Wolverine and Black Panther are breaking Marvel Rivals

In Marvel Rivals Season 3, Wolverine and Black Panther sit at the very top of the ban lists across all regions. Wolverine was banned in nearly half of competitive matches, with Black Panther in second place. These two heroes eclipse the next most-banned heroes, Emma Frost and Peni Parker, who are hovering at 17%.

Wolverine had his time as the most banned hero during Season 1, and stayed near the top throughout the competitive seasons until his recent resurgence. Black Panther was relatively ignored until Season 2.5 and Season 3, but now sits at the top.

The most-banned heroes in previous seasons, like Storm and Human Torch, were numerically overtuned. Wolverine and Black Panther present a more complex balancing challenge, as they’re conceptually broken and frustrating to play against. Their very design gives them tools that can decide a fight with little counter-play, which is breaking the game.

There was a time when Wolverine was considered the worst character in the game, but that quickly changed when prominent players started showcasing his true strengths. Wolverine is designed as the ultimate tank buster. His damage scales with the target’s max health, meaning he hits Vanguards harder than anyone else. 

Coupled with his infamous Feral Leap ability, a pouncing grab that stuns and drags an enemy target, he can abduct the enemy’s frontline hero and drop them into his team. Wolverine players frequently avoided fights, flanking from off-angles to bide their time. Even without Feral Leap, Wolverine can use his ultimate to take away the frontline completely.

Even other Duelists and the backline aren’t safe. At max Berserker Rage stacks, Wolverine becomes a lethal threat with boosted damage on his claws. His passive gives him a second life, and Undying Animal reduces most of the damage received, making him tanky for a Duelist.

Vanguards already fear a competent Wolverine, but his new team-up makes him a walking nightmare. With Jean Grey, using Feral Leap transforms Wolverine into a Phoenix Warrior. In this state, Wolverine becomes enveloped in flames that scorch nearby enemies for a percentage of their max health. 

If that wasn’t enough, it also gives him lifesteal when damaging enemies. Marvel Rivals had to put out an emergency nerf targeting this team-up because it exacerbated Wolverine’s tank-shredding reputation.

On his own, Wolverine can shut down any Vanguard’s ability to even play the game. Letting one hero counter one whole role makes him incredibly frustrating to play against.

Black Panther follows a similar story to Wolverine, where players didn’t recognise his true potential at the start of the game. There was foreshadowing of his unparalleled mobility and burst damage early on, but this was largely contained to high-ranked players.

King T’Challa’s kit revolves around applying and hitting his mark, refreshing the cooldown on his dash attack, Spirit Rend. Spear Toss, Spinning Kick, and his ultimate, Bast’s Descent, all apply a Vibranium mark, and when played optimally, allow him to burst heroes by weaving in his dash attack. 

Skilled Black Panther players are difficult to catch due to their fast movement and reset mechanics. Once he commits to a fight, his combo is over in seconds, which either ends in him securing a kill or retreating for another opportunity. On top of refreshing his dash, he also gains some durability with the bonus health granted on popping a mark.

Aside from a nerf to his bonus health received in January, Black Panther has gone untouched throughout balance patches. The hero may not have changed, but the players have improved throughout the game’s lifespan. 

He has been labbed out with techs like ghost dashing and animation cancelling, and his combos have been optimised to burst down heroes with different HP thresholds. It’s common to see clips of experienced Black Panthers from the victim’s POV, where his combo comes out lightning quick, making you question what just happened.

What used to be a hero feared in high rank has terrorised the whole competitive ladder. In Season 3, Black Panther enjoys a 56% rate in silver, stabilising until Celestial, then plummeting in Eternity. 

Black Panther and Wolverine have received enormous community backlash for being broken. In the right hands, these heroes can take over the game and make counterplay feel unreachable. These heroes have the unique effect of warping the game around them, and players who don’t adjust to their presence, no matter how tiresome, will fall victim to their gimmicks.

The controversial effects of these heroes can be summarised with two main issues: they hard counter roles and dictate engagements.

For the first point, Wolverine is the answer to counter any tank, no matter what composition his team or the enemy team is running. As long as there’s a Vanguard to fight, he’ll thrive. 

He’s best against anchor tanks with low mobility like Magneto, Groot, and Doctor Strange; repositioning them away from their team is a death sentence. He can neuter the effectiveness of mobile Vanguards like Captain America and Venom by playing defensively, protecting his teammates against their engages.

Hulk, The Thing, and Thor can’t hope to outbrawl a bloodlusted Wolverine clawing at them on the frontlines. A charged-up Emma Frost can go even against him in a straight-up duel, but once she misplays her Diamond Form, it’s straight to the Feral Leap expressway for her. Only Peni Parker with her stun and minefield can disrupt his plans, assuming her whole team plays around her webs.

Wolverine is the only tankbuster in the game without counterplay from the Vanguards. He has all the tools he needs, from damage to self-sustain to reposition, to answer all Vanguards. 

There are other heroes in Marvel Rivals who are good against certain tanks and compositions, but have clear weaknesses. For example, Winter Soldier is a strong anti-hero. Still, he loses out against poke compositions led by shield tanks, and Punisher excels at shooting shields and walls but lacks mobility to escape a dive.

Likewise, Black Panther goes all-in against the backline, especially against vulnerable Strategists. He utilises his mobility and wall climbing to take off-angles and never accepts unfavorable fights. It sounds unfair because it is, since he dictates the rules of engagement.

A good Black Panther will wait for the teamfight to fully start before committing, and an even better player will wait for key abilities to go on cooldown, like crowd control or escapes, before they pounce on their target. 

Like when Spider-Man was the most banned in Season 1.5, Black Panther’s lethal combo comes out immediately. Even when their team is fast enough to provide backup in time, he uses his mobility and bonus health to leave the fight, biding his time for the next all-in. 

Wolverine and Black Panther can be countered, but it takes tremendous team effort to shut down one hero. Heroes like Invisible Woman can control Wolverine with her displacement abilities, and Ultron can provide overhealth for Black Panther’s target. Neither of these heroes can hope to touch flying characters.

But these are soft counters that are skill-dependent, whereas the two heroes’ hard counters whole roles. These two heroes don’t interact for the majority of the fight, preferring to hug corners and walls until the time is right.

Banning them provides peace of mind for Vanguards and Strategists. It eases the heavy mental burden of having to adjust playstyles and hold cooldowns for their eventual ambush. It removes the variable of whether teammates will come to your aid and adjust picks to deny them. It keeps fights linear and lessens chaos as players won’t have to be wary of a flank. 

Without Black Panther, Vanguards can focus on the frontline without worrying about their backline being decimated in seconds. Without Wolverine, Strategists don’t have to waste an ultimate just to save their out-of-position tank.

Black Panther and Wolverine are specialists in their niches, and nerfing their only job will cause their win rates to fall off a cliff. Their conceptually broken nature means that even when their win rates aren’t astronomically high, the threat of what they can do in skilled hands is enough to cause frustration.

They’re fun, unique heroes that make Marvel Rivals diverse, but their design philosophy hinges on the fact that they ruin the fun for everyone else involved. It’s likely only a matter of time before NetEase tones them down, but their track record with overreacting to the best heroes doesn’t bode well for them in the future.

Until then, if you’re queueing up in Season 3, do Vanguards and Strategists a favour by banning Wolverine and Black Panther.