Season Zero is over, and the first season of Marvel Rivals has arrived, bringing a wave of new content and exciting balance changes. Let's dive into the significant updates!

Table of Contents

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

What's New in the First Season?

This season's theme? An undead invasion led by Dracula himself! To combat this darkness, the Fantastic Four have answered the call. Mister Fantastic and Invisible Woman are available now, with more Fantastic Four heroes joining the fight as the season progresses.

New Heroes

Mister Fantastic: A mid-range duelist with abilities for quick movement between enemies and allies, area damage, and temporary damage absorption.

Invisible Woman: A strategist whose attacks heal allies. She can create shields, manipulate enemies with pushes and pulls, and, well… turn invisible.

New Maps and Mode

Two new maps, part of the "Empire of Eternal Night: Midtown" set, are now live. Battle it out in locations like a ravaged Grand Central Terminal and other iconic New York City spots.

A new "Doom Match" mode is available for 8-12 players. After a set number of knockouts, the top 50% emerge victorious.

Battle Pass

Season One's Battle Pass is double the size of Season Zero's, reflecting the three-month season length. Expect more content and rewards! Of the 10 skins, 8 are premium. While many skins are visually impressive, Peni Parker's Blue Tarantula skin is a bit underwhelming with only a color change. The free track still offers Units and Lattice for completing tasks.

Celestial Rank

A new "Celestial" rank has been added between Grandmaster and Eternity, featuring three divisions. While many players may find themselves stuck in Bronze, this addition might ease future ranking climbs. A season-end rank reset is in place, dropping players seven ranks from their Season Zero finish (e.g., Platinum I starts Season One at Silver II).

Balance Adjustments for Heroes

This section details adjustments to various heroes to improve balance.

Vanguard

Captain America: Received buffs to shield cooldown (3s to 2s), Rush cooldown (12s to 10s), and health (650 to 675). Ultimate ability cost reduced (3400 to 3100), but now grants 100 extra health (down from 110).

Doctor Strange: Damage reduction for Maelstrom of Madness and Gamma-version at close range; shield recovery speed reduced.

Thor: Health increased; gains crowd-control immunity during ultimate.

Hulk: Gamma Shield now grants 200 health (down from 250).

Venom: Increased armor based on lost health; ultimate ability base damage increased.

Duelist

Black Panther: Reduced extra health from Spirit Rend upgrades and maximum additional health.

Black Widow: Increased Edge Dancer radius; reduced Fleet Foot recovery time; shortened ultimate ability power-up time.

Hawkeye: Slightly narrowed explosive arrow spread; reduced Archer’s Focus activation distance and maximum bonus damage.

Hela: Health reduced; new Twitch Drops available.

Magik: Increased Umbral Incursion damage in Darkchild form.

Moon Knight: Increased ultimate ability talon count and blast radius.

Namor: Adjusted throw accuracy.

Punisher: Slightly reduced spread for Deliverance and Adjudication.

Scarlet Witch: Increased Chaos Control damage; reduced damage-over-time percentage; increased Chthonian Burst damage.

Storm: Increased projectile speed and damage; increased right-click damage; increased and modified ultimate ability bonus health.

Squirrel Girl: Improved squirrel targeting; reduced squirrel tsunami health.

Winter Soldier: Increased health from abilities; increased main attack damage; reduced area damage; increased base health.

Wolverine: Increased health; reduced Undying Animal damage reduction.

Strategist

Cloak & Dagger: Reduced Dagger Storm cooldown; increased ultimate ability dashes.

Jeff the Land Shark: Adjusted ultimate range; increased Joyful Splash healing.

Luna Snow: Increased mode change break during dance.

Mantis: Reduced Nature's Favor acceleration.

Rocket Raccoon: Increased recovery mode healing speed.

Team-Up

Team-Up bonuses adjusted for several heroes: Hawkeye and Hela weakened; Namor, Rocket Raccoon, Magneto, and Storm enhanced.

These balance changes are relatively minor, with Hela remaining a top pick. The new heroes' impact on the meta remains to be seen.