Marvel Rivals: Quick Tips & Tricks Guide to Dominate the Battlefield

Introduction: The Call to Battle

The multiverse is fracturing. A merciless clash between the tyrannical Doctor Doom and his future counterpart from the year 2099 has ripped open the Timestream Entanglement, forcing countless realities to collide. New worlds, new crises, and new battlefields have emerged from the chaos. Heroes and villains from across the dimensions are being pulled into this conflict, forced to fight together and against one another to stop the Dooms before one achieves total domination.

You have heard the call. Whether you are a seasoned warrior from a thousand battles or a rookie hero just discovering your powers, you have been chosen. This chaotic new reality is your proving ground. But raw power alone will not ensure victory. Success in the world of Marvel Rivals demands strategy, knowledge, and skill.

Consider this your training manual. Within this guide lies the wisdom gathered from across the colliding realities—101 tips and tricks that will transform you from a raw recruit into a legend of the multiverse. Your journey begins now. Listen closely, hero. The fate of everything depends on it.

Tip 1: Answer the Call – Complete the Tutorials

Your first mission is to report for basic training. Marvel Rivals provides a comprehensive set of tutorials that cover movement, abilities, and the core objectives of the game. Do not skip these. Completing the tutorials is the fastest way to build muscle memory and understand the fundamental flow of combat. The game even offers hero-specific tutorials for characters like The Punisher, which are invaluable for getting comfortable with a hero’s unique kit before you face the pressure of a live match. Think of this as your orientation; mastering the basics here will prevent costly mistakes on the battlefield later.

Tip 2: Arm Yourself – Visit the Practice Range

Once you have the basics down, it is time to find your weapon of choice. The Practice Range is your personal armory and training ground, a zero-pressure sandbox where you can experiment with every hero on the roster. This is the place to learn the timing of abilities, discover powerful combos, and get a feel for projectile speeds and ultimate abilities. How long does it take for Hulk’s leap to fully charge? What is the exact range of Spider-Man’s web zip? These are questions you should answer here, not in the heat of a competitive match. Spending even 15 minutes in the Practice Range before a session can dramatically improve your performance.

Tip 3: Calibrate Your Gear – Optimize Your Settings

A hero is only as good as their equipment, and your settings are a critical part of your loadout. Before you jump into your first match of Marvel Rivals, take the time to customize your settings. Adjust your mouse sensitivity or controller settings until aiming feels natural and responsive. Tweak your graphics settings to ensure you have a stable, high frame rate, as performance is more important than visual flair in a competitive shooter. Most importantly, explore the character-specific settings. Marvel Rivals allows you to tailor controls for each hero, a feature that acknowledges that a one-size-fits-all approach is not optimal for such a diverse roster. Fine-tuning these options is not a chore; it is your first strategic victory.

Tip 4: Enhance Your Vision – Customize Your Crosshair

Your crosshair is your focal point in every firefight. A clear, visible, and comfortable crosshair can be the difference between landing a critical headshot and missing entirely. Dive into the settings menu to customize your crosshair’s shape, color, size, and opacity. Many high-level players use a small, brightly colored dot or cross that stands out against any background without obstructing their view of the target. Experiment with different configurations in the Practice Range until you find what works best for your eyes and your aim.

Tip 5: Adapt to Your Reality – Accessibility Settings

Marvel Rivals includes a robust suite of accessibility options that can provide a significant competitive advantage for all players. You can change the colors of ally and enemy UI elements, health bars, and shields. If the default red for enemies doesn’t stand out to you, change it to a vibrant yellow or magenta. Making essential information easier to perceive at a glance reduces your mental load and allows you to react faster. These settings are designed to make the game playable for everyone, and in doing so, they offer powerful tools for optimizing your visual experience. Use them.

Part I: Forging a Hero – The Foundational Guide for Marvel Rivals

You have completed your orientation and calibrated your gear. Now, you must learn the fundamental laws of this new, chaotic reality. The journey from recruit to hero is paved with discipline and understanding. The tips in this section cover the absolute essentials for survival and effectiveness. Master these, and you will build a foundation strong enough to withstand any challenge the multiverse throws at you.

Understanding the Roles in Marvel Rivals

Every successful team is built on a clear understanding of roles. In Marvel Rivals, heroes are divided into three distinct classes, each with a specific job on the battlefield. Knowing what your role is—and what your teammates’ roles are—is the first step toward true synergy.

Tip 6: Know Your Role – The Holy Trinity: The entire strategic framework of Marvel Rivals is built upon three core roles: Vanguards, Duelists, and Strategists. Think of them as the classic archetypes of tank, damage, and support. Every hero fits into one of these categories, and their abilities are designed to help them excel at their specific function.
Tip 7: The Vanguards – Create Space: Vanguards are the shield of the team. With large health pools and defensive abilities, their primary job is to stand on the frontline, absorb incoming damage, and create space for their teammates to operate. They lead the charge, control the flow of engagement, and decide when and where to take a fight. If you are playing a Vanguard, your place is at the tip of the spear.
Tip 8: The Duelists – Secure Eliminations: Duelists are the sword of the team. These heroes are designed for one thing: maximum offensive output. Their kits are packed with high-damage abilities and mobility tools to help them hunt down and eliminate high-priority enemy targets. If you are playing a Duelist, your job is to turn the tide of battle by getting key kills.
Tip 9: The Strategists – Sustain the Fight: Strategists are the lifeblood of the team. They are the healers and support characters, equipped with abilities that restore health, provide buffs, and offer crucial utility. A good Strategist keeps the team alive through intense firefights, enabling Vanguards to keep pushing and Duelists to keep fighting.
Tip 10: Build a Balanced Team: A team’s success often begins in the hero selection screen. While it can be tempting to pick your favorite hero every time, building a well-rounded team is far more effective. The golden rule is to have at least one hero from each role. A composition with six Duelists might sound powerful, but it will almost always crumble against a balanced team that has a Vanguard to absorb damage and a Strategist to provide healing.

Your First Steps on the Battlefield of Marvel Rivals

Knowing your role is only half the battle. Now you must learn how to act. The following tips are the universal rules of engagement in Marvel Rivals. Internalize them, and you will immediately see an improvement in your gameplay and win rate. This is where you learn to stop thinking like an individual and start thinking like a member of a team.

Tip 11: The Objective is Everything: This is the most important rule in Marvel Rivals. You do not win by having the most eliminations; you win by completing the objective. Whether it is escorting the convoy, capturing the domination point, or pushing through the convergence zone, your focus must always be on the objective. Eliminations are simply a means to an end—a tool you use to clear the way to control the objective. Never chase a kill if it means abandoning the point.
Tip 12: Stick Together, Win Together: The cardinal sin of any new player is “staggering”—running back into the fight alone as soon as you respawn. This feeds the enemy team easy kills and ultimate charge, and it accomplishes nothing. If you see that most of your team has been eliminated, do not rush in. Fall back, wait for your teammates to respawn, and push in as a full, coordinated unit. A 6v6 fight is always better than a series of 1v6 fights.
Tip 13: Live to Fight Another Day: Your life is your most valuable resource. The more time you spend alive, the more impact you can have on the game. It is always better to retreat from a losing fight, find a health pack or a healer, and re-engage with your team than it is to die for a meaningless trade. Do not be afraid to disengage. A tactical retreat is not a sign of weakness; it is a sign of intelligence.
Tip 14: Use Natural Cover: The battlefields of Marvel Rivals are not empty arenas; they are detailed environments filled with walls, pillars, vehicles, and other objects. Use them. Hugging a corner or standing behind a payload dramatically reduces the angles from which you can be shot. Never stand out in the open if you can avoid it. Constant use of natural cover is a hallmark of a skilled player.
Tip 15: Know Where to Heal – Health Pack Locations: Scattered throughout every map are health packs that can restore a chunk of your health. Learn their locations. These are absolutely vital for survival, especially when you are playing a flanking hero or get separated from your team’s Strategists. Denying an enemy a health pack by taking it yourself can be just as impactful as getting a kill.
Tip 16: The Kill Feed is Your Friend: Pay attention to the kill feed in the top-right corner of your screen. This stream of information tells you who is alive and who is dead on both teams. If you see two of your teammates go down, you know the enemy has a numbers advantage, and it is probably time to back up. Conversely, if you see two enemies get eliminated, that is your signal to be aggressive and push your advantage.
Tip 17: Use Your Pings: Not everyone uses voice chat, but everyone can use the ping system. This powerful, non-verbal communication tool allows you to mark enemy locations, signal your intention to attack, request healing, or call out that your ultimate is ready. A well-placed ping can coordinate your entire team for a devastating play. Use it often.
Tip 18: Don’t Panic Ult: Ultimate abilities are game-changers, but only when used correctly. One of the most common mistakes is using your ultimate out of desperation when a fight is already lost. If you are the last one alive and surrounded by six enemies, using your ult will not save you; it will only waste your most powerful ability. Save it for a fight where the outcome is still in question, a moment where your ult can be the deciding factor.
Tip 19: Start with 1-Star Heroes: The hero roster in Marvel Rivals can be intimidating. If you are feeling overwhelmed, start by playing heroes with a 1-star difficulty rating. Characters like The Punisher, Scarlet Witch, and Mantis have more straightforward kits that allow you to focus on learning the core mechanics of the game—positioning, objective play, and team fighting—without having to juggle complex ability combos.
Tip 20: Master a Small Hero Pool First: It is better to be a master of a few heroes than a jack-of-all-trades. Instead of trying to learn all 30+ characters at once, pick one or two heroes from each role (Vanguard, Duelist, Strategist) that you enjoy. Focus on learning their kits, matchups, and nuances inside and out. This will allow you to be a flexible and effective teammate who can fill any role the team needs, while still playing a character you know well.

Part II: Mastering the Battlefield – Core Strategies in Marvel Rivals

You now understand the laws of survival. It is time to become a true student of war. A hero does not just fight; they analyze, they adapt, and they control the environment. This section delves into the strategic layer of Marvel Rivals, breaking down the specific objectives of each game mode and the universal principles of map control. Understanding what to do is crucial, but understanding where and why is what forges a true tactician.

Know the Mission: A Marvel Rivals Game Mode Breakdown

Each match in Marvel Rivals will transport you to a different crisis point in the multiverse, each with its own unique set of objectives. Simply fighting the enemy is not enough; you must understand the specific win conditions of your mission. The core game modes you will encounter are Domination, Convoy, and Convergence, with additional arcade modes offering a different pace of play.

Tip 21: Domination – King of the Hill: In Domination, two teams fight for control of a single, central objective point. To score, your team must clear all enemies from the zone. Once your team has sole possession, your capture percentage will begin to climb. The first team to reach 100% wins the round. If an enemy enters the zone while you are scoring, the point becomes “contested,” and scoring halts until one team is eliminated from the area. Domination matches are typically a best-of-three format, with the control point moving to a new location on the map each round.
Tip 22: Convoy – Push the Payload: Convoy is a classic payload escort mission. One team is on attack, and the other is on defense. The attackers must stand near a vehicle to escort it along a predetermined path through several checkpoints. The defenders’ job is to stop them by eliminating attackers near the payload, which halts its progress. The payload moves faster with more attackers nearby (capping at four players for the speed boost). If the attackers escort the vehicle to the final destination before time runs out, they win. If the defenders hold them off until the clock hits zero, the defenders are victorious.
Tip 23: Convergence – A Hybrid Assault: Convergence cleverly combines the mechanics of Domination and Convoy into a two-phase mission. The attacking team must first capture an initial control point, much like in Domination. Once that point is secured, a payload vehicle is unlocked. The attackers must then escort this vehicle to its destination, just as they would in Convoy. This mode tests a team’s ability to switch from a static area-control mindset to a dynamic, mobile-escort strategy.
Tip 24: Conquest – Team Deathmatch with a Twist: Conquest is an arcade mode that puts a unique spin on team deathmatch. The goal is not just to get eliminations, but to collect the “Chronovium” that defeated enemies drop. Your team must collect 50 Chronovium to win. A key mechanic is that securing a final blow on an enemy restores some of your own health, rewarding aggressive and successful plays.
Tip 25: Doom Match – Free-For-All Chaos: For heroes who prefer to work alone, Doom Match offers a chaotic free-for-all experience. In this mode, it is every hero for themselves in a race to be the first to secure 16 eliminations. There are no teams and no objectives other than pure combat. The top 50% of players in the match are awarded a victory, with the top scorer earning MVP honors.
Tip 26: Know the Difference – Quick Play vs. Competitive: While the core objectives remain the same, there is a key structural difference between Quick Play and Competitive for the asymmetrical modes (Convoy and Convergence). In Quick Play, you will be assigned to either attack or defense for a single round. In Competitive, however, the match consists of multiple rounds where teams switch sides. You will have a chance to play both attack and defense, and the winner is determined by which team pushes the payload further or faster.

To provide a quick, scannable reference for these objectives, consult the following cheatsheet. Understanding these core rules is fundamental to your strategic success in Marvel Rivals.

Game Mode	Team Role(s)	Primary Objective	Key Mechanic
Domination	2 Opposing Teams	Control a central point to 100%.	Point becomes “Contested” if both teams are on it.
Convoy	Attackers / Defenders	Escort a payload through checkpoints.	Payload moves faster with more attackers nearby.
Convergence	Attackers / Defenders	Capture a point, then escort a payload.	A two-phase hybrid of Domination and Convoy.
Conquest	2 Opposing Teams	Collect 50 Chronovium from eliminated enemies.	Final blows restore health.
Doom Match	Free-For-All	Be the first to 16 eliminations.	Top 50% of players earn a victory.

The Art of Positioning in Marvel Rivals

Where you stand is just as important as how you shoot. Superior positioning can allow a player with average mechanical skill to consistently outplay a more gifted opponent who has poor map awareness. The battlefields of Marvel Rivals are intricate, multi-layered arenas, and learning to use their geometry to your advantage is a critical skill.

Tip 27: High Ground is King: This is a universal rule in almost every shooter, and it holds true in Marvel Rivals. Holding an elevated position gives you a commanding view of the battlefield, makes it easier to land shots on enemies below, and provides you with natural cover by simply backing away from the ledge. Always look for ways to take and control the high ground.
Tip 28: Play Your Angles: Do not attack the enemy from the same direction as the rest of your team. By positioning yourself at an “off-angle”—for example, in a side window while your team pushes the main path—you force the enemy to divide their attention. They cannot safely focus on your frontline without exposing their flank to you, and they cannot deal with you without turning their back on your team. This creates chaos and openings for your allies.
Tip 29: Master the Flank Routes: Every map is designed with multiple pathways to the objective. Beyond the main thoroughfares, there are often hidden corridors, side passages, and secret routes. Learning these flank routes allows you to bypass the enemy’s frontline entirely and launch surprise attacks on their vulnerable backline, targeting their Strategists and long-range Duelists.
Tip 30: Understand Choke Points: A choke point is any narrow area on the map, like a doorway or a tight hallway, that forces teams to funnel through. These are natural defensive strongholds and kill zones. As a defender, you can stack area-denial abilities in a choke to halt an enemy push. As an attacker, you must be coordinated to break through a choke point quickly, often using ultimates or a swift, decisive dive.
Tip 31: Use Destructible Environments Strategically: A unique feature of Marvel Rivals is its destructible environments. These are not just for visual spectacle. Smashing through a wall can create a new line of sight for a sniper, destroy a piece of cover an enemy was using, or open up an unexpected flank route. Always be aware of what can be broken and how you can use it to your advantage.
Tip 32: Vanguards – Own the Frontline: A Vanguard’s position is clear: you are the frontline. Your job is to be the first one in, physically standing on the objective or pushing past a choke point to draw enemy fire and create a safe pocket of space for your team to move into.
Tip 33: Duelists – Exploit Off-Angles: Duelists are most effective when they are not standing right behind their Vanguard. Your ideal position is on the high ground or a flank route. These off-angles give you clear lines of sight on the enemy’s squishiest targets and allow you to deal damage while remaining relatively safe from the main brawl.
Tip 34: Strategists – Position for Safety and Sightlines: As a Strategist, you must perform a constant balancing act. You need to be close enough to your team to provide healing, which means you need a clear line of sight (LoS) to them. However, you also need to stay alive, which means using cover and staying out of the enemy’s direct LoS. The ideal position is typically just behind your frontline, near a corner or piece of natural cover that you can use to protect yourself.
Tip 35: Adapt Your Position Mid-Fight: Positioning is not a “set it and forget it” affair. The battlefield is constantly changing. A safe position one moment can become a death trap the next. You must be constantly re-evaluating your position based on the flow of the fight. Where is the enemy? Where are your teammates? Is your current location still providing value, or is it time to move? Great players are always in motion, adapting their position to the ever-shifting dynamics of the battle.

Part III: The Power of Alliance – Advanced Team Synergy in Marvel Rivals

A lone hero, no matter how powerful, cannot win this war. Victory in the chaotic battlefields of Marvel Rivals is forged through alliance, strategy, and unbreakable teamwork. You have mastered yourself and the environment; now you must master the art of fighting as one. This section focuses on the deepest strategic layer of the game: crafting powerful team compositions, executing devastating combos, and communicating like a truly elite unit.

Crafting the Perfect Marvel Rivals Team Comp

The fight begins before the first shot is fired. The combination of heroes your team selects—your “team composition” or “comp”—will define your overarching strategy and your chances of success. Marvel Rivals is a game of strategic picks and counter-picks, a high-speed chess match where every choice matters.

Tip 36: The Standard 2-2-2: For teams looking for a reliable and balanced starting point, the 2-2-2 composition is a classic. This setup consists of two Vanguards, two Duelists, and two Strategists. It provides a sturdy frontline, ample damage output, and strong healing and support, making it a versatile comp that can adapt to almost any situation.
Tip 37: Dive Comps – Coordinated Chaos: A “Dive” composition focuses on speed, mobility, and overwhelming a single target. This strategy uses highly mobile heroes like Hulk, Venom, and Spider-Man to bypass the enemy frontline and instantly converge on a key backline target, usually a Strategist. The goal is to secure a quick elimination before the enemy team can react, creating an immediate numbers advantage.
Tip 38: Poke Comps – Death by a Thousand Cuts: A “Poke” comp is the opposite of a Dive comp. It relies on long-range heroes like Hela, Hawkeye, and The Punisher to control long sightlines and whittle down the enemy team from a safe distance. This strategy excels on maps with open areas, as it can make it incredibly difficult for shorter-range teams to close the distance without taking massive damage.
Tip 39: Brawl Comps – The Unstoppable Force: A “Brawl” comp, sometimes called a “Death Ball,” focuses on grouping up with durable, close-range heroes like Groot, Thor, and Doctor Strange. The strategy is to move as a single, impenetrable unit, overwhelming a single location or objective through sheer force and area-of-effect damage and healing. This comp is powerful in tight spaces and on Domination points.
Tip 40: Understand the Meta Triangle: Poke > Brawl > Dive > Poke: Team compositions in Marvel Rivals often follow a rock-paper-scissors dynamic. Poke comps are strong against slow-moving Brawl comps that cannot close the distance. Dive comps are effective against scattered Poke heroes who can be easily isolated. Brawl comps, with their grouped-up healing and durability, are well-equipped to survive and repel a Dive attack. Understanding these relationships is key to counter-picking the enemy team.
Tip 41: The Power of Triple Strategist: Do not be afraid to experiment with unconventional compositions. A “Triple Support” or “Triple Strategist” comp, for example, can be incredibly effective. This strategy relies on creating a nearly unkillable team by rotating powerful defensive ultimates from heroes like Luna Snow, Mantis, and Loki, out-sustaining the enemy’s damage output.
Tip 42: Build Around Your Strengths: While understanding meta compositions is important, it is often better to play a hero you are skilled with than to force a meta pick you are uncomfortable on. A player who has mastered an “off-meta” hero will almost always provide more value than a player struggling on a “meta” hero they do not understand. Build comps that play to your team’s individual strengths.
Tip 43: Recognize When You’re Countered: A core mechanic of Marvel Rivals is the ability to swap heroes mid-match. You must learn to recognize when your chosen hero is being effectively shut down by the enemy team. If you are playing a flying hero and the enemy team swaps to two long-range hitscan Duelists, it is time to switch. Being stubborn and staying on a countered hero is a recipe for defeat. Adapting your team’s composition in response to the enemy’s is a high-level skill.

Unlocking Devastating Team-Up Combos in Marvel Rivals

One of the most unique and exciting features of Marvel Rivals is the Team-Up system. When specific heroes are on the same team, they can unlock powerful synergistic abilities that can completely change the course of a battle. Always be on the lookout for these opportunities in the hero selection screen.

Tip 44: What are Team-Ups?: Team-Ups are special abilities, either active or passive, that become available when two or more specific, compatible heroes are on the same team. These are powerful interactions drawn directly from the Marvel comics lore that reward thoughtful team building.
Tip 45: Hulk & Wolverine – Fastball Special: A fan-favorite and iconic combo. When Hulk and Wolverine are on the same team, Hulk gains the ability to pick up Wolverine and hurl him at the enemy team like a living projectile, initiating a devastating dive.
Tip 46: Iron Man & Doctor Strange – Gamma Charge: If Hulk is on the team with Iron Man or Doctor Strange, he can use Gamma Charge to empower their abilities, adding another layer of damage and utility to their already powerful kits.
Tip 47: Rocket & Groot – Old Friends: When Rocket Raccoon and Groot are paired together, Rocket can hop onto Groot’s shoulder. This gives Rocket a mobile, elevated, and protected firing platform, making him much harder to deal with while he rains down damage and healing.
Tip 48: Magneto & Scarlet Witch – Sorcery Surge: The powerful mutant father-daughter duo has incredible synergy. Their Team-Up, Sorcery Surge, enhances both of their abilities, making Magneto’s shields stronger and Scarlet Witch’s chaos magic even more destructive.
Tip 49: Luna Snow & Iron Fist – Frozen Chi: This dynamic pairing allows Iron Fist to channel his chi into Luna Snow, transforming her ice powers into a “Frozen Chi” ring that damages and slows enemies while simultaneously healing allies in a large radius.
Tip 50: Pay Attention in Hero Select: During the character selection phase, the game’s UI will clearly indicate potential Team-Ups. If a teammate picks an “anchor” hero for a combo, an icon will appear over the corresponding heroes needed to complete the synergy. Paying attention to this can help your team build around these powerful interactions from the start.

Communication is Your Superpower

The most powerful ability in Marvel Rivals is not an ultimate; it is clear, effective communication. A coordinated team that talks to each other will almost always defeat a team of silent individuals, no matter how skilled they are.

Tip 51: Use Voice Chat (If You Can): The fastest and most efficient way to coordinate strategy is through voice chat. You do not need to be a chatterbox. Simple, clear, and concise callouts are all that is needed. Call out enemy positions, announce when you are using your ultimate, and let your Strategists know when you need healing.
Tip 52: The “Loki Lingo” – Shot-Calling 101: A good “shot-caller” can direct the entire team’s focus. The best callouts are short, precise, and actionable. Use a simple structure: Location -> Target -> Status. For example, instead of yelling “Healer in the back!”, a much better callout is, “Top right, Mantis, one shot!” This tells your team exactly where to look, who to shoot, and that the target is close to death.
Tip 53: Call Out Enemy Ultimates: Tracking the enemy team’s ultimate abilities is a crucial high-level skill. If you notice an enemy Hela has been playing aggressively and has not used her ultimate in a long time, it is a safe bet that she has it ready. Call it out to your team: “Watch for Hela ult, she’s got it.” This warning can allow your team to position themselves to avoid or counter the incoming ultimate.
Tip 54: Don’t Be Toxic: A positive and focused mental attitude wins more games than a negative one. Tilting and flaming your teammates accomplishes nothing and only makes everyone play worse. If a teammate is being toxic, simply mute them and focus on your own gameplay. Stay positive, be encouraging, and concentrate on what you can do to help the team win.
Tip 55: Watch Your Own Replays: One of the most powerful and underutilized tools for improvement is the replay system. Watching your own games from a third-person perspective allows you to see your mistakes clearly. You can analyze your positioning, your ability usage, and your decision-making without the pressure of the live match. Ask yourself: “Why did I die here?” or “What could I have done differently to win that fight?” This self-analysis is the fastest path to improvement.

Part IV: Ascending to Legend – Pro-Tier Techniques for Marvel Rivals

You are no longer a recruit. You are a master of strategy and a paragon of teamwork. The final step in your journey is to hone your individual skills to a razor’s edge. This is where you transcend the fundamentals and embrace the subtle arts of combat that separate the great heroes from the true legends of the multiverse. These are the pro-tier techniques that will give you the ultimate edge in any battle.

Mastering the Ultimate Economy in Marvel Rivals

Ultimate abilities are the most powerful resources in the game. Understanding how to manage your team’s ultimates in relation to the enemy’s—a concept known as the “ultimate economy”—is a cornerstone of high-level play.

Tip 56: What is Ult Economy?: Ultimate economy is the strategic game-within-a-game of tracking, trading, and conserving ultimate abilities. The team that manages its ultimate economy more effectively will have a significant advantage in crucial team fights, often being able to win fights even when at a disadvantage in other areas.
Tip 57: Track Enemy Ults: Constantly ask yourself, “Which enemies have their ultimate abilities ready?” While there is no perfect way to know, you can make educated guesses. Has an enemy been playing very aggressively? They might be looking for an opportunity to use their ult. Has a specific hero not used their ult in a very long time? They almost certainly have it. Tracking this allows your team to anticipate and prepare for the enemy’s biggest plays.
Tip 58: Don’t Over-Commit Ults: The goal is to win a team fight using the fewest ultimates possible. If your team wins a fight by using only one ultimate while the enemy used three, you have won the ult economy trade and will have a massive advantage for the next fight. Conversely, using three or four of your team’s ultimates to win a single fight (an “over-commitment”) might win you the battle, but it could cost you the war, as the enemy will have their ultimates back online for the next objective push while you have nothing.
Tip 59: Use Ults to Counter Ults: Some of the most powerful plays in Marvel Rivals involve using your ultimate to directly negate an enemy’s ultimate. A well-timed defensive ultimate from a Strategist like Luna Snow or Mantis can completely nullify the damage from an offensive ultimate like The Punisher’s or Star-Lord’s. A Doctor Strange who saves his shield to block a critical enemy projectile ultimate can single-handedly save his team.
Tip 60: The “Dry Push”: A “dry push” is a high-level tactic where your team initiates a fight on the objective without using any ultimate abilities. The goal is to bait the enemy team into using their defensive ultimates out of panic. Once they have used their valuable resources, your team can disengage, wait for a moment, and then re-attack with all of your ultimates available, facing an enemy team with nothing left to counter you.
Tip 61: Combo Your Ultimates: The most devastating plays in Marvel Rivals come from combining two or more ultimates. Coordinate with your teammates to layer your abilities for maximum effect. A classic example is combining a large crowd-control ultimate, like Groot’s Strangling Prison which traps enemies in place, with a high-damage area-of-effect ultimate, like Moon Knight’s Hand of Khonshu. This synergy guarantees that the trapped enemies cannot escape the incoming damage, resulting in a team wipe.

Advanced Mechanics and Micro-Plays

The difference between a good player and a great player often comes down to small, subtle mechanical skills—the micro-plays that optimize every action.

Tip 62: Animation Canceling: Many abilities in Marvel Rivals have recovery animations that can be “canceled” by inputting another action at the right time, allowing you to perform actions faster than normal. A common example is the Attack-Sprint-Attack sequence, where you can cancel the recovery of a basic attack by briefly sprinting. Hero-specific cancels also exist, such as Doctor Strange canceling the end of his reload animation with a quick shield flash or melee attack to start shooting sooner.
Tip 63: Resource Denial – Steal Their Health Packs: Health packs are a shared resource. If you see a low-health enemy retreating towards a health pack, try to get there first and take it, even if you are at full health. Denying them that healing can secure a kill that they otherwise would have survived. This is a form of resource denial that can win you duels and fights.
Tip 64: Jiggle Peeking: This is a technique used to gain information and take quick shots while minimizing your exposure to enemy fire. Instead of walking fully out from behind a corner, you quickly “jiggle” back and forth, exposing only a tiny part of your character model for a split second. This is a fundamental skill for sniper heroes and long-range Duelists.
Tip 65: Aim to the Right (Third-Person PSA): A nuance of many third-person shooters is that your projectile often originates from your character’s weapon model on the right side of the screen, not from the dead center where your crosshair is. This means that when you are peeking out from the right side of a corner, you can shoot the enemy while exposing very little of your own body. Conversely, peeking from the left side exposes more of your body before you can get a clear shot. This is known as “right-hand advantage.”
Tip 66: Turn Off “Easy Swing”: For the web-slinging heroes, Spider-Man and Venom, the game has a default setting called “Easy Swing” enabled. While intended to help new players, this setting actually limits your control over their movement. Go into the hero-specific settings for these characters and turn it off. This will give you much more precise control over where your webs attach and how you traverse the map, unlocking their true mobility potential.

Hero-Specific Tricks the Pros Use in Marvel Rivals

Every hero has a high skill ceiling with unique tricks and advanced techniques. Mastering these hero-specific nuances is the final step to unlocking your full potential.

Tip 67 (Hulk): You can cast all of your abilities, including your Gamma Shield and Radioactive Lockdown, while you are charging your Incredible Leap. To maximize your efficiency, you should almost always be holding down the jump button to keep a leap charged and ready.
Tip 68 (Spider-Man): Your primary mission is not to brawl with the enemy frontline; it is to be an assassin. Use your incredible mobility to flank the enemy team, isolate one of their Strategists, eliminate them with a quick combo, and then immediately web-swing out to safety.
Tip 69 (Scarlet Witch): Use your two charges of the invincible Mystic Projection ability to take unexpected high-ground positions or flank angles. From there, you can “carpet bomb” the enemy backline with your explosive Chthonian Burst projectiles, dealing massive damage from a location they are not expecting.
Tip 70 (Loki): Do not just place your Illusions on the ground with your team. Place them on high ground and at off-angles. This creates a crossfire of healing and damage that is incredibly difficult for the enemy team to deal with and allows you to support your team from multiple locations at once.
Tip 71 (Doctor Strange): Your Shield of the Seraphim is a godsend against most projectile-based ultimates. However, remember that all melee attacks pass straight through it. If a melee diver like Wolverine or Thor jumps on you, do not just stand there holding your shield. Use your Cloak of Levitation ability to fly up and away to safety.
Tip 72 (The Punisher): Your shotgun, Deliverance, is not just a secondary weapon; it is a lethal anti-dive tool. A single, well-placed headshot at close range can instantly eliminate any 250-health hero. Master this weapon to become a nightmare for any enemy flanker who tries to get close to you.
Tip 73 (Magneto): Your ability to place a shield on an ally, Metal Bulwark, also makes them completely immune to stuns and other crowd control effects. Use this to enable an aggressive play from a teammate. Placing it on a diving Wolverine or Spider-Man allows them to engage without fear of being stopped in their tracks.
Tip 74 (Luna Snow): Your passive ability, Smooth Skate, grants you incredible mobility as long as you are moving forward. You should be constantly skating to reposition, dodge attacks, and make yourself an incredibly difficult target to hit. A stationary Luna Snow is a vulnerable one.
Tip 75 (Venom): A common mistake is to use your web swing to engage a fight. Instead, use it as your escape tool. Use your wall-climbing ability to sneak into a good position, launch your attack, and then use your swing to quickly and safely disengage back to your team or a health pack.
Tip 76 (Iron Man): When flying, do not just strafe left and right in the open sky. Use vertical cover. Position yourself behind a tall building or structure, then quickly ascend to fire your weapons before descending back into safety. This makes you a much harder target to track than simply flying horizontally.
Tip 77 (Thor): Your Awakening Rune ability turns you into a high-damage melee machine. Use your Storm Surge mobility to bypass the enemy Vanguards entirely and dive directly onto their backline. You can eliminate their Strategists and Duelists before they even know what hit them.
Tip 78 (Captain America): Your Liberty Rush ability, the forward shield charge, makes you completely immune to all forms of crowd control. Use it to power through abilities that would stop other heroes, such as stuns, slows, or knockbacks, allowing you to close the distance and continue your assault.
Tip 79 (Black Panther): Your entire gameplay loop revolves around a simple but crucial combo: apply a Vibranium Mark to an enemy with your Spear Toss or Spinning Kick, then consume that mark with your Spirit Rend dash to deal damage and instantly refresh the dash’s cooldown. Mastering this chain of applying and consuming marks is the key to being an unkillable, perpetually dashing menace.
Tip 80 (Storm): Just like Iron Man, you must learn to use vertical cover. As a flying hero, any tall object on the map can be your shield. Fly up just enough to peek over the cover, unleash your attacks, and then immediately descend back into safety.
Tip 81 (Mantis): Your sleep dart, Nature’s Grasp, is one of the single most powerful crowd control abilities in Marvel Rivals. Do not use it randomly. Save it to interrupt a critical enemy ultimate (like The Punisher’s or Hela’s) or to shut down a dangerous diver who is attacking you or your fellow Strategist. A well-timed sleep can win a fight on its own.
Tip 82 (Rocket Raccoon): Learn the geometry of the maps to master bouncing your healing orbs off walls. This advanced technique allows you to heal teammates who are around a corner or behind cover, all while you remain completely safe from enemy fire.
Tip 83 (Groot): When using your Thornlash Walls, do not place them in front of the enemy. Place them behind the enemy. This traps them between the wall and your team, cutting off their escape route and isolating them from their healers.
Tip 84 (Peni Parker): Your Cyber-Web Snare has an incredibly short cooldown and can briefly interrupt channeling abilities. You should be spamming this ability constantly. Use it to stop enemies from escaping, to peel for your teammates, and, most importantly, to interrupt enemy ultimates like those from Doctor Strange or Scarlet Witch.
Tip 85 (Namor): Do not place your Monstro Spawn turrets on the floor where they can be easily destroyed. Instead, place them on walls, ceilings, and high ledges. This makes them much harder for the enemy team to target and gives them superior firing angles on the battlefield.
Tip 86 (Winter Soldier): Your Bionic Hook is a tool designed to punish poor positioning. Look for enemies who are standing slightly out of place or separated from their team. A successful hook that pulls an enemy out from behind their Vanguard’s shield and into the middle of your team is almost always a guaranteed elimination.
Tip 87 (Hela): You are the queen of long-range combat. Your primary job is to find a safe position with long sightlines and eliminate key targets. Prioritize taking duels with other enemy snipers and flyers, as your hitscan weapon gives you an advantage in these matchups.
Tip 88 (Moon Knight): The effectiveness of your bouncing projectiles is entirely dependent on the placement of your Ancient Ankh. Always place the Ankh in a location that is out of the enemy’s direct line of sight, such as around a corner, above a doorway, or on a ceiling. This maximizes its uptime, allowing you to get more value from your bounces before it is destroyed.
Tip 89 (Adam Warlock): Your primary fire, Quantum Magic, is a hitscan weapon. This makes you surprisingly effective at dealing with enemy flying characters like Iron Man and Storm. It is your responsibility to help your team apply pressure to the skies.
Tip 90 (Cloak & Dagger): Use Cloak’s Dark Teleportation ability to save your entire team from large, area-of-effect ultimates. If you hear an enemy Iron Man or Scarlet Witch activate their ultimate, quickly gather your teammates and phase them out of reality with Dark Teleportation to completely negate the incoming damage.
Tip 91 (Invisible Woman): Your Force Physics ability can be used to pull enemies out of advantageous positions. Use it to yank an enemy sniper off of their high-ground perch or to pull an enemy out from behind the safety of their Vanguard’s shield, exposing them for your team to eliminate.
Tip 92 (Jeff the Land Shark): Your ultimate, It’s Jeff!, allows you to swallow both enemies and allies. Use it to swallow key enemy targets, swim over to the nearest cliff, and spit them off the map for an easy environmental kill. Just make sure you spit out any swallowed teammates in a safe location first!
Tip 93 (Psylocke): You are a pure assassin. Your game plan is to use your Psychic Stealth and mobility to get to the enemy backline undetected, unload your full damage combo to instantly delete a Strategist, and then use your Psi-Blade Dashes to escape.
Tip 94 (Magik): You can cancel the long charge-up animation of your Magik Slash projectile by using a Stepping Disc teleport. This is a crucial technique to avoid being stuck in the animation at the wrong moment, which would otherwise leave you vulnerable.
Tip 95 (Hawkeye): Your passive, Archer’s Focus, allows you to build up bonus damage by aiming at an enemy. You can charge this bonus damage by aiming at an easy, large target like an enemy Vanguard, and then quickly flick your shot over to a squishy backline target for a devastating, high-damage one-shot kill.
Tip 96 (Mister Fantastic): Remember that your primary attack, Stretch Punch, is considered a melee attack. This means it will pass straight through energy shields like the one deployed by Doctor Strange, allowing you to damage him directly.
Tip 97 (Squirrel Girl): Your Mammal Bond ability instantly reloads your primary fire and resets the cooldown of one of your other abilities. Use this to perform a “double stun” combo by hitting an enemy with Squirrel Blockade, activating Mammal Bond, and then immediately hitting them with a second Squirrel Blockade to lock them down for an extended period.
Tip 98 (Black Widow): Your melee kick, Edge Dancer, is an excellent defensive tool. Use it to knock back any diving enemy who gets too close to you. This creates the space you need to line up a clean, high-damage shot with your sniper rifle.
Tip 99 (Hulk): Your ultimate, Hulk Smash!, is not just an offensive tool; it is one of the best counter-engagement abilities in the game. If you find yourself low on health and about to be eliminated, activate your ultimate. It will instantly restore you to full health and grant you bonus health, allowing you to turn the tables and win the fight.
Tip 100 (Spider-Man): For PC players, go into your keybind settings and bind “Jump” to your mouse’s scroll wheel (either up or down). By holding forward into a wall and rapidly scrolling the wheel, you can perform a series of rapid-fire wall jumps that allow you to scale vertical surfaces much faster than the standard wall crawl.
Tip 101 (Loki): In the Convoy game mode, you can place your Illusions directly on top of the payload vehicle. They will travel along with it, providing a mobile source of healing and damage for your team as you push toward the objective.

Conclusion: A Rival Worthy of Legend

Your training is complete. You arrived in this fractured reality as a recruit, a stranger to the chaotic energies of the Timestream Entanglement. But now, you are armed with the wisdom of a hundred battles. You understand the fundamentals of survival, the strategies of the battlefield, the power of alliance, and the subtle arts of a true master. The journey was arduous, but you have emerged stronger, smarter, and more capable than ever before.

The multiverse of Marvel Rivals is a constantly evolving battlefield. New heroes will answer the call, new maps will emerge from the chaos, and new strategies will be forged in the heat of battle. The true mark of a legend is not just the mastery of what is known, but the willingness to adapt, to learn, and to grow.

Take this knowledge and make it your own. Step onto the battlefield not as a recruit, but as a hero worthy of legend. Experiment with these tips, combine them in new and creative ways, and forge your own path to victory. The fate of the multiverse is in your hands. Go now and become a rival they will never forget.

Disclaimer: This is an unofficial fan work, all trademarks and copyrights for Marvel Rivals belong to the developer NetEase Games.

Find the game here! Marvel Rivals – The Super Hero Team-based PVP Shooter