Season 9.5 pushes Marvel Rivals into its mid-season split with a new Vanguard, a fresh event pass, a batch of balance changes, and a large drop in how much storage the game takes up. The update, tagged Version 20260807, went live on August 7, 2026 after a short maintenance window.
Quick answer: Season 9.5 adds The Hood as a Vanguard, launches the Creed of Akabba event with a free Punisher skin and a premium Jeff-Pool skin, retunes heroes such as Devil Dinosaur, Peni Parker, Wolverine, and Jubilee, and cuts install size by up to ~30% on PC.
Season 9.5 downtime and when servers return
Maintenance began at 9 AM UTC on August 7, 2026, taking servers offline so the patch could be applied. The downtime was scheduled to last about two hours, with servers coming back at 11 AM ET.
You will know the update has installed correctly once you can log back in and The Hood appears as a selectable hero. If matchmaking is still unavailable, the servers are likely finishing the rollout.
The Hood joins as a new Vanguard
Parker Robbins, better known as The Hood, enters the roster as a Vanguard. He fights with dual pistols and can shift into a demon state to unleash heavier attacks, giving him a kit that mixes frontline durability with offensive pressure.
WWE superstar Damian Priest voices the character, so his catchphrase carries into combat. Two new lore comics also land alongside him, The Hood – Carved in Stone and Moon Knight – Faces of the Moon. You can read both by opening a character in the menu and selecting the Lore option on the character screen.
Season 9.5 hero balance changes
The mid-season update is smaller in scope than Season 9’s Team-Up overhaul, but it still moves the meta. Devil Dinosaur, Jubilee, and Gambit are among the heroes gaining ground, while Peni Parker takes the biggest step back after her Cyber-Web Snare control proved too oppressive.
Vanguard adjustments
| Hero | Direction | Key change |
|---|---|---|
| Devil Dinosaur | Buff | Frenzied Feast max-health damage raised, and the Jeff the Land Shark Team-Up now lasts up to 5s with 60 ally healing. |
| Doctor Strange | Buff | Daggers of Denak deal 18 per hit with 12 charges; the Hulk Team-Up drops Gamma Maelstrom cooldown to 6s. |
| Magneto | Buff | Scarlet Witch Team-Up adds a minor Launch Up to Metallic Chaos hits. |
| Peni Parker | Nerf | Cyber-Web Snare no longer immobilizes on hit; it now applies Web-Tracer plus a 30% slow, becomes a 2-charge ability, and her Cyber-Web bonus health cap drops to 150. |
| Rogue | Buff | Defensive Stance damage reduction up to 60%, Regenerative Shield up to 275. |
| Venom | Nerf | Symbiotic Resilience bonus health cut to 110% of lost health, Venom Swing cooldown up to 10s. |
Duelist adjustments
| Hero | Direction | Key change |
|---|---|---|
| Black Panther | Nerf | Storm Team-Up area damage down to 30 with cooldown up to 15s. |
| Cyclops | Buff | Ricochet Force cooldown refund per hit up to 0.25s; Gambit Team-Up boosts Concussive Beam frequency by 15%. |
| Elsa Bloodstone | Nerf | Devil Dinosaur Team-Up trap health down to 50 and control down to 1.2s. |
| Hela | Nerf | Namor Team-Up Undead Monstro damage down to 10 per hit. |
| Moon Knight | Buff | Bounce damage decay reduced to 20%; Cloak & Dagger Team-Up lowers Luminous Moon cooldown to 12s and adds a dash and healing effect. |
| Phoenix | Buff | Spark detonation up to 40, area damage up to 15; Rogue Team-Up raises Telekinetic Beatdown to 55. |
| Wolverine | Buff | Berserker Rage gains 8 per hit taken, a 5s decay timer, and a slower 10/s decay at max Rage. |
| Scarlet Witch | Buff | Doctor Strange Team-Up swaps Chthonian Burst for Mystic Burst, firing magic missiles with no energy cost. |
Strategist adjustments
| Hero | Direction | Key change |
|---|---|---|
| Gambit | Nerf | Magneto Team-Up spell field Launch Up frequency slowed to once per second. |
| Jubilee | Buff | Energy Plasmoids up to 11 damage and 15 healing per hit. |
| Loki | Buff | Mystical Missile projectile speed raised to 120m/s. |
| White Fox | Buff | Kumiho Unleashed costs 4,300 energy and now grants Blessed by the Nine to nearby allies for 3s. |
Creed of Akabba event and rewards
The season’s new event, Creed of Akabba, runs on a mini-pass format with two tracks. The free track hands out The Punisher’s Sandstorm Soldier costume once you finish the required missions.
The premium track unlocks the Jeff-Pool skin, and some of its rewards can also be bought with Units. Complete the pass missions to progress both tracks.
Times Square screening and free Spray
A screening area in Times Square plays movie clips throughout the event. Avengers: Age of Ultron and Captain America: The Winter Soldier highlights alternate at the top of each hour, and watching continuously for two minutes unlocks an exclusive Spray.
The screening runs from August 7 at 9 AM UTC until August 27 at 9 AM UTC, so there is a fixed window to claim the reward.
Store PYO Bundle and new cosmetics
The Store adopts a new Pick Your Own (PYO) format. With more than two new costumes arriving each week, you can select the specific costumes and Emote Emojis you want, and the price updates automatically based on your picks. The adaptive price matches what the previous standard bundles cost for the same content, and this week’s three new costumes roll out through the PYO format.
The following items become available in the in-game Store from August 7, 2026 at 09:00 UTC:
- The Hood – Sinful Blackout Bundle
- Iron Fist – Furious Flow Bundle
- Moon Knight – Fist of Khonshu Bundle
- The Hood – Oblivion’s Whisper
- Furious Flow – Emoji Bundle
- The Hood – Emoji Bundle
- Iron Fist – Furious Flow Chroma Blackened Rage/Cobalt Cruiser and Ultimate Ability VFX
- The Hood Accessory – Madrecita Plush
Twitch Drops for Season 9.5
A new round of Twitch Drops accompanies the update, headlined by the Elsa Bloodstone – Will of Galacta costume and related bundle content. Accumulate the required viewing time on participating streams to claim it.
The drops period runs from August 7 at 12 PM UTC to September 4 at 9 AM UTC.
Storage savings and bug fixes
Season 9.5 reworks how textures are compressed across every platform, shrinking the game’s footprint after installation. The expected reductions are around 30% on PC, 20% on Xbox Series X|S and PlayStation 5, and 7% on PlayStation 4.
Several hero and map issues are also resolved with this patch:
- Peni Parker no longer shows an incorrect KO icon when defeating enemies with Cyber-Web Cluster after her Black Panther Team-Up.
- Rocket Raccoon’s Repair Mode charges no longer abnormally refill after using the Planet X Pals Team-Up.
- Cloak & Dagger are no longer affected by Emma Frost’s Ultimate control effect after freezing themselves with the Frozen Haven Team-Up.
- Namor’s Monstro Spawns no longer incorrectly target Rocket Raccoon’s Vitality Acorns.
- Cloak can now reliably use Terror Cape when The Hood Team-Up is selected.
- Angela no longer gets stuck after passing through a corridor on the Thebes map.
- Team-Up statuses in Times Square are no longer improperly removed after leaving a team while in a party.
With The Hood in the roster, a retuned meta, and the Creed of Akabba missions live, the mid-season split gives both new and returning players plenty to work through before Season 10 arrives.
