Marvel Rivals’ third Season is quickly approaching, and with its debut comes plenty of content to be excited about. Jean Grey looks like an incredibly powerful Duelist that will be especially deadly to characters who have summons in their arsenal, while Blade will finally make his debut with the midseason update.Marvel Rivals’ Season 3 maplooks promising, while the Symbiote and Pheonix Force skins featured within the battle pass are already turning heads. Throw in some UI improvements, a much-needed Emma Frost nerf, and some welcome progression changes, and it becomes clear that Season 3 is shaping up to potentially be the game’s best yet. However, one small change is perhaps the most exciting for the Vanguard role.
Said adjustment is to the punch-throwing tank The Thing, and it will see the biggest Fantastic Four member being able to throw himself into the air and directly lock onto flying enemies with Embattled Leap. Once he gets close, he can deliver a big punch to knock flyingMarvel Rivalsheroes out of the sky, and this brief stun should be more than enough for Ben Grimm and his teammates to pounce on the flyer and whittle down their health bar. Perhaps the best thing about this change is that NetEase has promised that it’s the first of many, as it will continue to investigate ranged options for Vanguards in future seasons. Whether this means more ability reworks like this Thing feature or new Vanguards that are built around ranged gameplay is unclear, but anyOverwatch 2Tanks will likely feel a bit jealous upon seeing this announcement.
Overwatch 2’s Anti-Air Tank Options Are Painfully Limited
To be clear,Overwatch 2has a few options for Tank players hoping to attack flying characters from a distance. However, all of these counters have significant flaws.
Every Tank not mentioned above - like Zarya, Reinhardt,Junker Queen, Roadhog, and Wrecking Ball - are effectively useless against flyers.
For players who main the Tank role, it can be incredibly frustrating if the other team has a good flyer on their side, as Tanks are essentially stuck relying on their teammates to deal with the problem. While it’s true thatOverwatch 2and thehero shooter genrein general requires and rewards teamwork, being completely useless at any stage of the game is frankly unfun. A skilled Tank should not have to hope that their Soldier 76 or Cassidy will deal with the Phar-Mercy combo, as they should instead have the option to switch to a ranged hero to deal with the problem themselves. For a Tank, few things are as annoying as having to hope that the hitscans on the team will do their job, and with Supports now having a way to fight back with Illari, it’s time for Tanks to finally get the same treatment.
Marvel Rivals’ Thing Overhaul Should Be a Wakeup Call
Hopefully, Blizzard will take note of the positive reception toMarvel Rivals’ anti-air Thing ability and ranged Vanguard plans, using its competition as motivation to address the Tank community’s longest-running complaint. A Tank with a highly accurate railgun of sorts could be one option, while another would be anewOverwatch 2herothat locks on to flyers just like The Thing will soon be able to do inMarvel Rivals. Alternatively, existing heroes could be reworked. Perhaps the damage on Winston’s charged shot could be significantly increased, or Sigma’s Hyperspheres could do more damage to a target the further away he is from them. At this point, even a hitscan Tank with an assault rifle would be welcome, so long as the issue is finally addressed in a way that goes beyond band-aids and half-measures.
