to one single cube.
00:19:41
Speaker
And then I won every single game. love a big comeback like that. Yes. And then finally it was down to the very last game. Like they had two and I had one or whatever. And already at like checking for key. You know what i mean?
00:19:57
Speaker
Like it's been so many games in a row that they've lost and they just couldn't do it. They couldn't do the last game, but you know, I knew was going knew I was going to take them. Anyway, so, like, yes, that deck was rolling for me. And that has the same first steps in it.
00:20:15
Speaker
And, like, I will say this. I think, if i remember, which I don't always super remember well, um that I kind of downplayed him when we were doing season ratings whatever.
00:20:27
Speaker
And I think he's better than what I give him credit for. And what Ben said is definitely true. And the fact he isn't so popular in some ways makes him better because you can surprise people more with it. Like I said, he'll go off last turn on something. It does have to be smaller than him. But like, you know, sometimes he's pretty big what you need to do.
00:20:50
Speaker
You know, yeah. he's like, I said, like some of these five cards, if you whiff, like just think about like if you whiff with the Zola something, you know, like somehow because they countered it.
00:21:04
Speaker
Zero power there if they got you as a Cosmo or something. And this thing is just, it's enough power and it's going to, it's not super stoppable. So I think I undersold him. I think he's better than I gave him credit for.
00:21:20
Speaker
But once again, it's like probably certain decks you're going to put him in. um Yeah. 2099 for me. and to me
00:21:29
Speaker
I actually played a decent amount of him too once i left Arena. I would agree that he's better than I evaluated him as. I still think that he's quite comparable to Spider-Man 2099, but filling a lane is just something that more decks are going to do than moving a card, especially a specific card to a specific lane on turn six. It's just asking a lot what Spider-Man 2099 does. Can they put him back to four? Yeah.
00:21:56
Speaker
Yeah. Four or multi-destroy. don't know why they are scared of that. I think that would make some other cards cool too, like Hercules. Maybe it would be terrible to play against. love Oh my god Yeah.
00:22:07
Speaker
Super weird. um But yeah, Thing just gets big. He can be the last thing in his lane, and it's fine if he's like, you put him down as a 5-6, he turns into an 8 first, destroys something, and then at the end of the game, he's a 10. I've had plenty of games where I've won a lane with Torch or Thing, and I didn't fill it. like I have both of them going on separate lanes, and I only end up filling one of them, but like...
00:22:28
Speaker
the opponent is avoiding one of them because they know it's going to get huge and cause problems. So it's like one of them can just be kind of a bait lane and I've won those. Um, yeah, he's just a good card. I think he's best used.
00:22:41
Speaker
Um,
00:22:44
Speaker
If you have a way to fill the lane on turn six, but not necessarily like commit to that lane, you know like ah a Shauna, squirrelgirl a Squirrel Girl, a Doctor Doom.
Upcoming Card Releases and Meta Speculations
00:22:53
Speaker
um i did test the thing with Hydro Bomb. That totally worked, where Torch doubled, and then Bob moved, and then Thing killed something because Bob filled his lane. That's pretty cool.
00:23:04
Speaker
You do have to sync what sequence them correctly. Anyway, it's a card I've had more fun with than I expected for a five cost. Okay. I think we're going to push off Mole Man and Mad Thinker another week, even though they're available now, just that you we get some time to play with them.
00:23:22
Speaker
But also out this week, Invisible Woman. ah Fantastic Four First Steps. What do we... Did you get her and what do you think?
00:23:33
Speaker
I've not gotten her yet, but I'm looking forward to getting her out of snap packs next month once the rotation happens. Just in a week. I've been playing against her some. ah Seems like a popular and powerful card.
00:23:47
Speaker
Yeah. I did get her... um I haven't gotten to play... I need to play... i've done like Rumor on the street, she's real fun with Prodigy, and I already loved i loved Prodigy. It sounds something there's lots of fun... Lots of fun things to do with her, but I...
00:24:06
Speaker
Like I said, mostly been Grand Arena, and she hasn't been out long, so I haven't gotten to do fun things. I did run and quickly, like, roll the auto with her so I could at least see something. And it gave me Doom 2099, and I also don't have Fantastic Heart, which maybe it would have put in the deck.
00:24:24
Speaker
If I had, and it honestly, like, was not As good as the other 20. In comparison, she wasn't strong enough with Doom 29.
00:24:35
Speaker
twenty nine In comparison to my other plan, you know, what I had going on in the other deck. And I remembered actually that, I mean, it makes sense if this was the auto Inviswoman. I actually beaten this deck with my Doom 2099 deck in Gold Conquest.
00:24:55
Speaker
I'm like, oh, I recognize this deck because I played against it. They must have just auto-rolled it and taken it into gold and I beat it. So it's like, I think she's really good and I just haven't played it yet.
00:25:08
Speaker
That's been my experience thus far. Yeah, I've been impressed with her. i was a little surprised that having multiple, you know, the prodigy thing, meant that ah end of turn things happened four times. Yes, I also got caught by surprise by that once.
00:25:25
Speaker
Yes. Like, it's Wong math. It's two per Wong. In this case, it's two per Invisible Woman. And that ah that was not how I was expecting that to work. I was expecting it to be one extra. mom Fucked up my math. Yeah.
00:25:37
Speaker
Yeah, I chased two clips with her. One of them was to do the Hydra Bob trick, and so she wasn't needed there. In fact, she was kind of negative there because I don't want Bob to move twice.
00:25:48
Speaker
i just made sure I proctored her before the last turn. uh and that deck is really fun and really good like it's not very often that i have a clip deck that performs well but this is one of them and like just double proccing like oh what's his name marvel boy it's so fun that does sound fun And it's like it's plus three power if it's just Marvel boy, but it's not just Marvel boy. It's also the thing and the torch and the havoc and the, you know, whatever. Or proccing her early with Adam Warlock is really cool. um Anyway, she's been super fun. it surprised me how how strong and fun that deck is because i I don't think end of turn is an especially fun game.
00:26:31
Speaker
interaction um you know kind of just happens automatically but then being able to do silly things with it is fun the other one i did was i got four invisible women's using nico clone spell and prodigy and frigga and then at the end of the game i played two sunspots and they went up to like 57 power each really stupid um I kind of think she has a problem with Sunspot. Like you don't have to play for invisible woman's for that to be a very strong thing to do.
00:27:05
Speaker
um I guess that's foreshadowing too. Are they going to, are they going to tweak Sunspot? Yeah. Okay.
00:27:18
Speaker
Relaxing. Now this is supposed to be ranking week, but we're not going to do it this week. We're gonna rank a Galactus Herald season next week. Does that sound cool? That sounds fine. yeah We'll do it first thing week. That's what assumed. Okay.
00:27:32
Speaker
ah It'll be with like one day of play with these cards. i Just don't have the time for it this week. Galactus. are going to talk about Okay. Sorry. I was like, we are going to talk about it though, right? We'll talk about the first week only, not the whole season.
00:27:47
Speaker
Is that cool? Okay. Absolutely. So in the season pass, we have Galactus, Fantastic Four First Steps. A 612. My Herald is the next character I see you play.
00:28:00
Speaker
End of turn. Plus two power if you're winning my Herald's location. Works if Galactus is in hand or in play.
00:28:11
Speaker
Well, really depends when you draw him. yeah On turn six, yeah this is just the Hulk. But if you draw him on turn one and you happen to play a one drop, I mean, you're probably hitting at least 20, right? If you manage to play a one drop and you have him in your starting hand, you're probably going to win that lane enough times. You have to keep winning it.
00:28:36
Speaker
Yeah. Unless it's like silk and it just, you know, every location is different. Oh my gosh. Now there's an idea. keen to Keep the lane mobile.
00:28:48
Speaker
um That rock is the leaping. Like, what if they're just... Yeah, oh, wow. Yeah. What if they're, like, not... You have to, like, wake up. your If your opponent doesn't get out of bed early enough, like, they're... Yeah, I don't know.
00:29:04
Speaker
I don't know. i don't I don't love the design. I'm not sure it's going to be, like... I can't tell how good it is because, like, wow, it is a stinker on turn six, right? But, like, I just don't think this pattern of, like, well, if I draw it on turn one, it's going to be nuts.
00:29:19
Speaker
Like, to I don't know. To me, the power level feels a ton like Red Hulk, and I also would guess that this ability is one that is face-up to your opponent. Mm-hmm. like When Galactus is growing, your opponent's going to know.
00:29:33
Speaker
So it really just feels a lot like Red Hulk to me. Yeah. Maybe with a little more control. I think it's a weird season pass card. I think it's probably right to make Galactus the season pass card.
New Cards and Deck Strategy Integration
00:29:44
Speaker
Or Silver Surfer, you know, one of the identifiable characters.
00:29:47
Speaker
I would have swapped these two. i think oh Maybe that's because I'm more interested in the other one. Yeah. ah You know, they have the data for how well Galactus sold or something.
00:29:58
Speaker
A big bad's always going to do well, I think, ah for people acquiring the card. but be yeah it's uh like it's a it's a fine card it's a good card you know red hulk is a good card it has homes but it's just another giant six that is sometimes the right one in your deck right see also gore or infinat or you know yeah exactly it it just i feel bad for infinat and you know similar cards they don't they don't deserve this i don't know
00:30:33
Speaker
That's what I think. I'm not a fan of Galactus First Steps. Okay.
00:30:41
Speaker
So for Surfer, Fantastic Four First Steps, this is the super premium season pass card, probably, ah based on datamines. A three four at the end of turn.
00:30:52
Speaker
If you're winning this location with an on-reveal card, copy its text.
00:31:01
Speaker
It's a real bummer if this is in the premium pass, because I'm not going to get the premium pass. But like Ben, this is the card that I think is way more interesting way more flexible as well, know? think that it's...
00:31:19
Speaker
Poorly written. um Because, like, end of turn, that's not revealing. I assume this does the this does the effect that the on-reveal would do, right? Yeah. like I don't know copy i don't know.
00:31:34
Speaker
I don't know. i don't like this It is a little awkward winning this location with an on-reveal card. It's a little awkward. There are a number of things that are awkward about the hoarding. um i think it's a cool design yeah i don't think it will work with invisible woman first steps because as soon as it copies the text it doesn't have its old text um so kind of awkward with those or or like fantastic car if you want to buff this with fantastic car you have to do it before she procs yeah but she does seem like a good card there's some cool stuff you can do with that
00:32:09
Speaker
um And I also just noticed that there's this interaction between the Galactus and Silver Surfer, which makes sense. You know, she she's the Herald. You want to be winning that location so you could put her on the location you're winning.
00:32:22
Speaker
They kind of interact. I mean, like, they they have some of the same words in their text boxes. They have the same goal.
00:32:33
Speaker
I mean, yes, they do want you to be winning there. that that That part is true. Yeah. i There's going to be some good stuff you can do with this. like Yeah, I mean, well, it's just, it's like better absorbing man or whatever. Like, I i don't know.
00:32:50
Speaker
I like absorbing man. i I hate it when people come for absorbing man. but now here's the one that fits better into a surfer deck because it's a three cost, you know?
00:33:01
Speaker
Absorbing Man already fits exactly as well as he should into a surfer deck, is my feeling. I don't think Absorbing Man needs to fit in any better. I think i think that's like not good if Absorbing Man does fit in better.
00:33:17
Speaker
In some ways, she's a prodigy with a different requirement, a different limitation, right? She has the same stat line. Prodigy can copy other types of cards, but they can but you could use Prodigy for anything you're doing with Silver Surfer, except the placement limitation, right?
00:33:35
Speaker
don't know. She's interesting. i yeah um I don't know if she's going to be much better than Prodigy.
00:33:44
Speaker
ah This feels less skippable than Fantasticar, even though Fantasticar did turn out to be pretty good card, turns out. Yeah, I don't know.
00:33:56
Speaker
Okay, the first Series 5 card, like first week, will Stardust. Ongoing. Cards can't be added to locations except by playing or moving them.
00:34:11
Speaker
They made a hella specific counter. mean, it'll hit Brood and stuff too. I know it'll hit Brood, but it's like, right now we have one counter that just stops.
00:34:23
Speaker
It's hard. Okay. No, no. y'all Y'all don't know about my notes app or how big the window is. But the window is full of the list of things that Stardust fucks up.
00:34:34
Speaker
Oh, OK. Let me let me start with the stuff that Stardust helps. I'm probably missing. so Maybe I'm missing something. Maybe I'm not. Sentry, obviously. Stardust helps Sentry. You don't have to worry about the Void if you don't want to. And I know sometimes we like to do things with the Void. The Void is fun.
00:34:49
Speaker
Also, very similar, Gladiator. Maybe you don't want to find out if they have bigger things than Gladiator. Oh my gosh! so glad that you did this, Ben. I hadn't thought about any of this. Now that we've got that out of the way, there's a much longer list of stuff that Stardust fucks up.
00:35:06
Speaker
Wolverine, 23, Uncle Ben, Nimrod, Bucky Barnes, Dormammu, Arnim Zola, Elixir, Phoenix Force, Eson, Redwing, Makari, M'Baku, Fenris Wolf, Hela, Kanshu, Proxima Midnight, Ghost Rider, Brood, Mr. Sinister, Scarlet Spider, Both Doctors, Doom, Squirrel Girl, Mysteria, Shauna, White Tiger, and Airwalker upcoming.
00:35:23
Speaker
And I'm probably missing some. oh That's a lot of cards. wow thats now you points of decks Mysterio's really weird, so I don't know if that one would work or not. Maybe not Mysterio. Not the foremost. of Right.
00:35:38
Speaker
It specifically says play them, right, for Mysterio. Yeah. yeah like okay Maybe Mysterio does survive. Who knows? He's a very, he's just a very, very weird card.
00:35:50
Speaker
On the other hand, if you play Mysterio on deep space, he doesn't make illusions, which I think is the wrong interaction. But anyway, Rhino is a, is a helper card that you missed. He doesn't make a rock. guess.
00:36:02
Speaker
I kind of think of Rhino's rock as being the thing that Captain Carter will buff. Look, if we're counting Sentry, we should count Rhino. All right, sure. We'll count we'll count Rhino as as a recipient, a beneficiary of Stardust. Also, I would like to mention, I think Red Wing is an innocent victim of this.
00:36:21
Speaker
Does not deserve this. Poor Red Wing. I mean, it's not about who deserves it. It's it's about who's getting fucked up by Starbathust and it's such a long list. Oh my I'm not going to be sorry for Brood, you know? but like, okay, anyway.
00:36:35
Speaker
You're right, though. I'm glad, like, Kudos. All kinds of Destroy, Discard, Surfer, Doctor Doom, anything? Like... And your ability to pair it with stuff like Gladiator and stuff, pretty good.
00:36:48
Speaker
I love running those decks, because once you can negate that, it's so much power that's not shangable. like yeah A couple weeks ago, I made that deck that was with Zero and Doc Ock and stuff. i mean um And it's like, oh, if you can get those out for free, oh yeah, Doc Ock goes with this, right? It's like, oh, that deck will be coming back anyway.
00:37:11
Speaker
Well, the thing about Doc Ock is that like you wouldn't play him just for the stats. to like I thought about putting Doc Ock on the list of like cards that you're like helping, but like it's not a gladiator proposition. You're super powerful. You're playing Doc Ock to do Doc Ock's job if you're playing Doc Ock, probably not playing him as dumb stats.
00:37:37
Speaker
You're right about that. I think it's number seven.
OTA Updates and Gameplay Impact
00:37:40
Speaker
seven I feel like need replace that There are some ho many decks that just auto-lose to this card.
00:37:49
Speaker
Maybe you're right. I'm thinking of like a Mobius, but a Mobius is a 3-3. This is a 4-7. Is it okay to play a card? Mobius is a 3-4 now, but but yeah yeah. These keep coming up. um
00:38:04
Speaker
But like 4-7 is a much more premium stat line. That's one where you're okay with it just being helpful for a bunch of decks. Mobius is helpful for a ton of matchups too. Like, discounting cards is a very common thing to do.
00:38:18
Speaker
But like if if Brood doesn't do Brood's job, like, oh, like if if if Hela doesn't do Hela's job, if Khonshu doesn't do Khonshu's job, if those destroy cards, all those destroy cards can't do their jobs.
00:38:32
Speaker
the The resurrection cards can't do their jobs. Your elixirs, your Phoenix forces, because Phoenix Force has to revive a thing to merge with it. Like it's a whole thing. I like this new Ben that converted to tech. Look how excited you are to like, just scout other people's plans.
00:38:49
Speaker
Just needed one that was big enough and generic enough. It's a lot of cards and like the stats are good. And like, you know, like, Ooh, just so many cards.
00:39:01
Speaker
No, it's pretty good. I like it. A lot of dex that just but have to, like, they see the card and they have to scoop if they don't have, like, Enchantress or... Rogue won't do it for them because they just don't want that ability on the board at all.
00:39:13
Speaker
Like... oh Yeah. I find it a super boring card, but it's a nice release valve to have, and yeah it would be a much more lauren card if it had more proactive interactions and that's okay that it doesn't not every card has to be for me okay and then also in the first week we have two series four cards launching first up redshift two three on reveal discard the leftmost card in your hand to add a random card with the same cost to your hand
00:39:47
Speaker
You two are the discard players. I love it. Four stars already. I know we're not ready. yeah What do you want to do with it? That's what I want to do with it. Just targeted discard.
00:39:59
Speaker
Yep. Yep.
00:40:02
Speaker
Fair enough. I haven't been excited about discard for so long. like having more cards to discard again later. you know it's ah That's cool. keep ah Keep the handful that I might MODOK it into Amorbius. If I don't like the card that it gives me, I wasn't counting on it. you know If you discard something like Swarm or Proxima of Midnight or Apocalypse, this would still work, right?
00:40:28
Speaker
Oh, yeah.
00:40:31
Speaker
Yeah. seems Seems good. I think leftmost is probably worse than rightmost, but... Oh, for sure. Negligibly, like... because That's where your apocalypse usually is, because you've already discarded it. Or your scorn, right? Which is what you're usually hoping to discard over.
00:40:45
Speaker
But, like, this is good. Like Ben said, targeted... ah you said... yeah You know what you're discarding. is good You have the control. And it's a two. Like, this is ah it' a great card.
00:41:00
Speaker
it's i um There's got to be some clever stuff you can do with it, too. like It's an Agatha card. It could be a Victoria Hand card. Who knows? It generates a card, so there's got to be good stuff you can do with it, If you're doing a Victoria Hand discard deck, you probably pack Redshift. You get your Swarms and whatever else you do there. Yeah, is it like a Helicarrier Madness kind of thing?
00:41:26
Speaker
I'll get Helicarrier in a while. trying to think of somebody who would ah argue for quicksilver like so there's always a good target for redshift anyway i don't think that's true for the record um terax the tamer our other series four card on the first week a three three on reveal for each location shuffle a rock into the losing players deck
00:41:54
Speaker
really good if you can get prio like like with a mr fantastic or i mean if you're winning all three locations that's very cool if you're losing two of them less so you really uh would like to be winning wouldn't you you have to be playing a deck that can go wide fast i'm a little bit skeptical that you can like consistently guarantee that like i'm just gonna be winning all three locations all game that's that's my strategy you know uh yeah i don't know It's hard, but it's doable. You run stuff like Makari and Squirrel Girl.
00:42:27
Speaker
There are decks that are designed to do that, to take prio and take it fast. If you're shuffling in two rocks and one into your own deck, like I don't think that's good enough. I think you need to be winning all three.
00:42:39
Speaker
and i just don't think you will reliably be winning all three. I think you can probably reliably win two, and then it's just a muddy card that you know is double-edged and...
00:42:51
Speaker
you probably won't draw your Darkhawk that game or something. You'll get a rock. I don't know. But it's on reveal, so if you are playing Darkhawk, you know, you could play it late to at least some benefit. That's true. I think that's the most interesting thing about it is that Darkhawk is getting another, maybe, piece. Yeah, it could be Mystique and Terrax on six after Darkhawk on five. Oh, yeah. Mm-hmm.
00:43:15
Speaker
So that could be something. But, like, is he the thing that crosses you over to winning? and I'm not sure. It could be if you have Pryo, that could actually matter. Where like you are winning and then he helps you win even more. think Pryo would really yeah yeah
00:43:33
Speaker
He's an interesting card. I'm glad he is. I'm rooting for him. He is much more exciting to me than than ah a mad thinker. Something like that. right like This feels like a series four that actually belongs in some deck somewhere.
00:43:47
Speaker
um I guess Mad Thinker does too. I'm being too mean to him.
Card Buffs and Nerfs Analysis
00:43:50
Speaker
but mean Are you, Lauren? i'll have to I'll have to see this Mad Thinker safety blade deck and see what it's about i wish i could tell you anything else about it i i don't remember it being like it's not a dino deck like maybe it's a victoria it doesn't surprise me i i don't yeah yeah i didn't remember any significant synergy popping out but i was just skimming blue sky sorry if you're listening to safety i looked at it i thought it was interesting but not enough for it to stick
00:44:26
Speaker
Okay, this week we have an OTA. Comes with a bunch of stat changes and and stuff, but also changes specific to Grand Arena. i First up, Mole Man goes from 3-3 to three four That's a global change in Arena and outside of Arena.
00:44:44
Speaker
But listed here in Arena stuff because his skill goes down to 1 cost and the power buff for the created cards in hand goes to plus 3.
00:44:58
Speaker
just realized it's a one cost. So now maybe we do walking tourist shenanigans with Mole Makes more sense than the Carnage thing. There is that. And then Herbie's skill takes a nerf from three cost to four cost.
00:45:16
Speaker
And I am assuming this is to address the fact that almost every deck is just Herbie now. Because his skill is so freaking good getting that that two energy ramp. Yeah.
00:45:28
Speaker
I think that skill makes a lot of sense at four. like you're To get all four of Herbie's abilities, like ah's like there's a reason you're supposed to pick one, and like that's the whole point of playing that card that you made room for in your deck, is to to get one of those abilities one time.
00:45:46
Speaker
yeah So yeah, I think that... It just makes sense. It's the deck that I've been playing, and I'm like, yeah, it should cost four. It like they totally should, and the very often you play it on turn four anyway, or like you know depending on what your particular game plan is. I don't know. I don't think Herbie's going anywhere. I'm still going to keep playing Herbie.
00:46:06
Speaker
You can still play it on turn three, because Grand Arena's ramped up one energy. you know it The four energy turn is sometimes when I'm playing that skill anyway. Yeah, it's just... think it's cool that they're making live changes to the event.
00:46:20
Speaker
like Yeah. It's happened before where they updated the ban list. Yeah. Speaking of ban list updates, they added Agatha, Sarah, Cannonball, Elias, Storm, Juggernaut, and Viper, which seems like a mix of things that were overpowered and a list of things that are just not super fun to play against. Mm-hmm.
00:46:43
Speaker
Yay! think it's a great list. Yeah, I think it's... but I'm more excited to check in after that, you know? We want to have fun. Let us make our Min Max Silly Wong decks in limited time modes, please. So, excited to see less Herbie control.
00:47:01
Speaker
Yeah. I wonder if Banning All Life is enough to make Invisible Woman playable? Like... and Invisible Woman does a lot of ramp, but Herbie just does ramp better. so like yeah Everything has shifted over here to Herbie.
00:47:16
Speaker
um but I bet there's some cool Invisible Woman stuff you can do. But like you were saying, like Mole Joaquin, maybe we throw some Victoria Hand in there.
00:47:28
Speaker
That actually seems good. I know. i want you to do the work for me and then share the data. I just want to tell you that I don't want to cook it. I had so much fun with your Human Torch deck, though. I'm like, do it again.
00:47:40
Speaker
do we know, has Champion Invisible Woman received four power, or is Champion Invisible Woman still stuck at three? I think she's the one who's going to yeah it should be it's it's weird like they mentioned it about Mole Man but they didn't mention it about her so I'm like a little worried there that maybe they forgot they made her a champion could be a whoopsie I've forgotten things I don't want to make it seem like that's the silliest mistake someone could ever make you know Yeah, so I'm skipping ahead to the other cards that were not in the Grand Arena balancing section. Invisible Woman, OG, got a buff to 2-4.
00:48:21
Speaker
Which I would expect to affect the champion also. It's funny that it's not in in this arrangement. um
00:48:30
Speaker
i think she just I think that makes sense. She has fallen off so much ever since the introduction of Elias. i mean like if if cloak can have four All kinds of two costs can have four. that's That's my feeling.
00:48:44
Speaker
yeah Yeah. They gave Domino four as well, saying that, you know, historically two three is the is the place for a two cost that doesn't have any downside. i But I think like...
00:48:58
Speaker
i don't I think they said something about like raising that level because of how strong twos are, but I also think like it's arguable Invisible Woman and Domino both have downside. right like Domino hurts your draw, Invisible woman it like You're delaying things and you're risking Eliath.
00:49:16
Speaker
These are actual... They're the same sorts of downsides as Cloak. wherere like You're probably getting way more benefit out of Cloak than your opponent is, but technically like there's that extra risk involved.
00:49:29
Speaker
ah The change is a win for domino variants everywhere. yes yeah We all have some, I suppose. It's a card with a lot of variants, for sure.
00:49:42
Speaker
And then the Mole Man and dr Doom pre-con decks are both getting ah three or four cards swapped. To me, they both seem like buffs, which makes sense considering those pre-cons are not the stronger ones.
00:49:55
Speaker
yeah Again, cool change. Any other thoughts on those?
00:50:01
Speaker
What were some of those cards doing in the Doctor Doom deck to begin with? Who know i I don't know. Jennifer Kale, Nocturne. Jennifer Kale and Nocturne were both weird ones in there, honestly. And I mean, like Astral Projection just like didn't like work there. I i tried. I played many games. And as I mentioned, I won one of them.
Adjusting Strategies with New Card Changes
00:50:23
Speaker
hu I'll have to trust you because I've seen the Astral Projection do cool things for people like it pulls Jubilee, who pulls Odin, who pulls another card. like Or like they'll pull, you know, they'll create two Doom Bots, which is a great use of Astral Projection. In my experience, i always had more than one on Reveal in my hand because that deck is not exactly barfing the cards out. Yeah. And I was always Astral Projecting the wrong thing.
00:50:48
Speaker
yeah Yeah, I will second that experience from when I was playing a good amount of Astral Projection, like throwing Shadow King at throwing something you do not want it to hit. it It will just hit that, you know? So, like, you really need to limit your on reveals to what you want to hit with it if you're playing Astral Projection.
00:51:05
Speaker
Okay, and then on to the other cards outside of Grand Arena. Sunspot, as previously mentioned, got hit. Goes from a 1-1 to a 1-0.
00:51:16
Speaker
think it's just because they're building up end-of-turn synergy. He's been a 1-0 before when he was a very popular card. But the thing is, he deserved that one point when they gave it to him. It's the thing.
00:51:28
Speaker
don't know. I think he was at 1-0 for way too long. I think it's a bummer that like now he has to pay for ah having an end-of-turn ability. He used to just be his own card.
00:51:42
Speaker
But now he's been subsumed by the... the mechanic oh well yeah
00:51:51
Speaker
the tragedy of sunspot it is problem Gwenpool goes from 4.6 to 4.5
00:52:01
Speaker
She needed a nerf, and this is the smallest one they could have given her. Yep, i I love her. I love playing her. I've always loved playing her. I will continue to love playing her, because who cares? I mean, a point is a point, but no, this fine. I'm surprised they didn't do this at the same time as Galacta. They should have. Okay. okay Dormammu goes from 7-11 to seven ten but summoning ritual three, the last one, goes from ah three cost to a two cost.
00:52:33
Speaker
So he's easier to get out.
00:52:37
Speaker
I mean, it doesn't solve the sameness Doesn't change the fact that I find the card boring. Yep, Yeah. yeah No, but yay for, I guess, people who like it. Because I do face Dormammu decks like in Conquest, so some people like him.
00:52:55
Speaker
It makes him better. I don't know if the one cost change is enough to make him surprising. Like, you're still usually going to know exactly where Dormammu's going. there's nothing surprising about it. Nope.
00:53:07
Speaker
No. I mean, in theory, if you have an extra cost, you could have two locations where he could go, but I just... I don't see that happening. ah Black Cat goes from 2.6 to 1.5 because their last experiment to make her more playable didn't work out.
00:53:23
Speaker
i think this one will. Yeah, me too. It hurts so bad because I've been playing Black Cat. I hope you can't hear that. AC's been super loud.
00:53:35
Speaker
um Okay, uh...
00:53:38
Speaker
No, but run into an Fenris Wolf out there, they'll just snatch it right up before you can, like, heller back whatever you're planning on doing with her. So, like, here it's like, oh, you could always potentially play her, right? Because before, you know, on one. um Yeah, I'm excited.
00:53:59
Speaker
It feels like a new era for Black Cat, you know? She's playable. I like this change a lot. And I think there are plenty of decks that will be happy to run her, right? Absolutely.
00:54:12
Speaker
Say a Titania or a Martyr who has that same stat line, but a very different drawback. This is bad news for Martyr. Martyr is not not in the conversation. ah yeah When are they reworking Martyr?
00:54:24
Speaker
Probably never. Yeah, I agree. I don't think they will. I think Martyr has the right ability, right? like that's a cool That's a cool ability.
00:54:35
Speaker
It's a cool ability, but the stats just like don't work. I'd play more Martyr than most people, and it hardly ever procs.
Creative Card Design Exercises
00:54:43
Speaker
Didn't she used to be 1-4? Can you believe me? Make her 1-6.
00:54:48
Speaker
Do it. The better you make her, the less likely that she ever uses her ability. That's true, but you know what? The ability is mostly there to be read and appreciated as like, well, isn't that cute?
00:55:00
Speaker
You know? we're We're not actually interested in seeing the ability happen all that often. The cutest thing to do is to overwrite Martyr with some Ancient Ones and then Dallin Turner into a so but That's what I find to be the cutest thing.
00:55:16
Speaker
um Yeah, that's a very good thing to do with her. That is good and cute thing to do. love it when they coincide like that. Yeah, right it's easy enough to make it so she can't move. I believe in the team answers a while ago, they said her martyr was originally envisioned as a zero cost card. And I think, I'm sure they had a reason they didn't go for it.
00:55:36
Speaker
But I think that could be kind of interesting, like zero three moves to lose you the game. yeah But then it takes up a deck slot, like a card slot in your deck. And like, you only have 12 of those and you want them to do impactful things that win you the game.
00:55:51
Speaker
not be a 0-3 that loses you the game. You would play that 0-3 in some decks. I don't know what those are. Lockjaw or something. The difference from 1 to 0 is a huge difference. i mean You just hold her in your hand until the last turn. That's true.
00:56:08
Speaker
But she still is a card and only offering the 3. If she is supposed to be there and like have stats and not just be like a Lockjaw enabling thing... I don't know.
00:56:20
Speaker
I don't know. But to jump ahead, because what Ben said made me think this is what Agony's problem has been that like, but she takes the deck slot and it's like Agony is fun. You can do things with Agony, but she takes a deck slot and it's like almost always, aren't you like, isn't Nico kind better?
00:56:37
Speaker
there or something you know um and that's that's been agony's problem so i feel like so since we're just jumping ahead she's getting an extra point of power to three power and i think maybe that's finally enough to make her like worth that deck slot you know agony exciting yeah i i like i like this agony change very much yeah i love it it's um but merging is a great ability let's take up less space on your board like but you can use it in a careful way um you use it for something cute like a dead pool um i wish i agree that agony had come out with this stat line to begin with because there's yeah i think that we could have been playing agony you know and it would have made the it would have made the game more interesting
00:57:27
Speaker
But hey, better late than never. it funny i play both Black Cat and Agony in decks where board space and hand space are both precious. um And they both are getting buffed.
00:57:39
Speaker
That's kind of fun. i Mobius, another one that we touched on, is going from three three to three four I have like mixed feelings about this because I really don't think Mobius is a very fun card, but also he needs to be more playable to be able to be a real tech card.
00:57:58
Speaker
Yeah. As is, you mostly can only play him with Pixie.
00:58:04
Speaker
Yeah. I guess this is a good change. I'm just not excited to be playing Mobius because I like cards that do things. Yep.
00:58:15
Speaker
And he doesn't do being a 3-5, which counts as a thing. Okay, I was going to so i was goingnna bring up... What's his face? Stardust. um Yeah, it's like if Mobius isn't helping like, you know, isn't, like you said, with Pixie, part of your deck, you get behind if he's not, like, wrecking their plan, you know?
00:58:36
Speaker
If he's Cyclops, he's Cyclops is the thing. Yeah. Yeah.
00:58:42
Speaker
I mean, Stardust is just the thing. Yeah, but the thing, I mean, 4.7, that's, you know. Is 4.7 better than 2.3?
00:58:56
Speaker
Or 3.4? Yes, it is better than 3.4. Significantly. Okay.
00:59:03
Speaker
That makes sense because they buffed the vanilla stat line for 4, but not for 3. um Blink goes from 5.7 5.8.
00:59:12
Speaker
I like it. I'm not sure. That surprises me too much. Blink seems like it should have been good enough at 5.7, but, you know, if it's not, then it's not. It's such cool ability. Every time see Blink, I'm like, I didn't think about it. Yeah, I didn't think about didn't think I would do that.
00:59:32
Speaker
Ugh. I'm surprised I don't see more blink. Me too. She seems like a really good card, but yeah, she just like vanished after her season, and she crops up index every now and then. but um It's a good thing to do.
00:59:44
Speaker
um Yeah. think I think it's the five cost that's keeping her from... like If she were a four cost, we'd just all blinking all day long. Yeah, that's You're absolutely right. so So maybe this is enough, or maybe she needs to be even bigger.
00:59:57
Speaker
Yeah, I think she needs to be even bigger is the truth. Five nine might be that spot. Five nine? But then, man, that really, that does just seem like too much upside on one card, right? Like 5-9 and like this undeniable ability that we can't believe isn't good enough.
01:00:15
Speaker
Yeah. Sometimes that's how it is, though, right? That was the story of Grandmaster. Yeah, it is. That's exactly the story of Grandmaster. That's a very apt comparison. It just seems like a super strong card, but then it turns out that, like, not super strong, not super popular until you give him, ah what, three extra power?
01:00:34
Speaker
Yeah. Yeah.
01:00:38
Speaker
And then this last one's funny. I didn't even know this was a problem in the game. But Evolved Thing now joining the thing 4-7. Apparently when they buffed the thing, they didn't buff Evolved Thing. See, that's what makes me wonder if Champion Invisible Woman remains You're absolutely right. Seems like the same my idea, right?
01:00:57
Speaker
Oh, man. um That's fun.
01:01:03
Speaker
That'll be a real shame considering that she's in Grand Arena. We'll see. um You know, i don't expect Grand Arena to run again for three or four months. Maybe it'll be like Sanctum and takes even longer to come back because they have to build new shop, new ah champions.
01:01:23
Speaker
Could be. I think we'll probably see it sooner than we are ready for. Yeah.
01:01:32
Speaker
Although i am like I am excited for the future of this mode because like I do think it'll be interesting to see new champions and things. I'm just a little worried they're probably going to bring it back without new champions once.
01:01:43
Speaker
just two I hope that's not true. hope there's new champions every time. That would be exciting, wouldn't it? Yeah. yeah And I think that they could grow the stable of champions quite a bit before they have to make it so that the champions can go in each other's decks. Yeah.
01:02:02
Speaker
you know Because right now all the champions are banned cards. it's like If you have 40 champions and they're popular characters, like you're killing an interaction every single time. At some point, you have to allow non-champion Invisible Woman to be in the other decks. That's not a good example. Non-champion Carnage.
01:02:20
Speaker
yeah ah Moving on to our side quests.
Fan Art Challenge and Community Engagement
01:02:25
Speaker
First up and only, secret homework. This week's secret homework came from Ben.
01:02:31
Speaker
That's right. My secret homework was very creative, as I often do when there's a new thing or a limited time mode or you know, whatever. I just I go with the flow. Whatever's on Disney Plus, whatever's in the the mode screen, I don't know.
01:02:48
Speaker
But right now, obviously, the the flavor of the two weeks is Grand Arena. And so the only thing you really need, like,
01:02:59
Speaker
like i guess I guess I could have tasked us all with inventing a whole new card and then inventing a skill for them. But I was like, hey, let's just ah give a skill to an existing character and ah imagine them as a champo.
01:03:12
Speaker
You know, ah i i think I offered the opportunity to, if you wanted extra credit, you could build an entire pre-con for them. I personally did not do that.
01:03:23
Speaker
But um I did sort of think about what cards would be fun to play with my champion. And my champion, of course, is one of my all-time favorites in the game. the kind of card that I wish was always in my starting hand, Craven, the hunter in parentheses. Um, know, maybe, maybe you've seen the film. Uh, what's his name? Aaron Taylor Johnson. Is that the actor?
01:03:47
Speaker
Great. And, uh, 28 years later, much, much better movie. Um, but anyway, anyway, anyway, the skill, that's what really makes a champion. It's all about the skill. And i was inspired by,
01:04:00
Speaker
That one Craven storyline that, you know, everybody cares about and, you know, gets reprinted a lot. I i read a battered copy of it in the public library.
01:04:12
Speaker
You know, Craven's Last Hunt, I think maybe Deadly Symmetry was the original name or something. I don't know. It had like some goofy ass name that has been like sort of. scrubbed away from later printings of the the thing. It actually took place across three different Spider-Man titles.
01:04:27
Speaker
Big old crossover event, so to speak, except, you know, like that's, you know, they were they were all the same Spider-Man in in the same. Yeah. Anywho, point is, last hunt. It's a one cost skill on reveal. Destroy an enemy card at your champion's location with less power to transform your champion into Spider-Man.
01:04:47
Speaker
It keeps its power. And so like that, that's ah that's sort of the gist of what happens in that book. There's they you know, there there are other things going on. But Craven's like, like got I'm getting old.
01:05:00
Speaker
I just, i got I got to take this fool out. And he attempted. And it's it felt, is he seemed, he thought, he thought he totally myrtleized the Spider-Man.
01:05:11
Speaker
But ah then Spider-Man woke up two weeks later in the grave and like climbed out. And, you know, it it was a whole thing. But anyway, point is, Kraven thought... He had killed Spider-Man and he assumed Spider-Man's identity and was like, I'll go around and do all the Spider-Man stuff just to really show him.
01:05:28
Speaker
So he Spider-Manned around for a little while. But anywho, you know, he was brutal and, you know, craveny and stuff and didn't play by Spider-Man rules and stuff.
01:05:39
Speaker
But anywho... Yeah, so that's that's the gist of it. you You murder somebody at the champion's location, and then ah they have to have less power than Kraven, so you're incentivized to play Kraven's game all the way up until you make the turn.
01:05:52
Speaker
And I think this card would be really fun, you know, considering that Grand Arena has that extra energy. You know what is a balanced breakfast on turn six? Or I guess it's a dinner on turn six, or, you know, a midnight snack even.
01:06:08
Speaker
Uh... Seven an energy, that gets you a one-cost skill and a Heimdall. So I think you go Heimdall, and then you've got a giant Kraven over there, probably on the left or in the middle, and ah he should kill something and then scoot all his power probably over to the rightmost lane or something, you know? like I think that would be cool and fun. But, I mean, there are a bajillion different ways you could play it.
01:06:30
Speaker
Hey, maybe... I don't know. I don't want to tell you how to play my hypothetical card. ah Use your imagination and think of all the fun you would have.
01:06:41
Speaker
I expected hoped that you would make a move card.
01:06:48
Speaker
So thank you. I guess I have one thing that I should add. please I considered just making Kraven then transform into a regular ass Spider-Man, just two, four without all those bonus stats. But I, it seemed like a little bit of a shame and that you should be like rewarded for living the champion dream.
01:07:07
Speaker
And you should be able to keep all those juicy move buffs that you received. I don't know. It's okay. If one of your champion, the cards is very big. but I could also see the arguments against it.
01:07:19
Speaker
Or a 12 or whatever. yeah Okay. Okay, so for mine, I did think what is one thing that is cool about Grand Arena is one thing we don't like in the game is if new cards come out that reference specific other cards in the game.
01:07:41
Speaker
um But Arena is one time to like, hey, to finally do that. So went with um just one of my favorite cards. I just I really just picked it. So I'm like, what card do I want to make one for my Kitty Pride?
01:07:55
Speaker
So that's who I picked. And once again, this was my opportunity to make key card, specific reference card. So my skill would be summon Lockheed, um also a one cost, and be summon Lockheed to this location. And Lockheed would be a 2-2.
01:08:16
Speaker
um With the ability Kitty cannot be destroyed while at Lockheed's location. um Because Lockheed has saved Kitty in the comics a couple times. And also, one power when Kitty is played at this location.
01:08:31
Speaker
So yeah, I did kind of fan service this a bit. It's just a ah Angela gave Kitty Pride a little built-in Kitty-specific thing.
01:08:42
Speaker
Angela, but liked the, you know, the kind of mirror with Kitty's ability, and I just wanted to have a Kitty champion. i So that's what I did. Love it.
01:08:54
Speaker
Oh, yeah. it's thematic and cute and fun.
01:09:03
Speaker
Did you have a thought about what the, I'm going to be putting you on the spot, about what the cost of the skill would be? I did. Sorry. I meant to it would be cost one. and forgot. I was thinking they were all cost one. You could walk in Torres, get two Lockheeds.
01:09:19
Speaker
Yes. Or you could just have Lockheed on turn one, which I think is perfectly appropriate. Like this is kind of like a more small ball champion, which i kind of think is fun. Also, you know, you could walk in Torres, my skill, and although you would transform a Spider-Man into a Spider-Man on the second one.
01:09:37
Speaker
Yeah. But hey, that would still be pretty good. My skill's also at one cost. um ah It would not be useful to Joaquin Torres. It depends on which card it was.
01:09:48
Speaker
Anyway. I chose Mysterio. I thought about picking Valkyrie. But it didn't, and I'm sure it's doable, but I was really trying to think of like, what's a cool like thing that complements Valkyrie, but isn't just going to be the exact same deck every single time. And I'm like, eh.
01:10:05
Speaker
ah just It just seemed too samey. ah So I went with Mysterio. ah Smoke and Mirrors is the name of the skill. It's a one-cost skill with, on reveal, give your illusions plus two power.
01:10:17
Speaker
After you play your next card, transform Mysterio into a copy of it. And only you know where true Mysterio is, right? So i cool figure you're most commonly doing this at the end of the game, but you could do it early.
01:10:34
Speaker
Joaquin thing would be if it was an on reveal, because then it would transform into White Tiger and then transform into White Tiger again. In that case, Joaquin would be helpful. Wow, that's a cool one. I'm not even sure. like There must be a lot of smart things to do with that.
01:10:51
Speaker
I want to play this pre-con. Like you said, it forced me to play Mysterio. Every time I get him a deck with Mysterio, I feel like it's uncomfy. like in a busy week. um Like playing out three cards, you know, it's like it's so many deck slots. I'm so used to like having more room. And its if you get squirrels at all, you're like, can't.
01:11:16
Speaker
Squirrels rack it off. He's such a cool card. We have this conversation every time I bring up Mysterio. i will I'll try more. I'll say something different than I've said before.
01:11:26
Speaker
It's not just about doing cool synergistic things with Mysterio. Sometimes you just win because you know where the four power is and your opponent doesn't, and that's cool. That used to be like his whole thing. Yeah.
01:11:40
Speaker
I mean, if Bass has been around for a while, but yes, you're right. ah Okay. Also that he's three cards played, which is important for like Hitmonkey and Satisfaction.
01:11:52
Speaker
That's true. those were all that that stuff all came after Mysterio was already Mysterio-ing around for quite some time. Yes, that's true. Mysterio used to justify his own existence just doing Mysterio stuff.
01:12:06
Speaker
I swear, it was a real thing that was happening in the game. It happens when I'm playing Mysterio Decks. I win because of that four power. It totally happens. OK, I'm assigning next week's homework.
01:12:17
Speaker
And it's a little bit unusual because it's visual, but we're an audio medium. ah So maybe you'll have to watch us on YouTube next week ah or hang out in the Discord or whatever. Anyway.
01:12:29
Speaker
Very much inspired by friend of the show, Adam Starr, who makes all kinds of incredible Marvel Snap fan art. I want us to make Marvel Snap fan art. And to keep it short and sweet and very doable, and something that the listeners can participate in also, I'm putting a time limit of 20 minutes on your art.
01:12:47
Speaker
So don't make anything super extravagant. You're not rewriting an entire comic or anything like that, but maybe, you know, a couple panels just a funny little snap scene or a picture of a card but a character you like.
01:12:59
Speaker
So that's that. I know you both are at least somewhat artistic. And very creative people. And I want to see your artwork. And to listeners who enjoy participating in homework but don't feel especially artsy, i'd I'd love to see your art, too. I think there's too many people who don't make art because they think they're bad at it. But, like, there's only one way to get better.
01:13:18
Speaker
And bad art has its own charm. And cartoons are fun. And they don't have to be, you know, they're meant to look silly. Every time I play a drawing game in Pictionary or Jackbox or whatever, there's always somebody who's like, but I'm a terrible artist. And I'm like, yes, but that's what makes this game fun. the neighbor It's not fun if everybody's an incredible drawer.
01:13:41
Speaker
What's your favorite Jackbox game? I really, really love Drawful 2. Pretty good. It's a good one. have to i'd have to look at a longer list to come up with like is there one i like more that's definitely the one i've played the most i was gonna say like i'm sure i'll think of one i like better after i you know what i'm actually pretty sure i won't think of one i like better the best one is mad verse city that's oh that is a that is definitely a favorite oh mad verse city is a blast that is a favorite in my home for sure
01:14:13
Speaker
The T-shirt one is fun though. Yeah, TKO is good. yeah right I like Trivia the Murder Party a lot. Oh yeah, TMP maybe. That's my favorite. yeah i like Trivia.
01:14:24
Speaker
I have to say, I haven't played that against people who are actually good at trivia stuff. So like I tend to do all right at that. I'm not really a trivia person.
01:14:36
Speaker
But like in a room full of not trivia people, I will appear as a trivia person. Because everything is relative. maybe Maybe we need to snap on this Jackbox night sometime. No promises.
01:14:50
Speaker
We're brainstorming live um or while
Special Anniversary Episode Announcement
01:14:54
Speaker
we're recording. it Anyway, ah speaking of fun things, Snap on This related, our anniversary is coming up. This is episode 50.
01:15:02
Speaker
So in just two weeks, we're going to have a very special anniversary episode ah celebration, ah part of which will involve... a bonus episode wherein we play magic magic with mod supreme models.
01:15:15
Speaker
Um, and we will also for that, for the proper episode 52 be doing listener Q and a. So if you haven't already, or even if you already did go to the link in the show notes or video description and send us whatever questions you want us to talk about. does not have to be snap related.
01:15:32
Speaker
ah Whatever. And that's that's going to be part of what we do to celebrate doing this for a year already, which is mind-blowing to me.
Community Engagement and Support Encouragement
01:15:42
Speaker
ah If you liked what you heard, like, follow, subscribe, rate, review on iTunes or Spotify.
01:15:48
Speaker
Leave a comment on YouTube or Spotify. If you're not already subscribed on YouTube and you're watching us there right now, do it. Subscribe. It helps our numbers or whatever. ah Leave a comment. We all like hanging out there and and and seeing on internet. Absolutely.
01:16:03
Speaker
ah Or finally come hang out in the speakeasy. It grows a little bit. i I don't know. Every month or so. Every week might be a stretch. Slightly more often than that. I don't know Multiple times a month. You don't have to like live there. Just like pop in and say hello from time to time.
01:16:19
Speaker
It's a fun little place to hang out. It's our own little corner of Discord called the Speakeasy. It's one place where you could share your secret homework or have some climb accountability while you're trying to ah climb up ladder or perform well in Grand Arena. You can report on how your performance is.
01:16:35
Speaker
And if you don't want to, you certainly don't have to. But like personally, I find that accountability to be very helpful in guiding me towards better snap and retreat decisions. Anyway.
01:16:46
Speaker
ah You can find the instructions to join the Speakeasy in the show notes or video description. We are proud to be part of the Snap Judgments Network, where you can listen to other great shows like our grand pod, Snap Judgments, with Pulse Glazer and Roy.
01:17:00
Speaker
and believe it's still on Saturdays, but Pulse Glazer just moved across the world, and maybe that's changed. Maybe. I'm almost positive it's still Saturdays. I think Pulse is changing his schedule to deal with everybody else.
01:17:13
Speaker
um But anyway, great guy, great show. Absolutely. Always has good guests.
Teaser for Upcoming Episode and Reflections
01:17:21
Speaker
Yeah.
01:17:25
Speaker
ah if you want to hear our rankings for the Heralds of Galactus and see some really cute fan art, tune in next week. Same snap time, same snap channel.
01:17:37
Speaker
We did it.
01:17:41
Speaker
You know, 50 episodes in it, I'm still surprised. Man, I... I didn't... I don't know. The only one of the new carts I was really excited to talk about was Stardust. Is that the name? Yeah. maybe Man, i'm I'm just like... wish I had more exciting things to say about that Silver Surfer, but I'm just like frustrated that I won't have it. and like i just yeah same.
01:18:06
Speaker
not excited about the big G-Man, and I just... Man, I wish I had more excitement for them. If you could buy one without the other, i might just buy Silver Surfer. Absolutely, that's what I would do. I wish it worked like that.
01:18:22
Speaker
We should say some people are cheerful. The outro is supposed to be cheerful. I was just like, ah there was a there was a part of the show that didn't go, i wish I could have brought a different energy to it. that's that's not the time This is not the time for that kind of self-reflection.
01:18:36
Speaker
You brought a great energy. You had the hugest smile on your face talking about stars, and I was jazzed. I hadn't thought about this whole list. I was excited you brought the list. The thing is, I'm not certain I missed some, because I was just thinking, what word should I type into the card search on Marvel's Snap Zone?
01:18:54
Speaker
It was like, do you have anything that summons, anything that adds, anything that puts, anything that revives, anything, know, regenerate? I was proud of myself when I remembered that Wolverine X-23 has flavor for...
01:19:08
Speaker
the whole list. I'm tired of you thinking all these keywords. She was saying it might have been more efficient to just scroll through the entire list. Maybe. I don't know.
01:19:19
Speaker
You don't think it'll affect Transform, you? No, I'm sure it won't. Yeah. I'm pretty sure. guess It's very similar to Professor X. right this well If you transform a card, you can still go spider it. It's like it remembers who it was.
01:19:37
Speaker
Remember who you are. Now you gotta take your place the circle of life. One true king.