Best counters for all Marvel Rivals characters

Marvel Rivals gives players a ton of different heroes and villains to choose from, all drawn from its extensive comic book history. As such, knowing which serve as counters to others can mean the difference between a victory and a loss.

Characters in Marvel Rivals are divided into three categories – Duelist, Strategist, and Vanguard. Duelists are raw DPS monsters, outputting damage above all else, usually eschewing tankiness and support options to impart as much hurt onto the enemy team as possible.

Vanguard characters are the first into the fight and tend to have more health and damage reduction options than their counterparts in the other two classes. Strategists bring secondary support options, buffing team damage or healing their more egregious wounds.

Here’s everything you need to know about who to pick up to directly counter the enemy roster.

Best counters for every character in Marvel Rivals

Bear in mind that the table below is made up of possible picks to counter a specific hero. There is some information you’ll need to know in order to learn the matchup and make the best decision on who to pick when.

Below this table is a full breakdown of how to counter every hero and why the picks listed below work, though they may inspire you to try other heroes.

Marvel Rivals counters explained

Vanguard Heroes

Angela

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Introduced at the beginning of Season 4, Angela is the newest character to be added to the roster. She’s the first melee flyer equipped with a kit that rewards aggressive play.

The most effective way to counter Angela is by running hitscans such as The Punisher or Hawkeye, who can chip away at her health from range while staying behind cover. Unlike most Vanguards, Angela’s tradeoff is her lack of strong shielding.

Crowd-control abilities are another reliable answer to her dives. Luna Snow is an excellent choice, as she can freeze Angela in place, and her ultimate provides team-saving utility against Angela’s. Invisible Woman is also a strong alternative, since she can push Angela away or pull her into the team to finish her off if her health is low.

Captain America

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As his appearances in the comics and movies make infinitely clear, Cap is an out-and-out brawler who is pretty easy to negate with the right pick. He can’t do much against flying enemies, and he has generally low damage.

However, he’s very strong when it comes to countering melee heroes and deflecting huge ultimates. Cap counters a ton of different heroes, but also has several counters of his own. He’s also the only tank that has a heavily favored matchup against Wolverine, which is a huge plus.

Doctor Strange

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Doctor Strange is one of the strongest characters in Marvel Rivals in terms of match-ups, so it can be a little challenging to know who to put up against him. Your best bet is picking a support hero who can ult in time to negate the power of his ult, or something with enough DPS to shred through his shield. Or just abduct him with Wolverine.

Emma Frost

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As a Vanguard, Emma Frost brings so much utility to her kit that can help her sustain fights. She can poke you with her beam, switch to her tankier Diamond form, and even stop ultimates altogether, but that doesn’t mean she’s invincible. Emma’s main weakness is having no mobility, which means that she’d struggle against heroes that can fly, like Iron Man and Human Torch.

The Thing is also a solid pick to force her Diamond form before any crucial ults. Magneto and Invisible Woman can both provide shields to teammates, while Luna Snow’s ultimate can save the team from getting extra damage from other enemies when they’re caught in Emma’s ult. Other than that, Cloak and Dagger can do a great job in shrouding teammates to safety when Emma is focusing on them.

Groot

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Groot, as you might expect from an anthropomorphic tree, is tough and difficult to bring down. That said, there are some decent options in each category. Duelist players should stick with ranged characters who have enough DPS to shred through his walls, while Vanguards have options like Magneto and Doctor Strange to try and shield their team if Groot ults.

Hulk

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The Hulk might not have anything shocking in his bag of tricks, but good lord, he is formidable to bring down. As such, your best bet is to run with a pick that can deal as much damage as possible, preferably from far away. The Punisher is consistently one of our favorite picks in this situation.

That said, Hulk is generally very good and has favorable matchups into most heroes.

Magneto

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Despite being very strong in his own right, Magneto has some crippling counters: Mainly Wolverine. If he can hold the line and keep enemies at a distance, he’s almost unstoppable. However, if he gets overwhelmed, he really struggles.

If you’re having a hard time taking out Magneto, focus on picks that can rush him down and close the gap.

Peni Parker

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Peni Parker is a very one-dimensional hero. Kill her nests and her mines and she’s worthless, don’t and you die almost instantly. This is a bit of an overgeneralization, but most of the time Peni will play specific choke points.

The best counter to her is ranged heroes who can take out her nests quickly, or to just hit a support ult and run through her. Be careful, though, her mines are one of the only things that can one-shot through support ults.

The Thing

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The Thing is quite literally made of stone, so he’s a fantastic tank that most melee characters just won’t be able to break through before he takes you down. So, you need flying counters to wipe him out from afar without being hit.

The best way to combat him is to stay away, use high-powered attacks, or remain unseen during the battle. Once he sees you and has you in melee range, it’s over.

Thor

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The God of Thunder is a bit of a beast if given free rein, but he is also one of the easier heroes to pin down. Thor is very vulnerable to getting CCed at any point, making heroes who have a pinpoint stun very effective against him. He’s also weak against typical anti-dive heroes like Namor.

Venom

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Venom is incredibly tanky, but that can work against him in some cases. Wolverine views this hero as a literal walking battery for ult charge. He also struggles to actually kill anyone without support, making Venom more of a distraction and less of a carry.

Hard CC abilities like Luna’s snowball can also stun him for long enough to take him down before he has the chance to use his shield.

Duelist Heroes

Black Panther

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When it comes to dealing with Black Panther, you have a couple of options on the table. While range may seem like a good option on paper, good BP players are too good at closing the gap. Heroes with survivability like Mister Fantastic and Namor are probably your best bet. Also, triple heal comps make his life a lot harder.

Black Widow

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Black Widow is a high-skill ceiling hero, and, if we’re being honest, there’s not much reward behind that skill unless you’re really, really damn good. She’s countered by pretty much anything that dives and loses most trades unless she’s landing very consistent shots.

If you’re really struggling with a Widow, a shield tank should suffice to counter her.

Blade

Blade is a menace in close quarters thanks to his anti-heal aura and lifesteal, but he falls apart if he can’t stick to you. Ranged Duelists like Hawkeye or Punisher can delete him before he gets close, while peel-heavy Vanguards like Groot or Peni Parker stop his dives cold.

Hawkeye

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It can be really hard to get up close to Hawkeye without taking a ton of damage, so you’ll want to make life as difficult for the person playing him as possible. Shield tanks are good against him, same as pretty much any long-range hero, and divers are good at pressuring him out.

If you’re playing support and having a hard time, small heroes like Rocket Raccoon are much harder to hit. Most Hawkeye players will spam arrows at a certain crosshair placement close to the head, so being shorter than average works in your favor.

Hela

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Hela is a fierce competitor and strong counter to many of the game’s best champs, so picking correctly against her is more important than usual. She out-duels most ranged heroes, so divers like Magic and Psylocke are very useful against her.

Additionally, shield tanks are a must-have against her ult.

Human Torch

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Human Torch is a fiery force to be reckoned with. His abilities are deadly, his mobility is fantastic given he can fly, and his power is already propelling him into a legendary status. However, given the fact that he can fly, you need to counter him with ranged heroes, or sneak up on him and take him down before he gets the chance to fight back.

Iron Fist

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Iron Fist is basically a pubstomper. Really good players know how to look for him and beat him into submission, while low-level matches see him running through your backline. Run anti-dive (Mister Fantastic, Namor) or CC supports (Mantis, Luna Snow) to get your best shot at countering him.

Iron Man

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Iron Man can fly pretty consistently in any given game of Marvel Rivals, so a lot of the close and personal beat-em-up heroes have a hard time shooting him out of the sky. Ranged DPS heroes are your best bet at damaging him, and shield tanks are your best bet for keeping him from killing your team. Adam Warlock has a special mention as the highest DPS hitscan support hero, though he’s hard to justify outside of triple heal comps.

Jean Grey

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Jean Grey is the definition of a glass cannon with a PhD in mind games. If she gets time to charge her telekinetic abilities, she’ll wipe your team off the map without breaking a sweat.

But if you so much as sneeze in her direction mid-cast, her whole kit crumbles. She’s best countered by heroes who can interrupt her channeling or dive her before she sets up shop. CC-heavy tanks, teleporters, or high-burst duelists will ruin her flow. Just don’t let her get comfortable.

Magik

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As is often the case with melee-focused heroes in Marvel Rivals, your best bet is often to take them out from range. Magik is no exception, though she has much more survivability than most other DPS divers. Namor is, as ever, a very solid bet as an anti-dive hero. Flying heroes like Storm and Iron Man also do well.

However, beware strong Magik players. She’s much harder to counter than other dive DPS heroes if the player knows what they’re doing.

Moon Knight

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Moon Knight is a bit of an enigma. He’s got really solid consistent DPS but not a whole lot of actual burst. Decent mobility tools also keep him out of trouble, making him a pretty middle-of-the-road pick. Shield tanks are a solid bet if your team is really struggling to get through chokes against him.

Also worth noting that his ult comboed with ults like Doctor Strange’s or Groot’s are lethal. Make sure you’re saving a support ult for this burst combo if your team is dying to it.

Namor

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Namor is relatively strong across the board, and no individual heroes stand out as hard counters to the way he plays. He’s generally just really strong, although there are certain heroes who out-DPS him at range that can put him on the ropes.

Psylocke

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Psylocke has a lot of potential counters to watch out. She’s very burst reliant, so any hero with consistent DPS and the ability to tank her initial cooldowns has a leg up. That said, she’s much better against flying heroes than other dive DPS heroes due to her range, so bear in mind that picking someone who can get off the ground isn’t a guaranteed way to counter her.

It’s also worth mentioning her ult is terrible against support ults, with any healing ult instantly negating her ult. The best counter to Psylocke is coordinated team play.

The Punisher

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The Punisher is almost never a bad pick, although he does struggle against dive heroes who can blow him up before he can respond. It’s also worth mentioning shield heroes can completely negate his high DPS, especially Magneto. Magneto is your worst enemy as The Punisher.

Triple heal comps also give this hero a hard time due to his lack of burst damage.

Scarlet Witch

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Arguably the lore’s strongest character from the existing roster, Scarlet Witch is a little underwhelming in the current meta. Anyone who has rapid DPS will outdamage her, even support heroes like Mantis. If you’re struggling, pick a hero with easy to hit shots and consistent damage she can’t dodge.

It’s worth mentioning, however, that she’s the only one-shot solution to support ults. If she gets a Magneto bubble and enough time to charge her ult, she’s a walking nuke. Make sure to run shield tanks against her in the rare instance a team knows how to play around Wanda properly.

Spider-Man

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Spider-Man is a tough character to pick up and play, but get good with his movement and you’ll stop many of the heroes in Marvel Rivals from being able to do much at all. Your best bets to counter him are the typical anti-divers like Namor and Mister Fantastic. He also struggles against anyone who can auto-target him and skip having to track his movement.

Squirrel Girl

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Squirrel Girl‘s Season 1 buffs have made her a serious contender in the meta. Flying heroes are a huge weak point for her, though, as she struggles to hit anything airborne. She has enough DPS to make life hard even for Doctor Strange whose 800 health shield struggles to hold up, you’ll want Magneto instead.

If your team is getting eviscerated by Doreen, Storm and Star-Lord are solid bets.

Star-Lord

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Star-Lord gives players a nice balance between immediate playability and a high skill ceiling, and he flies fast enough to avoid getting shot out of the sky by good players even if they’ve got hitscan. Doesn’t have many hard counters, but also doesn’t shut down any heroes in particular.

However, Magneto’s ult and shield completely shut him down, and healer ults counter his ult before he has the chance to kill a thing.

Storm

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Storm is just really, really good at the moment. Hitscanners can make her life a bit harder, but Storm players who know how to play corners and fly low to the ground won’t have much to worry about. Healer ults like Luna’s and Mantis’ stop her ult from killing anyone and leave her out of position, so that’s probably your best bet.

Winter Soldier

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Winter Soldier is very momentum-based. He’s about combo-ing people 100-0 and getting every shot on target. In ult, he has to keep going through the enemy team one-by-one. He’s strong, but this playstyle can be countered.

He’s susceptible to game-stopping support ults like Luna’s and Cloak’s, and tanks with CC like Hulk and Thor give him a hard time.

Wolverine

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Wolverine needs to get up very close to the enemy to get value, but he’s exceptionally strong when he gets up close. Every tank other than Captain America gets shredded by him with little interaction, so your best bet is typically to play 1-2-3 comps against him with 3 support heroes.

Also, if you have the misfortune of being stuck frontlining against Wolverine, be careful not to overextend and watch your corners. Good Wolverine players will do everything in their power to get behind you and abduct you into his team.

Mister Fantastic

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Mister Fantastic is difficult to play efficiently, but he’s got a lot going for him as an anti-dive hero. He’s an absolute menace if you’re trying to dive backliners, and can completely soak damage that’d normally one shot most other heroes. Don’t let his role deceive you, this hero has more survivability than most tanks.

Your best bet against him is either consistent DPS that doesn’t have to worry about wasting big CDs trying to kill him.

Strategist Heroes

Adam Warlock

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Going up against Adam Warlock and coming out on top is all about stopping him in his tracks by taking him out quickly. Characters with easy hit radiuses like Squirrel Girl are a safe choice, while characters with lots of protection and disruption (like Magneto) also work well. He’s also very vulnerable to dive in general.

Cloak and Dagger

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Cloak and Dagger is a duo that’s an absolute pain to kill. They have a ton of tools for survivability, with very few things that can kill them in their ult. Magneto, Iron Man, and Scarlet Witch are your best bets in that area, but this hero pumps out a ton of healing while being hard to take down. Divers are a good option, but you’ll mostly be working to pressure them rather than killing them outright.

It’s worth mentioning, though, that teams will tend to play on top of C&D’s ult once it’s deployed. This gives Adam Warlock a good opportunity to stand back and use his rez once his team dies.

Jeff the Land Shark

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Don’t be fooled by his remarkably cute appearance, Jeff the Land Shark is a menace. Though, it’s worth mentioning that most heroes have methods to counter his ult at this point. He counters a few specific heroes like Adam Warlock well with his ult, but he’s otherwise a healbot.

However, Jeff is great with triple heal comps, and he’s hard to kill for a wide selection of dive heroes due to his small hitbox. If you’re going to play him, play him with two other healers.

Loki

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The Norse God of Tricks is an absolute nightmare to kill, purely because he has so many out-of-pocket tools that are hard to predict for the average player. His ult allowing him to transform into other heroes makes him, in theory, able to counter everything.

However, it’s pretty difficult for him to hit flying heroes, and characters with high DPS can take out his clones and healing zones pretty easily.

Luna Snow

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Luna Snow is really, really strong. Though dive is your best bet against her, good Luna players (and more importantly good teams who know how to play around Luna) will make her hard to kill.

However, it’s worth noting that her healing AoE on her ult doesn’t heal through walls and shields despite the actual VFX going through them. If you’re playing against her as a shield tank or know how to use Groot walls well, get right up next to her and cut her healing ult into segments. This is a great way to get kills where the person who dies has no clue why Luna wasn’t healing them.

Mantis

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Mantis is a fantastic all-rounder. Support ult that’s strong enough to stop teamfights (though not as good as Luna’s, C&D’s or Invisible Woman’s), strong damage, a decent CC ability with the caveat that it only works if teammates don’t damage the enemy you slept, and some hefty damage output.

She can struggle with divers, but don’t put too much priority on countering her unless she’s really breaking open a game. Most heroes do moderately well against her. It’s worth noting that her attacks are projectile and not hitscan, so flying heroes do decent unless you’re playing against a really good Mantis.

Rocket Raccoon

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One of Rocket’s most significant advantages is that he’s physically small and it can be challenging to hit him consistently on high-skill ranged heroes. Instead, go for brutal melee specialists like Black Panther, and you should make short work of him. Though, why you’d want to do that to such an adorable animal is beyond me.

Invisible Woman

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Regardless of how Invisible Woman can be played in a safe way thanks to her stealth, the Fantastic Four strategist struggles against flankers and heroes that can deal consistent DPS in a wide area. Venom and Doctor Strange especially give her a hard time.

Ultron

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Ultron looks terrifying when his drones are swarming the map, but he crumbles once you target him directly. Strong Vanguards like Hulk or Thor can bulldoze through his setup, while long-range DPS like Hawkeye and Punisher shred his drones before they matter.

If Ultron’s zoning feels oppressive, focus on deleting his drones fast and force him into a straight fight.

That’s all there is to know about counter-picking in Marvel Rivals! Make sure to check out our guide to earning XP quickly, or our complete look at how to earn ranked rewards.