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Over the weekend, Marvel Rivals put on one of the first tournaments that the new hero shooter has seen in conjunction with Twitch, and while it was certainly set out to be a big success, some of the streamers involved had some not-so-nice things to say about it.
YouTuber Rachel “Valkyrae” Hofstetter was one of the streamers that played in this Twitch Rivals tournament, and after a bunch of tough games, she flipped out just a little bit about how poorly balanced all the team match-ups were.
“Which Twitch staff member do I need to talk to? I don’t understand how this happened,” Valkyrae says during her Twitch stream. “I need to say something. I waited five years to play in a Twitch Rival for this shit to happen? This is insane. Who planned this garbage?”
for context the upcoming twitch rivals had a 2 player limit for gm+ players but they changed jt to 4 players just a week before the tournamentnow its just a bunch of eternity sweats (like us) with over 300 hours stomping on streamers who are just there for fun https://t.co/Db1fZYwbQlJanuary 17, 2025
The main issue arose after Twitch apparently changed the rules of the tournament to allow teams of multiple GM+ ranked players: “For context, the upcoming Twitch Rivals had a two-player limit for GM+ players, but they changed it to four players just a week before the tournament,” a streamer known as bogur says. “Now it’s just a bunch of eternity sweats (like us) with over 3,000 hours stomping on streamers who are just there for fun.
“At this point, it’s more of a pro tournament where the high-rated players will game, and everyone else will be AFK. Twitch Rivals, in my honest opinion, should be about content creators learning the game, competing, and having fun, but how are they supposed to do any of that if every game is a stomp?… Right now, it’s coughing baby vs hydrogen bomb.”
Twitch Rivals is intended to be a spectacle in which people can watch some of their favourite streamers team up and compete against each other, but it’s also a competition.
There’s a $200,000 prize pool to win from, with the first-place team getting $21,000, second place getting $18,000, and third place getting $12,000. So, I understand why some teams would want to stack as many high-level players as possible to increase the odds of winning and taking the prize money for themselves. Teams even get $750 for winning and $450 when they lose, so I don’t feel too bad for all involved. Even still, it’s true that some of the games didn’t seem particularly fair.
I was watching Shroud’s Twitch Rivals stream, and even then, there were a couple of moments where he and his team were completely outmatched. One game in the Hydra Charteris Base map saw Shroud go up against who he thought was the best player in Marvel Rivals. This person was playing Black Panther and, at one point, was able to tear through the enemy team.
“This is much better than the last team we played against,” Shroud says after reviewing the kill cam. After one of his teammates tries to keep the morale up by saying that they only lost one team fight, Shroud replies: “No, I don’t think you understand what that Black Panther just did. That player is better than everyone in this videogame. That is the best player, bro—I don’t think you understand what I just saw.”
Shroud finds the BEST BLACK PANTHER Player in Marvel Rivalspic.twitter.com/jOdi7xLJRVJanuary 18, 2025
There were more than a few humbling moments for a lot of streamers involved, but after a few days of matches, the final winner ended up being Team Hogzmr. The team actually dedicated their win to their former captain, Dokibird, who had to drop out 24 hours before the tournament due to yet another change to the rule book. This time, Twitch said that each team had to reduce the amount of GM+ players on their team, meaning Dokibird had to cut two players from Team Hogzmr.
“Unfortunately, there will be no Marvel Rivals Twitch Rivals tournament from me tomorrow,” Dokibird says. “I had to drop out as captain because I was forced to cut two of my teammates who have peaked Eternity and above. I made the decision to cut myself out because my teammates deserve the money and exposure more.”
I just want to experience a competitive environment again for a game I was really passionate about.
Dokibird
Players who had to drop out of the tournament due to this rule change were apparently compensated, but it was still a massive disappointment for those who couldn’t take part. “Putting me in the pro category is always such a detriment to any team I join because I cannot perform at a level like that, if ever,” Dokibird continues. “I’m just a competitive person, but I’m not at a level [you’d] call professional. There’s so little opportunities to compete for those who are content creators but aren’t as skilled as regular pros but are grouped within that category, and I just want to experience a competitive environment again for a game I was really passionate about.”
All in all, while the Twitch Rivals tournament was definitely entertaining to watch, it seems like it was pretty messy for all involved. But it’s not the first time a Twitch Rivals tournament has had its fair share of challenges. Back in 2021 a Warzone tournament was shaken up by hacking allegations, and before that, xQc was even suspended from Twitch for stream-sniping during a Fall Guys tournament. But who knows, maybe Twitch will learn from this Marvel Rivals tournament and set more concrete rules about player ranks and who can and cannot play from the get-go, just so everyone’s on the same page.
Kurt Indovina
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