Time certainly flies in the multiverse because Season 7.5 of Marvel Rivals is just around the corner. As someone who’s been enjoying everything added in 7.0 and has been looking forward to the long-awaited arrival of Black Cat, I must say this season looks fun, but, at the same time, extremely divisive. While I like the approach the team is taking to designing new heroes, as their kits require a lot of time to master them, some of the new choices that affect previous characters are a bit questionable, especially to some other fellow Vanguard mains.
Stealing With Style
Let’s begin with one of the best parts of Season 7, or at least for me, and that is the arrival of Black Cat to the Marvel Rivals roster. While some were expecting her to be a Vanguard, she arrives as a Duelist, and one of the most complex ones at that.
Her kit revolves around high mobility, quick hits, and amassing fortune to increase her DPS potential or give her several utility options. In terms of moving around the arena, she has a double jump with no cooldown and a dash with two charges and a short cooldown. While her main attacks are in close quarters, she can use fortune to trigger either her whip, which turns into a short-distance AoE move, or Phantom Pursuit, which chases an enemy and then returns her to her initial position.
Then, she gets her Gilded Deal ability, which lets her spend fortune to use any of the gifts in this interdimentional pocket, ranging from a 2-second invisibility window, a cleansing buff, an item that grounds enemy, a fiery orb that marks and reveals enemies, a tablet that gives you a random amount of fortune, and a portal that lets you pass through walls.
The truth is that I am a big fan of her kit, despite many complaining about it or claiming it is just Black Panther 2.0—it isn’t. While at first, her kit may sound too complicated or maybe OP, the truth is that I find it balanced, at least now, in terms of what you need to do to actually reach a high DPS ceiling. For instance, her normal attacks are weak, and Black Cat being in the 275 HP threshold means she isn’t as tanky as other DPS characters. Also, her playstyle is extremely aggressive because, without fortune, you don’t have a lot of tools at your disposal. I really like the fact that fortune can only be amassed by either hitting up close or pressing the “E” skill, which steals some fortune from faraway, but is on a cooldown.
Now, if there is one thing that I do consider needs a nerf already, and will likely be the first thing the developers will nerf, it is her ultimate. When Black Cat activates it, it marks all enemies on the map and allows her to pounce at them from very far distances—I’m not exaggerating here. You can go beyond 30m to reach an enemy. Once up close, you can trigger another slash attack that hits hard, and if you defeat the enemy, the 10-second duration of her ultimate will refresh, meaning that Black Cat can take down a whole team on her own, if she’s in the hands of a skilled player, of course.
Overall, I think Black Cat has an excellent kit that feels almost as balanced as White Fox and not as broken as Elsa on release. Still, she could use a few adjustments, as she might be tough to bring down during her almost infinite ultimate window, but other than that, I think her high-risk, high-reward playstyle is superb. But it raises a worry I’ve had since Season 6: other heroes’ kits.
While I love complex characters such as Rogue, Deadpool, and now Black Cat, a part of me would like to see some heroes spread out a bit more between seasons so the team could focus on reworking some old characters, such as Black Widow. I think this new approach the developers are taking to character design is fantastic, but I only wish this design would eventually reach the heroes who kicked off this shooter.
Some Steps Forward and A Few Steps Back
Despite loving most of the things coming this season, there are two that didn’t sit well with me, with at least one still up in the air, as I have not been able to try my main in a normal match: store offerings and CC protection.
First, I must admit that I’m a huge fan of all cosmetics in the game, and I tend to buy a new skin almost weekly, especially if it is for a character I use a lot. However, Marvel Rivals Season 7.5 has introduced one of the most questionable store choices I’ve seen, and that’s for the new Psylocke legendary skin. While I don’t mind these mini-events with mini-passes (I’ve bought all the ones that have launched before), I do think it looks bad to put some accessories behind a 300 Particle cost, where they only change Psylocke’s visor for a bandana or change her knee protection. They seem unnecessarily expensive and, at least in my case, killed my interest in purchasing this new mini-pass.
The second, and what might be the biggest elephant in the room today: CC protection, or the Tenacity buff, as the patch notes call it. If you didn’t know, Marvel Rivals is finally addressing the stunlock dilemma in Season 7.5, but by doing so, it has nerfed several Vanguard characters considerably.
Speaking from a personal experience, I main Rogue, and I just can’t believe how weak her combo is now, especially without Gambit to help her. In the past, I was able to draw enemies in, lift them, smash them, and absorb them, and easily break a backline. But now it is much harder because Tenacity is kicking in, making other characters immune to my attacks. Now, I say this is still up in the air because I haven’t had much chance to try it in normal matches, so the real hands-on experience may vary. And, playing a bit as a devil’s advocate, this seems to be moving toward making the game a bit more tactical rather than spamming skills, such as the Ultimate farming reduction we saw in Season 7, which was well received by many.
In the end, Season 7.5 of Marvel Rivals seems a bit like a mixed bag, at least compared to the ones we’ve had before. While I am in love with how new characters feel and how complex their kits are, to the point that they reward mastering them rather than just standing still and hurling explosive nuts, I also feel some choices might end up hurting some characters in the long run. Then again, it could be another case of getting used to these new mechanics and realizing they actually offer a good chance. Time will tell.
