The most abundant character archetype in Marvel Rivals is Duelist, the class designed to score the most eliminations with the help of powerful Ultimate abilities. All the Ultimates that Duelists possess can wipe out your team if you aren't prepared to counter them. Managing to nullify a Duelist's Ultimate skill can prevent your team from losing valuable too quickly during intense matches.
When you understand what counters a Duelist Ultimate, you can be prepared to protect your team's damage dealers from the same strategies. For example, Iron Man in Marvel Rivals can have his Ultimate absorbed by Magneto's Ultimate skill. To prevent this from happening, your team could take out Magneto first, thus allowing Iron Man to use his Maximum Pulse with less risk.
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What Are The Strongest Duelist Ultimates in Marvel Rivals?
Know What Attacks Are The Most Dangerous
Among the 19 different Duelists in Marvel Rivals, there are three categories of Ultimate these characters could have. While broad in definition, you can boil down the properties of a Duelist Ultimate based on what effect it does to a character or the larger battlefield. Depending on how a character's Ultimate works, it could change how fast it charges from the Duelist's other skills.
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The three main categories of Duelist Ultimates are:
- Limited-Time Buff/Transformation
- Area of Effect (AoE) Attack
- Single Damage Burst
Some Ultimates are a combination of categories. As an example, Mr. Fantastic's Ultimate causes him to transform, but he leaps and performs multiple AoE attacks while in this state until he reverts back to his normal form.
With every Duelist being adjusted after Season 1's buffs and nerfs in Marvel Rivals, some characters have stronger Ultimates than others. The table below lists each Duelist and their Ultimate, with every character being ordered from ones with the strongest Ultimate skills to the weakest:
| Duelist |
Ultimate |
Description |
|---|---|---|
| Winter Soldier |
Kraken Impact |
Leap high, then dash forward and slam down with the bionic arm, dealing damage to enemies in range, marking them for Culling. Marked enemies will perish instantly if their health falls below a certain threshold, recharging the bionic arm for another Kraken Impact within a short period. |
| Hela |
Goddess of Death |
Soar into the sky and unleash Nastrond Crows from each hand at will. Gain a new health bar of 800 while performing this Ultimate. |
| Storm |
Omega Hurricane |
Transform into a hurricane to draw in nearby enemies and deal damage. |
| Star-Lord |
Galactic Legend |
Engage in free-flight and lock onto enemies in sight. |
| Iron Man |
Invincible Pulse Cannon |
Fire a devastating pulse cannon in the targeted direction, delivering catastrophic damage to the targeted area upon impact. |
| The Punisher |
Final Judgement |
Unleash two Gatling guns and missiles to attack enemies. |
| Spider-Man |
Spectacular Spin |
Launch Web-Clusters all around to damage and Stun enemies. |
| Squirrel Girl |
Unbeatable Squirrel Tsunami |
Summon a horde of squirrels to charge forward, dealing damage while bouncing against structures. After bouncing, squirrels will find the closest target to attack. |
| Psylocke |
Dance of the Butterfly |
Slash nearby enemies with a psionic katana, dealing massive damage. |
| Wolverine |
Last Stand |
Knock enemies ahead airborne and spiral through the air, sweeping up enemies along the path and delivering a devastating impact at the landing point. |
Duelist |
Ultimate |
Description |
|---|---|---|
| Moon Knight |
Hand of Khonshu |
Open a portal that allows Khonshu to bombard enemies with his talons. |
| Namor |
Horn of Proteus |
Summon Giganto to leap atop enemies within range, disabling their mobility abilities. |
| Hawkeye |
Hunter's Sight |
Capture Afterimages of enemies in his view. Damage dealt to an Afterimage is transferred to the corresponding enemy. |
| Iron Fist |
Living Chi |
Become living Chi to boost his speed, damage, and attack range, delivering stronger punches while reducing the cooldown of Dragon's Defense. |
| Magik |
Darkchild |
Transform into Darkchild, gaining enhancements to all her abilities. |
| Black Panther |
Bast's Descent |
Summon Bast, pouncing forward, dealing damage, and attaching a Vibranium Mark to enemies hit while refreshing Spirit Rend. |
| Scarlet Witch |
Reality Erasure |
Engage in free-flight while charging energy, then unleash it to deal massive damage. |
| Black Widow |
Electro-Plasma Explosion |
Switch the Red Room Rifle to Destruction mode and unleash an electro-plasma blast, damaging enemies within range and leaving plasma on the ground to Slow nearby enemies. |
| Mister Fantastic |
Brainiac Bounce |
Leap upward and smash the ground, slowing enemies within range. Mister Fantastic can leap again upon landing a hit. |
The longer a Duelist Ultimate lasts, the stronger it usually is compared to others. For example, Hela and Storm gain additional health during their Ultimates, making them much stronger than Star-Lord's, with the latter character not gaining any sort of health bonus. Weaker Ultimates are much easier to counter, especially if their damage output is lower or focused around a transformation that doesn't last long.
How To Counter Every Duelist Ultimate
Stun Characters And Avoid Easy Traps
Duelist Ultimates can either be extremely fast or take some time to truly become dangerous, so you have to be ready to adapt based on which characters are in a match. Some strategies against one Duelist could work on another since many Ultimates fall into similar categories. Many defensive abilities in Marvel Rivals are excellent ways to counter Duelist Ultimates, as they either provide protection or heal allies from damage.
As a general rule of thumb, most Strategist Ultimates can nullify a Duelist's Ultimate skill. For example, Star-Lord's Galatic Legend won't have the damage output to eliminate an enemy being constantly healed by Luna Snow's Ultimate.
Here are some common ways to counter each Duelist Ultimate in the game, as well as which characters are the best at implementing each strategy:
| Duelist |
How To Counter Ultimate |
Best Counter Characters |
|---|---|---|
| Winter Soldier |
Don't let you or your allies health fall below the damage threshold Winter Soldier needs to recharge his Ultimate. After the first strike, find health packs and stay grouped together behind a Vanguard in Marvel Rivals to reduce the liklihood of Winter Soldier scoring another kill. |
|
| Hela |
Hide behind cover that can't be destroyed as part of a map's environment. Alternatively, have a character with a shield fly up to Hela and put a protective barrier in front of her field of view until the Ultimate ends. |
|
| Storm |
Eliminate Storm while she's charging the Ultimate so she dies before she can transform. If you fail to do this, use mobility skills to get far away from the hurricane, as it will pull you in if you're too close. |
|
| Star-Lord |
Find some sort of cover to avoid Star-Lord locking onto you. Poke out from corners to eliminate him fast, as Star-Lord does not get armor or Bonus Health during his Ultimate. Any ability that Blinds Star-Lord prevents his Ultimate from finding a target. |
|
| Iron Man |
Eliminate Iron Man while he is locked in the air before firing his Ultimate. Once the Maximum Pulse has been fired, have someone on your team use a shield to absorb its impact. You can also simply try to avoid the large AoE from the projectile. |
|
| The Punisher |
Target the Punisher from angles where he'll have a hard time hitting you. Similar to Star-Lord, the Punisher doesn't get more health during his Ultimate, so your goal should be to defeat him fast. |
|
| Spider-Man |
Don't let Spider-Man surprise your team and stun your allies. Keep an eye on him before he pounces, then use shields, barriers, or cover to avoid his AoE of web attacks. |
|
| Squirrel Girl |
You can actually eliminate the group of squirrels summoned with basic attacks, so don't lose them and target the squirrels to remove them from the battlefield. |
|
| Psylocke |
Avoid the AoE of Psylocke's moving Ultimate, which does track vertically. Use healing to outdo the Ultimate's damage output or simply run away to avoid it. |
|
| Wolverine |
When Wolverine knocks people into the air, try to eliminate him before he launches back to the ground. If he does, protect or heal those he's trapped to make sure follow-up damage doesn't kill your allies. |
|
| Duelist |
How To Counter Ultimate |
Best Counter Characters |
|---|---|---|
| Moon Knight |
Look for the red ring that marks the AoE of the Ultimate, then use mobility skills to leave the radius. |
|
| Namor |
Similar to Moon Knight in Marvel Rivals, look for the incoming AoE and move out of the way. If your allies get knocked down, use healing abilities to outpace any follow-up damage from the enemy team. |
|
| Hawkeye |
Avoid Hawkeye's line of sight so he doesn't get Afterimages. If you can, sneak up on him to eliminate him fast during his Ultimate. |
|
| Iron Fist |
Similar to Spider-Man, don't let Iron Fist surprise your team. When you see him coming with his Ultimate active, try to stun or knock him back to waste how much time he can stay in his buffed state. |
|
| Magik |
Every sword swipe Magik does gives her Bonus Health, so stay back from her and target her from afar. Magik is still slow during her Ultimate, so long-distance attacks should counter it. |
|
| Black Panther |
Shields and other barriers absorb this one-hit attack quickly, nullifying its damage. Be careful to pin down Black Panther after he uses his Ultimate, as he will have skill cooldowns reset after. |
|
| Scarlet Witch |
Look for the "!" on your map that indicates Scarlet Witch charging her Ultimate. Focus everything you have on eliminating her before she can let off the attack. Barriers and shields can absorb this Ultimate's blast as well, while Stun attacks can cancel it. |
|
| Black Widow |
Avoid the red plasma spots placed by Black Widow's Ultimate. While she charges this attack, aggressive characters can eliminate her before she uses it. |
|
| Mister Fantastic |
Simply stand away from Mr. Fantastic and target him while he floats in the air before his next bounce. The less bounces he lands, the shorter Mr. Fantastic's Ultimate becomes. |
|
The more Duelist Ultimates your team can nullify, the fewer eliminations enemy teams will have against you. By learning to counter every Duelist Ultimate in Marvel Rivals, you can stay alive for longer and hold objectives to claim victories during matches.
Marvel Rivals
- Released
- December 6, 2024
- ESRB
- T For Teen // Violence
- Developer(s)
- NetEase Games
- Publisher(s)
- NetEase Games
- Engine
- Unreal Engine 5
- Multiplayer
- Online Multiplayer, Online Co-Op
- Cross-Platform Play
- Limited - console crossplay, no PC crossplay
- Cross Save
- No
- Franchise
- Marvel
- Platform(s)
- PC
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