Marvel Rivals Season 11 Guide: Nightcrawler, Battle Pass, Buffs

Season 11 launch date and maintenance

Season 11 starts on Friday, November 13, 2026, at 09:00 UTC. The update begins with maintenance, and the official notes put that maintenance at about 2 hours. The notes do not give an exact end time, so do not plan around one. If you play on console or PC, check for the update after 09:00 UTC and let the patch finish before you queue up.

The season also marks the 2nd anniversary of Marvel Rivals, which the developers call out in their Season 11 Dev Vision video. The new serial is called Doomsday, and a new Nightcrawler lore story, Leap of Faith, arrives with the season too.

What	When
Season 11 update begins	Friday, November 13, 2026, 09:00 UTC
Maintenance	About 2 hours
New store items available	Friday, November 13, 2026, 09:00 UTC
Twitch Drops start	Friday, November 13, 2026, 12:00 UTC
Twitch Drops end	Friday, December 11, 2026, 09:00 UTC
IGNITE 2026 Grand Finals	November 23 to 29, 2026, in Stockholm, Sweden

Nightcrawler is the only new hero confirmed

Nightcrawler teleports into Marvel Rivals in Season 11, and the patch notes introduce him with one word: BAMF. He is the fuzzy elf of the X-Men in the comics, and here he arrives as the season headliner, with his own lore story, his own season event, and a stack of store costumes on day one.

Here is the honest part. The official notes name one new hero, and that hero is Nightcrawler. They do not name a second hero for launch, and they do not give Nightcrawler ability numbers in the patch notes. So this guide will not print a second hero name, and it will not invent ability details. If you see another hero name attached to Season 11 on social media, treat it as a rumour until the official site or the game itself confirms it. We will update this guide the moment NetEase names anyone else.

What is confirmed around Nightcrawler is plenty to plan with. He stars in the season event, he is the Gold rank reward, and four of the day one store bundles carry his name or his look. If you want to play him on day one, try him in a quick match before you take him into ranked.

Battle Pass: The Incursion

The Season 11 Battle Pass is called The Incursion, and it brings 10 all-new sets of heroic costumes. The official notes name three highlights, and they are strong ones: Emma Frost in Seat of Winter, Mantis in Chronal Harmony, and Daredevil in The Man Without Fear. The notes do not list a Battle Pass price, so this guide does not print one. Check the in-game Battle Pass page after the update goes live if you want the price before you buy.

Season event: The Acts of Kurt Wagner

The new seasonal story event is called The Acts of Kurt Wagner, and Kurt Wagner is Nightcrawler himself. The notes describe it plainly: team up with Nightcrawler to decipher Destiny’s prophecy, lead daring disaster relief ops, and score a hoard of epic rewards. The notes do not list the individual rewards, so this guide does not guess at them. Open the event page in game after launch and work through the missions in order.

New store bundles and College Perks rotation

The store gets a big Season 11 refresh on November 13 at 09:00 UTC. Nightcrawler leads it, but Gambit, The Hood and Mantis get new looks too. Here is the full list from the official notes.

• Nightcrawler – Steadfast Swordsman Bundle
• Gambit – Versatile Valet Bundle
• The Hood – Astral Oblivion Bundle
• Nightcrawler – X-Force
• Nightcrawler – Emoji Bundle
• Versatile Valet – Emoji Bundle
• Gambit – Versatile Valet Chroma Matcha Maid and Pastel Primp, plus Ultimate Ability VFX
• Mantis – Chronal Harmony Chroma Sundial Shadow and Twilight Time, plus Ultimate Ability VFX
• Take a Seat: a new animation for Nightcrawler
• Nightcrawler Accessory – Pickles Plush

The College Perks costume rotation changes too. The new lineup is Groot in Yggroot, Luna Snow in Mirae 2099, Storm in Goddess of Thunder, White Fox in Yoon Ji-Woo: The Leader, Black Cat in Urban Predator, Captain America in Cursed Captain, Daredevil in Daredevil: Born Again Season 2, Moon Knight in Eclipse Knight, Emma Frost in Black Queen of the Marauders, and Loki in Presidential Attire. If you have been waiting on one of these, check whether your campus perk covers it before the rotation moves on.

Twitch Drops and rank rewards

A new round of Twitch Drops starts as Season 11 kicks off. The headline drop is the Devil Dinosaur costume called Will of Galacta, along with related bundle content. The drops run from November 13, 2026, at 12:00 UTC to December 11, 2026, at 09:00 UTC. That is almost a full month, so there is no rush on day one, but do link your Twitch account before you start watching, because unlinked watch time does not count.

Ranked players have a clear target this season. The Season 11.0 Gold-tier costume reward is Nightcrawler in Hope Soared. Gold is the first rank tier that earns a costume reward, so if you want the look, your goal for the first weeks of the season is simple: climb to Gold and hold it. The notes do not name rewards for higher tiers, so this guide lists only the Gold reward that is confirmed.

Balance changes: the biggest buffs and nerfs

Season 11 brings a massive wave of balance tweaks, and the balance team says it is reallocating power across almost all Strategists: a little less survivability, a little more combat power, with each hero tuned to their own playstyle. The tables below pick out the most notable changes, with the numbers printed exactly as the official balance post states them. The full list covers far more heroes, so treat this as the short version that matters most for ranked play.

Vanguard changes

Hero	Change
Angela	Buff. Axes of Ichors first three strikes: 30 to 35. Divine Judgement buffs now last 6s. Dual-axe Bonus Health per hit: 50 to 55.
Devil Dinosaur	Nerf. Savage Predation control: 0.8s to 0.6s. Buddy Barrier shield: 450 to 400, duration 6s to 4s. Apex Advantage: 150% to 125% of Bleed damage.
Doctor Strange	Nerf. Shield of the Seraphim: 850 to 800. Recovery speed: 60/s to 50/s.
Emma Frost	Nerf. Mind’s Aegis: 400 to 350. Psychic Spear: 25% Maximum Health to 60 plus 10% Maximum Health.
Groot	Buff. Thornlash Wall Flora Colossus damage: 60 to 65. Ironwood Wall health: 600 to 550.
Peni Parker	Nerf. Cyber-Web Cluster explosion: 15 to 12. Arachno-Mine delay: 0.6s to 0.7s.
Rogue	Mixed. Power Surge Punch first two hits: 35 to 40. Gambit Team-Up cooldown: 30s to 15s. Defensive Stance radius: 2m to 1.2m.
Venom	Mixed. Dark Predation detection grows slightly. Symbiotic Resilience base Bonus Health: 100 to 75.

Devil Dinosaur is the big story here. He has been a dominant Vanguard since his Season 10 buffs, and this patch cuts his survivability, his control time and his barrier in one pass. If you main him, expect to feel it in every fight. Groot is the quiet winner of the Vanguard changes: his wall damage goes up, and his Mantis Team-Up wall now shares the Flora Colossus effect too.

Duelist changes

Hero	Change
Black Cat	Buff. Feline Fury Fortune per cast: 50 to 75.
Black Widow	Buff. Electro-Plasma Blast: 50-70 to 55-75.
Elsa Bloodstone	Nerf. Double-Barrel Blaster falloff now starts at 10m, not 20m.
Human Torch	Buff. Fire Cluster spread: random to fixed.
Phoenix	Nerf. Spark damage: 45 to 40 direct, 20 to 15 area. Endsong Inferno: 2 Spark stacks to 1.
Squirrel Girl	Rework. Burst Acorn: 110 to 95. Blockade now spawns Acorn Rain on hit. Mammal Bond: 100% Attack Speed for 5s.
Star-Lord	Buff. Galactic Legend ammo: 40 to 50.
Winter Soldier	Nerf. Roterstern field damage: 45 to 40. Falloff cap: 70% at 40m to 65% at 30m.
Wolverine	Nerf. Feral Leap cooldown: 12s to 15s. Last Stand Rage bonus: 0.3% to 0.2% of Max Health per Rage point.

Phoenix and Wolverine take the hardest Duelist hits, while Star-Lord and Human Torch get the cleanest buffs. Squirrel Girl is the one to relearn: her Mammal Bond now trades raw Burst Acorn damage for a burst of attack speed, and her Blockade now rains acorns on the spot it hits. Play a few quick matches with her before you judge the rework.

Strategist changes

Hero	Change
Adam Warlock	Mixed. Avatar Life Stream healing: 95 to 55, bounces 2 to 4. Total per cast: 285 to 275.
Cloak and Dagger	Mixed. Dagger Storm cooldown: 12s to 15s, self-healing 50/s to 35/s. Veils now move at 35m/s, and each hit cuts Dagger Storm cooldown by 0.6s.
Gambit	Nerf. Kinetic Cards outer spread: 2 degrees to 3 degrees. Healing Hearts self-healing: 30/s to 20/s.
Invisible Woman	Nerf. Veiled Step cooldown: 6s to 8s.
Jubilee	Mixed. Sparkle Mark loses its 20% Healing Boost. Firework Finale healing: 180/s to 190/s.
Loki	Nerf. Deception cooldown: 15s to 18s. Mantis Team-Up loses its Damage Boost in Regeneration Domain.
Luna Snow	Nerf. Absolute Zero freeze: 2.7s to 1.5s. White Fox Team-Up loses its Charm effect.
Mantis	Mixed. Spore Slumber sleep: 3.5s to 1.5s. Allied Inspiration cost: 1 to 2 Life Orbs. Non-critical hits now grant 0.3 Life Orbs.
Rocket Raccoon	Mixed. Repair Mode healing: 55 to 50. Jetpack Dash now grants 25 Bonus Health per cast.
Ultron	Nerf. Imperative: Firewall Bonus Health: 40 to 25. Movement Speed boost: 20% to 10%.
White Fox	Mixed. Spirit Sanctuary shield: 200 to 100. Fox Form Awakening: 7s to 8s. Kumiho Unleashed can now receive healing.

The Strategist pattern is clear: less free survival, more active play. Luna Snow loses more than a second of freeze, Mantis loses half her sleep time, and Invisible Woman waits longer between stealths. In return, Cloak and Dagger get a faster rotation that rewards hitting veils, and Mantis can now earn Life Orbs without landing critical hits. If you play support, your positioning matters more this season, because your escape tools come back slower.

Aim assist, performance and Windows on ARM

Controller players get a new optional setting called Aim Assist Target Prediction. It makes switching aim assist targets between multiple enemies quicker and more natural, and the notes say it keeps the original aiming feel as much as possible. It only takes effect when you turn it on, so players who like the current feel can leave it off and nothing changes for them.

On PC, an experimental client CPU optimisation is now available through the PC launcher. It uses a new Intel compiler plus profile-guided optimisation, and enabling it is expected to boost CPU performance by about 10%, which should steady frame rates in big team fights. It is experimental, so if you hit crashes or odd behaviour, turn it off and tell customer support. There is also a new Windows on ARM client for devices with the NVIDIA RTX Spark series, with full support for DLSS Super Resolution, DLSS Frame Generation and NVIDIA Reflex. Chat also gains a proper noun translation feature that can spot game terms and localise them into a language you read.

IGNITE Grand Finals and the Championship

The Marvel Rivals IGNITE 2026 Grand Finals run from November 23 to 29 in Stockholm, Sweden. Twelve teams will be there: four from the Americas series, four from EMEA, two from China and two from the Pacific series. The group stage runs November 23 to 25, with two groups of six playing a BO3 single round-robin, and the top four from each group move on. The main event runs November 27 to 29 as a double-elimination stage, and the champion is crowned in a BO7 Grand Final.

You can take part from inside the game. The Grand Finals event opens after the Season 11 maintenance, with match predictions, live broadcasts, replays and VODs through the in-game Livestreams tab. Finishing event missions earns Grand Finals team sprays and Chrono Tokens. Group stage predictions close on November 23 at 12:50 UTC, and main event predictions close on November 28 at 09:50 UTC.

Season 11 of the Marvel Rivals Championship kicks off too. Play at least 6 matches in the Open Qualifiers to secure Units and exclusive loot for your roster. This season is the finale of the 2026 competitive year for Championship Points: after it ends, the top Factions from the Season 11 Championship and the top teams on the 2026 points leaderboard earn invites to the IGNITE Series Annual Qualifier, where they can fight for a starting spot in the 2027 Pro Circuit.

Bug fixes worth knowing about

The patch also fixes a batch of hero and map bugs. The Thing no longer loses the Bonus Health from his Unbreakable Forces Team-Up the moment its duration ends. Mister Fantastic can no longer cast Distended Hammer and Stretch Punch at the same time through the Clobberin’ Research Dept. Team-Up. Doctor Strange portals no longer send you in the opposite direction, and Blade no longer stutters during the sprint of Daywalker Dash. The notes also fix an overtime music cutout, a bad space in the Birnin T’Challa map, and a Blood Hunt mode display error.

What to do on launch day

1. Update first, then play. Let the patch finish after 09:00 UTC on November 13, and restart the game once if the update does not show.
2. Try Nightcrawler in a quick match. Learn his teleport timing against real players before you take him into ranked.
3. Open the Battle Pass page and read the full 10-set list before you buy. The three named highlights are Emma Frost, Mantis and Daredevil, but the rest of the pass decides the value for you.
4. Start the Acts of Kurt Wagner event early. Story events gate later missions behind earlier ones, so a slow start costs you days.
5. Link Twitch before you watch any Season 11 stream, and check your rank goal. Gold earns the Nightcrawler Hope Soared costume, and the drops run until December 11 at 09:00 UTC.

Marvel Rivals Season 11 questions

When does Marvel Rivals Season 11 start?

Season 11 starts on Friday, November 13, 2026, at 09:00 UTC, after about 2 hours of maintenance. The season is called Doomsday, and its new hero is Nightcrawler.

Is there a second new hero in Marvel Rivals Season 11?

No second hero is confirmed. The official Season 11 patch notes name only Nightcrawler as a new hero, so any other hero name you see online is a rumour until NetEase confirms it.

How do I get the Devil Dinosaur Will of Galacta costume?

Watch Marvel Rivals Twitch streams with your accounts linked during the drops period, from November 13, 2026, at 12:00 UTC to December 11, 2026, at 09:00 UTC. The Will of Galacta costume is the headline drop of this round, along with related bundle content.