i genuinely dont understand what people want from strategists in rivals anymore
everyone always says they want more strategists that dont just healbot and actually have utility / skill expression, but the second you play someone like Mantis people instantly start flaming you for not healing enough
like yeah obviously my healing numbers arent gonna look the same as invis healing through 4 people at once 24/7 or Cloak & Dagger bursting half a healthbar back instantly 😭
Mantis isnt built to hard-pocket bad positioning the same way those characters are. her value is more about timing, pressure, utility, damage boosting, and helping secure fights before they become disasters. but quick play teammates dont notice any of that stuff, they only notice when they arent permanently full HP
i love Mantis so much and shes genuinely one of my favorite Marvel characters but it feels impossible to actually LEARN her without getting flamed every match
the second i pick Mantis people immediately start telling me to swap before the game even starts because they assume there “wont be enough heals”
and when i try to make it easier by going triple strategist, one of the other strategists swaps off anyway so suddenly all the pressure is on the learning Mantis player to keep up with heals when that never happens on literally any other strategist 😭
if i lock Invisible Woman or Cloak & Dagger nobody is analysing every single heal i miss or instantly blaming me for every death 20 seconds into the game
but the second its Mantis everyone acts like the match is already doomed before it even starts
and if you spend literally one second trying to survive a Spider-Man diving you, suddenly the entire team is critical and spamming “need healing” and yelling in the voice chat
quick play feels horrible for learning strategists because everyone takes absurd damage constantly and expects supports to instantly erase every mistake they make
and honestly i dont even think its ONLY a strategist problem, but im just specifying strategists since its the role i play and because people have insanely high expectations for the role and sometimes its so frustrating. like when someone instantly dies from running into Peni mines somehow it still becomes the strategist’s fault
the game honestly hasnt even been that fun for me lately because of this. mostly because of bad teammates, but mostly because it feels like i cant even play the character i actually want to play without getting blamed for everything