Released on mobile and PC (early access) in the fall of 2022, MARVEL SNAP is a digital collectible card game and the brainchild of former Hearthstone game director Ben Brode, and Second Dinner, the studio he founded after leaving Blizzard. Upon its release, MARVEL SNAP proved not only to be a critical darling, winning Best Mobile Game at The Game Awards in 2022, but also immensely popular with players, becoming the top-grossing digital trading card game by September 2023, according to Forbes.
I, myself, was completely enamoured with it and played it roughly every day, racking up countless hours on mobile and around 38 hours on Steam. Furthermore, in December 2022, I wrote about the best decks to try – that article is long outdated, of course, but for a taste of what players were concocting at the time, you may find it here.
However, a few years on, MARVEL SNAP finds itself, for a myriad of reasons, in the difficult situation of having lost 75% of its revenue in 2025 and, presumably, a significant chunk of its player base, too. In an effort to revitalise the game, Second Dinner is finally adding a game mode that fans have been asking for ever since launch: Draft. Like in many other card games, digital or otherwise, MARVEL SNAP’s Draft mode will have players build temporary decks from random selections of cards.
“MARVEL SNAP finds itself, for a myriad of reasons, in the difficult situation of having lost 75% of its revenue in 2025.”
Unlike other card games, though, there is also a roguelike element at play here, with cards being able to be “augmented” after each round. Depending on the buffs available, Black Panther, for example, can have his power doubled a second time, which can be extremely valuable. Because of this, having good synergy not just between the cards themselves but the augments, as well, becomes crucial to securing a win. Each individual win will be rewarded, but getting to 5 wins will grant an additional Draft ticket alongside currency rewards. Drafts can go on for a maximum of 6 rounds, with players allowed to lose just the single time before proceedings come to a close.
Earlier this month, courtesy of the MARVEL SNAP developers, I was invited to a preview session in which they told me about what it took for them to bring Draft to their game, culminating in me getting some hands-on time with this new game mode. From the get-go, the team at Second Dinner mentioned that Draft is probably the most requested feature and that they’ve wanted to implement it in the game for a long time.
“This is a good game mode which, with a bit more love and polish, could become one of the main reasons players are picking up MARVEL SNAP in the first place.”
Because of the way that MARVEL SNAP is put together, specifically with regard to card rarity, they spoke about how difficult it was to implement the mode but that, ultimately, they are incredibly confident in this latest iteration of Draft, which has been in the works for the past year or so. Their hope is that Draft becomes a mainstay for both returning and perhaps especially new players, since no pre-existing card collection is needed to get the most out of it.
Unfortunately, Draft itself isn’t here to stay, as it will only be a limited game mode in MARVEL SNAP, running from the 24th of August at noon PT until the 7th of September at noon PT. This is disappointing, definitely, but my impression is that the team is more than open to bringing it back, potentially with a new pool of cards, if player reception is positive.
For what it’s worth, based on my time playing and winning 5 rounds of Draft, they absolutely should, as this is a good game mode which, with a bit more love and polish, could become one of the main reasons players are picking up MARVEL SNAP in the first place.
My hope is that things work out and that Draft makes a tangible impact on MARVEL SNAP, but if it only runs for the limited period specified above, my fear is that it won’t get the time to do so. I certainly won’t be back if Draft is here for a good time, not a long time.
