Summary
Second Dinner is keeping up its reputation for being proactive and on the ball as it continues making appropriate changes to Marvel Snap cards, ensuring that the meta stays as fresh as possible without doing too much at once. They do this expertly, whether through the new cards they add with each new season or through OTA balance updates and patches that change cards accordingly to make sure that they are fair.
The main subjects of changes tend to lie within relevant decks of the current meta but also with those lying at the bottom of the statistics in terms of usage or win rate. Snowguard and Strong Guy are prime examples of cards that once sat there. Both have since received buffs and support from newly-improved cards that helped them move on, but now it is cards like M’Baku and Quake in this unfortunate position.
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As of right now, Quake is a 2-Cost 3-Power card with an interesting enough ability. Quake’s On Reveal ability has her swapping the positions of each location, which can allow for some fun, albeit niche and rare, strategies that can be implemented on the fly.
However, Quake’s problems start with the fact that she has to be played in the middle location for this effect to take place, and they only get worse from there. Location manipulation has grown in recent months — to the extent that there are simply too many better alternatives for Quake to have any place in the meta in her current form. Something needs to change.
Cards That Are Just Better Alternatives
There are many cards that serve the same purpose as Quake or are simply much better alternatives. Legion is the standout, as he essentially does the same in changing the effects of other locations; he just changes them to match his current position. Storm, Scarlet Witch, and Magik are all also better and more used location manipulators, even if their intent differs from Quake’s. In fact, even Rhino sees more use.
However, there are still plenty of other cards that are just a better fit than Quake in whatever deck players could try and shoe-horn her into. Spider-Man, Polaris, Aero, Magneto, Juggernaut, and Stegron all take opposing cards out of the location they were in and place them into a new one with a different effect — which is essentially what happens with Quake’s ability.
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The Niche Situations That Quake Can Be Useful In
At closer inspection, there are plenty of locations in Marvel Snap that Quake could swap around that would cause utter chaos and turn a game on its head. Swapping into Bar With No Name late game when a player has been focusing Power into that location with cards like Nebula, Brood, Venom, or The Collector is a devastating twist that could change the course of any game.
Quake could even be used early to stop opponents from filling up and getting the benefits of locations like The Raft, The Sacred Timeline, White Hot Room, and even Bar Sinister. The Quake player could even prepare accordingly and prepare for that location to shift in their own favor. Swapping into Death’s Domain could destroy a valuable opposing card, while Isle of Silence would destroy plans surrounding Ongoing cards. The possibilities are actually endless, but there is simply no guarantee when it comes to Quake; other alternatives are just safer.
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How To Fix Quake
So how could Quake be fixed? The obvious solution would be to remove the limitations set upon her that only trigger the ability when played in the middle lane, but even then, Quake still wouldn’t feel like a formidable threat.
Having more freedom with the ability could see Quake slotted into Cerebro-3 decks at a push, or a stat-line boost to 5 Power could well be an asset to Cerebro-5. Cerebro decks are always the obvious solution for outcast cards of a certain Power, but Quake may well be too chaotic and unpredictable to make these decks better.
Quake Could Be Given A Spider-Man-Like Redesign
If Quake was going to receive an overhaul like Spider-Man and Snowguard have had in recent months, then Second Dinner would have its work cut out in finding an appropriate place for Quake in the current meta. Quake could be used as a Rhino-Galactus hybrid to destroy all location effects except for the one that she remains in, but this wouldn’t make her much more competitively viable than she already is. Location manipulation makes sense, given Quake’s destructive powers, but should it define her Marvel Snap card and identity?
Kingpin is also due for a redesign at some point, but a thought for Quake’s upgrade could step on his toes, moving an opposing card and instantly destroying it when it lands. This would reflect her destructive earth-bending capabilities, as would giving affected cards negative Power as a consequence of being targeted by her.
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Where Quake Needs To Be Moving Forward
Simply put, Quake has never been a popular card. At least M’Baku was once seen as a fun meme card, jumping in at the end and winning games from nowhere, but Quake has never been used in such an exciting way despite the potential that is there.
Quake needs to have the restraints removed and some extra Power added if she is to stay with the same ability, but it would take something like a 2-Cost 6-Power card to make Marvel Snap players take notice. A redesign would signify a fresh start for Quake and would at least give her a chance to leave Legion’s shadow. Either way, it will be interesting to see if Second Dinner addresses this forgotten card, and if it does, how they will go about presenting its resurgence.
As the least-used Marvel Snap card alongside M’Baku, Quake desperately needs a refresh — but how can this card be made better and more viable? Read More