Ok, let's step back for a moment and address the elephant in the room: the Nexus event.
I actually don't think the pricing for the Nexus event is all that bad if they implement one vital change, eliminate the time delay for the card release. If they want to use this cost structure Jane Foster Jane FosterOngoing: Double this card's Power if you have a card that has 10 or more Power. (and future cards of similar release structure) MUST be released to the collector track immediately after the event or at most 2 weeks for some arbitrary time reward to the whales. 2 months is an eternity in anything these days. If they don't shorten that paywall to content (battlepass is acceptable because of the cost IMO but wish it was a 1-month delay) the game will be a couple of hundred whales playing each other and bots sooner than later.
Sure the max-out price is probably high but if the intent of the event shifts to unlocking exclusive skins and avatars instead of a card release method then maybe at that point the price is ok? I think they left the door open for this with the ambiguity of the exclusive nature of the Nexus variants. I'm not a whale so I'm not sure how much digital flex and early access are worth to them but some of those variants are very nice (more on the importance of variants late). Even if the price is too high for a max out in the event, does that even matter if the only thing that really matters, the card, is released immediately afterward? Whales are an important aspect of the mobile game economy and if a sweet exclusive Jane Foster variant will get them to pay and their bonus reward is early access maybe that will work in the long run.
The other problem with the 'event' was its marketing of it. The community believed it was going to be some sort of play activity event. It sounded like a fun and exciting step forward in gameplay which is already top-notch. Once the devs saw the community going in the totally wrong direction they should have given some hints as to what the event was to help temper expectations. Instead, we ended up getting disappointed by what the event was on top of some massive sticker shock.
The other aspects of the patch point toward a good future. While I am surprised by some of the changes, Jubilee JubileeOn Reveal: Play the top card of your deck at this location., America Chavez
America ChavezYou always draw this card on turn 6, and not before. and the lack of a Nakia
NakiaOn Reveal: Give all cards in your hand +2 Power. nerf, the number of changes shows they care about the gameplay. This game will never get stale for too long. Be prepared for a Nakia nerf next patch and hopefully more buffs to less utilized but interesting cards like Lizard
LizardOngoing: -3 Power if your opponent has 4 cards here. if the Scorpion
ScorpionOn Reveal: Afflict cards in your opponent's hand with -1 Power. buff was any indication of their general direction.
The collector track improvements are a strict upgrade. While the drop times are no longer guaranteed, the pity timers and percentages make it strictly better in the long run. Many people have worked out the math on this so I won't go deep on it here. The added bonus is more access to variants than before as well. In the long run, variants will matter to you once you get to the end of collecting and if you play this game regularly you will get there or very close at least.
Reworking the daily/weekly rewards was a good move as well. It's basically the same payout but you have a lot more control of when you log in. Coming from a game like Marvel Strike force where if you missed a timer you were really punished this is a breath of fresh air. They are toeing the line between a gacha game and a CCG. This is a hard line to toe but they seem to know what is better for the player experience with this change.
I like to look at the broad concept of the Nexus event as an overpriced regional prerelease of old for Magic: The Gathering. You even get exclusive alternate art cards. But Magic had decades to perfect that style of event. In the end, Marvel Snap is still in beta. Quirks are being worked out. Our beta test feedback is what they want at this time. They missed the mark with this patch but not as big as most are saying. They have time to change. They've proven to be quick with adjustments so far. Let's hope they realize how good the game is and fix the economy and progression so we can be Snapping for years to come.