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Marvel Snap has just released their most recent balance changes, and alongside the addition of the brand-new Conquest Mode, some buffs to lesser-used cards, and the inclusion of weekend missions, the biggest change to come from this update is the adjustment to Galactus. Galactus has been a terror on the Marvel Snap competitive ladder since its release, completely warping whatever game he is a part of. Games against Galactus often have a different win condition than the traditional 2/3 location structure of other Marvel Snap matches. Players will often have to play more conservatively to avoid buffing Knull too much, will have to make stranger plays to fill up enemy locations, and overall completely switch up their strategy to account for a single card.
This isn't to say that Galactus doesn't have any counters. In fact, Galactus has tons of encounters. But if a single card requires all decks to run Debrii just to counter it, something has to change. And, finally, something has. Here is everything you need to know about the Galactus adjustment in Marvel Snap.
Marvel Snap June 2023 Patch Nerfs Galactus: Is Galactus Still Good?
Here is the change to Galactus. Despite the title of this article, there is no way of knowing yet whether or not this change can be considered a Nerf or not. However, at least from a first glance, this certainly does seem like a nerf.
- [Old] 6/2 – On Reveal: If this is your only card here, destroy all other locations.
- [New] 6/7 – On Reveal: If you’re winning this location and this is your only card here, destroy all other locations.
Here is the full developer explanation for the changes made to Galactus:
Galactus is a card we’ve kept a close eye on since release. His ability warps the game, changing the goal for both players from claiming two locations to waging war around cards that “counter” him/his finishers and priority. We don’t mind mixing things up a bit from time to time in that regard, but Galactus’s play rate was moving past the thresholds we set to determine both competitive diversity and also how frequently the game gets reduced to that state. Because Galactus is inherently counterable, we waited to see if the metagame could sort itself out, but it hasn’t. Galactus’s popularity has increased, his winrate has only grown, and many players don’t even enjoy beating him–these are problems worth solving.
The original design for Galactus is difficult to rebalance, because it has essentially one value we can adjust: Power. However, lower Power can mean that Galactus always loses priority, making post-Galactus counters like Shang-Chi or Enchantress difficult to play. Meanwhile, increases may let you beat these cards more naturally, especially Professor X. Either way, it’s still all about the counters. We considered making him the first true 7-Cost card, but that was just less fun and weaker with the same issues. We also considered full redesigns for Galactus but didn’t find anything that cleared our bar, which is very high.
Ultimately, we decided to make Power a functional way for us to tune Galactus, which led us to this additional “winning” restriction. Caring about winning this way lets players contest Galactus within the core fun of SNAP–using Power to challenge for locations. Relying exclusively on counters is frustrating because neither player has much control over their appearance, but every deck should have the ability to muster 7 Power. We expect he’ll be stronger in decks that play him on turn 6 after Hobgoblin or Nimrod, but worse in the stronger, more popular Galactus archetypes. If this change proves too much or too little, it’s also given us the ability to tune him further via OTA and find the healthiest spot.
Needless to say, Galactus decks will require some reworking now, but because Galactus is still a Big Bad, he will not be dropping to Series 4. So, if this change is deemed too severe, it is likely Second Dinner will make another adjustment to compensate (similar to Enchantress).
And that's everything you need to know about the most recent Galactus changes in Marvel Snap.
For more Marvel Snap news, be sure to check out our dedicated section or take a look at some of our Guides & Tutorials just below:
- Does Marvel Snap Have Codes
- Featured & Hot Locations Explained
- Who Reveals First
- Progression and Levelling Guide
- What Is the Snap
- How To Get Titles
- Why You Can't Trade Cards
- How To Get, Use and Spend Gold
- How Do Ties Work
- How To Get Collector's Tokens
- How Collector's Reserves Work
- How To Change Card Backs
- When To Snap & Retreat
- How To Change Name
- How To Win A Location With Only 1 Card
- How To Get Credits Fast
- How to Battle Friends
- Marvel Snap Variants Explained
- Ultimate Variants Explained
- How to Get All Variant Cards
