Marvel Snap January 31 update patch notes: Battle Mode, Series Drop, balance changes, more

Marvel Snap’s January 31 update is shaking things up in a big way with the launch of Battle Mode, the very first Series Drop, along with the usual mix of balance changes to keep things fresh. So before you jump back in, be sure to brush up here with our rundown on the full patch notes.

21 days had passed since last Marvel Snap update arrived, mercifully nerfing some more dominant picks like Leader and Aero, while implementing new Artist Credits. Now, the next major patch is available for everyone to download as developers at Second Dinner have deployed one of the game’s biggest updates yet.

Not only is the first new game mode now live, as players are able to clash head-to-head in Battle Mode, but so too is the initial Series Drop, as a handful of extremely rare cards trickle down through the system and become more easily attainable.

So before you dive back in for some quick games, be sure to get ahead of the curve with our full rundown on all there is to know about Marvel Snap’s January 31 patch.

Battle Mode arrives in Marvel Snap

Headlining the January 31 update is none other than Battle Mode. Having been teased from the very beginning, as the first developer livestream even showcased this mode in action, players around the globe are now finally able to go hands-on with the mode.

Through a simple ‘Battle Code’ sharing system, players can directly compete against friends, popular streamers, and even engage in early tournaments to prove their skills. We even know the game mode will work around the globe, as Ben Brode confirmed cross-region matchmaking will be in effect right out of the gate.

Battle Mode gives both players 10 Health in total. Rather than stealing Cubes in the process, Health is the target instead. By playing in back-to-back games, your goal is to dwindle the Health of your opponent, which can be expedited by snapping early and dealing more damage with a win.

Marvel Snap’s first Series Drop in Jan 31 update

Also included in the January 31 update is Marvel Snap’s first Series Drop. With all new cards categorized into Series 3, Series 4, or Series 5, obtaining these rare additions is a tricky process. The higher the Series, the more challenging they are to acquire, be it through sheer luck or a pile of Collector’s Tokens.

Moving forward, however, to address this process head-on, Second Dinner will be dropping a number of popular cards down into the lower Series to give players a better chance of rounding out their decks. The first of these Series Drops arrived on January 31 with nine cards in total all moving down a rung. Below is a look at every card that changed its rarity:

• Series 5 cards that moved to Series 4:
  • Valkyrie
  • Super-Skrull
  • Bast
  • Shuri
  • Black Panther

• Series 4 cards that moved to Series 3:
  • Luke Cage
  • Absorbing Man
  • She-Hulk
  • Titania

Balance changes in Marvel Snap Jan 31 patch

Much to the chagrin of many players, both Silver Surfer and Zabu, the two most recent season pass cards, haven’t changed as part of the new update. They “started overperforming” shortly after devs locked in this January 31 update, meaning they only just missed the window. However, there’s good news for those eager to see these powerful cards nerfed.

“Fortunately, we now have the ability to adjust balance without a new patch, and we are planning to adjust those cards in a week or so,” Principal Game Designer Glenn Jones announced on Twitter.

However, there are two cards that received significant changes.

First, is Leader, who was changed so that he only copies cards played by your opponent at the location to the right. The developers explained that this was to reduce his power against other six-cost cards.

Second, Wolverine received a buff so that after he is discarded or destroyed, he regenerates at a new location with +2 power. Developers are hoping to encourage him to become more of a viable option in discard/destroyer decks.

Marvel Snap Jan 31 update patch notes

The full patch notes can be found below:

PATCH HIGHLIGHTS

• NEW FEATURE: Friendly Battles! You can now play against friends via an in-game code. Tap the new “Game Modes” icon on the navigation bar and then tap “Friendly Battle” to get started!

GENERAL UPDATES

• You can now change your name within the Avatar menu once every 30 days.
• Zabu has been added to Series 5 in the Token Shop.
• Updated Player Support conversations now have a red dot notification to let you know a response is waiting.

AUDIO

• A Voice Over Volume slider has been added to the settings menu.

ART & VISUAL EFFECTS

• Added new effects for Ghost Rider when there’s no card to play.

BALANCE UPDATES

CARD UPDATES

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.

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.

Text-Only Updates

• In addition to Wolverine, a few cards use the word “play” in their text but don’t actually play anything. This small update aims to avoid players misinterpreting how these cards interact with triggers that specify playing a card:
  • Hela
  • Jubilee
• Sentry: Using more consistent language for similar effects.

LOCATION UPDATES

Text-Only Updates

• The Raft: Removing the word “draw” for accuracy.
• Vibranium Mines: Removing “a card” for brevity.

BUG FIXES

• Killmonger no longer has the incorrect translation in non-English languages.
• [Android] Pinning a Token card then tapping the device Back button or ESC on PC should no longer un-pin the card.
• [iOS] UI elements no longer clip with the card ability info at the bottom of a card when a card is focused.
• Fixed an issue that could freeze the game when interacting with the Season Pass Spotlight Card.
• Fixed several avatars that were not centered.
• Fixed an issue that would sometimes allow cards other than Shocker to be removed from the deck during the deck edit tutorial.
• News items should now show in date order.
• Fixed an issue that caused some artist credits to clip out of the UI frames.
• The Ping Ring should no longer show in the incorrect places in the Card Upgrade tutorial.
• End Turn button should no longer switch between Turn 1, Turn 0, Turn 1 at the start of a match.
• Murderworld no longer causes a delay at end of turn 3.
• Maria Hill should no longer have a chance to spawn unreleased cards.
• Fixed an issue where Wakanda’s VFX could show in the wrong location if Mirror Dimension turned into Wakanda.
• Vormir’s text should no longer grey out when the opponent plays a card there but you haven’t yet.
• Armor’s VFX disappear correctly if Isle of Silence spawns at her location after she’s already active there.
• [iOS] Season Pass splash screen UI should no longer clip under notches.
• Ebony Maw’s VFX should now move when the card moves.
• Fixed an issue with Odin/Absorbing Man that could cause turns to take too long.
• Updated the Fast Forward VFX so it appears with correct VFX on Android.
• Improved the UX of moving a card to Cloak’s location for the first card you move when Cloak activates.
• Updated a Venom and She-Hulk variant avatar that were not correctly aligned with the background.
• [Windows] Mousing over variant or upgrade buttons on the card detail view no longer highlights both buttons together.
• [Windows] The Filter menu no longer displays fullscreen instead of to the right side of the UI.
• [Localization] Fixed multiple missing/incorrect translations.

KNOWN ISSUES LIST

• Enemy titles aren’t fully centered on the matchmaking screen.
• Notifications don’t appear for claimable rewards in the Ranked UI.
• Attilan can occasionally cause a match to stall when its VFX activates.
• Pasting a deck full of the same card can crash the game.
• Celebration VFX for unlocking/purchasing an item can be slow to appear.
• Altar of Death doesn’t give you bonus energy if Green Goblin and Hobgoblin are played on them and destroyed.
• Death shows a cost update UI even when no cards have been destroyed.
• If a player disconnects from a Friendly Battle, the game expiration timer is too long and the remaining player has to go through too many rounds to finish the game.
• Taking no action at the end of a Friendly Battle and expiring the timer can cause the game to freeze.
• Sometimes there’s overlapping/duplicate text on the End Turn button in a Friendly Battle.
• The prompt for inputting an incorrect code for Friendly Battle is not descriptive enough.
• Disconnecting from a normal match and then trying to join a Friendly Battle match will tell you the code is invalid and you have to finish your normal match before you can create a new Friendly Battle room.
• Two players snapping on the same turn in a Friendly Battle can cause the health bar colors to show incorrectly.
• Chibi Spider-Man from the Line In the Sand bundle doesn’t animate enough at higher rarities.
• If Rogue steals an ability from a card on Gamma Lab before the location activates, she retains the ability text (but not the ability) and doesn’t count as a card without an ability.
• Time Stone’s effect isn’t applied properly if it’s destroyed.
• Token Shop doesn’t display referenced cards.
• If the store refreshes while you’re on the Token Shop purchase confirmation, you buy the new card not the old card.
• Playing more than one Absorbing Man in a row can cause a loop.
• Angela doesn’t get buffed by cards returned by Luke’s Bar if she’s already active on the location when new cards are played.
• Disconnecting from a Friendly Battle and connecting to a new game with a new code puts you in the previous Battle.