I made a similar post about year 2027 already and wanted to one for 2028 as well. If you haven't seen previous post, I'd recommend checking that out first. Here's a link

But either way, the premise is simple. I'm going to replace Guang^2 and my job is to map out year 2028 for Marvel Rivals. What would I do?

Season 18: Heavy is the Heart

January: Amora (Strategist)

I want her to be a playmaker who can charm opponents, but I'm not talking about White Fox's charm, I mean Loki from the Avengers game mode. Obviously, that ability was overpowered, so it would need to be either her ult or a nerfed ability, but that's what I want. I also want her to be someone who enables dives with long-range AoE healing, has good mobility, and some ability to directly influence teammates' positions. Like Loki lamps or Cloak & Dagger's bubble? Or maybe some sort of mix between White Fox's teleport and Loki's swap, where she forces a teammate to swap places with her while healing both herself and the swapped teammate.

February: Luke Cage (Vanguard)

I mean, it's pretty obvious, right? He just fits your typical brawl tank archetype. WRONG! While yes, he should be a good brawler, making Luke Cage just a brawl tank is not enough. Brawl tanks are notoriously bad against heavy-damage poke heroes like Punisher and Moon Knight, and Luke's whole thing is having unbreakable skin and eating bullets. Him being weak and useless against poke feels wrong. That's why I think he should be a hybrid of a brawl and shield tank, with a playstyle that's like a more brawly version of Strange. And when I say shield tank, I'm not saying to give him an actual shield, just some ability that would allow him to completely negate incoming poke damage and protect the rest of his team. Also, give him a chain for a ranged attack option.

Map: Roots of Yggsgard (Convergence)

I feel like we're missing an Asgard convergence map. We already have domination and convoy, why not convergence. Also, Yggsgard's lore is too interesting not to get another map there. I also have a cool idea for a cauldron with Norn Stones as the payload.

Season 19: Eight Claws, One Target

March: Bullseye (Duelist)

I don't think there's much to talk about here. He's a sniper-type character, obviously, but I don't want sniper rifle Bullseye, I want throwing cards Bullseye. Pretty much take Cyclops' current kit, remove the spammy damage abilities, and replace them with similar but single-target focused abilities, and you have Bullseye. One thing I ask is to not make his primary auto-aim like some people are saying. No, his whole fantasy is having good aim and hitting impossible shots. If the game hits those shots for you, what the hell are you doing, man? Are you really gonna tell me you feel like the world's greatest marksman when you don't even have to aim? Auto aim abilities are fine. I think his ult should be fully auto aim like Star-Lord's ult, but not his primary.

April: Doc Ock (Vanguard)

I've said that I want a certain tank to be a brawl/control hybrid so many times that even I am getting tired of it, but Doc Ock really suits that archetype. He should have excellent vertical mobility plus a grab where, if he reaches a target, he can displace them like Dino does. In fact, while his abilities would be different, I think he'd fill a role that is very similar to Dino's, but instead of targeting tanks, he'd target squishies. I also want him to have a slam ability similar to Venom/Cap and maybe even an ability where he uses his tentacles for protection.

Map: Crossroads of Infinity (Doom Match)

I know introducing such a map with two street-level heroes might seem weird, but trust me, there's a lore explanation lol. Anyway, I want different rooms/areas to be different realities. Imagine you're jumping from the 2099 universe directly into the Noir universe, then into the Age of Apocalypse universe, the Zombies universe, etc.

Season 20: The Land Where Time Stands Still

May: Calypso (Strategist)

I don't know how many of you guys are familiar with her, but she's basically a Spider-Man villain who was Kraven's primary love interest early on. She's a voodoo priestess whose main powers are manipulating/controlling people, but I want her to be more similar to White Fox/Gambit in her playstyle, an anti-dive support who can charm/debuff enemies. If resurrection is included in her kit, that would be cool too, I guess.

June: Ka-Zar and Zabu (Vanguard)

We didn't get Moon Girl with Dino, so let us have a vanguard duo with Ka-Zar and Zabu as a consolation prize. Honestly though, this is one of my most requested vanguards. If they're added as a duo, then I want Ka-Zar's kit to be more focused on setting up traps for enemies, while Zabu's kit would be more of a dive/brawl tank kit. If we only get Ka-Zar, make him do both of these things and add Zabu as his ult, maybe. Either way, I want a control/dive tank who does two things: sets up traps for enemies, basically acting as the best anti-dive tank, while also being pretty good at distracting the enemy backline himself. Also, I kinda want an ability similar to Venom's swing where he uses a vine to swing around lol.

Map: Savage Land (Domination)

I think this one is self-explanatory. Bonus points if map allows you to swing on vines occasionally lol.

Season 21: Empire of the Eternal Flame

July: Silver Surfer (Strategist)

I want him to be a flying support who shoots energy beams imbued with the Power Cosmic that damage enemies and heal allies. Kinda like Jeff's primary, a long beam that pierces, and he'd give certain buffs to allies like Jeff does. I also want him to have really good mobility like Jeff, probably the fastest support. But he should also be a strong pick for a main healer. Please just don't make him a braindead character who can get a ton of value from just pocketing tanks. I want him to be a mostly defensive and heal-oriented character, but not a healbot, just someone who excels at saving teammates.

August: Blink (Duelist)

A dive dps with a ranged primary and a lot of utility. I don't want someone who can just delete you like BP does, but someone who enables other dive dps with her utility, teleports them in and out of danger, maybe even makes team-wide portals like Black Cat. More of a supporty duelist, but still a duelist. It would be cool if she could teleport enemies off the map too lol.

Map: Nova Roma (Convergence)

We don't have an ancient Rome-themed map yet. Why not? Incorporate volcanoes into the map too, like an out-of-bounds area that doesn't kill you but slows you and deals a small amount of damage over time, maybe. The payload should absolutely be a Roman chariot.

Season 22: Siege of the Ancestral Keep

September: Green Goblin (Strategist)

Should Green Goblin be a duelist? Yes. Do I care? No. We need more strategists, and Green Goblin can have a very fun strategist kit that still maintains his identity. I imagine him as having two modes, one flying and one on the ground, but more like Hulk/Bruce Banner than Angela. He starts on his glider, but once his health goes down to 0, he doesn't die. Instead, his glider is destroyed, and he's forced to play on the ground until his glider is back up. Otherwise, I feel like he would be a mix between Adam, Mantis and Ultron. A mostly damage-focused, 300+ HP Strategist with healing on a resource. Maybe pumpkin bombs that deal damage when they blow up but also heal and give a speed boost. I imagine this would work similarly to Mantis' heals, where they give burst healing and healing over time as well, but instead of being single-target, they apply healing to everyone in the area of the explosion. Also, like Mantis, he heals himself by passively using up his resource. It would also be cool if pumpkin bombs covered more area and dealt more damage/healing the farther away they're shot from. I want his movement ability to be like Angela's, where he dashes forward and kidnaps whoever is in front of him. And for his ult, I want the first Strategist with a transformation ult like Hulk or Magik. He goes full Goblin mode, with unlimited pumpkins that deal more damage, do more healing, and, along with a speed boost, give a damage boost to allies.

October: Black Tom Cassidy (Vanguard)

Basically Groot with Emma's primary? Every brawl tank's biggest nightmare? Tom is the villainous brother of one of the X-Men, Banshee. His powers vary depending on the run, but usually he uses wood to channel concussive beams and, in general, has a certain level of control over trees and wood. When I think about his kit, I think shield/control tank. I want his "shield" to be a barrier similar to Groot's walls, but instead of having health, it's a long/wide singular wall that's on a resource bar like Magneto's curtain. Other than that, lots of CC, area control, debuffs, a defensive plant form, bonus health, and a primary with good range.

Map: Cassidy Keep (18 v 18)

Gothic Castle where 36 heroes have to fight each other. It would be cool if it was mostly a vertical map, like maybe different zones you need to capture are right above/below each other, idk.

Season 23: The Infinity Crusade

November: Quicksilver (Strategist)

I imagine him as the fastest character in the game who is limited by a fatigue meter. My concept of him is a true dive/melee support who heals similarly to Captain America's ult but also has a good amount of downtime and is very vulnerable at certain times. So he kinda supercharges and enables divers on his team, but is also easily countered by coordinated dive. Otherwise, speed boosts are a must, an ability to save a teammate is also a must, and I want an ability that makes it seem like enemies are frozen in time while he's just dealing damage or doing whatever. In short, he needs to have a lot of utility and some team-saving abilities. I think his ult should be the healer version of Psylocke's ult, where he heals/gives bonus health to allies and buffs them, while enemies in the area are slowed and receive a damage debuff.

December: Thanos (Vanguard)

Some people say Thanos should be the next Deadpool. If you mean the next triple-role character, I disagree, but I think he should be the next Deadpool in the sense that he should have a complex kit with a lot of abilities and be able to do a little bit of everything and fit almost every team comp. In terms of his actual abilities, there are a lot of ways you can go about it. As fun as Thanos without the Infinity Gauntlet would be, I think we kinda need him to use the Stones in his kit, otherwise it won't be as satisfying of a fantasy. Again, you can do it like Deadpool, where as time goes on he gets more experience and you can unlock each stone as you desire, or you can do a shop like Black Cat's where each stone requires some resource to use, or you can tie each of his abilities to each stone. As long as the stones are his main thing, I'm cool with it. And like I said, he should fit into poke comps, brawl comps, and dive comps. He should have a little bit of everything a tank might need: a shield/barrier/way to mitigate damage, a stun, displacement, area control abilities, movement, a way to generate bonus health, strong close-range damage, etc. But like Deadpool can do a bit of everything while clearly being stronger in certain situations, I think Thanos' main strength should be being an excellent anti-dive tank that excels at area control and brawling.

Map: Farm (Convoy)

Farm where Thanos is supposed to rest after he has achieved his goal. We're moving infinity gauntlet as a payload out of his house. Since it's released during fall/winter season, we could make it fall/winter themed, but I think it's better if it's not.

I think for the rest of 2026 we're probably getting 2 duelists, 2 vanguards and 2 strategists, so with my wishlist by the end of 2028 we would be at 26 vanguards, 33 duelists, and 24 strategists. It's not perfectly balanced, but I don't think we need perfect balance between the roles, we just need to have rougly as many diverse options for strategists and vanguards as duelists have. If you really wanted to, you could rework couple of them into strategists and another couple into vanguards to make it more balanced, but I honestly don't think NetEase will ever change any hero's role.

Anyway, what do you guys think? Maybe you want to share what heroes you'd release in what order if you replaced Guangguang.

Imagine you're Guang² and your job is to map out next 12 heroes that will release in 2027. Since some combination of characters like Jubilee, Hood, Gorr, Nightcrawler, Blue Marvel, Crescent and Doom are most likely coming in 2026, you have to come up with new batch of heroes for each season next year.

I would do something like this:

Season 12: Synthetic Hearts

January: Vision (Vanguard)

I want him to be a shield tank like Magneto, but less defensive. He would have two modes: In offensive mode, he would have an infinite-range beam and a limited vertical mobility option with no cooldown. He'd be good against fliers, but he'd have huge damage falloff and overall low damage. Allies around him would get overshields based on how much damage he took. He'd also have an escape ability. Defensive mode would be like Emma's diamond form, where he has damage reduction and good close-range damage, but unlike Emma, he wouldn't have CC in his neutral kit. His range would be limited, but he'd have a shield or some sort of barrier.

February: Ant-Man and Wasp (Strategist)

I want them to be a duo like Cloak and Dagger. I want them to have playmaking capabilities like Loki or Jeff, good mobility + ranged healing enabling brawlers/divers. But at the same time I want them to be good against divers like Gambit or Deadpool. Basically I want their only weakness to be poke. Not that poke gets them easily but that they struggle outhealing consistent poke damage dealt by characters like Punisher or Moon Knight, something similar to White Fox or Rocket healing. Wasp would have small damage over time aura around her to fend off diverse, and while her healing would be low, her primarybwould be able to pierce and heal multiple allies at once. She'd also mostly buff allies by reducing their hitbox and giving them movement/damage boost. Ant-man would mostly have healing aura around him + mobility option where he shrinks and moves with small ant colony, simialr to Jeff's swim. He'd also be able to increase enemy hitbox, slow them down and give them vulnerable.

Map: Ichor (Convergence)

I want an underwater map. That's it. I also think a Hydra Convergence map would be cool. I don't have much thought beyond that other than wanting an environmental effect where splashes of water deal minimal damage but also slow players, similar to the Wakanda maps.

Season 13: Prison of Memories

March: Captain Marvel (Vanguard)

I think this one is self-explanatory. I want her to be a brawl/dive hybrid, some happy medium between Angela and Rogue but with ranged option. I also want her to have a taunt ability that kinda forces every enemy to fire at her. This would be really dangerous to have in the game, but if you have competent supports, you're basically cutting off enemy healing and enabling your team to take out the enemy tanks.

April: White Tiger (Strategist)

Exactly the opposite. I want her to be like Gambit but more melee-focused. A support with lots of utility and decent healing. She'd be good against divers and would have enough healing to keep up with poke damage, but she'd struggle against tanks like Captain Marvel, who have good mobility and/or enough self-sustain to draw out her resources and make her kinda useless.

Map: The Raft (18v18)

I want the Raft. Maybe give characters prison-themed skins, make them fight each other, and maybe have environmental traps that CC certain characters by throwing them into a cell or something lol.

Season 14: Shadow of the Corporate Star

May: Gamora (Duelist)

Again, I think this one is self explanatory. Basically Duelpool but with less self-sustain, hero with dual weapons and dual playstyles: you can either try sniping squishie with your gun or diving backline and doing some high-damage combo that eliminates supports. I want her to be hard but rewarding character, but nothing too special or different. She's a simple hero, an assassin whose only job is to eliminate enemies. Cool mechanic would be if her shots marked targets and enabled better dives.

June: Miles Morales Spider-Man (Strategist)

People are probably going to hate me for this but I want him to be a melee off-support. Imagine if Ultron instead of flying just swung around like Spider-Man and instead of boring beam had sick combos. This would be balance nightmare and almost impossibke to pull off, but I don't care, I am Guangguang and I want this. Give him Lifeweaver web pull, maybe an ability like soul bond that connects allies hit with a tracer, gives them shared hp and low healing over time.

Map: Triskelion/Ultimate New York City (Domination)

Huh, another water/island-themed map. I guess I have certain preferences. Anyway, I wanted a Domination map in New York. Triskelion works, end of story. To be honest, we've had maps set in the 616 universe and some in the 2099 universe as well. It would be cool to show the ultimate universe some love. Maybe the mosaic timeline can be used to explore ultimate universe?

Season 15: Beyond Shattered Dimensions

July: Spider-Man 2099 (Vanguard)

If you are a support main who took a look at Gamora + Miles and didn't like what you saw because you're sick of dive, then you might want to skip this one. I want Miguel to be a dodge tank, guy who lives in your backline, teleports from enemy to enemy like black cat in her ult, and while he may not do a lot of damage and is a bit of a tickle monster, he poses enough threat that you have to pay attention. But you won't be able to get rid of this guy because he's just impossible to catch. I think Cap is currently the closest vanguard we have to dodge tank, I want miguel to have less hp and no shield but better mobility and self-sustain to compensate. To make him more of a menace, I'd give him some anti-CC passive. Not unstoppable or something like that, but a passive that makes you think if it's better if you don't use your CC ability on him.

August: Mysterio (Strategist)

We're tripling down on dive. Make him a playmaker type of support similar to Jeff, Loki or Rocket. You won't be able to catch him while he's healing a diver/brawler in your backline from miles away. I want him to have low damage but also lots of traps and debuffs. Also, it would be cool if he had an ability that allows him to enable friendly fire on enemies lol but that might be too broken.

Map: Spider-Society Citadel (Convoy)

Just fits thematically, also would release right after new spiderverse movie, and we haven't had convoy map in a while. Just seemed like a good idea. Also citadel in movie looked pretty sick.

Season 16: Vengeance Is Mine

September: Ghost Rider (Vanguard)

Dive is getting out of hand, would be cool to have a brawl/control tank who can stand his ground against other tanks or brawl dps, while he has enough CC and close range damage to punish anyone who enters his space. It would be even cooler if he had a burn passive, could fly into enemy lines with his motorcycle, chain your ass with his hook and blast your face off with his shotgun.

October: Prowler (Duelist)

Melee Moon Knight from PvE mode. Make him brawl/dive hybrid who can fend off other divers but also distract enemy supports enough or put pressure on enemy frontlines and enable poke dps on his team.

Map: Transverse City (for new racing game mode)

If you don't want a racing mode with your favourite heroes, you are lame. Idk what to tell ya. Also, more ultimate universe exposure!

Season 17: House of Harkness

November: Agatha Harkness (Vanguard)

I want Agatha to be a better Peni. Don't give her any shields or crazy mobility, she should just take space and own it. You go in, you're dead. Take defensive runes from TV show and adapt them. They take away enemy's abilities and render them useless inside the area. Only way you can get her out is through a lot of poke damage.

December: Professor X (Strategist)

I genuinely don't know what to say because you can do pretty much everything with his kit. I think we're at the point in my hypothetical where it's time to reinforce poke, so I guess he can be a mix of main healer and an anti-dive healer, sort of like Invis. This would allow him to enable poke dps by disabling dives and also keep his healing up with high damage poke enemies. But I have to say, I don't have a strong vision for what I want for Xavier. At least if his kit is something like this, he'd enable Magneto, Cyclops, and Phoenix, so I guess that's cool. But I really don't have anything to offer in terms of specifics of his kit and abilities. One thing I know is that I want him in a wheelchair lol. Make up something in lore and have Agatha take away his legs again lol.

Map: External Gate of Krakoa (Convergence)

One idea I had for this map is that I want bad guy to be on attacking side. I think on every single convoy/convergence map attack side tends to have a certain moral high ground on defense. Correct me if I'm wrong. Anyway, map is about Agatha taking something away from Krakoa and Xavier is trying to stop him. If he fails Agatha will get to portal and run away.

There are way more heroes I wanted to include, but unfortunately there are only 12 months in every single year, including 2027. I tried to keep some resemblance of balance lol.

Once again, you're welcome to share your own ideas.

Look at this glorious little remote-controlled chaos machine! There is something so perfectly Warhammer 40k about a tiny, remote-controlled tracked bomb. No thoughts, just high explosives rolling toward a fortification.

I just found out about this amazing tank and I already love it! Again, it is literally a remote-controlled tracked bomb, and the model looks so cool and tiny!

Can't wait to get this little guy on the tabletop and see the look on my opponent's face. For the Emperor!

Edit: please mods allow this post to stay 🥹🥹

When somebody asks which vanguards you want to see added to the game, everybody has their favorite characters that they just can’t wait to play as. And it makes sense, this is a Marvel game after all, a lot of people just want to live out the fantasy of playing their favorite heroes.

But from a game design perspective, I don't think it's always that simple. I believe when it comes to creating new playable heroes, especially in case of lesser-known characters, devs design a kit or archetype first, then find the Marvel character that fits it best.

So instead of asking which character you want next, I’m more interested in what kind of tank do you want to be added to the game? You can provide a character that fits this archetype as well if you want.

For example, I’d love to see a true hook/control tank added. It feels weird that Winter Soldier, a duelist, has one of the strongest displacement tools in the game and can literally pull multiple people to their deaths, while most tanks don’t have CC that impactful in their neutral kit. Also, the game really lacks tanks like that in general. The only true control tank is probably Peni. Everyone else you could make an argument for is either a really good brawler, has a shield/barrier, or maybe even both.

A character I think would fit this niche perfectly is Ghost Rider. His chain could obviously function as a hook, but you could also build the rest of his kit around area control and punishment. He could have an ability or passive aura around him that causes slow or deals damage over time, similar to Human Torch’s pyro prison. He could also have enough mobility to be hard to hit for poke players and catch up with divers just enough to get them into his hook range. You could give him shotgun for close range fights too, etc.

What are some of your suggestions? I know a lot of people want a hitscan vanguard with unlimited range like Deadpool, but with more emphasis on poke and less on diving/brawling. I think that’s cool as well.