WithMarvel RivalsSeason 3, many characters are gaining new strengths, from adjustments to their existing skills to new abilities granted by other heroes on their team. The inclusion of two new Team-Up abilities has made one character arguably stronger than they’ve ever been, ensuring their spot on many"meta"Season 3 team comps. However, this character has an equal chance of getting banned almost every match.
The third season ofMarvel Rivalsintroduces a massive balance update when it releases on June 13, 2025. Some of the game’s roster will be gettingvarious buffs and nerfs in Season 3, impacting which heroes will be used the most during matches, both in competitive matches and casual modes. At the same time,two Team-Up abilities will be removed, limiting what character synergies are available compared to past seasons.
Wolverine’s New Team-Up Makes Him Stronger Than Ever Before
Primal Flame Adds Fire To An Already Powerful Ability
Despite the removal of certain Team-Ups,one of the new Team-Ups gives Wolverine new properties on an existing ability- Feral Leap. Normally, Wolverine’s Feral Leap is one of the mutant’s best skills already, causing the X-Men character to dive forward, capturing enemies near him. A captured enemy is helpless, being dragged to wherever Wolverine takes them before being stunned for a short time.
Wolverine’s Feral Leap allows him to unleash a series of fast slashes after it concludes, allowing him to build up his unique resource called Berserker Rage. When Berserker Rage increases, Wolverine does much more damage with each of his attacks.
Through his new Team-Up, Wolverine’s Feral Leap becomes an even deadlier tool.When paired with the Phoenix on the same team, Wolverine gains the Primal Flame Team-Up, which adds a flaming aura to his Feral Leap. When Wolverine uses Feral Leap during thisTeam-Up inMarvel Rivals, a small explosion of fire erupts from where he lands, burning nearby enemies to deal damage over time.
While this continuous fire damage doesn’t last too long, it does tick away at an enemy’s health, making it easier for Wolverine and his teammates to eliminate them. That being said,Wolverine also gains lifesteal on all his attacks for a short time after using Feral Leapwhen this Team-Up is used. Every bit of damage Wolverine deals converts into healing, allowing Logan to survive battles for much longer.
Lifesteal Lets Wolverine Outlive Even Ultimate Attacks
Healing Claws Grant Far More Endurance Than You’d Expect
The fire from Feral Leap gives it more damage, but the best part of Wolverine’s new Team-Up is the regenerative lifesteal by a country mile.As long as Wolverine keeps hitting a target after a Primal Flame-enhanced Feral Leap, he can get back to full health easilyduring a fight. When combined with his healing factor and damage-reduction ability, this makes Wolverine a character with insane survivability.
Under the right conditions, this lifesteal even allows Wolverine tocounter the Ultimate abilities of some characters. While it won’t prevent Wolverine from living through an Iron Man’s Maximum Pulse, he can easily use lifesteal to endure Ultimates that deal high damage over time. For example, Star-Lord’s bursts of lock-on shots need to reload, giving Wolverine enough time to use lifesteal to regain the health taken by Star-Lord’s Ultimate.
The lifesteal and AoE burning properties of Feral Leap are not a separate ability from Wolverine’s normal moves. Unlike other Team-Ups, which add a new ability with a separate cooldown, Wolverine can use his Team-Up with Phoenix every time Feral Leap recovers from its normal cooldown.
As long as Wolverine has a target for Feral Leap while the Team-Up is active, he’ll be extremely hard to kill, even when enemy teams use their strongest tools. If Wolverine also has his damage reduction up along with Primal Flame’s lifesteal, I anticipate it will take at least two to three enemy characters working together to take him down.
Vanguard Players Will Want To Ban Wolverine In Nearly Every Season 3 Competitive Match
A Tank Shredder With Incredible Survivability Will Terrorize Games
For those who mainVanguard characters inMarvel Rivalslike myself, Wolverine is already a nightmare to play against in matches due to his higher damage output against heroes with higher health.Vanguard players all have at least one horror story involving Wolverine using Feral Leap to"kidnap"them, as the berserker hero drags them into an enemy team to have their health shredded like paper.
When Wolverine has a Phoenix on his team, his aggressive prowess against Vanguards will make him the bane of tanks on any team. As a result,I don’t see a future where Wolverine isn’t banned often in Competitive matches, similar to earlier Seasons. While characters like Emma Frost and The Thing have tools that partially counter Wolverine, having to consistently pick those two Vanguards for a team comp is not always ideal.
Wolverine’s ability to lifesteal and deal AoE damage through Feral Leap will likely be the centerpiece of a team trying to break through an enemy group’s sturdiest characters. Although Season 2 seemed to forget Wolverine in favor of a flying meta, it seems thatMarvel RivalsSeason 3 will bring Logan back in a big way through this new Team-Up, which is sure to put him back to getting banned immediately.
