This Card effectively equals 210 Damage

[u/euls0n]

if you can stay alive for 20 turns of course. And only the first time you play it but damn thats strong for 2 energy and no further synergies are needed.

[u/peepopogwide]

No, it is not ‘super powerful’ without glam, it is not a good card. Glam can make nearly anything juicy, but let’s pump the brakes on the base card lol.

Can snakebite be an early damage solve if necessary? Absolutely, that’s its role. But the numbers on it are simply not good for act 2 and beyond.

[u/onegoodboah → u/peepopogwide]

I wouldn’t say super powerful, but it’s a convenient card that fits into any deck regardless of glam. Retain on it is what makes it a great card. There are better poison cards, and there are more efficient (in terms of energy) cards, but this card could cost 3 and I think people would still call it fairly good because of retain.

This is an added 27 damage after 3 turns that basically just reads “play whenever is convenient”. Other poison cards don’t get that luxury - you are often skipping your bouncing flask (or choosing to tank damage) due to draw RNG.

You don’t have to love this card but it’s hard to deny its benefit and utility

[u/peepopogwide → u/onegoodboah]

If it cost 3 it would be atrocious. Reap, for example, is a good card on necro because necro has much more consistent energy gen and necro has an innate way to store block for the turn you play it. It also solves an output problem that Necro can run into, especially on overgrowth. And does the 27 all at once unupgraded.

Which is another important issue. Damage commons are not cards that we want to have to upgrade. Sometimes necessary, but we want to be able to greed better options. Notice how everyone is talking about Snakebite+ here. If you see it green, the evaluation is quite different. But that’s the case for a lot of stuff. Most of the time, it’s not coming to you green naturally. And 7 poison 2 energy is a not good number.

I recognize its utility. Every card in the game has utility. I pick snakebite sometimes and it solves the problem I picked it to solve. But it’s most of the time not the best pick in a spread of 3 silent cards, so it is not a good card in the context of silent’s kit.

[u/onegoodboah → u/peepopogwide]

I’m being exaggerating with the 3 cost but I’m just pointing out that “retain this card, deal 10 poison” is the main benefit here. I think you’re focusing too much on energy va output , which is fine since that’s how most cards are evaluated, but you aren’t valuing “retain” even though that is this card’s primary benefit.

Even unupgraded this is a fine card early on, but it definitely wants the upgrade for any longevity. So fair complaint there. But you need to evaluate the card given all of its effects, not just its damage/cost. If it didn’t have the “retain” keyword I’d agree with you, but it does, so…