The viral mobile card battler Marvel Snap has seen its fair share of controversy since it was released last year. Despite winning Best Mobile Game at the Game Awards, there are still a handful of balance issues that developer Second Dinner Studios needs to iron out. While many players have praised its non-intrusive monetization system and robust strategic gameplay, others have criticized some of the game's most overpowered cards, and one such card that has recently divided the player base is the Leader.
Although the developer has been transparent about the roadmap for Marvel Snap, many fans are asking Second Dinner to address what they perceive as the game's most unbalanced aspect. As a game that emphasizes deck-building strategy, many feel that the Leader undermines this important part of the game with its ability to copy all cards played by the opponent on the player's side of the field. Others, however, like this ability and feel it does not break the core strategy of the game, but instead offers another layer to its depth. While both sides make valid arguments, the controversy just goes to show that Marvel Snap still needs regular developer intervention to maintain gameplay balance.
Understanding the Leader's History with Marvel Beyond Marvel Snap
The Leader made his first comic appearance in 1964's Tales to Astonish #62 by Stan Lee and Steve Ditko. After exposure to gamma radiation while working at a chemical plant, Samuel Sterns becomes a green-skinned, highly intelligent being and embarks on a criminal conquest under the name of the Leader. He devises the goal of overthrowing the United States government using an army of synthetic Humanoids along with his new telekinetic powers, but ultimately becomes fixed on the afterlife. His unique character design in Marvel Snap incorporates his high intelligence and ability to create android duplicates of his enemies.
The main obstacle in the Leader's path to world domination is Bruce Banner's Hulk, whose unimaginable strength mirrors the Leaders limitless intelligence. The Hulk is able to fight off the Leader's army of Humanoids on several occasions and prevent them from infiltrating the US government. Being proficient in creating android replicants, the Leader even resorts to replacing the president and vice president with synthetic Humanoid copies subservient to him eventually being thwarted by the Hulk and the Thing.
At one point, the Leader creates the Arctic settlement of Freehold as a haven for other radiation victims and Gamma Mutates—those possessing the gamma gene who gain superhuman powers after exposure to gamma radiation like the Abomination, Hulk, and She-Hulk. However, the settlement is later attacked by Hydra seeking control of the advanced technology being held there. The Hulk is able to defeat Hydra and save Freehold at the cost of destroying the Leader, which the Hulk saw as an opportunity to eliminate his nemesis once and for all. After his apparent death, the Leader is replaced by his follower and fellow Gamma Mutate, Omnibus, as the head of Freehold.
Though he has been defeated many times, the Leader has been able to continue on through a cycle of death and resurrection by various means including keeping his disembodied head stored in a tank and possessing the body of Omnibus. Throughout his storied Marvel legacy, the Leader has appeared alongside a variety of great Marvel supervillains such as MODOK and the Mad Thinker as a part of the organization Intelligencia and was once a part of the Thunderbolts as well, adopting the identity of Red Leader after being revived once again.
Marvel Snap's Leader Can Be OP or A Gimmicky Strategy
The controversy surrounding the Leader's appearance in Marvel Snap boils down to his ability to shut down an opponent's entire strategy in the final turn. As a 6 Cost card, it's likely players will need to save Leader for the final turn where it can wreak havoc on carefully crafted strategies by copying whatever powerful cards an opponent plays that turn onto the player's side of the field. This strategy is usually paired with other cards like Leech that could counter any dangerous card abilities by removing all abilities from cards in an opponent's hand. The overpowered Shang-Chi card in Marvel Snap is also common in these decks as it can prevent opponents from setting up powerful cards early by destroying any card at a location with 9 or more power.
It's clear why the Leader is a controversial card in Marvel Snap. Having the ability to copy whatever powerful cards an opponent plays without needing to play them is a very easy way for players to get a surprise win on their opponent. With the popularity of Infinaut decks in Marvel Snap, playing the Leader on turn 6 and copying an opponent's Infinaut can be a sneaky way to pull out a victory on an opponent who thinks they have the win in the bag. But from the opposing side of the field, this strategy seems like a cheap tactic that exploits the work put into a solid strategy with a single card.
Players who are fine with the way the Leader currently is in Marvel Snap claim that it's not broken, but just another strategy one has to account for when building their deck. There are several ways players can counter the Leader and render its ability useless with the most popular being to play Cosmo in the location the opponent is most likely to play Leader as his ability prevents On Reveal abilities from activating at that location. Another way to counter Leader is by setting up the board so that Marvel Snap players reveal first, allowing them to play Destroyer so that when the opponent copies it with Leader's ability, it destroys all of their cards as well.
Regardless of which strategy is employed, it can be difficult to anticipate when the Leader will be played, and this is one of the biggest reasons why opponents claim Leader needs to be rebalanced. While there are ways to counter him, the inability to predict whether he will be played makes it hard for players to devise a strategy that accounts for the Leader and results in the metagame being dominated by anti-Leader decks. This is a less-than-ideal scenario and future updates and fixes for Marvel Snap would greatly benefit from some fine-tuning of its more powerful cards like the Leader.
Marvel Snap is available now on Mobile and PC.