Season Zero is over, and the first season of Marvel Rivals has arrived, bringing a wave of new content and balance adjustments. 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 orchestrated by Dracula himself! To combat this darkness, the Fantastic Four have joined the battle. Mister Fantastic and Invisible Woman are available now, with other members arriving later in the season.

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, and, of course, turn invisible.

New Maps and Mode

Two new maps, part of the "Empire of Eternal Night: Midtown," are now live, featuring locations like Grand Central Terminal in a ravaged New York City.

A new "Doom Match" mode supports 8-12 players. The top 50% survive to win after a set number of knockouts.

Battle Pass

Season One's Battle Pass is double the size of Season Zero's, reflecting the three-month season length. Of the 10 skins, 8 are premium. While most skins are visually appealing, Peni Parker's Blue Tarantula skin is a simple color swap. The free track still offers Units and Lattice.

Celestial Rank

A new "Celestial" rank has been added between Grandmaster and Eternity, comprised of three divisions. While many players may find themselves in Bronze, this new rank may improve future ranking progression. A seasonal rank reset is in place, dropping players seven ranks from their Season Zero final rank (e.g., Platinum I drops to Silver II).

Balance Adjustments for Heroes

This season includes various balance tweaks to address hero disparities.

Vanguard

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

Doctor Strange: Damage reduced for Maelstrom of Madness and Gamma-version at closer ranges, shield recovery speed decreased.

Thor: Health increased by 25, gains crowd-control immunity during ultimate.

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

Venom: Increased armor based on lost health (coefficient from 1 to 1.2) and ultimate ability base damage increased by 10.

Duelist

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

Black Widow: Improved Edge Dancer radius, Fleet Foot recovery time, and ultimate ability power-up time.

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

Hela: Health reduced from 275 to 250. New Twitch Drops available.

Magik: Increased Umbral Incursion damage in Darkchild form.

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

Namor: Ability throw accuracy adjusted.

Psylocke: Ultimate skill now checks for opponent barriers.

Punisher: Slightly reduced spread for Deliverance and Adjudication.

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

Storm: Significantly enhanced normal attack projectiles, right-click damage, and ultimate ability bonus health.

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

Winter Soldier: Increased health from abilities, main attack damage, and base health. Reduced area damage and damage falloff.

Wolverine: Increased health and reduced Undying Animal damage reduction.

Strategist

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

Jeff the Land Shark: Adjusted ultimate range and 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, while Namor, Rocket Raccoon, Magneto, and Storm enhanced.

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