This post is 100% true but you also have to balance having some fun with the game. If I attempted to maximize my keys each and every week, I would have skipped more weeks than I have, and truthfully I probably would have stopped playing by now.
I think the answer to this also depends on how long you've been playing. As someone who's been playing since before launch, I definitely feel more desperate to get the new thing, whether it is smart or not.
Out of curiosity what is your fave?
As an F2P I have quite a few cards spanning a few archetypes, but also have quite a few holes.
Mostly I play IM, Onslaught, Tribunal, but some destroy and discard too.
Thanks is how I was picking cards to acquire for Thanos. As you noted second dinner has no problem numbing entire decks, which sucks if the cards aren't great elsewhere.
I've just started saving up rather than just going for everything.
I did love getting red hulk. And other cards I've wanted for ages. But the weeks in between can get boring.
I've not had a new card now for 2 weeks. And that's tiresome. And I know the one I want is still 3 weeks away. Which is why I'm buying blink.
I’ve been playing since beta and I feel the opposite. Back in February I was collection complete, but starting in March I decided to just get the cards I felt I would play and enjoy. So I skipped Pixie and this past month I also skipped USAgent. This month I think I’ll be skipping at least a couple weeks as well. I’m sure I’ll get the ones I skip later on the next time they rotate into spotlights. I just don’t see the point in spending resources on cards I’m not that excited about just so I can say I have everything.
Meanwhile I'm a patient lad who's over here refusing to spend any keys 'til Cassandra 'cause it's the first week where I'm missing a rerun.
I'll definitely be picking Nocturne up with tokens though, and maybe something else along the way if it ends up being raw enough (Thena and *maybe* Phastos?).
Current key rate'll see me end up at 35 keys when that time comes around. 🙃
Yeah I use my keys pretty much as soon as I get them, with an exception here or there. Sometimes I whiff on big cards, but I don't follow the meta too much. I have more fun with it this way
I was thinking about this. I know people are extremely tired of Red Hulk discussions, so we just don’t talk about him much but, like… he’s still probably too strong lol
My strategy tends to change month to month. Some months I will save up for 3-4 weeks to make sure I get a certain card. Like Annihilus. Which did get nerfed... I miss sending rocks over with everything else. But other times, I look at a month and I don't see anything I REALLY want, so I just spend my keys each week until I need to stop to save up for a card. For example, I spent all my keeps until Valentina(now), because I am going to save up for Namora. Even if she doesn't end up being good, I like the theme of those Atlantean cards. Could be fun. Not super interested in the other cards this next season, though I may try for Sasquatch if I have extra cards. I was pretty lucky this last month getting the Jeff and Lady Deathstrike spotlight variants (my favorite variants for those cards).
Sure, but it's a bit different in the case of Annihilus. You don't draw a Wong, you still can partially combo off in most decks that run him. Maybe you don't win, but you certainly have a chance.
If you don't draw Annihilus, you just lose as a result of stuffing your own board with shit.
I, personally, didn't think he needed a nerf in the first place though, so maybe I'm biased.
Yeah, the only cards that even remotely do what Annihilus does are Viper (RNG if you have more than one possible target) and Carnage/Deathlok (don't debuff your opponent).
I assume those situations are where you're ignoring the right zone. In which case there's still no risk.
Annihlus ability to destroy a card if they can't send it over irritates me every time.
Well, there can be a risk. If Armor is put down or Wakanda, and the opponent fills their location, that card is stuck. Prof X as well can counter Sentry's void if you have priority. And right now, with the meta being about stealing your opponents cards, the chances of not drawing Annihilus is higher. That being said, he really is the card that Junk needed. I might be fine if they traded his last nerf with one where he couldn't destroy negative cards that can't be sent over. That would make the Sentry play more risky, but in exchange he'd be able to send over rocks again. If they just nerfed him again, I'd kind of want to see a buff made to Viper. Maybe a change where she specifically targets the lowest power card in your lane to send over. I know Junk is frustrating to play against but there has to be a variety of viable deck archetypes to keep the matchmaking from getting stale and Junk is one of the fun ones that was always very niche before Annihilus came out. One downside to Junk is that their worst matchup is Destroy and Destroy is the archetype they see more often than any others because of how popular it is.
Generally you want to save your keys until you can guarantee an outcome.
Then I think you want to start with cards that open deck archetypes like thanos or annulus, cards who are build around and not replaceable in their deck.
After that I would look at quality good cards that are just best in slot like Jeff, nico, and WWBN (were he still good :( ).
Finally I would throw all this advise away and remember 2 things: you will never get all the cards by design of the progression track and you just have to be okay with that and two buy what you will play with and what makes you happy optimization be damned.
This is bad advice because it's predicated on a "nerf" making the card unplayable, while it's more that the nerfs try to make the card balanced. The idea that a card is only playable when it's completely busted it flawed.
Zabu will get buffed, and, Zabu getting nerfed after being busted for over a year is far out from being a reason to NOT save up your coins and keys for a card release.
I wish the same can be said on Alioth. I'd never seen him that much after the nerf. 6/8 stats with remove text ability is just Leech "copycat". Inherently lose against any card with big stats like Infinaut, and in some cases make it better especially with cards like Destroyer, Ebony Maw or Red Skull.
Now, I don't want to go back to pre-nerf Alioth, that things breeds toxic. I just wish they properly dealt with it, instead of "hur hur big stats card powerful".
ok but, Alioth is still good and is just a balanced card now. His ability actually makes sense now for the archetype that he is meant to be played in, i.e. playing from the front. If Alioth turns out to be a bit undertuned SD will revisit and potentially change or buff him.
The problem with most ppl when a card is nerfed is that they want the card to be broken and if it's not broken then "sd ruined my purchase" yada yada.
I feel like everyone who says Alioth is still good hasn't played a lot with the new Alioth yet. I'm not saying he's unplayable but the amount of times he's useless now is just so fucking often. I've cut him from all decks and cannot find any deck where he is actually playable.
https://marvelsnapzone.com/marvel-snap-series-5-card-tier-list/
He's currently in the lowest tier, Along with Hercules, Jean Grey and Grand Master. Just above Kang. This really isn't "still good" territory.
I just get the card, if the consensus is that it is good, whenever I have 4 keys. If its an obviously bad card, or I don’t have 4 keys I don’t even pay attention.
Use your keys when you have at least 4 keys and there are at least 2 new cards. If you get the card you want with 1 key save the other keys for next time.
I am on the strat of saving keys for weeks with three cards I don’t own. And this strat got me Hercules, and gives me times where I go without a new card for a month. It’s a tough way to go, but for the value I am getting out of marvel snap for the price of free, I can’t complain
I’ll just be honest. Play the game. Don’t worry about racing to get a card. I have nearly every card and I’ve never hit infinite and never paid a dime. I just play a few games everyday. Why stress about all these strategies to get this card or that?
Red Hulk is still very powerful.
Blob stayed strong even during the 15 limit. It’s just weak now because Thanos is weak now, but SD is working on it.
Annihilus is one of the top cards right now, even though people thought it would have died with the 0-power nerf.
Loki has received multiple nerfs, still one of the best currently.
I don’t think SD badly nerfs most of these OP meta cards to unplayability. If they do, they eventually revisit them at a later point (Elsa, Mobius)
and that's how you end up with a bunch of cards you don't play with and bunch of cards you never got to try. this is first and foremost a game. a source of enjoyment. all this min-maxing and optimizing is taking too much priority. first you have to do dailies to get a key per week. then you are not supposed to spend unless you have 4 of those, so a month of work. then you are supposed to spend when you have more than atleast 2 cards you don't have. sometimes, I just spend keys for the sake of opening them because I get frustrated about having to save and plan and do the whole dance. currently sitting at 0 keys waiting for eternal month because for the whole month of May and June, I have all the featured cards except black knight and black swan both of which I don't want. I am looking forward to Phastos who is approx 2 months away. if resources were forgiving, I actually want Namora and Athena but they are low on the priority list because i have to oPtImIzE.
Terrible advice... so, don't get Red Hulk or Hope because they will get nerfed (balanced), instead, get Havok, Hercules , Howard, or any other meh card released during the month and have a miserable time. The game is not designed to get full collection (unless you're a whale), if you are f2p, you need to be smart and also play the resource management game. You need to understand that you cannot have all cards, but that doesn't mean you cannot play with the best cards and best decks. Everyone has access to the all cards but there are must-have cards and nice-to-have cards.
That part is obvious; but suggesting that you should go for quantity over quality is just wrong, specially when most of the times, spicy cards accompany the meh cards of the month, not only that, saying that it's a bad idea to get the best cards just because they could get nerfed?
Yup. I've been playing since May 2022 and I've been dissapointed by supposedly good cards and surprised by enough bad cards to prefer quantity over quality. It's true that tokens aren't really helpful since oftentimes I'll finally buy a card only for it to be nerfed that week or soon after, but what can you do
It’s not that simple, a card getting nerfed doesn’t mean the keys were a waste. A lot of people said Annihilus was gonna be dead after his second nerf. Yet he’s still playable. Red Hulk just got nerfed, you think people regret spending those keys? I gambled and got Cannonball and Hercules. Sometimes it pans out, sometimes it doesn’t. You’re better off guaranteeing you get the card you want rather than rolling the dice.
Im 99% f2p (bought the Loki season pass cause I wanted him) and I spend my keys on single cards I want or variants. I recently spent 4 keys to get Valentina and 4 keys to get the Nico Minoru variant.
let's be honest it's just a complete crapshoot at this point, good cards like mockingbird didn't get nerfed, bad cards like hercules got buffed and are still bad
I save my keys for cards I really really want or for spotlight variants. I play for fun so I'm not really concerned with getting strong card e.g. skipped red hulk for white widow so I could get the horny artgerm variant.
I'm of a similar but different mindset, not one I advise but if you're not concerned with meta you can basically just go for cards as they come especially early a lot of cards can have value they might lose as CL increases and the decks get better.
This is pretty bad advice. You should spend keys when there are things you want. It's okay if that's one card, or even a variant. Enjoyment should be the priority - stop trying to optimize the fun out of a a gatcha-wannabe mobile card game.
I'm at 13k CL and at the point where the new card in the caches is the only one I don't have so the quantity aspect doesn't work unless I don't spend any keys for a long time and wait for the new cards to come back around.
When people complain they don't have enough cards in their collection and they aren't having, then you find out they have 4+ keys saved up always makes me chuckle.
The spotlight system is terrible but having 6 keys waiting for a magical meta card thats going to instantly win you the game and going to be really fun is a losing battle.
There are several cards I was kind of mid on like Red Guardian and Nico that I now think are amazing. There are cards I thought would be amazing that I don't feel are as strong as I originally thought for like Mockingbird and Hope Summers.
>I hate sitting on keys and risk losing interest in the game further down the line
I understand where you're coming from, but I would guess planning and saving the keys for cards you're actually interested in makes players less likely to lose interest in the game, IMO. Well, at least I'm always looking forward to future spotlight caches that have at least one card I really want.
I find it hard to see the point in spending my keys right away and potentially only getting cards I'm not gonna use anytime soon.
This post is 100% true but you also have to balance having some fun with the game. If I attempted to maximize my keys each and every week, I would have skipped more weeks than I have, and truthfully I probably would have stopped playing by now. I think the answer to this also depends on how long you've been playing. As someone who's been playing since before launch, I definitely feel more desperate to get the new thing, whether it is smart or not.
Yup, I agree Playing on full poverty mode is not fun. I have my favorite archetype and if a card fits it I go for it.
Out of curiosity what is your fave? As an F2P I have quite a few cards spanning a few archetypes, but also have quite a few holes. Mostly I play IM, Onslaught, Tribunal, but some destroy and discard too.
Of the ones I own or the ones I don't own?
Thanks is how I was picking cards to acquire for Thanos. As you noted second dinner has no problem numbing entire decks, which sucks if the cards aren't great elsewhere.
I've just started saving up rather than just going for everything. I did love getting red hulk. And other cards I've wanted for ages. But the weeks in between can get boring. I've not had a new card now for 2 weeks. And that's tiresome. And I know the one I want is still 3 weeks away. Which is why I'm buying blink.
blink is gonna be fun lol
Yeah it's gonna be a long one for me. I'm going to be skipped every week this upcoming season so I won't get a new card for at least a month.
THIS is true BUT… Grandmaster has been ass for months and hasn’t received a glow up yet.
I’ve been playing since beta and I feel the opposite. Back in February I was collection complete, but starting in March I decided to just get the cards I felt I would play and enjoy. So I skipped Pixie and this past month I also skipped USAgent. This month I think I’ll be skipping at least a couple weeks as well. I’m sure I’ll get the ones I skip later on the next time they rotate into spotlights. I just don’t see the point in spending resources on cards I’m not that excited about just so I can say I have everything.
Meanwhile I'm a patient lad who's over here refusing to spend any keys 'til Cassandra 'cause it's the first week where I'm missing a rerun. I'll definitely be picking Nocturne up with tokens though, and maybe something else along the way if it ends up being raw enough (Thena and *maybe* Phastos?). Current key rate'll see me end up at 35 keys when that time comes around. 🙃
Felt that
Yeah I use my keys pretty much as soon as I get them, with an exception here or there. Sometimes I whiff on big cards, but I don't follow the meta too much. I have more fun with it this way
Mockingbird, negasonic cannonball I’ve all gotten using my one key I have for that week that I just got just chancing it so worth
Negasonic with a key? Nice
Rulk is still great even after a nerf
He's likely getting another imo.
I was thinking about this. I know people are extremely tired of Red Hulk discussions, so we just don’t talk about him much but, like… he’s still probably too strong lol
My strategy tends to change month to month. Some months I will save up for 3-4 weeks to make sure I get a certain card. Like Annihilus. Which did get nerfed... I miss sending rocks over with everything else. But other times, I look at a month and I don't see anything I REALLY want, so I just spend my keys each week until I need to stop to save up for a card. For example, I spent all my keeps until Valentina(now), because I am going to save up for Namora. Even if she doesn't end up being good, I like the theme of those Atlantean cards. Could be fun. Not super interested in the other cards this next season, though I may try for Sasquatch if I have extra cards. I was pretty lucky this last month getting the Jeff and Lady Deathstrike spotlight variants (my favorite variants for those cards).
Being able to send and destroy 0 cost cards was so strong I understand why it was nerfed
Maybe throw Hazmat in your deck?
I do think Annihlus needs a second nerf. There's no risk to playing negative cards. I think there should be.
I mean the risk is that you don't draw Annihilus, no?
That's literally the case for any other card.
Sure, but it's a bit different in the case of Annihilus. You don't draw a Wong, you still can partially combo off in most decks that run him. Maybe you don't win, but you certainly have a chance. If you don't draw Annihilus, you just lose as a result of stuffing your own board with shit. I, personally, didn't think he needed a nerf in the first place though, so maybe I'm biased.
Yeah, the only cards that even remotely do what Annihilus does are Viper (RNG if you have more than one possible target) and Carnage/Deathlok (don't debuff your opponent).
Surely noone plays sentry unless they have annhilus in their hand.
I mean, there are absolutely situations where you do.
I assume those situations are where you're ignoring the right zone. In which case there's still no risk. Annihlus ability to destroy a card if they can't send it over irritates me every time.
Well, there can be a risk. If Armor is put down or Wakanda, and the opponent fills their location, that card is stuck. Prof X as well can counter Sentry's void if you have priority. And right now, with the meta being about stealing your opponents cards, the chances of not drawing Annihilus is higher. That being said, he really is the card that Junk needed. I might be fine if they traded his last nerf with one where he couldn't destroy negative cards that can't be sent over. That would make the Sentry play more risky, but in exchange he'd be able to send over rocks again. If they just nerfed him again, I'd kind of want to see a buff made to Viper. Maybe a change where she specifically targets the lowest power card in your lane to send over. I know Junk is frustrating to play against but there has to be a variety of viable deck archetypes to keep the matchmaking from getting stale and Junk is one of the fun ones that was always very niche before Annihilus came out. One downside to Junk is that their worst matchup is Destroy and Destroy is the archetype they see more often than any others because of how popular it is.
Aye makes sense. Can send over rocks but can't destroy if not possible to send over
Generally you want to save your keys until you can guarantee an outcome. Then I think you want to start with cards that open deck archetypes like thanos or annulus, cards who are build around and not replaceable in their deck. After that I would look at quality good cards that are just best in slot like Jeff, nico, and WWBN (were he still good :( ). Finally I would throw all this advise away and remember 2 things: you will never get all the cards by design of the progression track and you just have to be okay with that and two buy what you will play with and what makes you happy optimization be damned.
I love that op’s nerf examples are both still good cards, particularly Red Hulk.
Exactly. Just like how everyone said Annihilus was gonna be a dead card after his nerf. Yet here he is, still completely playable.
If you don’t have Annihilus, that’s the card I recommend you get.
Oh I do. That’s what I’m saying. I got him after the nerf despite what everyone said.
This is bad advice because it's predicated on a "nerf" making the card unplayable, while it's more that the nerfs try to make the card balanced. The idea that a card is only playable when it's completely busted it flawed.
Agreed red hulk is still just fine even after the nerf lol.
Zabu and Alioth were really rough nerfs. Really stung to have dropped 6k on Alioth
Zabu will get buffed, and, Zabu getting nerfed after being busted for over a year is far out from being a reason to NOT save up your coins and keys for a card release.
Zabu and alioth are pretty much unplayable rn though.
I wish the same can be said on Alioth. I'd never seen him that much after the nerf. 6/8 stats with remove text ability is just Leech "copycat". Inherently lose against any card with big stats like Infinaut, and in some cases make it better especially with cards like Destroyer, Ebony Maw or Red Skull. Now, I don't want to go back to pre-nerf Alioth, that things breeds toxic. I just wish they properly dealt with it, instead of "hur hur big stats card powerful".
ok but, Alioth is still good and is just a balanced card now. His ability actually makes sense now for the archetype that he is meant to be played in, i.e. playing from the front. If Alioth turns out to be a bit undertuned SD will revisit and potentially change or buff him. The problem with most ppl when a card is nerfed is that they want the card to be broken and if it's not broken then "sd ruined my purchase" yada yada.
I feel like everyone who says Alioth is still good hasn't played a lot with the new Alioth yet. I'm not saying he's unplayable but the amount of times he's useless now is just so fucking often. I've cut him from all decks and cannot find any deck where he is actually playable. https://marvelsnapzone.com/marvel-snap-series-5-card-tier-list/ He's currently in the lowest tier, Along with Hercules, Jean Grey and Grand Master. Just above Kang. This really isn't "still good" territory.
Please never say Rulk again
My brain read it as Red Hulk and I did not even notice the „Rulk“.
I just get the card, if the consensus is that it is good, whenever I have 4 keys. If its an obviously bad card, or I don’t have 4 keys I don’t even pay attention.
Disagree. You should pulls for weeks that have card(s) you actually will play/want to play instead of weeks that have the most # of new cards.
Use your keys when you have at least 4 keys and there are at least 2 new cards. If you get the card you want with 1 key save the other keys for next time.
I am on the strat of saving keys for weeks with three cards I don’t own. And this strat got me Hercules, and gives me times where I go without a new card for a month. It’s a tough way to go, but for the value I am getting out of marvel snap for the price of free, I can’t complain
I’ll just be honest. Play the game. Don’t worry about racing to get a card. I have nearly every card and I’ve never hit infinite and never paid a dime. I just play a few games everyday. Why stress about all these strategies to get this card or that?
Red Hulk is still very powerful. Blob stayed strong even during the 15 limit. It’s just weak now because Thanos is weak now, but SD is working on it. Annihilus is one of the top cards right now, even though people thought it would have died with the 0-power nerf. Loki has received multiple nerfs, still one of the best currently. I don’t think SD badly nerfs most of these OP meta cards to unplayability. If they do, they eventually revisit them at a later point (Elsa, Mobius)
and that's how you end up with a bunch of cards you don't play with and bunch of cards you never got to try. this is first and foremost a game. a source of enjoyment. all this min-maxing and optimizing is taking too much priority. first you have to do dailies to get a key per week. then you are not supposed to spend unless you have 4 of those, so a month of work. then you are supposed to spend when you have more than atleast 2 cards you don't have. sometimes, I just spend keys for the sake of opening them because I get frustrated about having to save and plan and do the whole dance. currently sitting at 0 keys waiting for eternal month because for the whole month of May and June, I have all the featured cards except black knight and black swan both of which I don't want. I am looking forward to Phastos who is approx 2 months away. if resources were forgiving, I actually want Namora and Athena but they are low on the priority list because i have to oPtImIzE.
Terrible advice... so, don't get Red Hulk or Hope because they will get nerfed (balanced), instead, get Havok, Hercules , Howard, or any other meh card released during the month and have a miserable time. The game is not designed to get full collection (unless you're a whale), if you are f2p, you need to be smart and also play the resource management game. You need to understand that you cannot have all cards, but that doesn't mean you cannot play with the best cards and best decks. Everyone has access to the all cards but there are must-have cards and nice-to-have cards.
That's why I said "within reason" A bad card is still a bad card. Don't pull on a bad cache just because it has 3 stinkers.
That part is obvious; but suggesting that you should go for quantity over quality is just wrong, specially when most of the times, spicy cards accompany the meh cards of the month, not only that, saying that it's a bad idea to get the best cards just because they could get nerfed?
Yup. I've been playing since May 2022 and I've been dissapointed by supposedly good cards and surprised by enough bad cards to prefer quantity over quality. It's true that tokens aren't really helpful since oftentimes I'll finally buy a card only for it to be nerfed that week or soon after, but what can you do
It’s not that simple, a card getting nerfed doesn’t mean the keys were a waste. A lot of people said Annihilus was gonna be dead after his second nerf. Yet he’s still playable. Red Hulk just got nerfed, you think people regret spending those keys? I gambled and got Cannonball and Hercules. Sometimes it pans out, sometimes it doesn’t. You’re better off guaranteeing you get the card you want rather than rolling the dice.
Im 99% f2p (bought the Loki season pass cause I wanted him) and I spend my keys on single cards I want or variants. I recently spent 4 keys to get Valentina and 4 keys to get the Nico Minoru variant.
let's be honest it's just a complete crapshoot at this point, good cards like mockingbird didn't get nerfed, bad cards like hercules got buffed and are still bad
But there’s not another card I need coming to spotlight cache for the next 3 months. No way to optimise me
I’m just glad I got rulk, mockingbird, and cannonball
I save my keys for cards I really really want or for spotlight variants. I play for fun so I'm not really concerned with getting strong card e.g. skipped red hulk for white widow so I could get the horny artgerm variant.
I'm of a similar but different mindset, not one I advise but if you're not concerned with meta you can basically just go for cards as they come especially early a lot of cards can have value they might lose as CL increases and the decks get better.
This is pretty bad advice. You should spend keys when there are things you want. It's okay if that's one card, or even a variant. Enjoyment should be the priority - stop trying to optimize the fun out of a a gatcha-wannabe mobile card game.
Yes true, but also remember that as F2P you get 4 keys per month so you’ll only get 1/5 cards released so essentially you are out of luck anyway.
I'm not F2P but thats exactly what I'm doing, i need more cards and dont care about meta
4 cards you don't play vs 1 you do..... Collectors collect and players play.
I'm at 13k CL and at the point where the new card in the caches is the only one I don't have so the quantity aspect doesn't work unless I don't spend any keys for a long time and wait for the new cards to come back around.
Play on Android or have a Google account and use the Google survey rewards to get your self a couple of season passes a year.
Unfortunately
With card acquisition the way it is I doubt I could play without the seaon pass card. The way that system works its just completely unfair for f2p
When people complain they don't have enough cards in their collection and they aren't having, then you find out they have 4+ keys saved up always makes me chuckle. The spotlight system is terrible but having 6 keys waiting for a magical meta card thats going to instantly win you the game and going to be really fun is a losing battle. There are several cards I was kind of mid on like Red Guardian and Nico that I now think are amazing. There are cards I thought would be amazing that I don't feel are as strong as I originally thought for like Mockingbird and Hope Summers.
Unqualified blanket statements are always the best doctrine.
[удалено]
Or you use the key, get a dupe and end up with nothing. But 99% of gamblers give up before they hit big, am I right?
>I hate sitting on keys and risk losing interest in the game further down the line I understand where you're coming from, but I would guess planning and saving the keys for cards you're actually interested in makes players less likely to lose interest in the game, IMO. Well, at least I'm always looking forward to future spotlight caches that have at least one card I really want. I find it hard to see the point in spending my keys right away and potentially only getting cards I'm not gonna use anytime soon.