Storm quickly took the throne as the strongest character in the game Marvel Rivals Season 1. A recent round of buffs has transformed her from one of the least powerful damage dealers to a threat at all skill levels in the hero shooter’s ranked mode.
According to a stats tracking website RivalsMetawhich pulls data from the game’s resilient API, has the highest win rate of all 35 champions, at around 57%. She had just 51% last season and was generally considered one of the weakest duelists compared to popular picks like Hela, Hawkeye, and Psylocke. However, a slight buff to her damage output and survivability during Hurricane Ultimate tipped the scales.
It’s not just that she can rule the skies without having to land, but the damage boost she provides to the entire team makes her extremely powerful. Storm is a support character disguised as a damage dealer who turns any team she is on into a sharpened knife. And since actual support champions with their own damage buffs like Mantis are already extremely popular, teams with both champions are unstoppable.
In the highest rankings, Storm’s presence has increased the win rate of champions who benefit from her the most, such as Magik and Wolverine. They both need to get close to their enemies to do anything, and the damage boost makes it much easier for them to get in and out unscathed – much to the chagrin of every support player. Even heroes like Black Widow, who had difficulty killing characters that survived her sniper shots, are starting to climb from the bottom of the tier lists.
This way, a handful of buffs can change the shape of the meta, even if they don’t look like much. No one is calling for a nerf for Storm yet, but I suspect demand will grow as more players understand the impact of the hard-to-find flying champion on team-wide benefits. Game director Guangyun Chen said recently Subway that the team wants to let players experiment rather than impose rules on them, such as limiting the number of heroes in each role on the team. If this also means you won’t be able to make another balance pass this season, you may want to start practicing Psionic Goddess immediately.
