Master the Marvel Rivals Assemble Event: The Fastest Way to Earn Free Units

Marvel Rivals just turned one, which means presents for you and chaos for everyone else. The big draw is the Rivals Assemble event, and if the in-game explanations left you scratching your head about how to actually max out the rewards, here’s the clean version.

Rivals Assemble: what it is and what you get

You squad up with up to five players, run through a set of event missions, and bank rewards that include Units, emotes, and an exclusive skin. The catch is that the Units track is tied to hearts, and the game does not do a great job telling you the fastest way to farm them.

You need 600 hearts total to walk away with the full 600 Units. Here’s the milestone payout:

• 100 hearts: Firework Emote
• 200 hearts: 100 Units
• 300 hearts: 100 Units
• 400 hearts: 100 Units
• 500 hearts: 100 Units
• 600 hearts: 100 Units

How to actually earn hearts (without losing your mind)

There are two lanes here, and you should use both:

First, join someone else’s crew and finish their mission events. That alone drops 200 hearts in your lap, and it only takes a couple matches.

Then, become a captain: invite players to your own crew and get them to accept. You earn hearts when they join, and the big chunk comes when they complete their missions under your banner — that’s 200 hearts per player who finishes. Do the math and the optimal path is simple: join one crew for your 200, then recruit two active players and let them clear their missions for another 400. Boom: 600 hearts, all milestones claimed.

Credit where it’s due: this clean route was surfaced by Redditor u/xcleru. It works, and it’s the least painful grind I’ve seen in a while.

New mode: 18v18 Annihilation is live

If you’ve wrapped the event grind and want pure spectacle, the 18v18 Annihilation mode is finally in the game. It’s big, messy, and intentionally casual, so you don’t have to stress about tanking your competitive rank. The fun twist: hero duplicates are wide open. Expect multiple Iron Mans, Hulks, and Spider-Mans on the same team, because why not.

More anniversary stuff worth poking at

There are side events running alongside the celebration, which means more freebies if you’ve got the time. Also, the current Battle Pass brings back every cosmetic from the original pass, so if you missed anything the first time, this is your second shot.

Did you max out the Units from Rivals Assemble yet, or are you still shopping for reliable crew members?