Virtus.pro concluded the Marvel Rivals competitive season on the highest of highs, winning the Marvel Rivals Ignite Grand Finals to become the game’s first world champion.
The team has come a long way since entering the scene earlier this year, from winning EMEA’s Marvel Rivals Invitational to emerging victorious at DreamHack Atlanta.
Following its triumphant victory earlier this month, Esports Insider spoke to Virtus.pro’s players about the Marvel Rivals esports scene in 2025 as well as its journey to becoming world champions.
“I was a little disappointed with the other teams”: Virtus.pro on the Marvel Rivals esports scene
Virtus.pro won the Grand Finals by beating fellow EMEA team NAVI on November 2nd, 2025. As a result, the team walked away with $320,000 (~£242,900) in winnings and has written its name in the history books of Marvel Rival esports.
“We’ve put so much work and effort into winning this Grand Finals,” said Arthur ‘dridro’ Szanto to Esports Insider. “I think it’s safe to say that we are all proud of ourselves for becoming World Champions.”
Virtus.pro’s victory lies in stark contrast to its original placement in Ignite Stage 1, missing out on the scene’s first major international event, the Mid Season Finals, after being eliminated early from the tournament. As a result, Virtus.pro entered the Ingite Grand Finals with a lot to prove, especially since it had garnered a reputation as the best team in the scene by the community.
The team began the Ignite Grand Finals with a splash, topping the Group Stage and outlasting other regional champions. It entered the Playoffs as the team to beat, defeating rosters such as 100 Thieves in the Quarterfinals and FlyQuest in the Upper Bracket Finals before claiming the crown.
While Virtus.pro was on top form in the tournament, the Grand Finals saw several shocking results. These included the early elimination of ENVY, considered one of the strongest teams in the scene.
Virtus.pro’s official social media account event criticised the performance of the Americas teams, calling it the ‘worst representation’ of the region, and that none of the rosters ‘deserve to be in the event.’
“I was a little disappointed with the other team’s performance,’ Finnbjörn ‘Finnsi’ Flosi Jónasson added.
“I think they played good, but most of them got outdrafted. They are obviously all very good players, and they deserved to be there, and now they can understand and see what they need to work on for the next tournament. I don’t think the next one will be as easy for us.”
“We had a good idea of their strengths and weaknesses”: Virtus.pro on the Marvel Rivals Meta
The Marvel Rivals Ignite Grand Finals culminated in a final showdown between Virtus.pro and Natus Vincere. There was a lot on the line for Virtus.pro, as this was a roster the team had lost to in past events, such as the Group Stage of Ignite Stage 1.
In the end, Virtus.pro defeated its EMEA rivals 4-1, leaving DreamHack as the first Marvel Rivals world champion.
“We’ve scrimmed them plenty [of times] in Europe before, so we had a good idea of their strengths and weaknesses and we capitalised on that with the bans and draft,” said Josh ‘eqo’ Corona, Marvel Rivals coach for Virtus.pro.
“We had a lot of contingency preparations in case they changed their bans/draft. But they didn’t really deviate from our predicted bans that they will do.”
The inclusion of Daredevil, the latest Duellist added to Marvel Rivals in Season 4.5, came as a shock to many fans and spectators alike. Despite his recent debut just before the Grand Finals, the character quickly made an impact, featuring prominently for Virtus.pro’s Philip ‘phi‘ Handke against NAVI.
“Daredevil fills the same role that Psylock/Starlord do,” Phi told Esports Insider. “So just him existing changes the draft meta in a way that just banning one dive DPS doesn’t do anything.
“Whether he’s stronger or weaker than Psylocke or Star Lord depends on the matchup. The wallhack and burst damage make him really strong at setting up and breaking bunkers. You could argue he’s a top-three DPS right now.”
Various players stood out within Virtus.pro’s team. The roster often protected Finnsi’s Captain America during drafts, supporting Andreas ‘Nevix‘ Karlsson’s Venom and Angela for a dominant dive composition.
William ‘SparkR’ Andersson saw an impressive play on Spider-Islands in map two, securing a triple elimination with Namor on the first point of attack. The player was also awarded MVP of the Ignite Grand Finals.
“Obviously very happy.” SparkR commented. “I’m glad I was able to cement myself in Marvel Rivals history as the first Grand Finals MVP.”
“Recharge for the next year”: Looking Ahead for Marvel Rivals in 2026
The Ignite Grand Finals saw the conclusion of Marvel Rivals’ first season as a competitive esports. The circuit offered $3m (~£2.28m) in prize pool funds across various stages and LAN tournaments.
For the rest of 2025, there are still a plethora of competitive events to look forward to for esports fans. This includes the open-bracket seasonal Championships for Season 5: Love is a Battlefield, and upcoming creator events such as the $15,000 (~£11,380) Vtuber Cup organised by creators Connor ‘CDawgVA’ Marc Colquhoun and ‘Ironmouse’.
With some organisations like Sentinels leaving the scene, the future of Marvel Rivals esports is uncertain. Mikkel ‘Sypeh’ Klein told Esports Insider that at this moment, the plan is to relax ahead of 2026.
Sypeh said: “I think right now we are gonna take a bit of a break and recharge for the next year.”