Venom is arguably one of the strongest characters in Marvel Rivals. Being a Vanguard, he boasts a high health pool. Due to his abilities allowing him to self-heal while inflicting serious damage at close quarters, Venom is a menace to his enemies.
Because of the attributes mentioned above, it’s essential to come up with counter strategies that can effectively manage to shut Venom down, or at least slow him for easier takedowns. Fortunately, while Venom shines at close combat, he becomes weak against heroes who can keep him at a distance, stun or outright disable him.
Marvel Rival’s roster features some characters who have the perfect abilities to stop Venom. Let's take a look at them below.
How to Counter Venom in Marvel Rivals
To successfully stop Venom from spreading carnage across the map, players must choose characters that can keep him at a distance, prevent him from healing, or slow him down. Below’s a list of heroes who do either of the above-mentioned.
Iron Man (Duelist)
Venom shines on close-range encounters. He also can dive into characters. Iron Man stands out as one of the best counters to him in Marvel Rivals. Through the ability to stay airborne, Stark ensures that he’s keeping Venom at a distance while being able to deal significant damage to him.
Additionally, his abilities also enhance his damage in some cases. For instance, activating the Armor Overdrive allows Iron Man’s Repulsor Blast and Unibeam to deal significant damage to Venom, making it difficult for the Symbiote to survive even with his healing abilities.
In cases where Venom does get the drop on Stark, he can simply activate Hyper Velocity, allowing him to quickly enhance his mobility and escape Venom’s deadly combos. Additionally, he also ends up depleting the Symbiote’s abilities, making it easier for teammates to push him.
Remember, the key to countering Venom with Iron Man is to stay airborne since the former character’s semi-long range doesn’t allow him to reach high peaks efficiently.
Star-Lord (Duelist)
As a Vanguard, you’ll see Venom mostly on the front lines, relying on his healing alongside that of his Strategists’. To counter that efficiently, Star-Lord is a commendable pick.
Through his Blaster Barrage, Star-Lord can greatly increase the damage output on Venom, ensuring he doesn’t get the chance to make gaps and escape, or wreak havoc across the map. Additionally, it’s also detrimental for the healers supporting him from the backline.
Another great advantage of choosing Star-Lord is his mobility. It can help you in two cases. First, when Venom’s got the drop on you and escaping is a necessity, players can use Star’s Rocket Propulsion ability to quickly retreat. Second, to reposition. In some cases, it’s not wise to go head-on with your enemies, that’s when you should reposition and look for clever angles.
As a bonus, Star-Lord is beginner-friendly, mastering him would be easier compared to other characters in that case.
The Punisher (Duelist)
The Punisher is another beginner-friendly Duelist who shines due to his deadly damage output for his enemies. While Venom is a tough opponent to take down due to his healthy pool and the abilities mentioned above, The Punisher can still tackle him for two reasons.
Firstly, because of the massive amount of damage he can deal to his opponents. Secondly, due to his turret, otherwise known as the Culling Turret, which can act as a supporting gun to deal additional damage to Venom.
When paired with characters like Rocket, it’s even more difficult to take down The Punisher due to the significant buff added to his arsenal of weapons.
Like previous characters, Punisher also has abilities that allow him to escape Venom in case he manages to counter him. Through his Grappling Hook, The Punisher can place zip lines across the map, allowing him to not only escape in case of trouble but also maintain advantageous positions.
Wolverine (Duelist)
Wolverine goes against the list of counters we’ve mentioned against Venom, primarily because he deals in close-range combat. That being said, Logan has healing abilities alongside deadly damage output, making him a commendable opponent against Venom.
When in the battle against the Symbiote, Wolverine can use devastating combos like the Feral Leap and Vicious Rampage to rapidly deplete Venom’s health even before he finds the gap to recover. Additionally, the character's mobility allows him to easily escape Venom.
One of the most significant advantages to Wolverine is the ability to get stronger as he takes in more damage. This makes Venom dig his own grave if he keeps on damaging Logan. Additionally, this can also be used as bait to further enhance your character against the Symbiote. Since you have healing abilities and can absorb Venom’s damage up to some extent, you can bait him into dealing your damage to get stronger.
Peni Parker (Vanguard)
Peni Parker is one of the few Vanguards in Marvel Rivals who can go against Venom, and for good reason. Whilst she does not have direct healing abilities like the Symbiote, she has Bionic Spider Nest, allowing her to regenerate health over time. This allows Peni to negate some of the damage coming from Venom.
Additionally, she can also put Venom’s movement to a halt through her Cyber-Web Snare, making room for herself and her teammates to deal damage to the Symbiotic Vanguard.