u/Aquaversal

The game is called "MARVEL RIVALS". These two groups were at competition with one another when they both debuted on July 2ND, 1963. This is just PEAK RIVALRY in lore and marketing!

If we are talking about popularity, it's always been back and forth with which group is more popular.

When they both debuted on JULY 2ND 1963, AVENGERS dominated in the 60s and early 70s. That all changed when Chris Claremont took over for the X-MEN and X-MEN began dominating in the later 70s, 80s, 90s, and early 2000s. The launch of the MCU completely change the battlefield and allowed AVENGERS to DOMINATE once more. This is a HISTORICAL RIVALRY and the fact the developers do not acknowledge it, is CRAZY to me!

I feel that each AVENGERS and X-MEN potential vanguard should all have a different playstyle and archetype from each other.

POKE -> (TEAM AVENGERS): Doctor Strange, Captain Marvel, War Machine, Moondragon / (TEAM X-MEN): Magneto, Polaris, Bishop, Deadpool

DIVE -> (TEAM AVENGERS): Captain America, Hulk, Ant-Man, Photon / (TEAM X-MEN): Angel, Ice-Man, Armor, Cable

BRAWL -> (TEAM AVENGERS): Thor, She-Hulk, Hercules, Valkyrie / (TEAM X-MEN): Colossus, Beast, Rogue, Emma Frost

In an ALTERNATE UNIVERSE, the developers actually released characters the game needs and not be DUELIST BIASED. The developers actually balanced the three archetypes correctly and every character has good and bad matchups! POKE > BRAWL > DIVE > POKE

Imagine the amount of Vanguard team-ups, if the initial vanguard leaks were true and they debuted much earlier!

"Cyclops will change the game!!" They said...

I seen discussions about Emma Frost not having a vanguard counter. She actually does, it was originally Tankpool but he received nerfs and became WEAK. My predictions for the future vanguards, they are all going to be POKE vanguards but have variation in playstyle. Emma dominated the first year of Marvel Rivals because her counter did not exist yet. Tankpool is the first LONG-RANGE hitscan vanguard and he came out in SEASON 6 (Emma came out in SEASON 2). Strange and Magneto are not hitscan vanguards, they are PROJECTILE.

The initial VANGUARD leaks (Deadpool, Captain Marvel, MODOK, The Hood, Emma Frost, Angela, Valkyrie, and Colossus)

The Hood, I believe the Emma/Magneto/Psylocke team up was a test for his abilities and how he will play in the future. His kit was already leaked, he has range abilities and can create clones.

The GREAT "POKE" WAR is coming.

Support Mains: "Can we get a shield vanguard? Can we get a vanguard that can actually POKE to save their lives? We don't need vanguards that punch punch punch, we need one that has range!"

In my opinion, I feel that POKE Vanguards are a necessity. What happens when your duelists do not want to switch to counter the flyer? What happens when both your duelists go melee duelists against overtuned POKE duelists? What about the enemy supports that sit all the way back and go uncontested? What happens when your team doesn't want to walk when you try to pressure the enemy supports?

I believe that Vanguards should have more options in dealing with overtuned POKE duelists. Each POKE duelists powercrept their previous versions.

Marvel Rivals need to do a MASSIVE rebalance and rework to many characters in this game. The developers keep releasing duelists as if it will help the game even more.

I seen many people complain about POKE or DIVE being strong. I think this is because one archetype was neglected since SEASON 0. BRAWL is the sister to POKE and DIVE. We can all universally agree that BRAWL was the most neglected. If BRAWL is terrible or underwhelming, DIVE will become an issue. The developers clearly want POKE to counter both BRAWL and DIVE, this is what is hurting the game balancing. Remember, this limits your character selection pool as a DUELIST main. Imagine playing the same characters over and over, that keeps the META the same and stagnant. The game should reward players that know how to counterswap, adapt, and have knowledge over a VARIETY of characters. If the developers actually followed PROPER game balancing, it would be POKE > BRAWL > DIVE > POKE.

Elsa Bloodstone, is one of the worst characters to ever come into Marvel Rivals. It's hilarious, because she was the FIRST "LESSER" known hero to be included in the DUELIST roster after LAUNCH. She was the first DUELIST to fit all THREE archetypes. This means she has no weakness and no bad matchups. She broke the game and made the game super UNHEALTHY. Some would argue that Black Cat broke the game, I do somewhat agree but at the same time, I feel that it is because BRAWL duelists are underwhelming.

The answer to Black Cat. I feel that Mr.Fantastic, Blade, Scarlet Witch, and Storm should definitely be reworked to be stronger against DIVE. Brawl characters have been the most neglected since launch and them being WEAK is hurting the game. You are suppose to learn to COUNTERSWAP and ADAPT to DIVE characters not play the weaker archetype into them! I think Scarlet Witch would make most sense to be her counterpick! Scarlet Witch is known to own an ACTUAL spellbook and can cast different kinds of magic!

Addressing one of the worst duelists that don't fit the BRAWL archetype. Black Widow, I think the developers planned for her to be a POKE/BRAWL hybrid. Judging by concept arts of Black Widow released from the developers, I think they should just fully rework her and not make her a sniper. We already have a variety of a sniper in Marvel Rivals (Hela/Hawkeye/Phoenix/Cyclops).

The real question is do you want your character selection to be limited to only certain characters or do you want to be able to play every character in the game?

I was surprised to see that Carol dressed up as Marvel's First Female Superhero, "Black Widow (Claire Voyant)". This is so ICONIC and needs to be remembered.

Black Widow (Claire Voyant) is Marvel's First Female Superhero. She debuted in August 1940 and is a GOLDEN Age Superhero.

I feel that this character holds so much HISTORICAL significance. Imagine being Marvel's FIRST Female Superhero and not getting any recognition for it. She is obscure and I find it shocking that people only remember Namor, Captain America, and Bucky!

Black Widow (Claire Voyant) debuted in August 1940. She is the first Marvel Female Superhero and I feel that if I was a Marvel Rivals developer...I would debut her on Marvel's anniversary month (August). The marketing potential for her character is INSANE and I think Marvel Rivals would be a great game to allow people to understand and make her more KNOWN to the general public.

Am I the only one that wonders what happened to the initial leak of vanguards that were leaked back in January 2025? Who is making these decisions to release the overtuned duelists? Keep in mind, Blade, Mr.Fantastic, and Human Torch character IDs are pretty old compared to the newer duelist releases and they most likely were balanced around SEASON 0 launch characters.

As much as I would love to have every vanguard that was in my previous post, let's respect the vanguards that were leaked first and be respectful when The Hood releases. I do not mind The Hood being released, I hope he is a POKE vanguard. PLEASE! Imagine having a vanguard that can actually handle these POKE duelists in the WHITE HOT ROOM with their LEADER (PHOENIX)!!!

Duelist/Support Mains: "Why does no one want to play the Vanguard role? Why is there always one solo vanguard in every round I get?"

Developers: "We want more people to play Vanguard, why won't they play Vanguard?!?!"

So, are we going to let them out that basement? That's the REAL QUESTION.

Imagine if you are working for the Marvel Rivals developers and they asked you "What Female Characters should we add and work on?". Who would you select and why? Who do you think should be season 0 launch characters and who do you think should come in later releases?

In an ALTERNATE Universe, the Marvel Rivals tier list would look like this. The developers develop, create, and gives their most popular heroes the MOST costumes. The potential revenue that the game could of made.

It's hilarious because the meta would actually be more diverse if they do follow this philosophy. There is a mixture between POKE/DIVE/BRAWL in the meta. Do you guys think developers should follow this philosophy? Do we really need more industry plants to take over a Marvel game?

The developers are really allergic to creating Avengers Female Vanguards. How did they give us all the male A-List Avengers Male Vanguards but skipped out on Captain Marvel, Photon, Valkyrie, She-Hulk. I also hope for Sif (She's a lesser known character, but many Thor fans know her!!!) and Medusa (Another lesser known character, but she would be the first INHUMAN in the Marvel Rivals roster).

I hope Captain Marvel and Photon are POKE Vanguards that are LONG-RANGE Hitscan (Energy blasts), CC Resistance (Carol has BINARY Form and Photon can go Intangible), Both should be flight hybrids (They can choose to whether fly or not, similar to Angela/Phoenix), and OF COURSE, they both are SHIELD Vanguards (They both can absorb, manipulate, and redirect energy). We need more strong SOLO Vanguards similar to Magneto and Strange.

I know many Vanguard mains hate playing against the Crowd Control Sisters, so why not make their counters. We need stronger POKE Vanguards, with how strong POKE duelists and POKE supports are in this game. Tankpool PRIME was the best Vanguard release and we need more!!