Since its launch, it feels like Marvel Rivals has gone from strength to strength, constantly adding content and new features to keep its landscape ever-moving. There have been some stumbles along the way, and NetEase has made some last-minute alterations as a result, as was the case with removing a mid-season reset for Season 1.5, and it shows that Marvel Rivals' ranking system still has some kinks to iron out. Given its up and down nature, rather than the more stagnant, placement match nature of a MOBA or Overwatch, it does come with some flaws that are tricky to ignore.

Match making has been a common complaint. Players often find themselves in either a winner's or loser's queue, resulting in a long winning or losing streak, with matches usually being landslides in either direction. It's not a great feeling, and it feels worse when ranking up seems to depend more on time than skill, since those with a less-than 50% win rate can still climb the ranks as long as they play enough games. This is something that NetEase has tried to fix with Season 2; however, general disfavor towards Strategists has made this an impossible task.

Marvel Rivals' Strategists Are On Strike

And It's In Response To Duelist Players

Strategist players have it rough in Marvel Rivals, especially due to how dive-heavy the meta is becoming. With Duelists often diving either end, there aren't the Duelists to peel at the back, while the Vanguards (or usually just the one Vanguard) are forced to hold the front lines and protect the rear, a job too big to ask for. Games usually devolve into who can dive better, unless a Namor is busy ruining the party, and this state has led many Strategists to strike unless they receive more help from their team and less abuse.

With his Aquatic Domination (the squids), Namor has become the go-to hero to deal with divers, although as the sole, obvious choice, it often leads to him being banned.

It doesn't help that Namor's new team-up often makes him a common target for banning, especially because diving Duelists seem to be the way to go. Of course, general chat abuse has led many to leave the Strategist class behind, and this abuse stereo-typically comes from Duelist players, although this is probably because there tend to be more Duelist players than other classes. The general layout of the game is unfavorable towards Strategists, and as a hybrid player who is often equally comfortable with Vanguard and Strategist, I have felt this a lot in my recent ranked matches.

Strategist isn't as fun as it used to be, especially because even enemy Vanguards are getting into the diving action with Captain America's buffs. While in previous seasons, I would play whatever was needed (usually Strategist), I now lean toward playing Vanguard to actually enjoy myself. While I am capable of playing Duelist, the role is usually overpopulated anyway, and I don't get the chance to practice much. I can understand why Strategists are striking and, while I think it is a drastic measure, something bigger on social media than it is in game means no one wins.

The Performance-Based Points System Isn't In A Strategist's Favor

Duelists Tend To Get The Most Points

While the Strategist strike is all about the dive META and chat abuse, I feel like it should also be about the recent changes to the rank system. As discussed in Dev Vision Vol 5 on YouTube, NetEase added a performance-based points system for Marvel Rivals' ranks. This is a great idea in theory, stopping people from offering nothing in a game and getting carried to a rank, but it doesn't quite punish the right people for poor performances. It seems that what the game considers a good performance is very linear and is based purely on numbers.

Duelists have benefited most from this, and many get plenty of points so long as they do a decent job with damage while ending with a positive K/D/A ratio. This isn't the case with Vanguard and specifically Strategist. While high-damage Vanguards like Groot will get plenty of points for high damage and kills, a good Captain America won't benefit as much, since his job is all about disruption and causing chaos in the backline. While his high survivability often means few deaths, his low damage can often result in low kills, even if he's done his job adequately.

Captain America's high mobility and health make him hard to kill. Many find success using him to dive into the backlines to prevent enemy Strategists from healing.

Then, there are the Strategists, who drew the short end of the stick. Even with great healing and low deaths, which can be tricky with all the diving, they tend to get very few points with a win, especially Strategists like Rocket, who doesn't usually contribute to kills. This is odd considering that his buffs have made him the Strategist with the highest healing output, although it seems that NetEase is punishing players for using him by giving them little points to gain. It makes playing Strategist less rewarding in Competitive than other classes.

Marvel Rivals Encourages More People To Play Its Already Most Popular Class

The Overwhelming Ratio Of Duelist Players Is Hurting Matchmaking

Good players should be rewarded with more points, and while I'm not denying that a great Duelist can carry their team to victory by just killing the enemy team over and over, Duelists players that aren't able to offer much in a game shouldn't get more points than a Strategist keeping everyone alive by the skin of their teeth just because they ended positive. It discourages people from playing Strategist. As a hybrid player, I find myself trying to lock in a Vanguard character so that I can get adequate points gained in a victory.

After the addition of Ultron for Season 2.5, each class will receive two new characters.

Of course, I have the option of putting in an MVP performance as a Strategist to get some decent points, which is easier with Loki or Cloak and Dagger, but this doesn't depend on the Strategists, it depends on the Duelists. A Hela nailing every shot and walking around with barely any deaths is going to get MVP over a Strategist almost every time. Duelists already have the most characters and most players, so the system further encouraging them to play these characters feels unnecessary, especially because there is a Strategist deficit with the strike.

Again, I think the strike might be a step too far and perhaps isn't sending the right message. While Duelists are stereotyped as egotistical, abusive, and arrogant, Strategists are stereotyped as whinny, playing the victim, low skill, and only a Strategist because they can't play another class. These are harsh stereotypes and are often only true to a vocal minority, but the strike has only helped to divide Duelists and Strategists, something ill-advised for a team game. Either way, the Vanguards are stuck in the middle.

Ultimately, it does feel like there needs to be some kind of review of the performance-based system. Perhaps a player's stats can be compared to the average of other players at the same rank using the same character, rather than using what seems to be fairly linear stats. Either way, Marvel Rivals needs to find some kind of compromise with Strategist players, since I can tell you first-hand that it isn't fun at the moment, nor is it rewarding, yet the class is often vital to a team's success.

Source: Marvel Rivals/Rivals