Marvel Snap's arguably most hated card received a huge rework but is the green supervillain still able to lead the pack?
The Green Meanie AKA the Leader has been terrorizing the Marvel Snap meta for a long time, despite receiving multiple nerfs. However, the recurring nightmares might finally stop with the free-to-play card battler’s latest 11.18 patch update.
In many's eyes, the big imba a**hole of a card has just got hit with a big nerf hammer. It is comforting to the community, as the developers finally heard their prayers (or mournings) and humbled Leader down to earth with the following changes:
- Leader: [6/7] On Reveal: Copy all cards your opponent played to the location to the right, but on your side.
- Dev Note: Leader is a prominent “finisher” in the current Snap meta, and we're not happy with some of the card choices and play patterns he encourages, especially his strength against other cool 6-cost cards
- We're changing Leader to only copy cards played at the location to his right, with more base Power to compensate. We hope that this change will reward clever predictions and reduce the frustration of playing against him.
With the update, the brainiac no longer copies all the cards your opponent played in the round, screw that ultimate gotcha effect. Now, he still copies some cards, restricted to just the right location where you play him. This translates to - you now really need to think harder about where you place him. Which ironically is the true prowess of the iconic Marvel supervillain.
Yes, he did get a stat buff that bumped his power to 7, but that is incomparable to the impact of his old ability. Heck, he could be a 6-cost 0 power card back then and still be labeled as "unfair".
Based on my severe addiction observation, the detestable Leader is no longer active on the prowl. Well, at least in infinite rank and mid-to-high CL pool. So, we can now shift all of our hatred or love to the following toxicity: Leech, Galactus, and Hazmat, just to name a few.
Having said that, with a little bit of effort and brain juice, one can still make the post-nerf Leader work.
It may not be highly competitive, but one must change with time and switch our perceptions. Yes, he is no longer the perfect counter and finisher combo package, but he can still instill some fear in the right deck or situation. Treat him as a solid 6-drop with a potential card advantage and you would know where to include him in your deckbuilding.
One natural habitat would be a pulling-movement control list that utilises staples such as Aero, Juggernaut, and Polaris to manipulate the positioning of your opponent's cards.
Alternatively, you could sneak the 6/7 incidental clone machine into a ShuriZabu midrange deck featuring Zabu, Shuri, Spider-Man, Rescue, and Enchantress.
On the other hand, Wolverine got a deserved improvement, so expect to see a flurry of old-man Logans and destroy decks flooding the meta.
- Wolverine: [2/2] When this is discarded or destroyed, regenerate it at a random location with +2 Power.
- Dev Note: Wolverine sees virtually no play at the moment, which is a bummer given how iconic he is.
- We’re giving him a substantial buff to reward players for activating his effect and create new deckbuilding options at both low and high collection levels.
- Note: We have updated his text from “play” to “regenerate” to better reflect his gameplay functionality. This is purely a flavor and clarity choice.
In conclusion, the once-feared green brainiac is now a thing of the past. We can safely say he has dropped from being an S-ranked to a solid C+ at the most. But a surprise Leader might still win you some games if you're big-brain enough. And if you're new to the game or thinking of picking it up, read our beginner's guide right here!
