I'm gonna shoot it to you straight—2026 has been a blast for us Marvel Rivals fiends. NetEase dropped Human Torch and The Thing right when we needed a fiery morale boost, and against all odds, the meta didn’t implode. Pundits were sweating bullets, predicting a duelist apocalypse, but it turns out having a rock-man who punches things and a hothead who flies around burning everything didn’t snap the game in half. Plus, the devs came out swinging in their latest earnings call, saying they're pouring resources into the game for at least another ten years. A decade of spandex-clad violence? Sign me the heck up.

But let’s not pretend everything is rainbows and unicorn farts. This is a live-service game, after all, and if there’s one thing we gamers excel at, it’s finding something to moan about while still logging 40 hours a week. The maps can get repetitive, servers sometimes feel like they're powered by a hamster on a wheel, and don’t get me started on the clunky seasonal events. Yet the loudest gripe right now—from both Reddit warriors and my own salty squad—isn't about balance or bugs. It's about the roster. More specifically, the fact that Marvel Rivals is drowning in duelists like I’m drowning in student debt.

Let’s break it down. Out of the 37 heroes currently available (and yes, I’m counting all the ones they've added through mid-2026), a whopping 20 are duelists. That’s right—you’ve got more pew-pew finger-gunners than you can shake a web at. Meanwhile, the vanguard and strategist classes are sitting at a pitiful nine and eight respectively. Add those two numbers together and you still don't hit 20. The Duelist club is literally bigger than the entire tank-and-support party combined. It’s like throwing a birthday bash for Thor and realizing you invited 20 frat boys and only a couple of designated drivers.

Just scrolling through the subreddit, you’ll see post after post echoing the same vibe. One player (shoutout to jarrys88) sparked a whole thread about the ratio feeling deliberately skewed. A comment that got upvoted into the stratosphere read: “It also feels like the devs plan on keeping the ratio this skewed, considering we got 2 dps out of 4 new characters in season 1. Hopefully they really focus on releasing more tanks and healers but I don't have very high hopes.” I felt that in my bones. Season after season, I log in expecting a beefy new protector or a clever healer, and instead I’m greeted by yet another damage-dealer with flashy particle effects. Don’t get me wrong—I love playing Spider-Man as much as the next web-head, but my heart sinks when I see five instalock duelists and zero tanks in the pre-game lobby. I might as well start maining a support out of sheer desperation.

Now, some folks in the comments tried to play devil’s advocate, pointing out that characters like Thor, Captain America, and Mister Fantastic are kind of "hybrids." Thor can take a hit while still dishing out pain, Cap can hold a point with his shield, and Reed Richards stretches between roles like a human rubber band. Fair points, but slapping a hybrid label on a handful of heroes doesn’t fix the core problem. When you queue into a ranked match, you need a dedicated wall to stand behind—not a stretchy guy who sometimes remembers he can block damage. That blurry line between classes just leaves teams in a wonky limbo where everyone is a wannabe hero and nobody wants to be the babysitter.

Another take that keeps surfacing is that duelists are simply easier to design. One Reddit sage put it plainly: "Does not matter if it is Overwatch, Paladins or [Marvel] Rivals, there will always be more damage dealers than tanks or healers because dps is the most loved role by the general audience." Bingo. Everyone wants to be the star quarterback, not the offensive lineman. NetEase, like any sane company, follows the money and the player data. If 70% of people spend their time clicking heads, you’re gonna churn out head-clickers. But here’s the rub: vanguard and strategist design in the Marvel universe is genuinely trickier. There are only so many heroes who can canonically sponge up cosmic-level punishment or heal allies without turning into a deus ex machina. You can’t just slap a shield on Hawkeye and call him a tank, nor can you let Black Widow suddenly shoot healing bullets. That narrative limitation throttles the pipeline, and we’re stuck with a feast of DPS and a famine of everything else.

From my own experience grinding through platinum lobbies this year, the imbalance has real gameplay consequences. Queue times for dueling are atrocious, and matches frequently devolve into chaotic deathmatches where nobody peels for the strategist. I’ve lost count of how many times I’ve begged in voice chat for someone—anyone—to swap to a vanguard, only to be met with radio silence or a broken record of “but I’m the carry, bro.” Newsflash: you can’t carry if the enemy team is spawn-camping us because our front line is made of wet tissue paper.

That being said, not all hope is lost. NetEase has shown they’re listening—slowly, like a grandparent learning to text, but still listening. The ten-year support plan means there’s ample time to rebalance the roster. Rumblings in the datamining community suggest a few vanguards are in the works, and with characters like Colossus, Juggernaut, or even Professor X (imagine the mind-bending support potential!) waiting in the wings, the possibilities are thrilling. For now, though, I’ll keep one-tricking whatever tank I can stomach until the devs throw us a bone. Or better yet, a vibranium shield.

So, dear NetEase, if you’re reading this (and I know you’ve got folks scanning these forums), hear my plea: less pew-pew, more “I am Groot.” Give me a reason to not roll my eyes every time a new season drops with two more duelists and a half-baked hybrid. My back can’t handle carrying teams as a solo healer forever. Sincerely, every flex player who’s tired of filling the tank slot by default.