Marvel Rivals Update Unveils Legendary Heroes

Marvel Rivals Season One: A Comprehensive Update Overview

Season Zero is behind us, and Season One of Marvel Rivals has arrived, bringing a wave of new content and balance adjustments. Let's delve into the significant updates.

Table of Contents

• What's New in Season One?
• New Heroes
• New Maps and Mode
• Battle Pass
• Celestial Rank
• Balance Adjustments for Heroes:
  • Vanguard
  • Duelist
  • Strategist
  • Team-Up

What's New in Season One?

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This season's theme centers around an undead invasion orchestrated by Dracula! The Fantastic Four have answered the call, with Mister Fantastic and Invisible Woman initially available, and more team members to be introduced throughout the season.

New Heroes

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• Mister Fantastic: A mid-range duelist with abilities for rapid movement between enemies and allies, area damage, and temporary damage absorption.
• Invisible Woman: A strategist whose attacks heal allies. She can create shields, manipulate enemy positioning, and, of course, turn invisible.

New Maps and Mode

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Two new maps set in a ravaged New York City are available, featuring locations like Grand Central Terminal. A new "Doom Match" mode supports 8-12 players, with the top 50% winning after a set number of eliminations.

Battle Pass

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Season One's Battle Pass is double the size of Season Zero's, reflecting the three-month season length. Eight of the ten skins are premium, with most offering appealing designs. The Blue Tarantula skin for Peni Parker, however, is a simple recolor. The free pass still offers Units and Lattice.

Celestial Rank

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A new "Celestial" rank tier has been added between Grandmaster and Eternity, comprising three divisions. A season-end rating reset is implemented, with a seven-level drop from your Season Zero rank (e.g., Platinum I becomes Silver II).

Balance Adjustments for Heroes

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Several heroes received adjustments to fine-tune balance:

Vanguard

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• Captain America: Received buffs to shield cooldown, Rush ability cooldown, and health. Ultimate ability cost reduced, but health gain slightly decreased.
• Doctor Strange: Minor adjustments to Maelstrom of Madness damage and shield recovery.
• Thor: Health increased, and gained crowd-control immunity during his ultimate.
• Hulk: Slight nerf to gamma shield health.
• Venom: Buffed armor scaling and ultimate ability damage.

Duelist

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• Black Panther: Nerfed extra health from Spirit Rend and maximum additional health.
• Black Widow: Improved with increased Edge Dancer radius, reduced Fleet Foot cooldown, and faster ultimate charge time.
• Hawkeye: Slight nerfs to explosive arrow spread, Archer’s Focus activation distance, and passive skill bonus damage.
• Hela: Health reduced. New Twitch Drops available.
• Magik: Increased Umbral Incursion damage in Darkchild form.
• Moon Knight: Buffed ultimate talon count and blast radius.
• Namor: Throw accuracy adjusted.
• Punisher: Reduced spread for Deliverance and Adjudication.
• Scarlet Witch: Enhanced with increased Chaos Control damage and Chthonian Burst damage, but reduced damage-over-time percentage.
• Storm: Significantly buffed with faster and stronger projectiles, increased right-click damage, and improved ultimate health bonus.
• Squirrel Girl: Improved squirrel targeting and reduced squirrel tsunami health.
• Winter Soldier: Buffs to health gain from abilities, main attack damage, and base health.
• Wolverine: Health increased, but damage reduction from Undying Animal decreased.

Strategist

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• Cloak & Dagger: Dagger Storm cooldown reduced, and ultimate dashes increased.
• Jeff the Land Shark: Ultimate range and Joyful Splash healing adjusted.
• Luna Snow: Minor nerf to dance mode interruption.
• Mantis: Nerfed Nature's Favor acceleration.
• Rocket Raccoon: Increased healing speed in recovery mode.

Team-Up

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Team-Up bonuses adjusted for several heroes, with some receiving nerfs (Hawkeye, Hela) and others receiving buffs (Namor, Rocket Raccoon, Magneto, Storm).

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The impact of these balance changes and new heroes on the meta remains to be seen. Hela continues to be a prominent ban at higher ranks.