Marvel Rivals Season 7 Guide

Season 7 of Marvel Rivals: titled "The Hunt Is On": drops on March 20, 2026, and NetEase has blessed us with another glorious opportunity to question every life decision that led us to this point. Two new heroes, the biggest balance overhaul since launch, and a storyline about time-plague from a dystopian 2099 future. Bold of them to assume any of us have a future.

The theme, if you missed the teaser that you definitely watched seventeen times: Black Cat (master thief, agility goddess, will destroy your mental health) and White Fox (Korean spy, nine-tailed shapeshifter, strategist who'll make supports even more oppressive than they already are). Forces from Nueva York's 2099 are bleeding into modern Manhattan through the Alchemax Tower. You know, just another Tuesday.

"2026 is packed with brand new heroes, content, and more! This year, we'll be turning up the heat.": NetEase Games, ominously, while sharpening their nerf knife.

Oh, and your rank resets on Day 1. Just in case you were feeling good about yourself. Don't.

The 20% Ult Nerf That'll Break You

Here it is. The one change that will make every single player in your lobby recalibrate their entire personality. NetEase has decided that the game where every five seconds someone pops an ultimate and the screen turns into a Jackson Pollock painting needs to slow down. Revolutionary thinking.

• 70%Damage → Energy
• (Vanguards & Duelists)
• 75%Damage/Heal → Energy
• (Strategists)
• 11/sPassive energy
• (was 12: cry about it)
• 8/sStrategist passive
• (from 12: no more ult farming)

What this means in human language: you will charge your ultimate slower. Way slower. The strategists who would sit in the backline doing absolutely nothing while soaking passive energy like a spa day? Ruined. Gone. The casuals who pressed Q every 45 seconds regardless of whether it was smart? They're going to have to develop actual skills now. Ghastly concept.

The 20% nerf is the largest universal adjustment in Marvel Rivals history. Every hero. Every role. Simultaneously. At once. No exceptions. No mercy. No survivors.

Dive heroes actually come out ahead here: instead of farming ults by running into walls and doing nothing, everyone's energy generation is normalized. Poke characters who could lazily spray from a distance to build charge are the real losers. And your teammate who instinctively presses Q the moment the meter hits 50%? They're going to have to sit there and feel things now.

Also arriving in Season 7.5: a crowd control nerf pass. NetEase has looked at the game's pacing and decided that maybe getting stunned, rooted, charmed, and frozen while three ultimates go off simultaneously is too much. Maybe. They're still deciding. Careful here: they want to test the waters before committing. Translation: they'll overcorrect, break something, and we'll do this again in Season 8.

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White Fox

South Korean secret agent. Nine-tailed fox shapeshifter. Melee Strategist, which shouldn't be a thing but is now. She heals allies with Yeowoo Guseul, stores Kumiho energy to buff teammates and charm enemies, and unleashes a full nine-tailed fox form ultimate that will be absolutely disgusting for at least three weeks before they nerf her into the floor.

NEW TEAM-UP: Blessing of the Kumiho: White Fox + Luna Snow. Prepare to hate both of them.

Black Cat

Felicia Hardy. Master thief. Enhanced agility, a grappling hook, and probability manipulation that will make you feel like the universe personally hates you: because it does when she's in the lobby. She walks the line between thief and hero as comfortably as she'll walk across your ranked game and ruin it. Expect vertical map dominance. Expect to miss every shot against her.

Ghost Rider was teased but not coming yet. They're saving the pain for later.

The season's narrative frame: a temporal plague from 2099's Nueva York is bleeding through Alchemax Tower into modern Manhattan. Forces from the dystopian future version of New York are turning the city into a battleground. The Shin-Shibuya map also returns to the competitive pool, because apparently one source of suffering wasn't enough.

NEW TEAM-UP UNLOCKED: Cosmic Cyclone: Storm + Adam Warlock. Two characters who were already annoying, now more annoying together. NetEase loves you.

Below is what the devs actually did, translated from Corporate Patch Note into language that reflects the emotional reality of being a main for any of these characters.

ANGELA

Flying around for free damage? Gone. Dash cooldown doubled from 3s to 6s. Spear damage up from 10 to 40. Survivability buffed. Net result: Angela mains who actually understand her kit get rewarded. Everyone else gets punished for spam. Devastating if your entire personality was "fly and stab."

CAPTAIN AMERICA

Smoother movement left, smoother shield. Less ultimate energy. Nobody asked. Nobody cared. Cap was barely relevant before and remains barely relevant. America's finest, ladies and gentlemen.

HULK

Gamma Burst now has TWO charges with 6s cooldown each. Ultimate charge from absorbed damage increased. The big green guy is getting significantly scarier. If you thought Hulk was annoying before, congratulations: he's now double the problem.

BLADE

Received notable changes that make the vampire hunter even more dangerous up close. Because apparently someone at NetEase plays Blade and is winning their internal playtest lobbies.

WINTER SOLDIER

Main pistol spell damage reduced from 65 to 55. Key breakpoints destroyed. The combos that made Bucky genuinely terrifying? Dead. The two-shot + voltage KO? Doesn't math anymore. Bucky mains, it's been an honor. Write your eulogy in the comments.

PSYLOCKE

Crossbow cooldown reduction increased 0.25s → 0.3s. Throw/return damage 8 → 9. The burst combo playstyle is quietly returning. If Psylocke was your first love, she might be remembered again. Genuinely nice change in a sea of chaos.

SCARLET WITCH

Base damage up 80 → 85. Damage falloff starts at 10m (drops to 90% at max). Better burst hit conversion ratio. Up close she's now properly lethal. They've buffed her twice in three patches. Someone at NetEase mains Wanda and is not subtle about it.

IRON MAN

Armor Overdrive now extends by 2 seconds per KO. Startup reduced 1.8s → 1.3s. He's still slow and clunky at high-level play. But for casuals? He's going to feel like a power fantasy. Congratulations to everyone who spent 80 hours trying to make Iron Man work. Your time has come. Sort of.

MAGIK

Uppercut hitbox radius goes from 0.45m to 1 METER. Her dash was a death sentence when you missed it. Now it's a death sentence for your opponent. Slash poke nerfed slightly. Net result: massive buff for most players. Magik mains are about to terrorize lobbies worse than before.

GAMBIT

Ult charge acceleration to allies: 30% → 20%. Movement boost: 50% → 40%. Explosive damage ratio up 20% → 25%. They trimmed him. He's still elite. Good Gambit players will still stomp. Bad Gambit players will now stomp slightly less. NetEase respects the character too much to kill him properly.

INVISIBLE WOMAN

Guardian shield healing slashed from 25/s to 15/s. This is a cliff, not a nerf. She's been hit every other patch since launch. In exchange, invisible healing goes from 20s to 30s: because apparently the solution to nerfing Sue Storm is making her hide even more. Poetic, really.

LUNA SNOW

Idol Aura now reduces Ice Arts cooldown by 2s on every KO assist. Her survivability and uptime are going through the roof. If you weren't already annoyed by Luna Snow, buckle up: she's about to be everywhere, all the time, forever.

Save Your Ult Like It's Precious

Because now it is. You're no longer an ultimate machine. You're a person who has to think before pressing the button. Horrifying, we know. Wait for the right moment. Don't blow it for a single kill. You're not that good.

Learn the New Team-Ups

White Fox + Luna Snow is going to be the duo that makes you uninstall. Familiarize yourself. Either play it, or know how to counter it. There is no third option. Ignorance will be punished swiftly.

Practice Vertical Play

Shin-Shibuya is back. Manhattan's rooftops are the new battlefield. Vertical movement heroes like Spider-Man, Venom, Iron Man, and Black Cat will dominate the high ground. Stay on the ground and you're a target.

Stop Playing Bucky

His damage is down. His breakpoints are gone. His ult is no longer the most terrifying thing in the lobby. There are better options. Let go. Grieve. Move on. He'll still be playable, just not your crutch anymore.

Save Your Lattice

The Season 7 Battle Pass is reportedly stacked: noir New York aesthetics, Joe Fixit Hulk, classic Black Cat outfit. 30+ costumes per pass as always. If you spend everything on Day 1 cosmetics and regret it by Day 3, we warned you. We will not apologize.

Watch For "Path to Doomsday"

Starting in April (Season 7.5), five massive MCU-themed events roll out monthly: Avengers 2012, Age of Ultron, Civil War, Infinity War, Endgame: culminating December 18 when Avengers: Doomsday hits theaters. NetEase is synchronized with the MCU. Your wallet is not ready.