April 30, 2025
Marvel Rivals Devs Try to Soothe Support Mains
The recent controversy surrounding Necros, a popular streamer and Spider-Man main in Marvel Rivals, has brought to light the long-standing tensions between support players and their dive-heavy counterparts. The drama began when Necros lashed out at support mains, calling them “morons” and “idiots,” which sparked a heated backlash from the support-main communities. However, beneath the surface-level insults lies a deeper issue that has been plaguing hero-shooter communities since the early days of Overwatch.
The clash between dive-heavy metas and slower, more tactical play has been a contentious issue for years. Support characters, by their very nature, are more fragile and lower-impact in raw stats, making them vulnerable to frustration when games become one-sided dives. The recent viral clips of Necros mocking support players with harsh language have provided clickbait, but they have also overshadowed the real story – the well-known balance tensions between dive and peel, performance-based ranks, and stat-driven skill ratings.
The developers of Marvel Rivals have responded to the backlash by announcing a buff to support damage in the next patch, which is a pragmatic stopgap measure. However, the deeper solution lies in better team-based “peeling” and fundamental meta diversity, rather than simply rebalancing numbers. Peeling, or actively protecting support heroes by zoning away threat divers, is a learned team skill that requires tanks and DPS alike to watch out for their backline being dived and turn to assist.
The current ranking system in Marvel Rivals penalizes pure healers and rewards high-kill duelists, which can discourage support play. A more nuanced rating system that factors in healing received by allies, successful peel assists, or survival time under dive could encourage support play without artificial nerfs and buffs. The community can also play a role in promoting anti-dive play guides and raising awareness about the importance of peeling.
The controversy surrounding Necros has highlighted the need for collaboration between the community and developers to address the systemic issues plaguing the game. Rather than trading memes and insults, both communities and devs must work together on education, metric reform, and careful numeric tuning to ensure that support players become neither punchlines nor overpowered afterthoughts, but true linchpins of a healthy, diverse hero-shooter meta.
As the developers move forward with balance changes, including the support buffs, it is essential to consider the broader implications of their decisions. A slight damage increase may make supports marginally more self-sufficient, but it won’t fix the core issue of dive-heavy metas. Overbuffing could tip the balance toward a triple-support meta, where healing plus damage makes teams virtually unkillable, reducing overall diversity.
Ultimately, the Necros controversy serves as a reminder that the value of healers versus the glamour of dive spoilers is a decades-old tussle that requires a thoughtful and collaborative solution. By working together, the community and developers can create a more inclusive and rewarding experience for all players, regardless of their role or playstyle. The goal is to craft a ranking system that fairly rewards support impact, instills peel responsibilities across all roles, and balances raw character numbers without undermining team-play fundamentals.
