Glossary

The hero whose presence unlocks a team-up for everyone else. Hulk anchors Gamma Charge for Iron Man / Wolverine.

Area of Effect. Damage or healing that hits everyone in a zone. Hela's ult, Mantis's Soul Resonance.

Where your supports and ranged DPS sit. Protecting it is the Strategist's main job.

Removing a hero from the pool before draft starts. Diamond+ comp queue bans 4-6 heroes.

A friend (or paid stranger) carrying you to a rank you don't deserve. Detected and punished.

Comp that wins by grouping up and grinding sustained fights. Magneto + Doctor Strange + dual healers.

Strengthening a hero in a patch. Increases their tier placement.

Doing a lot of damage in a very short window. One-shot or near-one-shot combos.

Crowd Control. Anything that stops an enemy from playing the game: stuns, sleeps, knockbacks, slows, banishes.

Gaining ranks. The reason you're here.

Team composition. The six heroes you've drafted. Good comp beats good mechanics most days.

Swapping to a hero that hard-beats the enemy lineup. The whole reason this site has a /counters page.

Geometry that blocks line of sight. Use cover between fights, leave cover to swing in.

Losing rank points for not playing. Marvel Rivals decays in Grandmaster+ after inactivity.

Breaking off a losing fight. Calling "back" before the team feeds. Hard skill, often saves matches.

Jumping the enemy backline (supports + snipers) instead of fighting the tanks first. Spider-Man, Magik, Wolverine specialize in dive.

Team built around two divers and the enablers to set them up. Loses to peel-heavy brawl.

Generic term for your skill rating. Loosely interchangeable with MMR.

The act of starting a fight. Comp wins on a good engage and loses on a bad one.

Whoever drafts first. In Marvel Rivals it's by random rotation, not by side.

Talking smack to teammates in chat. Banned, demoralizing, never works.

Approaching the enemy from a side angle they aren't watching. Spider-Man and Black Widow flank for a living.

Player who plays multiple roles competently. Trade gold against fill-only players.

The space your Vanguards hold to keep enemies off your supports. Lose the frontline, lose the fight.

Good Game. Standard end-of-match courtesy. "GG WP" = good game well played.

Good Game, Well Played. The default polite endgame message.

Good Luck Have Fun. Pre-match courtesy in pro play.

A shot that hits the enemy's head hitbox, doing bonus damage. Hawkeye and Hela live on headshots.

Slang for a support who only heals and never does damage. Usually a complaint, since good supports do both.

Position above the enemy. Hitscan damage from high ground wins almost every duel.

Weapons that hit instantly when you click (no projectile travel). Hawkeye's aim, Black Widow, Hela.

Forces an enemy to move involuntarily. Devastating off ledges. Storm's tornado, Cap's Liberty Rush.

Heal yourself when you damage enemies. Blade and Wolverine's bread and butter.

Confirming your hero pick in champ select. "Don't lock in Iron Man on payload, lock the Magneto."

Vanguard whose job is to hold barrier uptime so the team can fight from cover. Magneto, Doctor Strange.

The set of heroes, comps, and strategies that are currently optimal. Shifts with every balance patch.

Match-Making Rating. The hidden number that decides what rank you climb to. Distinct from displayed rank.

Weakening a hero in a patch. Sends a hero down the tier list.

Second Vanguard pick that plays for picks and disruption rather than holding shield. Venom, Captain America.

Player who only mains one hero. Effective if the meta likes that hero, throwing if not.

A balance update that changes hero numbers, fixes bugs, or adds content. Marvel Rivals patches every ~3 weeks.

Protecting your backline by intercepting a diver. "I'll peel Spider-Man off Mantis."

Killing one enemy before the team fight starts. Forces the enemy into a 5v6 ultimately.

Dedicating one healer to babysitting one carry. "Mantis is pocketing the Hela."

Trading damage from range to break shields and force the enemy off the point before committing.

Weapons that fire a travel-time projectile. Have to lead the target. Iron Man, Storm, Punisher.

The top of the tier list. "Pick or ban" heroes. The current meta defines itself by who's S.

A high-rank player on a low-rank account. Inflates queue times and ruins matches.

Damage that spills onto enemies near the primary target. Iron Man's Unibeam, Punisher's grenade.

Locks an enemy in place, unable to act. Cap's shield bash, Black Widow's electroshock.

Self-healing or damage mitigation that keeps you alive in extended fights. Wolverine, Venom, Cloak & Dagger.

When two heroes work better together than alone. Either an explicit team-up or just complementary kits.

Marvel Rivals's signature mechanic. Specific hero pairs unlock new abilities when both are on the same team.

Deliberately losing a game. Bannable. Also used loosely for any obviously bad play.

When losing one game makes you play worse the next. The leading cause of rank decay.

Exchanging damage with an enemy. Win the trade = you do more or take less.

Short for ultimate ability. The big Q-button move that costs charge to use. Most heroes ult once per fight at best.

The energy bar that fills as you deal damage, take damage, or heal. Fills your ultimate.

Cheating in ranked by intentionally losing to a partner so they gain MMR. Bannable.

Killing the entire enemy team. Usually means free objective ground.