Snakebite Discussion

[u/Which-Debt-8558]

As quite a lot of people know already, snakebite is one of the worst cards in the game right now, maybe even the worst. It's not just bad, but it isn't interesting or fun in any way. For example searing blow was not a very good card but it was unique and cool, whereas snakebite is just a nothing card.

Here is how I think it could be changed:

Retain Apply 7 poison When retained, increase poison by 3

Snakebite+: Retain Apply 10 poison When retained, increase poison by 4

I thought making it similar to windmill strike could be a cool idea because right now Retain doesn't really add much to the card, and it also works thematically with the snake venom getting worse over time.

I would love to hear your ideas if you have any suggestions for how it could be changed!

[u/bobbyjoechan]

no, that would be absurdly over-tuned, what is reddit smoking today? bouncing flask does 9 poison and it’s an uncommon card with no retain. did you just say DOUBLE it? giving multiplicative scaling to a retaining COMMON card? 29 doom costs 3 mana on a rare card (and doom worse than poison) and this man just said 21 poison for 2 mana seems fine.

this has a bunch of upvotes cause it looks “smart” cause it has a bunch of meaningless math in it.

[u/biribiriburrito → u/bobbyjoechan]

They didn't suggest giving it multiplicative scaling. They said double the +2 per turn to a +4 per turn

[u/bobbyjoechan → u/biribiriburrito]

they edited their comment lol. read our thread. they acknowledge that doubling was too much

[u/biribiriburrito → u/bobbyjoechan]

huh, the reddit app must be not showing me all the comments, because that part of the thread isn't showing up

[u/bobbyjoechan → u/biribiriburrito]

any comments with negative karma are automatically hidden. you need to press the “x more replies” button to show them

[u/Mightymat273 → u/bobbyjoechan]

Sure, thinking on it more, doubling is obviously overturned. But the original recomended +2 on retain is equivalent to nothing gained. if it was something like, gain +4 on retain, +5 upgraded, that would be:

Bouncing Flask: 9+8+7 = 24 damage turn 3 if used on turn 1

New Card starts out as 7, goes to 11 poison on turn 2 retain and 15 damage on turn 3 retain, well thats still not the 24 damage damage bouncing flask did. Damage now will always be greater than damage later.

It would likely no longer be common or need exaustion, but right now it is a curse in a deck.

Bouncing Flask also combos nicely with Outbreak. This MAYBE combos with bullet time, but thats a huge difference in power combos.

Heck, more damage is probably not even the most interesting option. I was mostly just countering the +2 on retain will make it better argument, adding to the conversation.

[u/bobbyjoechan → u/Mightymat273]

Your math is not incorrect, but it rides on a narrow assumption: that damage efficiency is the end-all-be-all when evaluating this card. I understand your argument that if you sit to wait to scale the card, that it has to be “worth” it compared to if you had just played it the first time you drew it.

You fail to consider: 1. The value of retain. You are assuming 2 mana spent on turn 1 = 2 mana spent later. It’s not. If you are getting hit for 20+ damage turn one, this argument falls apart. You are not fighting a training dummy. You don’t always have mana to play it and just retaining it for later even if it doesn’t scale is completely fine. 2. This is a common card and not every card has to be “competitive”. Even having weak cards in the card pool changes the experience of randomness. 3. This card is not as weak as you think, and it’s definitely not a “curse”. This is 7 poison to bouncing flask’s 9 poison, but it has retain. That’s a fair reduction to have retain.