Honestly, if I have to play one more round in the Royal Palace while my teammates ignore the high ground, I might actually lose it. We’ve all been there. You load into Marvel Rivals, hyped to try out Deadpool’s new triple-role kit, only to realize you've played the same three maps for the last four hours. It feels broken, right? Like the game has a personal vendetta against you and specifically wants you to stay in Asgard forever.
But there’s actually a method to the madness. NetEase handles the Marvel Rivals map rotation differently than your standard hero shooter. It’s not just a random dice roll every time you click "Quick Match." There’s a seasonal logic at play, and if you're trying to climb the ranks in Season 6: Night at the Museum, understanding which maps are "in" and which are "out" is basically mandatory for survival.
The Seasonal Purge: What’s in the Pool Right Now?
Season 6 just dropped, and with it, the map pool got a massive shake-up. Most people don’t realize that the Competitive (Ranked) rotation is much tighter than Quick Match. While you can find almost anything in a casual lobby, the devs prune the Ranked list to keep the meta from getting stagnant.
Currently, the heavy hitters in rotation are focused on the Empire of Eternal Night and the brand-new Museum of Contemplation. If you’re playing Ranked, you are going to see these locations constantly:
- Empire of Eternal Night (Midtown & Sanctum Sanctorum): Since the Dracula invasion storyline is still a core pillar, these New York variants are everywhere.
- Intergalactic Empire of Wakanda (Birnin T’Challa): A staple for Convoy matches because of those long, vertical sightlines.
- Yggsgard (Yggdrasill Path): Love it or hate it, the World Tree is a permanent fixture in the current rotation.
- Tokyo 2099 (Spider-Islands): Essential for anyone who mains flyers like Iron Man or Vanguard.
The big news for January 2026? Resource Rumble has been officially yeeted from Quick Match. NetEase finally listened to the community feedback—the mode and its specific map were causing too many mid-match leavers, so they’ve benched it while they rework the mechanics.
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Why the Rotation Feels Repetitive
You’ve probably noticed that some days you get Tokyo 2099 five times in a row. It's annoying. There’s a lot of chatter on Reddit and Discord about the "reset bug." Basically, if you leave a queue and rejoin, or if your group leader changes, the internal "weighting" for maps seems to reset.
Many players, including some of the high-tier Eternity rank streamers, have noted that the game tends to prioritize the newest maps to gather data. With the Museum of Contemplation launching on January 29th, expect the rotation to lean heavily into that map for at least three weeks. NetEase uses us as guinea pigs to see where the choke points are broken before they tweak the destructible environments.
The Ranked vs. Quick Play Divide
Don't expect the same variety in both.
- Competitive: Only uses a "curated" list. Maps like Shin-Shibuya or Hydra Charteris Base occasionally get rotated out to fix bugs or balance issues.
- Quick Match: Theoretically has everything, but even here, the devs apply "seasonal weighting."
- Custom Games: The only place where the rotation doesn't exist. You want to play the retired Klyntar: Celestial Husk? This is your only option.
Map Voting: Is it Finally Happening?
We’ve been begging for a map voting system since the closed beta. In the latest "Dev Vision" for Season 6, the team hinted at a "social preference" system coming to Times Square. While it's not a full-blown "Vote for Map A or Map B" screen like in Call of Duty, they are testing ways for players to influence the queue.
For now, the closest thing we have is the Clobberin’ Club in Times Square. It’s not a full map rotation fix, but it's a dedicated space where you can duel and bypass the standard queue logic entirely. Plus, seeing your 1v1 broadcast on the big screens in the virtual New York is a nice distraction from getting another Yggsgard match.
Strategies for the Current Rotation
If you want to actually win during this rotation, you have to stop playing every map the same way. The current Season 6 pool is incredibly "vertical."
In Birnin T’Challa, if you aren't running a dive comp with someone like Black Panther or Venom to clear the high ledges, you’re just feeding. Conversely, the Sanctum Sanctorum is a claustrophobic nightmare. This is where Dr. Strange and the new triple-role Deadpool shine because they can control those tight corridors.
Pro Tip: Pay attention to the "Destruction State." In the current rotation, maps like Midtown have more "soft" cover (cars, kiosks) than "hard" cover (buildings). If your team has a Hulk or a Magneto, you can literally level the playing field in the first two minutes, forcing the enemy out of their rotation.
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What to Do Next
The map pool is going to shift again on January 29th when the Museum of Contemplation officially enters the rotation. Until then, here is how you should handle the current state of the game:
- Warm up in Custom Games: If you’re tired of the same three maps, grab some friends and manually select the maps that aren't in the current Ranked pool. It keeps your map knowledge fresh for when they inevitably swap back in.
- Check the Patch Notes Weekly: NetEase has been sneaky about "soft-rotating" maps out for maintenance without big announcements. If a map feels "missing," it probably is.
- Abuse the Photo Mode: If you get stuck in a map you hate during Quick Match, use the new Photo Mode in Times Square to scout out the environmental details. Knowing where the small health packs are hidden in the new Clobberin' Club area will give you a leg up when the official matches start there.
Stop complaining about the World Tree and start learning the geometry. The rotation isn't changing until the mid-season patch, so you might as well get good at defending the Palace.