Season 2 of Marvel Rivals releases on April 11, 2025, with several major changes coming to the game's Competitive mode. Alongside hero balance adjustments, new characters, and extra cosmetics, the ranked experience will undergo some tweaks for all players. From different map rotations to rank resets, the Competitive side of the game will go through large adjustments with the turn of a new Season.

The start of Season 2 means various gameplay changes, especially with the introduction of the new characters Emma Frost and Ultron. Existing characters will receive buffs and nerfs, altering the importance of certain team comps found in Competitive matches. According to the developers, Team-Up abilities in Marvel Rivals will also be modified, with some characters being deducted from pairings while other groups will be eliminated.

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• How Do Ranks Reset In Season 2?

• All Competitive Mode Changes

How Do Ranks Reset In Season 2?

Take Major Steps Back From Your Current Rank

In Season 2, players will have their Competitive Rank reset by nine stages, vastly dropping their status from wherever they ended in Season 1. For example, if you ended Season 1 at Diamond 1, you will begin Season 2 at Silver 1.

This change is huge, as it basically has players start their Competitive grind from a far lower point to reclaim higher titles. Even if you ended Season 1 in Celestial, one of the highest Ranks in the game, you will have to go through multiple Ranks to get back to where you were. This large reset comes after some controversy surrounding rank resets in Marvel Rivals back in Season 1.5, where proposed rank resets were dropped after player backlash.

With Season 2, the season will last a total of 3 months, with a major update halfway through it similar to Season 1. However, in the future, Season 3 and beyond will only last 2 months, meaning that rank resets may happen more often as seasons change.

This change carries both pros and cons with it, with the biggest benefit coming from how higher Rank players will be thrust into more diverse matches at lower levels. That being said, players at lower ranks like myself will likely drop back into Bronze 3 to repeat the tedious grind of reaching ranks Gold and beyond once again. With some rewards being tied to reaching certain Competitive Ranks, this change will impact many players.

All Competitive Mode Changes

New Map Rotation And More Frequent Character Bans

Alongside Rank resets, the major changes for Marvel Rivals' Competitive mode include:

• New Map being added to Ranked matches
• Pick Bans now start in Gold 3 rather than Diamond 3
• Some Maps are being taken away from Ranked match rotations
• Raised the minimum Level requirement to participate in Ranked matches

Perhaps the most obvious change is the inclusion of "Hellfire Gala: Krakoa" as a new map alongside the other zones you and your team compete in during Ranked matches. This living island is the new home of many mutants, led by Emma Frost in Season 2 of Marvel Rivals alongside familiar faces like Magik and Magneto. However, with Ultron's invasion of the island, this map has now become a battleground for survival.

Emma Frost is a new Vanguard character that arrives on April 11, 2025 with the start of Season 2. Ultron, the other new addition for the season, is expected to be included with the Season 2.5 update later down the line.

Although it is unknown if Krakoa is a Domination, Convoy, or Convergence type of map as of this time of writing, the mutant-themed location will likely have plenty of details for players to explore. However, with Krakoa's inclusion, some maps are also being taken away from the Competitive mode rotation.

Both the "Yggsgard: Royal Palace" and "Tokyo 2099: Shin-Shibuya" maps are being removed from Competitive play, reducing the total number of Ranked stages to four. The limited number of maps in Marvel Rivals has been an issue for many players, with lack of variety being one of the few consistent complaints about the game since its open beta in 2024. This reduction of Competitive maps seems like a strange change, but the developers could have a reason for they explain at a later date.

As of the Season 2 update, the following maps will be in the Competitive rotation:

1. Hellfire Gala: Krakoa
2. Yggsgard: Yggdrasill Path
3. Tokyo 2099: Spider Islands
4. Intergalactic Empire of Wakanda: Birnin T'Challa

Other modes, like Quick Play and Custom Games, will still include every available map in the game.

The other big change to Competitive matches is how pick bans work in Season 2. Starting with the new Season, players at Rank Gold 3 or above get a chance to ban characters before a match starts in Ranked games. This feature in previous Seasons was exclusive to higher Ranks, starting at Diamond 3 and remaining in all Ranks higher than that point.

The ability to ban characters in earlier Ranks will allow players to form new strategies and synergies together to get around different restrictions. For example, a team comp in Marvel Rivals that likes to use dive characters will have to make adaptations if Spider-Man gets banned from a match. The back and forth between character bans has always been an interesting Competitive system that will now be prevalent across more Ranks.

Another Competitive change is the raised Level requirement you have to meet before queuing into Ranked matches. In Season 2, you have to be at least Level 15 before you can queue a Competitive game from the game's "Play" menu. This is five Levels above the previous requirement, giving players more time to learn the game before trying Ranked.

The final change to anything Competitive in Season 2 is a bit subtle, as it relates to your performance during a match. According to the developers, players will receive more accurate Ranked points based on how well they did during a match. Those who perfrom poorly will receive less points, while those who do well or acheive an MVP status from a game will get a much higher amount of Competitive points.

This change is, hopefully, in place to help players Rank up faster. With the huge ranked reset in Season 2, having a more accurate point gain or loss based on personal performance should reduce the grind it takes to climb through the Ranks. With every Competitive change in Season 2 for Marvel Rivals, the overall experience will be more interesting for anyone who wants to put their skills to the test.

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Released

December 6, 2024

ESRB

T For Teen // Violence

Developer(s)

NetEase Games

Publisher(s)

NetEase Games

Engine

Unreal Engine 5

Multiplayer

Online Multiplayer, Online Co-Op

Cross-Platform Play

Limited - console crossplay, no PC crossplay

Franchise

Marvel

Platform(s)

PlayStation 5, Xbox Series X, Xbox Series S, PC

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