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Marvel RivalsThe Marvel Rivals August 20, 2026 patch notes (build 20260820) went live at 09:00 UTC without server downtime. It is a stability and store update — two hero-specific bug fixes and three cosmetic bundles — with zero balance changes. Below is the full patch, every line accounted for, plus what it means for your Season 9.5 ranked run and what to expect before Season 10 launches on September 11.
Marvel Rivals August 20 patch notes — full changelog
NetEase shipped this update as a mid-Season 9.5 stability pass. It arrives thirteen days after the Season 9.5 launch (August 7) that introduced The Hood as a new Vanguard, and about three weeks ahead of the confirmed Season 10 release on September 11. That timing matters: mid-season patches like this one rarely touch hero numbers because a Season 10 balance pass is already in test.
Bug fixes — the only gameplay changes in this patch
Two fixes, both hero-specific. Neither touches damage, cooldowns or ability values — they close visual and physics-state exploits that had crept in since Season 9.5 launch.
Loki
- Fix: Lady Loki's lower-body animation no longer contorts when she uses the Hela Team-Up ability.
- Impact in ranked: cosmetic only. The bug did not affect hitboxes or ability values, but it made Loki mirror-matches visually unreadable during Team-Up windows.
Hela
- Fix: Hela can no longer become paralyzed in place when casting Astral Flock after rising inside a Thoth's Wrath zone on the two Wakanda maps (Birnin T'Challa and Hall of Djalia).
- Impact in ranked: significant on Wakanda. Hela was losing full team fights when the interaction locked her animation; expect her Wakanda pick rate to normalise this week.
Store updates — three new bundles
The August 20 patch also opens a new store window. Two limited-time bundles run for four weeks — plan the purchase or skip decision by September 18. The Daredevil bundle stays permanent.
Limited-time bundles (August 21 → September 18, 2026)
- Cyclops — Elegant Eye Bundle: alternate visor and stealth-suit theme for the Strategist hero. Themed after Cyclops's classic X-Factor arc.
- Phoenix — Viridian Vogue Bundle: emerald-and-gold reskin of the Phoenix Force set, first fashion-line cosmetic for the character.
Permanent addition (August 21, 2026 onwards)
- Daredevil — Attorney at Law Bundle: courtroom-suit variant plus a themed emote package. Stays in the shop indefinitely, so no reason to rush.
What is NOT in this patch (and why it matters)
Reading the notes for what is absent is as useful as reading what is present.
- No hero balance changes. None of the Season 9.5 outliers — The Hood, Wolverine, Jubilee — got touched. If you were expecting a Hood nerf, the earliest it lands is Season 10.
- No new hero. The next hero addition is tied to the Season 10 launch on September 11.
- No new map. The Season 9.5 map rotation (Wakanda, Yggsgard, Tokyo 2099, Empire of Eternal Night, Symbiotic Surface, Klyntar, Central Park, Hell's Heaven, Hydra Charteris Base, Yggdrasil, Krakoa, Sanctum Sanctorum, Thebes) stays untouched.
- No Proficiency / Lord progression changes. Farming Lord icons still requires the same ~100 in-game hours per hero we chart in our proficiency guide.
- No ranked reset. Season 9.5 rank reset already happened on August 7; the mid-season split will not add another one before September 11.
Where this patch sits in the Season 9.5 timeline
Season 9.5 opened on August 7 with The Hood as a new Vanguard, the Jubilee Team-Up rework, and a fresh Blood Hunt event window. The August 13 patch already handled the first bug wave (Summer Finale event start, Lady Loki return, Krakoan Reels Vol. 2). The August 20 patch closes what August 13 missed. The next real balance vehicle is the Season 10 launch on September 11, with a confirmed roadmap and rank reset.
What competitive players should do this week
- Bring Hela back on Wakanda: the Astral Flock lock bug is fixed, and her pick rate there was artificially deflated for two weeks.
- Do not swap Loki mains: the bug was visual-only, so Loki win rates never changed — the fix just makes the character legal to watch.
- Season 10 grind window closes fast: with three weeks to Season 10, you have roughly 18 to 21 days to lock in your Season 9.5 rank before the reset. That is where our Marvel Rivals rank boost service saves the most time — pushing the last two divisions before a season boundary is exactly what it is built for.
- Skip the shop rush: only the Cyclops and Phoenix bundles expire on September 18. Daredevil stays permanent, so budget accordingly.
Community reaction and open bug list
Two bugs the community flagged during the Season 9.5 window were NOT addressed in the August 20 patch and remain open at time of writing:
- The Hood's smoke bomb occasionally clips through the Klyntar map geometry, granting a free extraction angle.
- Wolverine's berserk claw combo has a rare rollback issue on high-latency Central Park matches.
Both are documented on the official issue tracker; neither is patched here. Expect them in the Season 10 launch build or the first Season 10 hotfix.
How to install the patch
The client update is automatic on PC (Steam and Epic) and on PlayStation and Xbox — the update download starts on next launch. Because the patch shipped without server downtime, matchmaking and Team-Up abilities were unaffected during rollout.
Bottom line
The Marvel Rivals August 20, 2026 patch is a two-fix stability update wrapped around a store refresh. Two heroes stop misbehaving — Hela on Wakanda most notably — and three bundles enter the shop. No balance shifts, no new content. The next meaningful patch is Season 10 on September 11.
FAQ
What is in the Marvel Rivals August 20 patch?
Does the Marvel Rivals August 20 update reset ranks?
Do the Cyclops and Phoenix bundles come back?
Was The Hood nerfed?
Was there server downtime for the August 20 patch?
When is the next Marvel Rivals patch?
Source: official Marvel Rivals patch notes (marvelrivals.com).
