Thanks to Marvel Rivals’ Anti-Air Meta, One Character is…

Marvel Rivals’ ever-evolving nature as a live-service game means there will always be glaring oversights and course corrections within each season’s decided meta, and each subsequent season will revolve around development peeling those layers back while also introducing new characters and abilities into the mixture. Marvel Rivals Season 2.5 has been all about dive counter metas, for example, while also emphasizing flying characters and how untouchable they appear to be. Now, with Season 3’s launch in a couple of days, it seems as if there’s only one stone unearthed so far in a much larger plan to cut flyers down at the knees.

Tanks—or vanguards, as they’re less colloquially referred to by Marvel Rivals’ playerbase—have always been at a disadvantage when it comes to flying enemies. Plus, flying characters such as Iron Man or Storm have been a nuisance since launch, only they’re now being accentuated by characters like Human Torch and Ultron who have greater versatility and mobility options. Ultron, however, is a lone wolf as the only flying support character in Marvel Rivals. If NetEase plans to sic tanks on flyers more successfully, Ultron of all flyers will surely feel the crushing weight of that decision.

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By Matthew O’Dwyer

Marvel Rivals Has Flying Characters in Its Crosshairs

Flying characters may not be a major annoyance to any players who’ve discerned a grasp on how to counter them. Still, that’s easier said than done for any of Marvel Rivals’ tank characters who are leashed to the ground and suffer lackluster mobility or ranged attack options.

Marvel Rivals’ Thing, for example, is best utilized in tight corridors with grounded enemies whom he can propel into the air and back into a corner. Against flyers, though, Thing is virtually useless—at least, he was. In Marvel Rivals’ Dev Vision Vol. 07, which details a ton of adjustments, changes, and additions arriving hand-in-hand with Season 3, it was announced that Thing is receiving a new ability in his kit that specifically intends to make him a threat to flying characters. As per Marvel Rivals’ Version 20250711 balance patch notes:

New Ability Battle Blitz: The Thing leaps toward enemies, gaining 25% Damage Reduction. Leap targeting distance to enemies is 20m.
Stone Haymaker New Effect: Knocks down hit flying enemies.

Moreover, it was confirmed that Thing’s newfound anti-air meta is being shopped around to other tanks, too. This could make for some exciting improvements to various tanks, such as Peni Parker or Doctor Strange, and yet every tank gradually becoming Ultron’s worst nightmare may deal a significant blow to Marvel Rivals’ newest character.

Marvel Rivals’ Ultron is in Trouble if an Anti-Air Meta Manifests

Ultron is a rare character as the first flying support, especially because he leans more ‘duelist’ than ‘strategist’ sometimes with inherent DPS capabilities in his kit, and it was his inclusion in the game that catalyzed a flying character meta. This was largely reinforced by Iron Man and Ultron’s Marvel Rivals Team-Up ability, Stark Protocol, which turns his Encephalo-Ray into a sustained Nano-Ray beam that deals damage to enemies and heals allies.

Ironically, Stark Protocol is adding Squirrel Girl to the Team-Up in Season 3 with an ability for her to launch a homing missile explosive—a squirrel riding a nano-tech gauntlet—and it’s plain to see how effective that ought to be against flying enemies.

Therefore, with Marvel Rivals’ Ultron potentially being an easy target among DPS flyers for the sake of him being able to heal his allies as well as dish out damage, an anti-air meta will likely be nightmarish for the artificial lifeform. Ultron remains a relatively popular character in many casual lobbies, but that might not be so for long if the anti-air meta is as intimidating and optimal as it seems like it’ll be in Season 3, and that may only be the beginning of what’s to come.

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