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100 Thieves Dominates NA, But What is Next For Marvel Rivals Esports?

A massive win for 100 Thieves leaves the door open to what might come next for Marvel Rivals esports.

Cale Michael

Marvel Rivals esports via Twitter

100 Thieves stands above all after winning the first Marvel Rivals Invitational for North America in 2025, defeating FlyQuest 4-2 in the grand finals. 

FlyQuest may have put up more of a fight than expected, given the rest of the event, but as it stands, 100 Thieves is currently the top Marvel Rivals team in North America. That does not mean things won’t change in the coming weeks, however. 

100 Thieves Dominates Marvel Rivals Invitational: North America

100 Thieves Marvel Rivals team
Screenshot via 100 Thieves

For three straight events, 100 Thieves has looked like the best Marvel Rivals team in North America, now adding the Marvel Rivals Invitational NA title to their growing list of achievements after beating FlyQuest 4-2 in the finals. 

In their first competition playing together in a LAN setting, 100 Thieves dominated most of the event, going 6-0 across the entire event while dropping just four total games. That run included wins over FlyQuest and ENVY, along with a pair of victories against Sentinels.

Terra also threw down the gauntlet, saying that he felt FlyQuest didn’t play 100T well, rather it was 100T that was playing poorly during the first few rounds before finally shaking off their nerves and getting back to the domination. Despite that, 100T does still think FlyQuest is currently the “number two team” in NA as they aim to turn this string of wins into the start of something legendary.

“We’re gonna just keep grinding and then as soon as we get home, the grind doesn’t stop,” terra said. “We want to be the first dynasty in this game. We have that opportunity, why not bring it?”

100T was also asked how they think they would stack up against the current best team in Europe, Virtus.pro, to which terra responded that both sides are “50-50” when trading ping and that the only way to see who is really the best is to test it on a “fair playing field.”

Marvel Rivals Meta Shifts for Season 1.5

The meta for Marvel Rivals Season 1.5 has roughly solidified into a few key characters being constantly banned

Typically, you will see bans for one or both of Namor and Luna Snow, just to get their extremely powerful Team-Up off the table—especially since Luna is still widely considered the best Strategist in the game. From there, the bans come in waves. 

Groot, Hela, and Wolverine are usually on the chopping block once teams decide how to handle Namor. Overall, Wolverine, Hela, and Namor are the most-banned heroes in both One Above All ranked matches and most tournaments, with Wolverine on top at a 27.23 percent ban rate, according to RivalsMeta.

Depending on what teams are playing, Adam Warlock might also get banned. Star-Lord ranks up there with Winter Soldier as a top Duelist pick and is only banned a fraction of the time, so teams tend to target Warlock or Mantis to shut down the triple-resurrection strategy he enables with his fellow Guardians. This is actually something 100T’s SPJ mentioned when talking about their recent winning streak against Sentinels.

Because triple Strategist lineups are still viable no healer truly falls by the wayside for extended periods outside of Jeff the Landshark—even if he did make an appearance in grand finals. Even Rocket Raccoon has seen his usage go up in recent events.

Vanguards remain the most predictable area for most teams, with four options standing above the rest by shoulders. 

Magneto remains the king this season, seeing a whopping 65 percent pick rate and less than four percent ban rate in One Above All. Doctor Strange is a distant second at just over 40 percent, with The Thing sitting in third at around 31 percent.  

Groot is the fourth tank that sees over a 20 percent pick rate, though he is also the most banned at 11 percent, and that number likely goes up considerably in tournament play, too. You will occasionally see Hulk or Venom appear in a few different comps, though it is less likely than a team running Mag and one of the other top options.

Where Does Marvel Rivals Esports Go Next?

With the end of the first 2025 Marvel Rivals Invitational for North America, there are very few major esports events for the game currently scheduled beyond the in-game client Marvel Rivals Championship for Season 1 that runs through April 6 across regions. 

Smaller tournaments pop up here and there, with Rivals Fight Night currently standing as the only weekly event featuring top talent from North America and Europe. But even that is a smaller invitational that only runs in specific regions with limited invites. 

Now that a few big brands like 100 Thieves, Sentinels, and Virtus.pro are making names for themselves in Marvel Rivals, it is on NetEase or a major tournament organizer to make a splash by creating a more robust esports calendar. 

Back in February, a report noted that there is “big money Marvel Rivals esports coming soon,” likely with backing from NetEase. That was prior to the mass signing of top talent and the recently completed slate of official Marvel Rivals Invitationals.

It is unlikely we will see a league open up for the top Marvel Rivals team, but something more akin to what is currently happening for Dota 2 and Counter-Strike could work. 

NetEase could very easily step back and only host a few official tournaments each season while allowing even operators like ESL, PGL, BLAST, and others to do the same. Then, maybe in a similar fashion to The International, one big Marvel Rivals event at the end of the year can crown the true “One Above All.”

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Cale Michael
CALE MICHAEL

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