# Marvel Rivals Counter-Picking Guide: Who Counters Who
> A curated breakdown of the clearest, most decisive hero matchups in Marvel Rivals — who beats who, why, and how to play both sides of each fight — plus the general principles that repeat across almost every counter-pick.
- **Game:** Marvel Rivals
- **Category:** Meta & Tier Lists
- **Author:** LongBeam (https://guides-factory.com/about)
- **Difficulty:** Intermediate
- **Reading time:** 10 min
- **Published:** 2026-08-22
- **Updated:** 2026-08-31
- **Adapted from:** [Coach_Mills — YouTube](https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=uRBmGlXOHUo)
- **Canonical URL:** https://guides-factory.com/guides/marvel-rivals-counter-picking-guide-who-counters-who
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## 🎯 The core idea
> There's a counter to every hero in Marvel Rivals, but "counter" almost never means a magic stat advantage — it means denying that hero the one thing their kit depends on: a wall to hide behind, a window to escape through, an isolated target to burst. This guide covers the clearest, most decisive matchups from Coach_Mills' full 40-hero breakdown, plus the handful of principles that repeat across almost every one of them.
free costs nothing
cheap small cost
setup needs preparation
grind pays off slowly
skip the thing to stop doing
## The four patterns behind almost every counter
## Vanguard matchups
In the video[Peni Parker](/guides/peni-parker-guide-nests-mines-and-zoning-marvel-rivals) is named as one of the single hardest matchups in the game for Hulk — if she's set up on defense with mines down, he can't cycle in and out safely and often has to swap off entirely.
## Duelist matchups
From the videoBlack Widow is genuinely one-sided against a single, isolated diver — her kick lands almost every time and it's a guaranteed grapple. Introduce a second diver at once and the matchup flips completely: she can only kick one target, and the long kick animation leaves her exposed while she's committed to it.
## The two "everything" characters: Phoenix and Gambit
The video refers to this hero mostly by her civilian name, Jean Grey — her current in-game hero name is Phoenix.
Phoenix and [Gambit](/guides/gambit-hero-guide-abilities-combos-fixing-the-she-myth-marvel-rivals) both get described in the video as having reasonable matchups against nearly the entire roster, which means the counterplay is more about timing than hero picks.
## Strategist matchups
In the videoInvisible Woman (called "Invis" throughout) is named as one of the best anti-dive supports in the game for her push/pull kit, but she's also called out as one of the hardest matchups for a good Deadpool tank pistol build to play into — she has almost nothing to do while pocketed and locked down.
## What this guide doesn't answer
The source video covers all roughly 40 heroes in the current roster in full — this guide focuses on the clearest, most decisive matchups rather than reproducing all of them, since most of the remaining matchups are close, skill-based calls rather than hard counters. It also doesn't cover ban-phase strategy in ranked, which the video touches on briefly for a couple of heroes but doesn't treat as a separate topic.
## How this guide was fact-checked
This guide is built from strategic and mechanical reasoning rather than exact damage numbers, so the verification method was different from a pure ability-numbers guide: every hero name and role (Vanguard, Duelist, Strategist) referenced above was checked against the current Marvel Rivals Wiki hero roster to confirm it's accurate and that no mentioned hero has been removed or reworked into a different role. One naming note is called out directly above — the video refers to Phoenix by her civilian name, Jean Grey, throughout, which this guide corrects to her current in-game hero name on first mention.
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## FAQ
### What is the best counter to Hulk in Marvel Rivals?
Peni Parker is one of the single hardest matchups for Hulk when she's set up on defense — her mines deny his cycle-in-cycle-out playstyle so completely that many Hulk players have to swap off entirely.
### How do you counter Devil Dinosaur?
Either out-brawl him with your own enabling tanks, or deny the fight outright: hard poke from range so he can't close the gap safely, or an all-in dive that skips him and kills his backline instead.
### What counters Black Widow in Marvel Rivals?
A second, simultaneous diver. Her kick is close to a guaranteed grapple against one isolated target, but she can only kick one attacker at a time, and the kick's long animation leaves her exposed against the other.
### Is there a hero counter list for Marvel Rivals?
Yes — this guide curates the clearest, most decisive matchups from a full 40-hero counter-picking breakdown, plus the general principles (denying escape windows, forcing cooldowns early, clearing summons, grounding flyers) that repeat across almost every one of them.
### How do you beat Loki in Marvel Rivals?
Fight his cooldowns, not the hero. Force out his totems and teleport, disengage, then re-engage once both are down — taking the fight while he still has both is exactly the fight he wants.