With Season 1 of Marvel Rivals off to a fantastic start, there’s plenty to dive into. However, some pain points remain for players, particularly in the lower ranks, which comprise a significant portion of the player base. One major request from these players is the implementation of universal hero bans. Let’s break down the details below.
The Marvel Rivals Playerbase Urges The Developers To Add Hero-Bans For All Ranks
For those unfamiliar, Marvel Rivals features a hero ban system that allows each team to block two heroes from being selected by the enemy team during a match. This feature, long desired by Overwatch 2 fans, is a fantastic addition to Marvel Rivals. However, there’s a catch: hero bans are only available to players in Diamond rank and above.
This limitation has left much of the fanbase puzzled, as there seems to be no solid reason to restrict hero bans to higher ranks. Over on Reddit, players have been actively discussing this issue, urging the developers to extend hero bans to lower ranks for several compelling reasons.
One player shared their frustration: “I just played a game against Hawkeye + Hela, and it was awful,” explaining that it feels unfair for lower ranks to miss out on hero bans. They added, “Plus if everyone starts in Bronze rank, a smurf can just create a new guy, lock in Hawkeye/Hela, and wipe the lobby.” Many others echoed this sentiment, agreeing that bans “really should be across the board.”
Notably, the demand for hero bans isn’t limited to low-rank players wanting to block strong or meta heroes like Hela or Hawkeye. Mid-to-high-rank players are also affected by the current design. One user noted that it felt “very jarring” to reach Diamond rank, get placed in a Platinum lobby, and lose access to the ban feature. They described it as “kind of silly design all around.”
Hero bans can benefit players across all ranks in multiple ways. For newer players, bans allow them to avoid particularly challenging heroes, helping them ease into the game. For higher-rank players, bans ensure they don’t arbitrarily lose this strategic feature when placed in lower-ranked lobbies. Additionally, as one player pointed out, hero bans encourage diversity: “It also incentivizes people to branch out and play multiple heroes, just in case their main gets banned.”
Hero bans would provide significant value throughout Marvel Rivals, offering all players an equal footing as they progress and improve, whether they’re Bronze III or Platinum II. While we don’t yet know if the developers plan to implement this feature for all ranks, with Season 1 now live and many changes promised for the future, the possibility remains open. Fans can only hope Marvel Rivals will listen to the community and make this a reality.