While Monitoring has officially passed Marvel Rivals when it comes to the number of players, the two hero shooters will undoubtedly continue to compete for a long time, one-upping each other at every turn. For gamers like me who love both games and see them as “two cakes”, this contest is a godsend, and will hopefully continue to push both titles into renewal for years to come. Monitoring surpass Marvel Rivals will inevitably lead to NetEase releasing a major update of their own, possibly including the PvE element that Monitoring has abandoned. And in the meantime, players can continue to compare their existing items, with cosmetics being just one of many categories to look at.
Both of these hero shooters have consistently great skins, and that hasn't changed in recent weeks. After blowing players away with Lady Loki, Marvel Rivals has since released an event pass that gives Rocket a panda outfit and Jeff a ducky outfit, and these skins are as sweet as they sound. On Monitoring Up front, Blizzard kicked off Season 1 with a new Mercy Mythic and a lore-themed Battle Pass that completely sticks to the concept, all of which are phenomenal. And on top of all that, both games have given players some romantic cosmetics to celebrate Valentine's Day. In the spirit of the holidays, and the ongoing competition between the two games, it's worth taking a look at which game makes better use of this particular concept.
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Marvel Rivals takes a lore-heavy approach to Valentine's Day
While her brief fling with Magneto is something many X-Men fans try to ignore, Rogue's romance with Gambit is as beloved as it gets. The feisty southern belle and Cajun shortstop has excellent dynamics Rivals has gone all in, as the couple are married in the NetEase multiverse. In honor of Mr. and Mrs. X's wedding, NetEase released a special bundle featuring the outfits worn by the bride and groom in the season 5 intro and gallery cards.
In addition to these two skins, Mr. and Mrs. The X Package:
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2 sprays
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2 animated business cards
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2 emotions
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1 highlight intro (useful for both Gambit and Rogue)
This is the second real set of wedding skins in Marvel Rivalsas mr. Fantastic and Invisible Woman also got a costume and dress a while ago. IN Marvel Rivals' Season 6.5 update, the Fantastic Four costumes were updated with special Ultimate VFX. Storm also has a wedding outfit, but Black Panther is missing one as of now.
Who is that character?
Identify the silhouettes before time runs out.
Start
Identify the silhouettes before time runs out.
Easy (7.5s) Medium (5.0s) Hard (2.5s) Permadeath (2.5s)
While two skins isn't much for Valentine's Day, as there are plenty of characters players would have liked to see wearing some pink and red skins, it's hard to complain about quality over quantity. Both of these skins are genuinely phenomenal; I love the colors, hairstyle and costume design for Gambit. And as someone who loves playing Vanguard (especially Rogue), I grabbed her wedding dress as soon as I could. The earrings, the combination of gold and white, and hair are all amazing on this Rogue skin, and I love that her engagement ring is clearly visible. Sure, some may have nitpicks — maybe they would have preferred a longer dress for Rogue or Gambit's stubble from the first art — but I couldn't be happier with these outfits personally.
Overwatch 2 Showers players in top skins for Valentine's Day
While Monitoring doesn't embrace any popular ships with their Valentine's Day skins that Marvel Rivals did, it makes up for it with the large amount of memorable cosmetics. Monitoring has a history of nailing Valentine's Day thanks to skins like Cupid Hanzo and Loverwatch dating sim, and luckily that streak is keeping alive in 2026. The following skins are all available in Monitoring right now:
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Heartbreaker Lifeweaver
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Heartbreaker Hazard
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The heartbreaker Domina
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Cupid Juno
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Cupid Kiriko
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Charming Soldier: 76
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Romantic Symmetra
A large majority of these skins look good, although some are obviously better than others. For example, Hazard's Heartbreaker skin is decent enough, but a bit basic and similar to his base outfit. Lifeweavers looks good thanks to the painted glass blade on the back, but it's ultimately a repaint of his Eros design, and not all players like when Monitoring going the repaint route. Fortunately, Domina nails this fashion theme with a truly phenomenal design that differs from her basic look and as she is one of Monitorings five new heroes, is not a recolor of an existing Legendary. I really love this one; am i biased because i have quickly become obsessed with her personality and game? Yes, that's me. But still, the outfit is appropriately flashy and elegant, the way her extra Hardlight appendage makes a broken heart really drives home the skin theme, and her updo is gorgeous.
Symmetrical skin? Amazing, as I love the winged weapon, heavily stylized hair and pastel purple arm. Kiriko's skin? Another win for the ever-spoiled Kiriko community (I play a lot of Mercy, so I can't really judge), as the short pink hair, pink accents, and themed healing ofuda look great together. Juno's skin? Yep, that's a winner too; I especially dig the arrow on the end of her blaster as well as the loose white outfit and hairstyle, as it all comes together to help Juno nail the Cupid theme much better than Kiriko did (although Kiri still looks great). Really, the only skin I don't have much good to say about is Charming Soldier: 76. Sure, I know most of the cosmetics have no connection, but it just feels weird and out of character to see Monitorings resident father dressed like this. His face also looks a little off, so while I appreciate the knight-like heart armor, this one is a pass for me. I just never wanted to play as one Shrek 2 villain, personally.
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And the winner is… Overwatch — here's why
This was a surprisingly difficult choice for me to make, but it comes down to a few different things. Obviously there is the skin count to consider. Of all the skins highlighted here, my favorite is undoubtedly Rogue; I love her dress and hair, I play her a lot, and the costume symbolizing her bond with Gambit gives it an extra special touch. I wouldn't trade this skin for the Domina, Juno, Kiriko, and Symmetra outfits though, because those all look great too (and I really needed a real Domina skin because she's so much fun). It's a case of two truly great skins against six very good ones (and Charming: 76 is… also there, sorry not sorry), and in a game where a lot of the fun comes from playing a bunch of unique characters, quantity matters. But there's a more important reason than just the skin count that helped me pick a winner: how the skins are handled.
MonitoringThe Valentine's Day cosmetics are sold in the shop like any other skin, and boast the standard bundle price (or a bit higher in the case of Domina, as she has an emote and highlight intro alongside the outfit). As always, players who just want to get the skin can do so via the hero gallery, and they don't have to spend more than the price shown to get what they want. Unfortunately, with the new Gambit and Rogue skins, RivalsThe controversial gacha system is back. In theory, this can be seen as a good thing, as players can get the skins and all other items on their very first popped bubble (getting the skin unlocks everything else instantly). In reality, the chance of this happening is so low that most players will spend 3,000 units to get everything, unlocking the skins on their very last move.
While I wasn't worried Marvel Rivals' Gacha system when it came to Psylocke's new year skin, as it was realistically quite beneficial for an individual hero, anyone who worried that it might be a slippery slope has now been proven correct. Having two skins tied to the same game party is problematic, as players are likely to spend a lot more than they normally would have. The overlap between Gambit and Rogue mains is likely not that great, as they are a Strategist and Vanguard respectfully. Because of this, there are likely many players who only wanted the Rogue items, and vice versa, but through this system they are forced to get both. Unlike the Psylocke skin, which can be seen as either a normal full-price bundle or something that lucky players got cheaper, players who just want Rogue or Gambit will likely spend more than they normally would since the skins can't be purchased individually. Given this lack of transparency, I can safely say Monitoring made Valentine's Day better this year.
- Released
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24 May 2016
- ESRB
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T for Teen: Blood, Tobacco Use, Violence (Online Interactions Not Rated)
- Engine
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Proprietary
