Phoenix has arrived and looks to leave a blazing trail across Marvel Rivals‘ meta. With her kit’s particular blend of self-sustain and crowd control, she provides a fairly well-rounded package. Despite having no significant weaknesses to cover, there are key elements to her style of play that several characters can augment nicely, allowing a team to get the most bang out of the cosmic firebird.
Each of the following Marvel Rivals characters has strong cohesion with one of the core elements of Phoenix’s kit. This gives them a way to amplify what they look to do while also boosting Phoenix as well. This synergy will enable the characters to have a greater impact together than they would individually. And like in previous articles, I won’t be covering Phoenix’s team-up ability partner, Wolverine, as the benefits of playing them together should be obvious.
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4) Dr. Strange
The Sorcerer Supreme provides a great anchor for Phoenix to act from. While she has some short-range escape options, she largely hangs back and pelts enemies with her steady stream of attacks. Having Strange ahead of her makes it so that only the hard dive options can prove threatening, allowing her to focus on her target selection as she whittles down opponents’ health bars and generates sparks.
Having the Strange’s barrier will come in even handier when Phoenix unleashes Endsong Inferno. Having protection ready for her to return to after her ult ensures she can get right back into the fray. Also, having a shield of your own after Phoenix deprives enemies of all their defenses makes it even easier to finish off the opposing team.
3) Invisible Woman
Invisible Woman provides a complementary option for Phoenix, thanks to her kit’s crowd-control elements in Marvel Rivals. Psychic Vortex combined with Phoenix’s Telekinesis Burst can bring entire groups of enemies to a virtual halt. This can provide a considerable advantage, especially for teams with a large number of AOE options among them. This ability can also be paired in conjunction with Endsong Inferno, helping Phoenix catch as many enemies in her fiery talons as possible.
Everything said above is doubly true for Invisible Woman’s ultimate. The slow effects make it easy for Phoenix to either land hits to charge sparks or unleash her AOE abilities for maximum impact. These power combinations make Invisible Woman a fantastic ally for Phoenix.
2) Namor
Dive is a popular team composition in Marvel Rivals. While Phoenix’s mobility gives her some options for outmaneuvering her foes, she is likely to need help against a determined attack. Good thing for her; Namor is around to plant turrets to punish any would-be assailants. A couple of well-placed turrets should provide just enough additional damage/distraction for enemies to allow Phoenix to open some distance and potentially finish off the attacker’s remaining health.
Namor also brings some complementary crowd control in the form of his ultimate attack. A field of knocked-down opponents will prove easy pickings for Phoenix, especially if she has gone airborne, thanks to Dark Ascent. Picking off enemies with a bird’s eye view will be an easy way to wrap up a team fight.
1) Cloak and Dagger
Cloak’s Terror Cape loves friendly AOE abilities. With its function of increasing the damage taken by opponents, the more enemies taking damage, the better. Phoenix complements this outlook, providing ample opportunities for well-timed capes to ruin the opposing team’s day.
Dagger can also help Phoenix buff her self-sustain. Since Dagger projectiles have no max range, she will often have no trouble keeping behind Phoenix, who is likely to remain in the backfield herself. This is important because when Dagger activates her Light Wall, she’ll want Phoenix to be caught in it as it moves forward. The wall’s healing buff will increase the health gained from spark harvesting, making killing Phoenix an even tougher proposition.
While it’s still early, these characters stand out as strong choices to pair with Phoenix. The compliments their kits provide give them natural synergies that will aid the new DPS in either finishing off her targets or keeping herself alive.
Marvel Rivals is available to play now on PC, PlayStation 5, and Xbox Series X|S.
