Biggest moments from Marvel Rivals Ignite Stage 1 so far

Marvel Rivals Ignite Stage 1 has reached a halfway point as most regions transition from the Group Stage to the Playoffs, with several moments already dominating discussions online.

So far, NetEase’s biggest tournament for the hero shooter has seen surprise wins, losses, and nail-biting matches between some of the best teams globally. As a result, Esports Insider looks at the biggest highlights from Marvel Rivals Ignite Stage 1 so far.

One major highlight for a lot of fans online was the Grand Finals between Oceania’s top contenders from the Group Stage, Ground Zero Gaming (GZG) and The Vicious.

Before the Playoffs, both teams managed to top their respective groups with an impressive 3-0 win/loss and 6-0 map win/loss ratios.

The game eventually ended with Ground Zero Gaming winning 4-2 against its opponent. GZG began strong, but The Vicious managed to claw its way to the lead in the next two rounds. With the score now 1-2, Ground Zero Gaming claimed three wins in a row to be declared Oceania’s champion.

During the Marvel Rivals Ignite Stage 1 Oceania Playoffs livestream, ‘Mattyaf‘, Ground Zero Gaming’s Strategist player, said: “Well, now that we have qualified, it’s going to be way harder. But I think we’re going to take a little break. We’ve been scrimming for the past three weeks, like really, on and off. And after we’re going to go hard again to try to see how we do overseas.”

Amidst all the teams competing in the Americas, including established organisations like FlyQuest, NTMR and more, Team Nemesis has proved to be the tournament’s dark horse.

After defeating the likes of DarkZero and Shroud-X, Team Nemesis suffered a loss against Sentinels in the Upper Bracket Finals of Group B during the Group Stage. After defeating Shroud-X 3-0 in a rematch, Team Nemesis got a shot at revenge in the Group B Grand Finals.

This time around, Team Nemesis grabbed a narrow 3-2 victory against Sentinels. The organisation lost the first two games, but made the ultimate comeback to secure an unlikely victory.

Team Nemesis is actually comprised of Shikigami’s former roster, which has lost to Sentinels in past events such as the 2025 North America Invitationals. However, under Team Nemesis, the roster managed to flip the script against Sentinels.

During the Marvel Rivals Ignite Stage 1 Americas Group Stage livestream, Ardy Ross, Team Nemesis’ Head Coach, said: “I think it’s just been confidence and it’s just getting reps in. I think that not much has changed with the players over the last few weeks. I mean, obviously, when they joined Nemesis, the only change to the roster is adding me into the mix, and I really haven’t done much.

“I have just sort of been on the sidelines, just making sure that the team is practising to their strengths, doing the best that they can every single day in scrims and making sure that we’re learning from everything.”

There has been a rivalry brewing between North America’s top teams, specifically between 100 Thieves and ENVY. ENVY has claimed several wins against 100 Thieves ahead of the tournament, including winning The Shroud Gauntlet and one of the more recent Rivals Fight Nights.

Both 100 Thieves and ENVY showed strong performances ahead of the Upper Bracket Finals were the two teams would eventually clash. However, 100 Thieves finally claimed victory over ENVY after winning the game 2-0 and knocking the opposing team to the Lower Brackets.

One of the biggest talking points is that 100 Thieves current Head Coach for Marvel Rivals, Luis ‘iRemiix’ Galarza Figueroa, formerly played for ENVY. Commentators were interested in knowing how he felt going up against his former teammates.

During the Marvel Rivals Ignite Americas livestream, ‘iRemiix‘ said: “You know, things happen, maybe teammates don’t work well together, and I guess I was the one to blame for that.

“To be honest, I went into a coaching role because I wanted to play against ENVY, and I couldn’t find a team to play against [them]. I was like ‘If I join this team, I think I can make them good enough where they can beat ENVY.’ And here we are.”

Virtus.pro have long been considered to be the best team in Europe, having not suffered a single defeat since entering the scene back in February.

However, Marvel Rivals Ignite EMEA Group Stage saw history unfold as Rad EU defeated Virtus.pro 2-0 during the Upper Bracket Semi-Finals. Despite later losing to Virtus.pro in the Grand Finals 3-0, Rad EU was praised for accomplishing what was long thought to be impossible.

During the Marvel Rivals ignite EMEA Stage 1 Group Stage livestream, Nikolai ‘Naga’ Dereli, Duelist player for Rad EU, said: “It means a lot because we have been honestly quite frustrated many of the times we played them. Because not only did we lose, but we also just lost in such a fashion that we just knew that we were so far behind.

“So it means a lot that we have closed this gap, and today we beat them, and we need to keep this upward trend, right? We need to keep pushing ourselves. There [are] a lot of other good teams, and they will come back stronger.”