Marvel Rivals has over 30 heroes on its roster, with more to come soon. As a result, many players often wonder how they can counter specific characters which are strong in the meta – especially when one hero in particular is comparatively overpowering and stopping you from grabbing the win.

Each hero does have specific counters which can make the gameplay more engaging, or just simply give you a better chance at surviving or picking them off. Here are each of the hero counters in Marvel Rivals.

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All Marvel Rivals Hero Counters

Hero counters are always a strange topic to consider, because there are usually many answers to how you can make the life of an enemy more difficult. Especially with the large roster of Marvel Rivals, the choices seem endless for how you can deal with specific characters.

As such, it’s important to remember that these are suggestions for heroes that can help. If you find that one hero you like works particularly well against somebody, that doesn’t make it the wrong option. However, these are the heroes that have proven to work best over time when struggling against some of the stronger characters on the roster (and the weaker ones, too). So, here are the best hero counters in Marvel Rivals:

How to Counter Adam Warlock

Adam Warlock’s strength lies in his ability to fight from afar and keep his teammates up with his high healing capability. The easiest way to deal with him is to use heroes which can either match him on the ranged attack or use heroes like Iron Fist to quickly get close to him and take him out. His survivability is not great, especially when Soul Bond is on cooldown, so you should find success in taking him down with high damage and high-mobility heroes.

How to Counter Black Panther

Black Panther thrives on combos which can quickly take down squishy heroes (like most Strategists). There are two ways to deal with him; either take him down from range or use tankier melee characters to get up close and beat him in the close-range fight. If you choose the latter, it’s important to pick heroes like Venom who can outmatch him easily. Invisible Woman is also a nice pick against him because she can use both Psionic Vortex and Force Physics to make it very difficult for him to get up close.

How to Counter Black Widow

While she has a high skill ceiling and isn’t the strongest character on the roster, a good Black Widow can be devastating if left unchecked. You can counter her by taking her in the sniper duel, but the easiest method to take her down is by using characters like Spider-Man and Iron Fist who can quickly close the gap. Any character who can cut off her sightlines, like Groot, is also a strong choice to make sure she has to constantly move out of position to get her shots off.

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How to Counter Captain America

Captain America is through and through a brawler, which means you need to pick ranged heroes that can take him out before he reaches you. Thankfully, his main weakness is that he struggles to close the gap quickly – giving you the time you need to get away or pick him off at a distance. He also struggles to deal with high-mobility characters that can swing around him easily, so using Star-Lord or Spider-Man against him could also work for your advantage.

How to Counter Cloak and Dagger

It can be a bit tough to deal with Cloak and Dagger when they have Terror Cape up, so it’s important to try and keep track of their ability use before you try and take them down. They tend to struggle against heroes like Iron Fist who can move unpredictably and do a lot of damage quickly. It’s also pretty easy to take out a Cloak and Dagger with poor positioning by using high damage ranged characters.

How to Counter Doctor Strange

Doctor Strange is one of the strongest characters in Marvel Rivals right now, so it can be quite challenging to figure out how to disrupt him. The best way to do so, though, is through using high mobility characters which can swing around his shield and quickly damage him. Getting him distracted means he’ll have less value, so even if you don’t take him down fully, isolating him from his team will make a win for you all the more possible.

How to Counter Groot

Groot can be difficult to counter because of his walls, but he’s also quite a tough hero. As a result, you’ll want to take him on using characters with high damage that can easily play around his defenses – but also don’t have to get too close to do so. Moon Knight, for example, is a nice pick because of his Ankhs. Strategists like Luna Snow can also counter him with damage, but their Ultimate Ability is also very useful to help teammates survive when they get stuck in Groot’s Ultimate.

How to Counter Hawkeye

Getting close to Hawkeye is quite dangerous because of his ranged capabilities. So, the best way to deal with him is by countering with your own range. Punisher and Winter Soldier tend to be good picks because they have high dps rates, but you can also counter-pick with your won Hawkeye. Altnernatively, Hawkeye tends to struggle with heroes like Magik who can quickly take him down at close range without risking too much getting in the backline.

How to Counter Hela

Hela is one of the strongest Duelists in the game – despite the recent nerfs she received at the beginning of Season 1. Her kit gives her a lot of utility and means to get away from flankers, so the best way to deal with her is by using heroes that can cut off her sightlines and negate the usefulness of her abilities. Groot’s walls can make her life difficult, and ranged Duelists like Hawkeye and Punisher can keep her at bay from a distance.

How to Counter Hulk

Hulk can be difficult to deal with simply because of the sheer amount of health he has at his disposal. This makes him a pretty strong force, but you can deal with him fairly easily if you have high damage characters on your team. He also only really thrives in melee range, so playing characters which can quickly get away from him will make it difficult for Hulk to get value. Invisible Woman, for example, can push him away from her teammates easily and give them the space to pump tons of damage into him.

How to Counter Invisible Woman

In order to get the best out of her abilities, Invisible Woman needs to be at mid-range. As a result, you may find it difficult to counter her because she’ll always be quite close to her team, which makes her difficult to isolate. The best way to counter her is by using long-range damage like Hawkeye that makes it difficult for her to take up space, but you can also use tankier heroes like Venom to push her out of position. She has abilities which can push you out of the way, but at the very least, keeping her distracted stops her from supporting her team.

How to Counter Iron Fist

While Iron Fist isn’t as strong a pick as he was when Marvel Rivals first released, he can still be an absolute menace for most Strategist players. He can quickly close the gap between his frontline and the enemy backline, and he has really high damage potential. The best way to counter him is by using high damage heroes like Punisher to tick his health down quickly, but Strategists may want to consider characters like Loki and Invisible Woman which can survive easier when he approaches the backline.

How to Counter Iron Man

Iron Man can stay in the air indefinitely, which makes him very difficult to deal with for many characters on the roster. The best way to counter him is by using long range damage heroes like Punisher and Winter Soldier, which can pick him off while he’s flying around and causing chaos. Dr Strange is also a nice hero to use against him, because his shield can completely negate his Ultimate ability. Overall, you just want to make sure that Iron Man doesn’t get to use the space he looks for in the air, and he should be less of a problem.

How to Counter Jeff the Land Shark

Jeff the Land Shark still has one of the most frustrating Ultimates in the game, and combined with his high healing output, he can make a pretty massive impact on a fight. However, he tends to really struggle against flankers because he doesn’t have much in the way of utility (especially compared to other Strategists). Getting up close to him quickly and doing a lot of damage will make the enemy Jeff panic and run away, or you’ll be able to take him down fairly quickly.

How to Counter Loki

Trying to take Loki down can be incredibly difficult for any player, especially because of his plethora of abilities which allow him to tank a lot of damage and get away quickly. Your best bet for dealing with Loki is choosing characters like Venom or Iron Fist which can close the gap quickly and deal damage to him before he has a chance to react. He’s particularly vulnerable to any kind of stun as well. So, you just need to make sure he doesn’t see you coming.

How to Counter Luna Snow

Luna Snow has remained a strong pick since the game’s release. Her biggest weakness, though, is that she will likely be a little further away from her team, which makes her easy to isolate. As a result, she tends to struggle against heroes like Spider-Man and Iron Fist who can sneak up to her and quickly do a lot of damage. This gives her little time to react, and she won’t be able to proc her Smooth Skate ability to get away quickly. It’s important to take advantage of this, too, because an unchecked Luna Snow can make or break your game.

How to Counter Magik

With her constant use of portals, Magik can be very difficult to track and take down when she’s irritating your backline. While using long range characters to tick her health down works, it’s best to make the area around her difficult to navigate. Peni Parker and Groot, for example, are great for this because of their abilities to control a space with little robots or giant walls. You want to make sure that Magik has as little space to play as possible, because this will make it almost impossible for her to track and kill your Strategists.

How to Counter Magneto

Magneto is a very strong Vanguard character, but his biggest weakness is how slow he is compared to some other heroes. This is where your counter picks will work, because he’ll always struggle to deal with heroes like Spider-Man who can swing around him with ease. He’s one of the few examples where you don’t really want to resort to range to deal with him, because he will just use his abilities to tank your damage.

How to Counter Mantis

Mantis’ abilities don’t make her stand out in the fight, but she is one of the strongest Strategists in the game. Her Ultimate and other abilities empower her teammates, so she can’t be ignored. Like other Strategists, though, she tends to struggle against flankers like Magik and Iron Fist who can approach her and quickly deal a lot of damage. Especially if she misses her sleep ability, getting within melee range of her and cutting her off from the team is your best bet for making sure she can’t get the value she needs from her abilities.

How to Counter Mister Fantastic

Mister Fantastic is a strange combination of Vanguard and Duelist, which makes him tougher to take down than other damage dealing heroes. This makes him kind of similar to Hulk in the sense that you want to use high-damage characters to quickly take him down before he can react.

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Long range can also work, and you could consider using tanks that block his damage effectively like Dr Strange. While he’s not particularly strong in his current state, he could become a real nuisance for your team if left to his own devices.

How to Counter Moon Knight

Moon Knight thrives on shooting into the enemy from the shadows, so you’ll often find him slightly isolated from his team to get value from his Ankhs. Despite this, though, you may want to stay away from melee characters because he has really high damage potential that can take them down quickly. Instead, using long range characters which can safely take him out from a distance will work to your benefit. Iron Man is also a nice pick against him, because he doesn’t need to be anywhere near the ground to become a complete counter to Moon Knight.

How to Counter Namor

The Monstro Spawn that Namor uses are key to his damage, and he has quite strong long range capabilities. Heroes that can outdamage him usually work quite well as counters, but you’ll also want to consider anyone who makes the space around him difficult to navigate. He’ll usually be standing a bit away from his team, which also makes flankers like Magik and Black Panther quite strong against him. Alternatively, long range heroes like Hela and Hawkeye can also make quick work of Namor.

How to Counter Peni Parker

The most frustrating thing about Peni Parker is trying to deal with her Bionic Spider Nest. Her greatest strengths are her high health pool and defensive abilities, so using heroes like Squirrel Girl who can quickly put a lot of damage out is the best way to counter her. Squirrel Girls spam damage ability will also make it quite difficult for Peni to put down and keep her defenses up. You just want to make sure that she is constantly contested like this, and you shouldn’t struggle too much against her.

How to Counter Psylocke

The key to countering Psylocke is to make sure that she never has the space to approach your backline. Because of her damage potential, she can quickly become very dangerous for your Strategists – especially in a 1v1 situation. Simply, it’s best to make sure that you support your squishier heroes by using other characters that have high damage, and Psylocke will have a very difficult time trying to get the picks she needs. She doesn’t fare particularly well against 2 or 3 more heroes.

How to Counter Punisher

Punisher is one of the highest damage characters in the game, so you don’t want to get too close to him. Heroes like Hela and Winter Soldier can work really well against Punisher because they can easily take him down from afar. Alternatively, playing Vanguards like Groot and Magneto who can block most of his damage will make it difficult for him to get picks on your team. This will open space for your Duelists to flank him and take him down, or push him out of position so he is easier to target.

How to Counter Rocket Raccoon

Rocket’s high mobility makes him one of the most difficult characters to kill, so hitscan characters may find it challenging to hit him. Black Panther, Iron Fist, and Magik are all good picks against him because they can quickly catch up and deal lots of damage to take him down. Rocket doesn’t have great defense outside of his dash, so if you can force him to use this ability and then follow him to get the pick, you should find it easy to punish him.

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How to Counter Scarlet Witch

While Scarlet Witch has some nice defensive abilities at her disposal, she will always struggle to take on a ranged fight. She needs to get in close to do damage, which means that picking hitscan characters against her is your best bet for taking her down. Vanguards like Venom and Thor can also prove to be a nuisance for her, because she doesn’t deal enough damage to take them down herself. Isolate her from her team, and you’ll find that it’s quite easy to pick her off using these tanky flanker-type characters.

How to Counter Spider-Man

Some of the best heroes to counter Spider-Man are actually Strategists like Cloak and Dagger and Invisible Woman, who can quickly get away from him and do enough damage that he needs to retreat. Spidey is one of – if not the most – mobile heroes in Marvel Rivals, so it can be incredibly tough to try and track him with a Duelist or Vanguard. You just want to make it impossible for him to get value when he swings into your backline, otherwise you may find yourself chasing him around the map and pulling yourself out of the fight.

How to Counter Squirrel Girl

Squirrel Girl can deal some devastating damage, but thankfully she’s quite easy to counter due to her lack of movement. Any ranged hero will have an easy time of picking her off, while tankier characters can approach her without too much risk. Iron Man is a particularly good pick against her because she has no real way of taking the fight against him. It’s also worth noting that Vanguards like Groot and Dr Strange work well against her because their shielding capabilities make it difficult for her spam damage to come through.

How to Counter Star-Lord

Star-Lord has the same high mobility as Spider-Man, which can also make it challenging to try and track him down from afar. He’s not quite as fast, though, so heroes like Hela and Punisher can easily take the fight against him because they have much longer range. Strategists like Invisible Woman and Loki are also pretty good picks because they can tank a lot of damage and get away quickly (compared to other Strategists). Additionally, they can also do their own damage to Star-Lord and force him to retreat early without getting the value he was looking for.

How to Counter Storm

Storm in her usual form is fairly easy to counter, as she moves slowly and can be targeted by long range heroes quite effectively. Her Ultimate is by far the strongest part of her kit, and if you aren’t sure how to play around it, it can be devastating. The easiest way to counter Storm’s Ultimate is by using Strategist Ults like Invisible Woman’s, Luna Snow’s, and Cloak and Dagger’s. These all provide enough AoE healing that your team will be able to withstand the worst effects.

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How to Counter Thor

Thor thrives on being able to close in on the enemy and separate them from the team. Since he’s a nice, big target, he tends to struggle against high damage heroes who can put lots of bullets into him early on. His main weakness is that he can’t close the gap very quickly, so picking heroes which can tick down his health substantially will make it difficult for him to get the value he needs. Heroes like Invisible Woman are also quite nice to play against him, because she can easily push him away and escape.

How to Counter Venom

Venom is another Vanguard which needs to get into melee range, but he has a lot more survivability than Thor. This is what makes him challenging to play against, and why it’s very important to play heroes like Punisher, Hela, and Winter Soldier who can do a lot of damage from range – and quickly. Countering Venom is all about pushing him out of position by ticking down his health quickly and forcing him to use his abilities prematurely. Wolverine is a great tank buster who can also pull this off quite effectively.

How to Counter Winter Soldier

Countering Winter Soldier is more about brute force than picking one specific hero in Marvel Rivals. He has a ton of damage capability and can take down squishier heroes very quickly from afar, so you want to try and negate his damage as best as you can. Heroes like Magneto and Dr Strange are excellent choices for cutting him off and pushing him out of position so he can get taken down by ranged characters. Adam Warlock is a great Strategist pick against him because he can protect the team effectively from Soldier’s damage output.

How to Counter Wolverine

Lastly, Wolverine is another hero which needs to get up close and personal. As such, and like most other melee characters on this list, the best way to deal with him is by using long range damage. If he struggles to close in on you and your team, it will be almost impossible for him to get the value he needs. While he can be tough to take down, most Wolverine players will back out once their health gets too low. Keep his health low, and he will most likely not be a problem anymore.

Game

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Third-Person Shooter

Action

Multiplayer

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Released

December 6, 2024

ESRB

T For Teen // Violence

Developer(s)

NetEase Games

Publisher(s)

NetEase Games