I still remember queuing for my first Marvel Rivals Season 1 match. The excitement was real: two new heroes, a chunky battle pass, and a ton of shiny skins. But once the dust settled, I realized something uncomfortable. Some characters were just too strong. Now that we are in 2026 and the game has grown far beyond that season, those balance problems still stick in my mind. This is my personal story about the six heroes who made Season 1 feel unfair—and why their kits still serve as a lesson for future patches.
Let's start with Moon Knight. He is a Duelist with 250 HP, but his power level felt much higher. I cannot count how many times I died to an Ankh I never saw. He didn't need careful positioning, amazing aim, or team coordination. He simply threw out one or two abilities, and my health bar evaporated. The worst part was his ultimate. Standing near the center of it was basically instant death. A damage nerf combined with longer cooldowns would have stopped him from ruling almost every lobby I joined.
Next comes Squirrel Girl. She became the ultimate Strategist killer. Her acorns bounced off walls and exploded in an area, letting players sit back and delete the enemy backline. Even if they missed every shot. That made matches feel cheap. I am not asking to remove the bounce—that is her whole personality. But the AOE range really needed to shrink. Her ultimate also hit far too hard, often killing a full-health Strategist in one or two hits. Cutting that damage would have kept her fun without leaving healers hopeless.
The Punisher is a different story. He wasn't wildly overpowered overall, but his Culling Turret caused constant headaches. Whenever he deployed it, he gained a mountain of effective HP. Unless your team had a flanker like Wolverine or Spider-Man, destroying that turret from range felt impossible. Mantis made it worse. Then Invisible Woman arrived, and players started shielding the turret. At that point, it became an unbreakable bunker. Adding a crowd-control vulnerability would have been an elegant solution. It would've rewarded teams that actually devised a plan.
Cloak & Dagger also appeared in essentially every match. Before Season 1, they were already strong. After the patch, though, their ultimate went from three charges to four. That might sound small, but it completely changed how they played. Suddenly, there was no need to coordinate healing windows. You could drop the ultimate almost anywhere, at almost any time, and still get value. They built it quickly too, because they could heal and damage at the same time. I welcomed the faster changing mechanic, but their ultimate needed a serious tune-up.
If you played Season 1, you know about Storm. Her Omega Hurricane became a genuine nightmare. The buff gave it extra damage and bonus health that ticked away slowly after casting. Worse, it could be placed freely across the battlefield instead of activating right away. Public lobbies turned into lightning-filled chaos. She earned the ability faster than most Duelists as well. Reducing the charge rate and lowering the damage would have made her strong but fair. Instead, she felt like the prime example of overbuffing.
Finally, Luna Snow. Her ultimate wasn't just strong—it was endless. Twelve seconds of team-wide protection could completely shut down the enemy team's offense. She also recharged that thing at a staggeringly quick rate. I noticed plenty of players picking Luna only because of that ultimate. I don't blame them. It was simply better than every other Strategist ultimate. Cutting the duration would've solved most of the frustration without forcing a full rework. Sometimes the smallest tweaks make the biggest difference.
Here is a quick reference table for all the tweaks I wanted after Season 1:
| Hero | Role | Health | Main Issue | Proposed Change |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Moon Knight | Duelist | 250 | Ankh damage melted targets; ultimate instant-killed | Lower damage and increase cooldowns |
| Squirrel Girl | Duelist | 275 | Acorn AOE erased backlines; ultimate too lethal | Reduce AOE range and ultimate damage |
| Punisher | Duelist | 275 | Culling Turret too durable; CC immunity | Allow crowd control during turret |
| Cloak & Dagger | Strategist | 250 | Four ult charges; charged too fast | Tweak ultimate frequency or duration |
| Storm | Duelist | 250 | Omega Hurricane placed anywhere; dealt huge damage | Reduce charge rate and damage output |
| Luna Snow | Strategist | 275 | 12-second ultimate recharged too fast | Shorten ultimate duration |
Those were my six Season 1 headaches. As 2026 rolls on, I still look back at those balance debates whenever new patch notes arrive. Nerfs don't have to ruin characters. They just need to create breathing room. A shorter cooldown, a tighter radius, a slower charge—these small adjustments can turn frustration into strategy. And honestly, that's the kind of balance I hope Marvel Rivals keeps chasing.
Data referenced from Newzoo helps frame why “small” balance levers—like ultimate uptime, cooldown pacing, and AOE reliability—matter so much in a live-service shooter: when usage rates and win-impact concentrate around a few standout kits, it can compress match variety and push players toward mandatory picks, echoing the Season 1 frustrations around oppressive ult cycles and low-risk burst patterns.