The mid-season patch is heading to Marvel Rivals on February 21, 2025, and with it comes the latest round of character balancing. There are quite a lot of changes, but what should you make of them? I will be breaking down the most notable changes coming to this patch for both nerfs and buffs.
If you haven't seen the official patch notes yet, be sure to check them out to get a full overview of the upcoming changes! This article won't dissect every single buff and nerf, so it is good to check out what other characters are getting changes.
Also be sure to check out the latest published data on the Hero meta - it provides insight to why the balance changes were made by the Marvel Rivals developers.
Biggest Character Nerfs
Believe it or not, the majority of this patch contains buffs! The nerfs they did make though, are likely to make a big impact on the meta.
Doctor Strange got a simple, but tough nerf straight to his HP. Losing 50 HP may not seem like much, but that small amount of health is often what keeps him alive when he is under pressure. He will often fly into the sky and aim his shield downward while his healers help him recover. This HP reduction should help in 2 significant ways: locking in those kills so he can't escape or forcing him to retreat sooner. Considering high high popularity, other Vanguards will start to be much more appealing to play.
Storm received the most nerfs of any character, and understandably so. After her buffs at the start of season 1, she quickly became one of the most banned characters in competitive mode. A simple way of interpreting her nerfs is she now has a lower DPS output. Her close range attacks remain mostly unaffected, but her long range takes the biggest hit. The damage boost from her thunder aura will also now makes] her attacks slightly less powerful across all ranges. Overall I expect these changes to slightly reduce her potency, but without killing her viability. It should free up a ban slot more often in competitive as well.
Arguably the biggest nerfs come to the strategists. Luna Snow, Invisible Woman, and Cloak & Dagger all got an increase in the time it takes to get their ultimate. This should make the amount of time players are unkillable much less often. Considering the entire meta currently revolves around the healers negating ultimates, these nerfs will definitely cause a shift in what strategists we see the most of. Cloak & Dagger's ultimate got extra targeted as it last 2 seconds less, and her time to aim each of the 4 lanes of healing is almost halved. If you were on the fence about Rocket Raccoon before, now may be a good time to try him out.
Biggest Character Buffs
Iron Man headlines the buffs in my opinion. He already can melt through unaware players with smaller HP, but his Unibeam is getting a massive buff. While the gamma team up is getting nerfed (we will cover that in detail later), his Unibeam will be much stronger without the team up, and arguably makes the team up unnecessary. His original output was 180 damage per second, and is moving up to 190. The Team-Up was giving it a boost to 220 damage per second, but is dropping down to 200.
So basically, the Gamma Charge Team-Up now has a 10 damage difference instead of a 40 damage difference. That alone makes the frequent Hulk bans less impacting on a match, and will make Iron Man a much more frequent pick. If you combine that with the introduction of Human Torch, the flying meta may be upon us.
Star-Lord has a very underrated buff heading his way. He is getting 50% more fuel for his jet boots, which makes a significant impact on his dive abilities. He will be much more flexible in quickly flanking opponents, dealing lots of damage, and be able to escape with plenty of remaining fuel. With healer ultimate abilities being less often now, Star-Lord may become the premiere option for aggressive plays.
Adam Warlock has been in the need of a buff for a while. He is one of the least picked Strategists, and for good reason. As the only healer with heals tied to cooldowns, he often lacks at his job and focuses more on DPS. This buff makes his Soul Bond, which is arguably a mini-ult with how strong it is, even stronger. It will be much more helpful with healing the team passively while you continue to focus on damage output.
And speaking of, that damage boost is strong enough to let Warlock one-shot kill 250 HP characters at close range. Having a healer that can potentially one-shot an opposing healer is incredibly strong. I expect to see much more Adam Warlock to fill in for the other popular Strategists.
Iron Fist is the last high impact buff I think will shake up the meta. To simplify the long text of his buffs, he will have more HP, more bonus HP, and more overall damage for his flurry attacks. Iron Fist is about to become the most banned character in the game next to Wolverine I think. Giving him more health and more damage will let him terrorize the backline with ease. With Magik getting a slight nerf, Iron Fist will likely get a huge uptick in play. With his ability to chase flying characters, he will also be a frequent counter pick to a possible flyer meta.
Team-Up Change's Impacts
Lots of Team-Up abilities have gotten changes, which is surely to shake up popular character pairings each match. Every change should make huge waves in the meta... except for one: The Dimensional Shortcut.
The Dimensional Shortcut Team-Up requires 2 DPS divers, which isn't common. This small change likely won't make much of a difference in players trying to utilize it.
Gamma Charge is getting a significant nerf. As mentioned with Iron Man, the Unibeam is getting a big power reduction, making it almost irrelevant. Hulk also loses 50 bonus HP from the Team-Up, which should make it less potent. This change, combined with Doctor Strange and Iron Man changes, should drastically reduce the need to always ban Hulk.
Atlas Bond is a lesser used Team-Up, but will likely be much more popular now. With Luna Snow losing ultimate frequency, getting an extra healing option makes her a strong pick still. With Iron Fist getting buffs, running these two characters together will be a great pairing with high-impact results.
Tied for what I think is the biggest impact Team-Up change is Symbiote Bond. Spider-Man and Venom both are getting solid buffs, and Peni Parker is showing to be a very strong Vanguard according to the recently published stats. This Team-Up change gives Spidey and Peni an invulnerability trigger. To signify how impactful this really is, these characters can now survive a direct hit from Iron Man's ultimate without a scratch. It does require good timing, but Magneto has proven that a brief moment of Invincibility is very good.
For the other Team-Up tied for biggest impact, we have Lunar Force. This Team-Up was fairly common since Moon Knight and Cloak & Dagger are frequent picks. This Team-Up buff gives Moon Knight a way to self heal, which means he has significantly more utility as he sneaks around. Just because he is wounded doesn't mean he has to retreat now. He can drop the dome, become invisible, and heal himself with no interaction needed with his healers. Giving any character a self-heal ability is incredibly strong. Giving that ability to a diver though? Iron Fist knows how good it really is.
