Marvel Snap balance patch nerfs Leader, adds Friendly Battles

The day that many Marvel Snap players have been waiting for has finally arrived, and with it comes a huge nerf to the game's most polarizing card, Leader. The patch also brings some more fantastic news by launching the previously teased Battle Mode, now officially named Friendly Battles. However, the patch is missing notes on another feature that was originally teased to release along with it, leaving many fans with questions.

Marvel Snap Version 11.18 update, explained

The patch notes were first posted to Marvel Snap's Steam page, and the first update is the announcement of the Friendly Battle mode. This mode will be a way to directly challenge players using a lobby code generated when you enter the mode. It has two options, one for creating a lobby and one for joining.

After this, there are a few minor changes, including the ability to change your name once every 30 days, Zabu entering into Series 5, and an update on support chat, among others.

Related: The best Omega Red deck in Marvel Snap

Finally, the notes get to the Leader nerf, and it's quite the powerful one, especially compared to the underwhelming Leader nerf in the last patch. Leader's new text puts him at seven Power and reads copy all cards your opponent played to the location to the right, but on your side. This huge change makes it much harder to win with the card but still allows it to keep some power.

Along with this, Wolverine got a surprise buff. Now, he starts at two Power, but reads when this is discarded or destroyed, regenerate it at a random location with +2 Power. Regenerate is a new keyword comparable to the term resummon, where Wolverine will spawn somewhere else and gains two Power each time he's destroyed. This should be a significant buff to Marvel Snap's Destroy decks, who may now decide to utilize this previously dead card.

While these are fantastic changes, one major teased update is missing from the notes: Series downgrades. Marvel Snap and developers at Second Dinner had previously discussed upcoming Series downgrades for several cards like She-Hulk and Absorbing Man, but the patch notes do not mention them. Time will tell whether this was a mistake, but it would be a major bummer for players looking to add newer cards to their collection.

Want more information on Marvel Snap? Check out The best Destroyer deck in Marvel Snap and Marvel Snap Credit Limit and Pro Bundle, Explained from Pro Game Guides!