Summary

• The Marvel Rivals game has an impressive lineup of 19 characters, including fan-favorite teams like the Avengers and X-Men.
• Doctor Strange's abilities in the game are incredibly overpowered, particularly his Pentagram of Farallah portal strategy.
• NetEase Games may need to consider nerfing Doctor Strange in Marvel Rivals to provide a fair gaming experience for all players.

NetEase Games opened Marvel Rivals' closed Alpha earlier this month, giving selected players a chance to get hands-on with the role-based multiplayer title. Upon its initial reveal in March 2024, it was confirmed that the new game would feature some of the company's most popular characters as they battle their way through various alternate dimensions and timelines, and the accompanying trailer provided a first look at what to expect from its gameplay. With the launch of the closed Alpha since then, players have been able to analyze each hero's gameplay in-depth and share their findings online.

Marvel Rivals has an Spider-Man's web-swinging and wall-crawling traversal to Hulk's brutal melee.

Dataminer Miller Ross shared a further 20 characters who could be coming to the game at a later date after finding their names indexed in the Alpha build, bringing the total planned playable character count to 39.

Doctor Strange's Abilities Make Him Incredibly Overpowered

The Portals Strategy Clears The Map With Ease

Of course, faithfully adapting these characters' abilities can result in some of them being incredibly overpowered, as what looks cool in the comics isn't necessarily the most balanced for a multiplayer title. This has proven to be the case for Doctor Strange, who has become the most powerful character in the game due to his use of the Pentagram of Farallah to create portals, which he can create to teleport himself or other players across the map. Footage by TikToker realremixhaze was shared to X by DeltyThe73rd, who was shocked by how powerful Doctor Strange was in the game, with many comments below agreeing with the original clip that the Sorcerer Supreme "must be stopped".

The brief clip showed Strange setting up a portal over the edge of a deadly drop, and another by the spawn point for the enemy team. Therefore, as the doors to the spawn point opened, the opposing players would run straight into Strange's portal and would plummet to their death. With there only being one spawn point on the map for that team, it was an easy way to secure a win, as only Rocket Racoon was able to fight back due to his jetpack and what's likely quick reflexes on the player's part, but moments later, Dr. Strange still threw him over the edge to his teammates with ease.

This tactic is very similar to a commonly used trick in the early days of Overwatch with Symmetra's infamous teleporter, which later got nerfed.

Doctor Strange Being Overpowered Is Comic-Accurate

But The Character Will Likely Get Nerfed Regardless

Of course, while it may be frustrating for players on an opposing team, Doctor Strange's abilities are comic-accurate, and considering some of the feats he has pulled off as the Sorcerer Supreme, NetEase Games could have made him even more powerful in Marvel Rivals if it wished. As it stands, Doctor Strange is one of the game's Vanguards due to his larger health pool letting him stay alive longer and soak up damage from the enemy team without dying, which can be combined with his Shield of Seraphim to further protect himself and other players in his immediate vicinity, already making him a difficult opponent to beat.

Doctor Strange's full abilities in Marvel Rivals are as follows:

Despite each character having their own unique abilities, Marvel Rivals' roles are divided into three main categories: Vanguard, Duelist, and Strategist. These mirror the roles available in Overwatch, where Duelist is essentially DPS, Vanguard is Tank, and Strategist is .

Vanguards can be crucial to getting an advantage over an entire match. At the beginning of every match, both teams will spawn and have 30 seconds to fight for a good position before the main objective becomes active. During this time, whichever team's Vanguards are able to take more space or control more areas of the map will likely dominate, especially as roles are not locked in the closed Alpha, resembling the early days of Overwatch when there were no limits to choosing hero types as long as everyone on your team chose a different hero, meaning a team can be absolutely stacked full of Vanguards with only an additional Duelist or Strategist should players wish.

Other Vanguards available in Marvel Rivals' closed Alpha include:

• Hulk
• Groot
• Magneto
• Peni Parker

Of course, it's extremely likely that Doctor Strange will be nerfed in the full launch, much like Overwatch's Symmetra was. NetEase Games has yet to address this exploit, but many have speculated under DeltyThe73rd's post that the radius in which portals can be opened may be reduced, or to not work in close proximity to spawn points. While those who played Overwatch likely could have warned those developing Marvel Rivals that players might attempt to repeat this trick, part of the reason for Alpha and Beta playtests is to figure out what exploits are possible, and how to best balance them to make for a fairer game for all.

Sources: Miller Ross/X, realremixhaze/TikTok, DeltyThe73rd/X