Marvel Rivals' latest patch dropped on April 30, and it’s not looking great for tanks right now. NetEase has hit a bunch of front-liners with nerfs, starting with Groot and Captain America, both of whom got their durability trimmed down.
But that’s not the main highlight of these new balance changes for Marvel Rivals. Supports are officially in the meta now, and seeing ranked being steamrolled with 3 healer picks won't be a shocker.
Tanks Melting Faster as Supports Feast on Buffs
The latest patch has made tanks much easier to burn through, especially in long fights. Spider-Man got his uppercut combo toned down too—less burst, less carry potential. Even Doctor Strange, who’s more of a control tank, saw some of his zone pressure weakened. The devs are trying to stop solo-carry tanks from dominating every match.
The showering of love for healers comes after a wave of controversy. For context, streamer Necros (former Genji player and current Spider-Man main) recently ignited outrage by publicly trashing support mains, calling healers “idiots” and triggering a “support strike” where strategist players refused to queue for their roles.
The protest, amplified across Reddit and Discord, spotlighted how undervaluing healers harmed both morale and match quality. In response, NetEase swiftly boosted damage and reduced cooldowns for key supports like Adam Warlock, Luna Snow, Cloak & Dagger, and Mantis, acknowledging that sometimes community pressure can drive meaningful balance shifts.
Even though most favorites took hits in this patch, Bucky’s getting a buff to keep him dangerous. His Tainted Voltage now charges in two phases (same cooldown, more punch), so he can lock down lanes longer without sitting on the bench. Plus, when he tags in with Cap via Stars Aligned, he throws a 50-health buffer onto nearby allies, turning those dunk-and-dives into straight-up squad sustain.
How the Changes Will Affect the Marvel Rivals Meta
This patch makes sense in theory. For a while, the meta revolved around bulky tanks that could soak everything and let teammates coast behind them. Matches turned into brawls with no real movement or timing—just who had the beefier frontline. Nerfing that could push the game toward more strategic fights and less brainless brawling, which is great…in theory.
But it’s a thin line. If you nerf tanks too much, what are they even supposed to do? In solo queue, especially, where your support might not heal and your duelist’s off doing their own thing, you need to be able to soak damage. If vanguards lose that, people are just going to pick burst damage heroes or supports with high kill pressure.
The meta might shift, but it could become just as stale in a different way. If NetEase doesn’t keep an eye on pick rates and win rates, they might need to drop a hotfix to rebalance what they just changed.
Community Reaction
Feedback’s all over the place. Tank mains are not happy with this Marvel Rivals patch update. Reddit and Steam forums are full of players saying the role is becoming “unplayable,” and matchmaking’s starting to reflect that—no one wants to be the meat shield anymore if it barely matters.
On the flip side, strategists and support players are relieved. They’ve been begging for fewer unkillable tanks for weeks, and now they can land heals or set up plays without a walking brick wall ruining everything.
There’s also a fair number of folks saying the devs need to be more precise. Not everything needs a sledgehammer—some tweaks should be made with a scalpel. Fair point.
Behind the scenes, tournament organizers are already testing these balance tweaks in controlled scrims—several pro squads reported that the new tank nerfs force them to draft more dive‐focused comps, shifting their macro strategies away from 1-3-1 siege setups. Expect to see updated ban/pick priorities in major Rivals leagues when Season 2.5 arrives.
In the end, the patch did shake up the game. Whether that’s good or bad depends on who you ask. What’s clear is that Marvel Rivals is still figuring out how to balance its three roles without letting one take over.
New Content and Other Changes
The April 30 update didn’t just touch tanks and supports—it quietly overhauled matchmaking metrics, laid groundwork for Ultron’s mid-season debut, tweaked performance-scoring systems, and rolled out several QoL/UI improvements and event‐ecosystem refinements. Highlighting these facets will give readers a more complete picture of how this patch both stabilizes the current meta and sets the stage for future content.
Players can now globally reset costume sound effects back to defaults from the Settings menu—a direct response to feedback about audio clutter during high-intensity clashes.
The patch quietly added placeholder data for Ultron’s upcoming mid-season release—developers have already hinted at preliminary cooldown and damage values in a public Dev Talk, suggesting he’ll be a glass-cannon strategist with unique arc-reactor synergy. This update also reworks Scarlet Witch and Mister Fantastic in preparation for Ultron’s arrival, smoothing their team-up interactions.
The Hellfire Gala: Moments event returns with voting mechanics that let players choose next year’s headliner, forging deeper community buy-in and making cosmetics part of the gameplay loop.
More content has been added with the patch, including Black Panther's Damisa-Sarki costume and Winter Soldier's look from Thunderbolts*, as well as a new system that rotates skins every two weeks, keeping the store fresh.