There are underperforming heroes in Marvel Rivals, and then there's Black Widow. According to NetEase's official Hero Hot List updated for Marvel Rivals season 1, the scoped sniper is the least popular pick by a long shot and the worst hero for actually winning games.
There's no positive way for Black Widow mains to spin this web: Across all platforms, all modes, and all Competitive [[link]] ranks, Black Widow is in a terrible place. In Competitive, she's the only hero with a pick rate of less than a percent (0.47% on consoles, 0.89% on PC). She's only marginally more popular in Rivals' low-stakes Quickplay mode (1.71% on consoles, 2.76% on PC).
One could chalk up Black Widow's unpopularity to a high skill ceiling—her slow-firing sniper rifle is unforgiving when you're not landing every headshot you take—except that even Black Widow mains who reach the rank of Celestial or above (they do exist, apparently) are only winning 43.03% of the time, the third-worst win rate of the skill bracket behind Squirrel Girl and Moon Knight.
What's worse is that these updated figures come six weeks after NetEase gave Black Widow an extensive round of buffs to her kick, sprint, and ultimate abilities. You would think another round of buffs is a priority in season 1.5, which will add The Thing and Human Torch to the roster later this week, but NetEase made no mention of the hero in a Dev Vision video published ahead of the patch. That doesn't rule out Black Widow buffs still to come, though—assuming season 1.5's rollout is similar to season 1, the full patch notes will be much longer than what NetEase chose to highlight today.
As Widowmaker veterans from Overwatch can attest, the sniper hero is a balancing tightrope. When a hero is designed [[link]] around a high-precision kit that either gets tons of kills [[link]] or struggles to land a single finishing blow, really good players are inherently rare. In that sense, you could say Black Widow is supposed to have a lower pick rate than heroes that are way easier to pick up and enjoy like The Punisher or Rocket Raccoon. But it's her exceptionally low use and win rates even among the highest ranks that point to a deeper problem.
Maybe more tweaks will help Black Widow's situation, but at this rate, we might be looking at the first target for a total hero rework. Marvel Rivals season 1.5 starts February 21.
