Is Marvel Rivals' Thanos Mode Worth It? I Played It Twice and Here's What Happened

The important stuff in 30 seconds

It's free and comes with rewards: the Captain America: The Winter Soldier costume and a Thanos accessory, both earned by completing missions. That's what convinced me the most to jump in.

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The official schedule

Until now we only had the date, October 24 (UTC), and no times. The official patch 20261022 notes now list the first sessions. All of them last 2 hours:

The Path to Doomsday event runs from October 22 to November 26 at 09:00 UTC, and the mode lasts 4 weeks in a row starting on the 24th. For the following weeks, the notes only say it will be available "for limited times each subsequent week based on this schedule." I checked the in-game rules and they match the patch notes. Some guides publish full calendars (some with 8 sessions, others with 12), but they don't agree with each other and don't come from official sources, so I'm not using them.

How the mode works

These are the rules the game shows you before you jump in.

The basics

• 50 players, PvE. Everyone against Thanos and his army. You pick a hero, enter the map and wait for the portals.
• AI bots. If the lobby doesn't fill up, matchmaking adds AI heroes when the wait times out.
• 4 weeks in a row starting October 24.

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Thanos's 4 phases

• Phase 1: he fights with his Double-Edged Sword, both melee and ranged.
• Phase 2: he adds Infinity Stone abilities for crowd control.
• Phase 3: he summons his fleet and bombards the whole map.
• Phase 4: he prepares to Snap and all 50 heroes have to focus their fire on him before time runs out.

Heads up: the rules say he uses the Infinity Stones from phase 2 on. Some people on X say he "only uses 1 gem"; that's their opinion, not what the game says.

Respawn, MVP and abilities

• If you die, you respawn after a short delay and can switch heroes while you wait.
• The MVP is whoever lands the final hit in phase 4.
• Adjusted abilities: some change for the 50-player format.
• Thanos's health bar reads 1,750,000.

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What it feels like to play

The first time, everyone was quiet and focused, trying out characters in chat. And yes, it's fun to get into the role: you enter the Avengers Compound, see a huge Thanos and feel like part of the movie. The game held up very well: I set quality to high, closed everything else to avoid dropping frames, and even with all the NPCs, the lasers falling from space and all the visual noise, it ran fine.

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But the fight itself is damaging one enormous thing for about 15 minutes. I spent that time dying, switching characters and saying "come on, let's kill him." Revive, shoot, revive, shoot. There's no real strategy beyond having fun, and that gets better if you play with friends. It's a shared experience, like when we went to the movies to watch the Avengers films and everyone applauded.

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That matches what Kotaku said before launch: that Thanos looked like a raid boss that could take a huge amount of damage. After playing it: yes, he's a damage sponge.

When Thanos finally goes down, there's a closing cutscene and the team chat fills up with celebration.

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What I didn't like

The noise. The second time there were so many people talking in the same lobby, and so much game noise, that I couldn't even understand what they were saying. I could have adjusted my headset and the volume, but the first time everything was much calmer.

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The limit of 6. In my game I couldn't add more than 6 people to my party. Imagine a streamer playing with 50 of their followers trying to kill Thanos: it would be spectacular. I understand it's not an always-on mode, because it needs a lot of active players at once, but it feels like a wasted opportunity.

The empty moments. With so many monsters on screen, sometimes you didn't have a single one next to you. It's a lot of visual noise and little action near you.

No special attacks. It would have been cool to have something like the special attacks from the Infinity War 2v2 mode, but with 50 players it would probably be too much.

It wears out fast. The second time I was already a bit tired of it. It works as a challenge ("let's see if you can do it in under 10 minutes, or under 5"), but beyond that there isn't much.

What I did like

• The free skin. It's really cool, and it's the Captain America: The Winter Soldier one.
• The Thanos keychain. Really cool too.
• The roleplay. If you fully commit to playing an Avenger, you enjoy it.

Even Captain America shouts "Assemble!" as you run into the fight, and that's where it really feels like the movie.

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This is another Marvel Rivals mode that is mostly good for completing missions. I already finished them. There are four: complete 1 match, deal 20,000 damage to Thanos, heal allies for 10,000 health and defeat 10 enemies. With them I got the skin and the keychain.

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The keychain is called Thanos Plush and it's an accessory: a chibi Thanos with a golden helmet and the Infinity Gauntlet.

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What players who already tried it are saying

The mode has only been open for a few hours, so the sample is small: I checked X on Friday night and found about 8 reactions from people who already played. There are more complaints than praise, although people who complain tend to post more than people who had a good time.

What they criticize

• It's boring. @Jas_W_114 says that in the other PvE modes and in Infinity War you build up into a monster that slaughters everything, and that you don't get that feeling in the Thanos mode.
• Thanos is a damage sponge. Several agree: a boss with a lot of health and not much else (@jasonpetertod48, @Eder_99). @Trikolas7N says that with so many enemies and a giant Thanos it's almost impossible to play a character that can't fly, and that he ended up shooting for 15 minutes without doing anything else.
• Little challenge. @Luisiriano1 complains that Thanos just stands still, you only have to spam bullets, and he uses a single gem.

What they celebrate

• It's fun. @MSFan22 played it three times and enjoyed all three, and asks NetEase to keep Thanos's voice actor.
• But the schedule gets in the way. @Nightwing593 says it's super fun and wishes it weren't only available in 2-hour windows.

What people are saying matches what I experienced: it's a mode to try once, not one to stay in.

My take: what I'd like to see

What I'd like most is for them to add Thanos as a playable character. Make it a surprise for season 11. They would crush it with that.

And I think they need a different marketing strategy. They've been announcing this mode since March, with all the Path to Doomsday hype, the Ultron mode, the 2v2 and tons of videos and trailers. They should give that same hype to a new character or to each season's changes: "hey, check out how Black Panther moves now." I feel like they want to give importance to many things and end up giving it to none. The only thing they really put production into is skins, because skins make money. Everything else stays half done.

Frequently asked questions

When is the Endgame mode open?

In 2-hour sessions. The first three are on October 24 (UTC): 01:00, 10:00 and 18:00. In Mexico: Friday the 23rd at 7:00 p.m., and Saturday the 24th at 4:00 a.m. and 12:00 p.m.

How much does it cost?

It's free. The Captain America: The Winter Soldier costume and other rewards are earned through missions.

How many players take part?

50 in the same fight against Thanos and his army. If the lobby doesn't fill up, the game adds AI bots.

Can I play with my friends?

Yes, but in my game the party was capped at 6 people.

How long does a match last?

In my case, about 15 minutes.

Is it worth it?

Once, yes, mostly for the free skin. As an everyday mode, no.

Marvel Rivals is free on Steam.

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