I can’t remember ever seeing these Marvel Rivals heroes get MVP—and neither can anyone else, apparently

There are a lot of quirky things about Marvel Rivals, but I really don’t get its MVP system. If you don’t either, you’ll love going through this popular Reddit thread, with fans trying to decode heroes who rarely get an MVP mention.

To start off, the player who created the post thinks it’s Rocket Raccoon, and most of us seem to agree to this observation. In the comments, Rocket mains pointed out how they rarely receive the highest title in a Marvel Rivals match because they only have the highest healing and assists in the match and little to no damage dealt.

Rocket is the only hero who can go without dealing a single unit of damage in a 15-minute long match. Interestingly, however, his primary fire is an automatic rifle with decent damage output, so he’s definitely capable of getting some crucial kills for the team. It’s just his design that makes it more valuable for him to focus on healing instead of bringing out his gun.

In fact, it’s not just our favorite raccoon. Most Strategists don’t make it to the MVP screen as frequently as Duelists and some Vanguards—and it’s all because of how the system works.

While the developer hasn’t officially explained its mechanism, it doesn’t take a lot to figure that Marvel Rivals’ MVP system favors the player with the most kills, damage, and final hits—which doesn’t sound very fair. “90 percent of the MVPs I see are all DPS, the thing is, healing and damage blocked aren’t nearly as valued as damage dealt and final hits so they get overshadowed most of the time,” one popular comment in the thread reads, urging NetEase to rework it.

That said, as a few players in the Reddit discussion pointed out, NetEase seems to have changed something in the system recently to make it more inclusive. “I got three Rocket MVP’s this morning! They must have changed the MVP requirements because I’ve never gotten it before,” one comment reads.

Before recent patches, the MVP system seemed pretty rigged to me too, with many receiving undeserved mentions in the presence of better-performing players. While it still clearly prefers damage and final hits over other stats, I haven’t been noting as many discrepancies as before in the past couple of weeks.

As a Strategist, however, your damage or final hits are more likely to be lower than your team’s Duelists. So, even if you sweat your way into healing and saving your allies, all while avoiding death from all the dive heroes lingering around you, that one Hela with more final hits will likely steal your show.

Not all Duelists and Vanguards in Marvel Rivals carry high MVP potential either. “Saw my very first Captain America MVP screen the other day (out of 80+ hours of gameplay). That shit was tough,” one popular comment reads. “I’ve never seen a Widow MVP. But I haven’t seen a lot of them either,” another comment highlights. Other mentions include Venom, Human Torch, and Spider-Man. So, it’s not just Strategists gulping it down.

On the other hand, some Marvel Rivals heroes show up on the MVP screen way too often. “Winter Soldier, Thor, and Groot get it nearly every game for me,” one player wrote. While I don’t quite see Thor taking the win often, Groot and Winter Soldier definitely ring a bell. I also come across a lot of Dr. Strange, Hela, Punisher, Iron Man, Squirrel Girl, Moonknight, and, of course, The Thing. Basically, any hero with high damage output is more likely to score an MVP in Marvel Rivals.

At the end of the day, considering the system runs on hidden rules and our queues are filled with random players, a little luck and effort can still get you a mention. So, I’d say, don’t give up, even if you’re a Raccoon main.