Marvel Rivals Season 4 is Leaving One Box Unchecked, and It…

Marvel Rivals Season 4 is kicking off very soon, and there’s certainly a lot to be excited about. A K'un-Lun map is being added to the game alongside two more heroes, with the flying Vanguard Angela coming at launch and Dizang - AKA Daredevil - dropping as part of the midseason update. On the cosmetic front, another batch of summer skins is coming alongside a free-to-earn wasteland-themed Ultron outfit and a futuristic Emma Frost attire mid-season. Unfortunately, there’s one role that could feel left out, not just this season, but for the foreseeable future.

Marvel Rivals Reveals Season 4 Patch Notes

While the Marvel Rivals Vanguard player base is likely the smallest of the three roles, it should be getting a healthy boost due to Angela’s debut, as her high-octane kit could make her appealing enough to Duelists that they branch out a bit. Strategists, on the other hand, have no new hero to look forward to this Season, which could also be said for Season 3. This lack of new heroes to play, in addition to the lingering impact of controversies like the support strike, leaves Strategists in a rough position. Sadly, there’s a good chance things don’t get better until later in 2026 based on a key developer’s own words.

Daredevil’s role is currently unknown. Though there is hope Daredevil could be a Vanguard, most expect him to be a Duelist. He boasted no healing abilities in the Season 4 reveal trailer, though, so Strategist can be safely ruled out.

Marvel Rivals’ Strategist Drought Could Last Several Seasons More

Recently, as part of an interview with Rivals Assembled, Marvel Rivals’ Creative Director Guangguang mentioned how even though NetEase is well aware of the lack of Strategists (and Vanguards) available in its hero shooter, it will take time to address this problem and help bring the roles closer together in terms of roster depth. The reason given for this was that seasonal content needs to be planned out several months ahead of time, as the developers determine the story and the characters that will be featured very far in advance. Based on what Guangguang said, it can be safely assumed that there are none of the double Strategist Seasons players have been hoping for around the corner, with the Duelist role likely to keep growing with each Season.

Players feeling frustrated by this info certainly have a right to be upset, especially when considering how other hero shooters like Overwatch had the same kind of role disparity long before Marvel Rivals was made, serving as a lesson to learn from. Still, it is worth noting how hard it is to make a unique support character. While there are tons of ways to shake up agile damage-dealers or bulky ally-protectors, it can be argued that Marvel Rivals has already hit a lot of the usual support archetypes with its current Strategists. This factor, combined with several more Seasons seemingly being planned out in advance, makes it safe to assume that it’ll be some time before Strategists start seeing a new character or two added to their role every Season.

Marvel Rivals player creates season 3 venom and phoenix skin concept for cloak and dagger.

There’s also the topic of leaked Marvel Rivals characters to consider, as though some creativity could see them made into Strategists, it’s more likely that the following heroes will end up in different roles:

Deadpool (Duelist)
Captain Marvel (Vanguard)
Rogue (Duelist)
Cyclops (Duelist or Vanguard)
Gambit (Duelist)
Nightcrawler (Duelist)

Marvel Rivals Drip-Feeding Strategists Will Hopefully Lead to a Bigger Payoff

To be clear, there are a few other leaked Marvel Rivals characters that would make good Strategists, like Professor X, who could mentally boost allies, or Forge, who could heal them using tech while also building healing devices around the map. Jubilee’s fireworks could easily be turned into a healing tool as well, and Armor using her abilities to empower and protect a chosen ally could make for an incredibly unique Strategist in Marvel Rivals. Hopefully, one of these characters will fill the Strategist in Season 5, as it’s been far too long since a new Strategist was added. From there, a Strategist every other Season would be an ideal scenario until NetEase is all caught up on its pre-planned content.

With new heroes releasing every month, it’s a shame that support characters are still just trickling in here and there. On the bright side, Marvel Rivals’ developer is well aware that players want to see less Duelists, as though it may be the most popular role, it’s overshadowing the others by too wide of a margin. For now, fans can only hope that this transparency from the devs leads to a future where a Vanguard or Strategist is practically guaranteed for one of the two seasonal slots in every Season.

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