Marvel Rivals' nerfs to Doctor Strange have turned him into a punching bag, and its taking me back to my nightmarish days as a Reinhardt main in Overwatch

Having spent well over 100 hours playing as Reinhardt in Overwatch, I'm well-acquainted with the tediously punishing main tank experience: you shield your allies from an onslaught of projectiles that would surely cut them to ribbons. Meanwhile a lone teammate risks it all for a vital pick that will let you push the line forward – alas, they were killed instantly. Suddenly, as your shield falters, an enemy flanker that no one was prepared to deal with guts your healers – a swift death and the long walk back to do it all over again until the enemy wins is your only fate. Truly, to main Reinhardt is to suffer.

That's why when Marvel Rivals launched, I sternly vowed to my friends that I would never main Doctor Strange to avoid the mental anguish of being The Shield Guy again. Yet, I eventually had to try the Sorcerer Supreme out, and to my surprise, he was a lot more fun than I was anticipating – a lot more so than his rocket hammer-toting counterpart.

That was until the start of Marvel Rivals Season 2, when nerf after nerf finally saw Strange fall out of favor, not just with me, but seemingly many other players. I personally think he's actually still quite a good pick in some circumstances, but the main issue is that he just isn't as fun to play as he once was.

Bring the hammer down

The main targets of Doctor Strange's balancing adjustments were his damage abilities, Daggers of Denak and Maelstrom of Madness. To say these didn't need toning down would be an obvious lie that you wouldn't need Emma Frost to see through. The latter was especially horrible to play against with a Hulk providing the Gamma Charge Marvel Rivals Team-Up buff, letting Strange annihilate several weaker foes in a flash.

But, for me, carefully monitoring that Dark Magic meter and waiting for the right time to unleash the blast, while also being able to shield my team, is the appeal of Doctor Strange and what makes him engaging to play. Compare this to my time as Reinhardt where I was almost constantly holding up my shield, occasionally swinging my hammer and launching fire strikes in a futile attempt to intimidate the enemy.

Combine the loss of Gamma Charge and those damage nerfs with increased health from the new Scarlet Witch Team-Up and the recent cooldown buff to his Eye of Agamotto ultimate, and Strange has morphed dangerously close to the less exciting shield-until-Earthshatter playstyle characteristic of Reinhardt.

Essentially, the focus is now on the least interesting part of Doctor Strange's kit, making him a bit of a slog to play. Holding up a big circle doesn't exactly make me feel like a master of the mystic arts and it can be a monotonous way to play at best, or mark you as the enemy team's target practice at worst.

However, this isn't all to say that Doctor Strange has nothing going for him and is utterly unworthy of being one of the best Marvel Rivals characters. As I've said, I still think he's usable, but his rebalancing represents a concerning shift that I hope doesn't affect more heroes going forward.

Perfectly balanced, as all things should be

The lax balancing Marvel Rivals had at launch meant that almost any character had the potential to get plenty of kills in the right hands, and shooters are most fun when you're fragging out! But as casual players have bled off and the game has got more competitive, that need for tighter balance and cohesion to keep things fair has escalated, and that can occasionally lessen the fun.

Beyond Doctor Strange, the start of Season 2 also saw Loki and Adam Warlock receive some nerfs to their most powerful healing abilities, with Adam's hit to Soul Bond feeling especially uncalled for given the state he was in. And looking ahead to the inevitable Season 2.5 patch, Spider-Man seems like a likely target for nerfs. While I, like many others, don't always enjoy coming up against a good Spider-Man player, even I admit it would be a shame to see Peter Parker suffer restricting nerfs like Doctor Strange.

This is the inherent problem NetEase faces with Marvel Rivals. It's trying to blend the design philosophies of a fun comic book superhero game and a competitive hero shooter. So how do you make the Sorcerer Supreme feel appropriately powerful, but still fulfil the archetypical shield tank role?

It's an incredibly difficult challenge that I think is only going to get tougher with the recent announcement of the official global esports tournament, Marvel Rivals Ignite. Putting the game on such a big stage means balancing is going to be scrutinized even more. Of course, I recognize that balance is crucial for maintaining a healthy multiplayer game, but it would be a shame for the comic book chaos of Marvel Rivals, which makes it as fun as it can be frustrating, to get diluted.

Thankfully, Marvel Rivals is still young – five months old at the time of writing – and with a team dedicated to keeping the game fresh, I'm sure NetEase can find creative solutions to keep the Sorcerer Supreme, and many other heroes, from a dark future. We're not in the endgame yet.

Hero shooters are always better with friends on your side, and if you're feeling competitive, why not take them all into Marvel Rivals ranked?