As Marvel Rivals’ Season 6 arrives alongside Deadpool’s multi-role addition to the roster, the total number of playable characters is now 46. That massive number alone has been beneficial to the game’s longevity, providing new heroes every month as well as balance updates.
While new heroes are exciting additions, it’s also causing power creep among its older heroes, rendering them almost useless.
Adam Warlock’s Pick Rate Reveals a Hero in Decline
Considered as one of the most powerful characters in Marvel history, Adam Warlock is one of Marvel Rivals’ Strategists. He’s a formidable support that can anchor a team to near invulnerability thanks to his powerful Soul Bond ability, but since the game’s launch, he’s still consistently part of the bottom tier in terms of pick rate and meta viability.
One of the many pleas from the community, especially to Lord Adam Warlock mains, is to rework Adam’s kit by giving him a mobility skill.
Adam Warlock’s lack of flight makes him a prime target for a running gag among the community. Despite being a powerful being, his kit in Marvel Rivals doesn’t feel on par with his comic (and film) version. Instead, what he gets is a second life passive that allows him to return to the fight in a jiffy.
In the recent Hero Hot List data provided by NetEase and Marvel Rivals, Adam Warlock is the least picked hero with a 3.86% pick rate, followed closely by Mantis at 4.47%. While Mantis is an all-rounder support, she was once a meta pick in earlier seasons thanks to her broken movement speed.
Warlock is the most targeted hero from dive comps in high-elo, thanks to his Ultimate that can revive fallen allies, and his lack of survivability makes him a lesser pick compared to other Strategists that have a fighting chance against dive comps. (See: Invisible Woman, Cloak & Dagger)
Older Heroes Are Losing Their Place in Marvel Rivals’ Meta
As the Marvel Rivals roster continues to expand, older heroes lose their luster. Apart from Adam Warlock, other characters like Hulk, Storm, and even Black Widow are still stuck on the bottom end, as new players tend to pick the newer ones.
Before his nerf goes live in Season 6, Gambit has dominated the Strategist meta, having only emerged a few months ago. When he dropped, the value of older Strategists decreased, reducing their pick rates over time.
Power creep has taken hold in Marvel Rivals now that the game has reached its first year. Older heroes tend to get sidelined in favor of newer ones, especially now that Gambit and Deadpool are poised to be viable picks in the long run.
NetEase’s Marvel Rivals is only going to get bigger this year, as the studio plans something “huge” for their future updates. More varied balance updates and reworks for underperforming heroes, such as Adam Warlock, may be on the way. In the meantime, players would have to get used to their favorite Marvel characters being shelved in the bottom tier.
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