u/LukeH213

Wolverine is killed by Bucky

Psylocke is killed by an arrow, potentially Hawkeye.

- "Only for an unseen attacker to pierce her heart with an arrow.

Gambit is killed by someone wielding the phoenix force from S3, and his injures look like gunshot wounds, Black Widow.

- "Remy senses a primal cosmic energy emanating from Apocalypse's body, only to suffer a gruesome end by that very same energy."

- "Their suspicions now turn to Black Panther, perhaps using the last of his Phoenix Force to protect Bast"

Bucky, Hawkeye, and Black Widow were all part of the Hydra and Hive storyline from early on in Rivals lore. My theory is that Hive is controlling The Avengers involved in that storyline to kill X-Men. Bucky in the first image even has red eyes like Hive, like he's being controlled.

I believe Hive is behind these attacks using The Avengers, and Hive will show up in Marvel Rivals in a later season.

This isn't exactly a DLC prediction, since we don't know whether the team gimmick will apply to DLC passes.

I just thought it would be interesting to try applying the Tokon team naming styles and creating other possible/alternate teams.

Some of these are custom teams and some of them are using either existing teams or a mix of two existing teams combined.

This post is going off the assumption that the final covers left are Moon Knight #8, Deadpool #8, and Thor #800. (The reason why I am assuming these, and not X-Men United #6 is because Kamala's cover which was meant to be Inglorious X-Force #8 is no longer being listed by solicits or Marvel's publishers, which means X-Men United #6 is the only place for her to go now.)

West Coast Theory: Moon Knight, Gwenpool, and Wanda are all West Coast Avengers, Robbie has been in Gwenpool comics alongside other West Coast Avengers members, and he is from LA, the area which West Coast Avengers operate out of. (Moon Knight for Moon Knight, Gwenpool for Deadpool, Wanda for Thor due to Sorcerer Supreme storyline).

Colour Theory: I won't go super into detail on this, but so far each colour assigned to a Tokon characters have been repeated twice, except for Orange, Cyan, Yellow, and Mint? Green.

Robbie would be the Orange

Moon Knight would be Cyan, his current comic run's logo has had blue in it, his current outfit has blue glow in the eyes, and he is often drawn with a blueish outline in the current run. He also obviously fits Moon Knight #8.

Man-Thing would be green. While him and Deadpool don't have a deep connection, they have teamed up in the past and fought. Man-Thing is also a core reason why Deadpool Kills the Marvel Universe begins to be a thing in the comics, therefore fitting Deadpool #8.

Angela would be yellow for obvious reasons, and she obviously fits Thor #800.

Cover Theory: This one is straight forward, it just mimics the issues.

Midnight Sons Theory: Robbie and Moon Knight are straight forward on this one, Blade could fit Deadpool #8 if they use MCU synergy with Blade being in Deadpool and Wolverine. Clea could fit Thor #800 considering that the Sorcerer Supreme storyline is a main focus in current Asgard storylines, and Clea has popped up in Sorcerer Supreme of Asgard recently.

Secondary Theory: This one is also straight forward, it takes the secondary characters connected to the issue, Robbie for Moon Knight, Blade for Moon Knight, Punisher for Deadpool, and well, I have no clue for Thor #800 because it's just Thor's face currently, and we have no other variant issues just yet.

My Random Guess:

My Random guess incorporates the "leak" we had about Wanda a few months ago, I'm not 100% on board that it is real, but I will be using it for this.

Moon Knight makes sense for Moon Knight #8

Blade can fit Deadpool #8 considering his recent MCU connection to Deadpool

Wanda can fit Thor #800 due to the Sorcerer Supreme storyline and it's connection to the Asgard storyline. It would also explain why the Sanctum Sanctorum would be a map.

If the leak does end up being true, my other random out there guess will be that Cyclops will be DLC 1, will be announced around X-Men 97 still airing, and be fully shown off around Doom's Day's release which Cyclops is in. Year 1 stage alongside Cyclops would be Hellfire Gala. (This is completely random and completely hinges on the fact that the "leak" ends up being real."

I honestly do not expect any of these to be 100% correct, I just thought it would be fun to use a lot of the different theories people are throwing out to make this post just before the final team is announced.

1. Ghost Rider

2. Blackheart

3. Dani Moonstar

4. Kitty Pryde

5. Man-Thing

6. Doctor Voodoo

7. Nico Minoru

8. Captain Marvel

9. Ms Marvel

10. Pixie

11. Daimon Hellstrom

12. Satana Hellstrom

13. Gwenpool

14. Taskmaster

15. Carnage

16. Tigra

17. Werewolf By Night

18. Morbius

19. Jennifer Kale

20. Sleepwalker

These are the comic teams, everything listed here is based on what teams these rivals characters have appeared on in the comics.

I might have got some of these wrong, since there is a lot to keep track of and a lot of online resources surrounding this are just plain wrong about it. I haven't included teams like Secret Defenders with Defenders, since they are technically two different things even if they are somewhat related.

The Venom icon is being used for the symbiote, not just Eddie. Especially considering he has Agent-Venom skins.

The Sai icon is being used for Kwannon, considering she has a Kwannon skin, and it felt weird leaving her out of the X-Men.

Jeff is on The Avengers because he is a very important member of The West Coast Avengers, I promise.

Black Cat and Devil Dino don't really fit neatly into any of the big teams right now, Black Cat has temporarily joined a few for one off adventures, but technically never joined as a full time member.

Cyclops not included since I do not have access to his icon.

I thought a rough list of how the Rivals characters cover the comic version of these teams would be an interesting thing to look at, especially for people who don't know the comics. Like I said, I might have got things wrong here or I am missing people in teams, it is a lot to keep track of and there is a lot of incorrect information out there.

Moon Knight, Punisher, Elektra, Luke Cage, and Iron Fist are the main characters of the run

I keep seeing people suggest a Midnight Sons themed team for Robbie, but then suggesting Wanda and Gwenpool, who have never been members of the Midnight Sons. While I do want the team to be Midnight Sons theme, I do think this might also work as a theme.

West Coast Avengers or whatever hybrid/custom name Tokon ends up giving them (West Coast Riders?)

While Robbie has never been a member of the West Coast Avengers in the comics, he is from California, which the West Coast Avengers have operated out of and he has been in Gwenpool comics in the past and is now in Moon Knight's comics.

Gwenpool, Moon Knight, and Scarlet Witch have all been West Coast Avengers in the past, and all of them have been highly suggested/predicted on this reddit lately.

I'm not saying this is 100% what the theme will be, or even what I would prefer, just highlighting a connection between the most suggested/predicted characters on here.

1. Darkchylde (2025)

2. Magik (Tokon)

3. Dani Moonstar (2025)

4. Updated Nico Minoru (Any version, just wanted a new Nico at this point)

5. Elsa Bloodstone

6. Manphibian

7. Moon Knight with Ginnarr the Dragon-Blade (Fist of Khonshu)

8. Tigra (Jed Mackay run)

9. Zodiac (Jed Mackay run)

10. Phoenix Five (Magik, Colossus, Cyclops, Emma Frost, and Namor)

11. Magik (Krakoa)

12. Pixie

13. Jennifer Kale

14. Vengeance

15. Zarathos

Judging by other peoples lootboxes, this could have been a lot worse, at least I play Juno

Strategists: Nico Minoru, Doctor Voodoo, Dani Moonstar, Pixie, and Mysterio.

Vanguard: Ghost Rider, Blackheart, Man-Thing, The Hood, and Captain Marvel

Duelist: Taskmaster, Daimon Hellstrom, Satana Hellstrom, Kitty Pryde, and Ms Marvel (Could see Ms Marvel as Vanguard as well, but didn't want to double dip with Carol)

Plenty of others I would love, but limited myself to 5 for each role.