What this page is
A returning player’s real questions are not “what is Marvel Rivals” — they are “what did I miss, what got wiped, and what do I do tonight”. This page answers those three, in that order. The season snapshot below is dated, because it is the only part of this guide that ages.
Snapshot: the live season (October 2026)
Season 10.5 is running, and the mid-season update landed on October 9. What is live as of October 25:
- Infinity War mode — a 12-player mode built from six duos. Teams race to collect all six Infinity Stones; the mode is scheduled to run into December.
- Infinity Finale — an event questline that pays Thor’s The Avengers costume, running into early December.
- Alchemax Headquarters — the newest map, played through the 18v18 Annihilation rotation.
- Twitch Drops — the Angela campaign runs into early November for linked accounts.
- Ranked rewards — the current competitive track pays Jeff’s costume.
The Times Square gallery-card and photo-op activities closed on October 22, so if those were your target, that window has passed.
What resets, and what waited for you
| System | When you return |
|---|---|
| Chrono Tokens | Wiped. The balance resets every season, so any tokens you banked are gone — earn fresh ones on the new track |
| Battle pass | New track, new rewards. The previous pass cannot be reclaimed |
| Competitive rank | Re-placed by ten placement matches starting three divisions below last season’s finish (max two above it); no flat seasonal demotion since Season 5.0 |
| Hero proficiency | Untouched. Every hero’s track kept its level, and Lord badges do not decay |
| Units, Unstable Molecules, Costume Coins | Untouched, except Limited-Time Units, which expired with their event |
| Cosmetic collection | Untouched. Everything you bought is still equipped-able |
The practical read: your account’s investment survived, but the season’s currency did not. The first thing to do tonight is check the Chrono Token balance and the battle pass track, not the shop.
The systems that changed while you were away
Hero bans are turn-based. Since Season 10.5, teams alternate bans instead of voting independently, and both teams can no longer ban the same hero. The draft phase is now a real information game: what your team gives up tells the enemy what you intended to play.
The roster is much larger. The hero list has grown past fifty, and every recent addition came with a team-up. If you mained a hero that has since been reworked, the hero’s page on this site is the fastest way to see what changed — each one lists current ability numbers. Two habits from launch no longer carry: playing a hero without knowing its reworked cooldowns, and assuming last season’s ban priority still applies.
Proficiency runs deeper than it used to. Since the Season 6 overhaul, each hero’s track runs to level 70 with ten ranks. Lord sits at level 20 and Champion at 50. If you had a Lord badge before the overhaul, it converted rather than resetting — see the Lord progression guide.
Accessory Points have a weekly rhythm. 700 points per week, resetting Fridays at 9:00 UTC, with the first 200 each week paying double. That is new compared with the old flat earning, and it rewards playing early in the week. The currency guide covers the full conversion picture.
Team-ups got reworked, not removed. The pairing system still rewards coordinated comps, but the specific pairs that were worth building around have shifted across seasons. If your old duo feels weaker than you remember, the pair probably changed — the team-up abilities guide tracks the current state.
Practice vs. AI finally counts for something. The mode exists now, and while it still does not progress hero challenges, the Heating Up! achievement (50 AI eliminations) is designed for it. It is the right place to test a hero you have never played before taking them into Quick Match.
Your first week back
- Day one — check the meters. Chrono Token balance, battle pass progress, accessory point window. If the accessory points are fresh for the week, bank the first 200 before the Friday reset.
- Day one — run placement matches. Ten games decide your season start, and playing them while your mechanics are cold is a tax. Warm up in Quick Match first, then queue.
- Days two and three — one hero at a time. Pick your strongest hero and play it until the proficiency challenges are moving again. Quick Match has no daily challenge cap, which is why it beats Arcade for this.
- Midweek — the event questline. Event tracks are the largest free-reward source in any season, and they expire. Infinity Finale’s Thor costume is the current example.
- End of week — the store. With the pass claimed and the event banked, spend Units on what you actually missed. The store catalog rotates, so a wanted item coming back is a matter of patience, not luck.
What not to do
Do not buy the previous season’s missed passes. They cannot be reclaimed, and no shop converts old pass content into the new one.
Do not chase old Limited-Time Units. They expired with their events. Any Units still in your wallet are the permanent kind and spend normally.
Do not one-trick straight into placements. Placement seeding drops you three divisions below your last finish, not to the bottom, but the lobby still contains players who never left. Warm up first, and bring two heroes per role so a counter-pick is available — the counter picks guide has the if-then answers.
Do not ignore the Twitch Drops deadline. Linked-account campaigns expire quietly, and they are the only rewards that require nothing but having the stream open while you play something else.