Marvel Rivals’ Emma Frost Would Be a Mid Dress to Impress Player, And I Can’t Stand It

It’s no secret that Marvel Rivals has struggled in recent months, as it’s been steadily bleeding both content creators and regular gamers, as many are choosing to return to Overwatch 2. While part of this has to do with Overwatch 2’s own success and promising future, as well as typical live-service game falloffs, there are some consistent complaints from players that have undoubtedly contributed to the player retention issues. A lack of new Strategists in Marvel Rivals has seen that role’s player base losing interest, questionable balancing decisions like a nerf to Ultron’s healing have drawn ire, and an increasingly toxic community has made the game less appealing to newcomers. Me, though? I’m just desperate for Marvel Rivals’ Emma Frost to own the walkway like she deserves.

As the most fashionable character in the Marvel universe and the mind behind the Hellfire Gala, Emma Frost has had no shortage of flashy looks over the years. Unfortunately, it’s rare for her skins in Marvel Rivals to really steal the show, as when looking at her lineup of attire through the lens of Roblox’s Dress to Impress, she’d consistently end up with 3-star or 4-star ratings. To be clear, I don’t think any Emma Frost outfit is truly awful in Marvel Rivals, and I quite like both her “Pheonix Diamond” skin and her eye-catching “X-Revolution” attire. Still, nothing really wows me like it should, and the brand-new “Hellfire Protocol” skin emphasizes this issue. As someone who mains Emma Frost, I’m desperate for a skin that becomes something I never want to take off, as the comic book version of Emma Frost would be taking the top spot in Dress to Impress left and right. Marvel Rivals‘ Emma should be able to do the same, but as of now, her skins would get her a third place spot or have her missing the podium altogether.

Why Emma Frost’s Hellfire Protocol Skin Doesn't Hit Like It Should

While the emotes included in the “Hellfire Protocol” bundle are hilarious, and it didn’t take long for fans to realize that the moving calling card for the bundle is basically a close-up on Emma’s large thighs, the skin itself isn’t all that special. Sure, Emma Frost’s hairstyle is a nice change of pace, as she’s had plenty of different hairdos in the source material, but other than that, the skin doesn’t really stand out. The crown is a bit bigger, and the colors of the diamonds are darker, but those traits hardly justify its hefty price tag. Similarly, the lines on Emma’s face and body may fit the futuristic theme, but are far from something like the huge overhaul Magneto received with his Ultron-themed “Binary Sword” skin. Ultimately, the outfit just doesn’t feel like the buyable Legendary Emma fans have been craving.

Perhaps the biggest point against this Emma skin is that, just like with her others, NetEase has yet again featured the coattails at the back of the outfit. Considering that this is the view players get all match due to the game’s third-person perspective, it’s no wonder that Emma’s skins have felt a bit samey to me, as they all have this rather boring and unsightly element attached. While the coattails may keep appearing so that Emma’s silhouette is quickly identifiable regardless of the skin she has on, the shoulder diamonds should honestly be enough for that. Future skins doing away with these unpopular coattails would be a game-changer for Emma mains like myself, and would help change her average star rating on Dress to Impress to a lobby-topping 5 stars. Beyond that, more fully white looks for the so-called White Queen and less blue would be welcome, as this new skin incorporates too much of the latter.

What Emma Frost’s Future Skins Should Be Like

While doing away with the coattails and leaning more into fully white clothing would be a great start for Emma, NetEase wouldn’t have to stop there, as there are several other community requests for it to keep in mind. These include:

• An Emma Frost skin with her fur coat, as it’s one of her more flashy and recognizable comic attires.
• More outfits with varied hair styles, like some mid-length middle parts.
• More dresses based on Emma’s Hellfire Gala looks could make for some of the best skins in the game.
• More variety in lipstick colors and makeup, as Emma has used black, gold, pink, and red lipstick in addition to her trademark blue.
• Giving some of Emma’s existing skins the Marvel Rivals recolor treatment, as she’s yet to get this extra bit of love that heroes like Luna and Jeff the Land Shark have received.

To me, Emma’s “Hellfire Protocol” skin feels like a step back after “Phoenix Diamond” was seemingly a step in the right direction. I don’t hate it by any means, and I love the other parts of the bundle, such as the MVP intro. Still, for a big addition that was hyped up via the roadmap, it feels like a letdown. Hela should not be beating Emma Frost in the fashion game, but her “Queen in Black” and “Grim Lady” skins were back-to-back wins that heavily altered her aesthetic and left me wishing I played Duelist instead. Hopefully, Emma Frost starts to get skins as good as those soon, trading out the overused coattails for some bold makeovers.