Marvel Rivals Want Ban Feature Extended to All Ranks

Competition-minded Marvel Rivals fans are requesting that the game's character ban feature be extended to every rank in the game. Marvel Rivals character bans are currently only available in matches at Diamond rank and higher.

Marvel Rivals is easily the hottest multiplayer game around at the moment. Despite being surrounded by competitors thanks to the many hero shooters released in 2024, NetEase Games has managed to tap into the enthusiasm for seeing Marvel superheroes and villains duke it out in a competitive context. The game's large playable cast and vibrant, comic-inspired art style also endeared it to players looking for an antidote to the MCU-inspired realism seen in games like Marvel's Avengers and Marvel's Spider-Man. And now, with a few weeks to settle, players are rapidly building Marvel Rivals into a nexus of highly coordinated, competitive play.

Unfortunately, some work might still need to be done to satisfy Marvel Rivals fans looking to get the most out of the game's competitive ranked play modes. A player who goes by Expert_Recover_7050 on Reddit aired a call for NetEase Games to make the Marvel Rivals Hero Ban system available at every rank. In character-based competitive games like Marvel Rivals, hero or character bans allow teams to vote to remove certain characters from selection, potentially blocking off a bad matchup or neutralizing a potent team combo.

Marvel Rivals Fans Think Hero Bans Should Be Available At All Ranks

Expert_Recover_7050 contextualized their complaint by showing an opponent's team comp consisting of some of the best Marvel Rivals characters: Bruce Banner/Hulk, Hawkeye, Hela, Iron Man, Mantis, and Luna Snow. They said that such a team in the Platinum ranks was incredibly common and seemingly unbeatable, making encountering them over and over very annoying. Unfortunately, with Hero Bans only available to players at Diamond rank and higher, Expert_Recover_7050 argued that only they are able to have fun, while lower-ranked players are left to struggle against overpowered team compositions with no recourse.

The complaint sparked detailed discussions among Marvel Rivals fans in the subreddit, with many on either side of the argument. Some players took issue with the tone and context of the complaint, arguing that the "overpowered" team cited by Expert_Recover_7050 isn't really that powerful, and that learning the advanced skills to beat it is part of the "journey" for many of the highest-ranked Marvel Rivals players. Others agreed that hero bans should be available to more players, since learning to deal with hero bans is a necessary "metagame" strategy players should learn. Others took issue with the very concept of character bans in the first place, saying that a properly balanced game wouldn't need such a system at all.

Whatever the eventual outcome of a call to expand the hero ban system to the lower ranks, it's clear that there's still a ways to go before the game becomes a true top-flight competitive title. Of course, it's still early in Marvel Rivals' lifetime, and there is still time to adjust things to suit the community.