Marvel Rivals Season 7.5 buffs and nerfs were officially revealed on Tuesday, a few days before the launch of the season. Once again, NetEase has prepared numerous balance changes that will reshape the meta. One of the nerfs could be a game-changer, as it will make the hero shooter much more fluid.

As the game developer has already revealed, the upcoming season will bring a reduction to chain-CC effects. On top of this, Winter Soldier will be less effective with his Trooper’s Fist, which might be just what the game needed. This change will be especially great for console players, who will get more control over their characters.

Let’s dive into the latest changes and see how they will affect the upcoming season.

Marvel Rivals Season 7.5 reduces crowd control and nerfs Winter Soldier

With the release of Marvel Rivals Season 7.5, NetEase will make Winter Soldier harder to play effectively. He will lose the grounded effect on Trooper’s Fist, while his projectile damage will be buffed. At the same time, the developer nerfed the Duelist’s spell field damage, raising the skill ceiling.

These are all the Winter Soldier balance changes coming with the next season:

• Removed Trooper’s Fist Grounded effect on enemies.
  •    Reduced Cooldown from 12s to 10s.
• Increased Bionic Hook cooldown from 12s to 15s.
• Increased Roterstern Projectile Damage from 75 to 80
  •    Decreased Spell Field Damage from 55 to 45.
• Reduced Tainted Voltage single charge energize time from 6s to 5s.
• Increased Kraken Impact Culling Threshold from 15% to 20%.
  •    Reduced base damage from 80 to 70.

NetEase believes that “Bucky had a bit too much CC,” which is why he will no longer be able to ground enemies with his Trooper’s Fist ability.

Trooper’s Fist was buffed in September 2025, when NetEase added the grounded effect to it with the 20250912 patch. The Fist’s second strike applies a one-second debuff to enemies hit, preventing them from using movement abilities. This ability was especially effective against flying heroes, such as Iron Man, especially when coupled with Tainted Voltage, the ability that deals damage, slows enemies down, and knocks down fliers.

Winter Soldier’s kit allowed him to easily ground Vanguards due to their hitbox size. Angela was especially affected by his Trooper’s Fist, as he could easily knock her down and prevent her from flying away to safety. Season 7.5 removes that advantage, as Bucky will no longer be able to score easy eliminations after grounding enemies, especially on consoles, thanks to aim assist.

It will be interesting to see how these changes will affect Winter Soldier’s win rate, considering he’s already one of the weakest-performing heroes in Marvel Rivals.

On PC, Winter Soldier’s win rate is 46.32%, making him the sixth-worst hero in the game. At 46.61%, his win rate on consoles is slightly higher, yet his position among other heroes is still the same. Despite this, the nerf improves overall game balance.

On the other hand, the Duelist will deal more damage with his primary weapon. Only this time, the game will reward those who can hit direct shots instead of relying on spell field damage. Coupled with a few more changes, the upcoming patch could make Winter Soldier a viable pick in Season 7.5.

The biggest shift in Season 7.5 is the reduction of crowd control effects, which should make gameplay feel smoother and less restrictive. Combined with Winter Soldier’s nerfs, this suggests NetEase is moving away from heavy CC-based playstyles toward more skill-driven combat.

In other news, NetEase has revealed that Marvel Rivals will move beyond a standard 6v6 game this year. With a new season around the corner, the developer will add more content that will make the game feel fresh, including an upcoming 1v6 game mode. The new update will bring more cosmetics as well, and players can currently unlock some of them for free using Marvel Rivals codes.