Grinding ranked matches in any competitive game can be the most rewarding, challenging, and infuriating experience all at the same time. It’s no different in Marvel Rivals – there’s a big roster of heroes to master, and of course there’s the promise of excellent rewards if you reach the higher ranks. Now, out of nowhere, Marvel Rivals has confirmed that there will be a mid-season rank reset to keep things interesting in Season 1, and while that means some players will be earning a sweet new skin before the ranked season is over, it may give others a setback they didn’t expect to have.
Let’s be clear about two things, right off the bat. One, mid-season resets are not unheard of in competitive multiplayer games – Apex Legends, for example, has two ranked splits per season, with a rank rest between them. And two, what Marvel Rivals is implementing is not a complete reset back to the bottom of the ladder. Players should “prepare for a drop of four divisions” when the reset occurs. So if you’re currently sitting at Gold 1 in the Marvel Rival ranks, for example, you’ll slide back down to Silver 2 to begin the second half of Season 1.
While I’ve got no issue with rank resets, it is quite short notice to be revealing something like this. Players all expect to be hit with a big reset at the beginning of every new season, but many will be unprepared for a double dose of it.
The better news is that there will be a mid-season reward, but there’s also a caveat that makes the last-minute announcement of the rank reset even more frustrating. “Players at Gold rank or above (season high) will receive a costume reward, and players at Grandmaster rank or above along with the Top 500 will obtain a Crest of Honor.” While Gold’s not a massively high rank and one that plenty of players have already hit or are close to hitting, those who thought they had more time this season to move up the ranked ladder are going to be disappointed if they miss out on this reward skin.
The first half of Marvel Rivals Season 1 ends and the mid-season rank reset happens on Friday, February 21 at 12am PST/ 3am EST/ 8am GMT/ 9am CET.
The second half of the season will get underway immediately after. “In the second half of the season, we will be rolling out new costume rewards for Gold rank players, along with brand new Crests of Honor,” NetEase says. “These Crests will recognize players at Grandmaster, Celestial, Eternity, and One Above All (the top 500), each with its own unique design to celebrate your skill!
“Additionally, we want to ensure that only players who take part in the current season’s competitive mode can earn the corresponding rewards. Starting from the second half of Season 1, players will need to complete at least 10 matches in competitive mode and meet the required conditions to claim their rewards.”
NetEase also confirms that, unless it feels things need to change things in the future, all mid-season resets will drop your rank by four divisions and all end-of-season resets will drop your rank by six divisions.
The start of the second half of Season 1 will also introduce two new heroes, The Thing and Human Torch. Until then, check out our Marvel Rivals tier list for advice on the best characters to use. Or bag yourself a freebie in our Marvel Rivals codes guide.
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