How To Counter Groot Hero In Marvel Rivals

At first glance, Groot may seem like a harmless and friendly tree, but in Marvel Rivals, he is a tough, immovable Vanguard that thrives on absorbing damage and pushing his team forward. His kit is built to reinforce defenses, control space, and sustain through fights, making him a difficult frontline presence to take down.

Groot becomes even more durable when teaming up with Rocket Raccoon or Jeff the Land Shark, gaining an almost endless supply of HP. While his abilities are simple and self-sufficient, a skilled Groot player can use his walls creatively—not just for defense, but also for blocking enemies, creating escape routes, and trapping opponents.

Because of this, knowing how to counter Groot is crucial if you want to break through his defenses and prevent him from dominating objectives. In this guide, we’ll go over the best strategies and hero picks to shut down Groot, so let’s get started!

How to Counter Groot In Marvel Rivals

With 800 HP, Groot is one of the tankiest Vanguards in Marvel Rivals, making him a formidable frontline presence. While he doesn’t generate bonus health as easily as Thor or Venom, his Ironwood Wall is a crucial ability that allows him to block chokepoints, cut off healers, and isolate enemies for easy eliminations.

Groot’s true offensive power comes from Thornlash Wall, one of his most lethal abilities. When activated, these walls strike nearby enemies whenever Groot or his teammates land attacks, making them a huge source of damage. The more walls he places, the higher the damage output, meaning that if Groot manages to trap you, it only takes a few hits to eliminate even full-health Strategists and Duelists.

To effectively counter Groot, you need to focus on destroying his walls instead of trying to dodge or escape them. By breaking Ironwood Wall and Thornlash Wall, you:
• Remove Groot’s passive buffs, weakening both his attack and defense bonuses.
• Prevent him from isolating teammates, which stops him from securing easy kills on your Strategists.
• Deny him his biggest source of damage, making him far less threatening in fights.

By focusing on wall destruction, you neutralize Groot’s main strengths, forcing him into a less effective, purely defensive role. This denies him the ability to dictate engagements and keeps your team from getting trapped in his lethal zone control.

Countering Groot as a Strategist

As a frontline Vanguard, Groot often targets Strategists, either by directly attacking them or isolating them with his walls. Since most Strategists have superior mobility, you can use this advantage to avoid being trapped and stay connected with your team.

Your primary focus should be to prevent Groot from boxing you in by:
• Staying near teammates to reduce the chances of being isolated.
• Destroying any walls he places to cut off his defensive and offensive boosts.
• Using abilities that disrupt his ability to set up barricades.

Certain Strategists excel at countering Groot by applying crowd control or knockback effects to disrupt his positioning:
• Luna Snow’s Absolute Zero can freeze Groot in place, making it harder for him to reposition or follow up with wall-based attacks.
• Mantis’ Slumbering Spore is another great tool, as it puts Groot to sleep, stopping him from immediately placing more barriers.
• Invisible Woman’s Force Physics can push Groot away from his walls, breaking his formation and denying him control of chokepoints.

While Groot doesn’t have a direct counterpick among Strategists, Mantis and Jeff the Land Shark are among the best options for dealing with him. They are difficult for Groot to trap, and both have strong enough damage output to tear down his Ironwood and Thornlash walls consistently.

By maintaining mobility, breaking his walls, and using abilities to keep him off balance, Strategists can limit Groot’s impact and prevent him from controlling the battlefield.

Countering Groot as a Vanguard

Groot is a dominant force in both offense and defense when his walls are active, but once they’re destroyed, he becomes far more vulnerable—especially against melee-oriented Vanguards. Venom, Captain America, and Hulk are excellent picks against him in one-on-one fights, as they can continuously chip away at his HP while limiting his escape options.

Since shields and low-damage ranged attacks aren’t as effective, using high-damage melee Vanguards is the best way to keep him under pressure. However, if you prefer a more defensive counter, Magneto is an excellent pick, as his Metal and Iron Bulwark abilities completely negate Groot’s damage, allowing you to focus entirely on breaking down his walls before dealing with him directly.

Key Strategy for Vanguards Against Groot
1. Prioritize wall destruction – Groot’s strength comes from his Ironwood and Thornlash Walls, so having an ally focus on breaking them will drastically reduce his effectiveness.
2. Apply constant pressure – As a Vanguard, your job is to force Groot into fights, keeping him occupied while your team eliminates his walls. If he can’t freely place barricades, his ability to control the battlefield is severely weakened.
3. Deny his escape routes – While Groot lacks mobility, he will often use his walls as cover to disengage. Blocking his escape and forcing him into extended fights prevents him from resetting and regaining control.

By teaming up to break his defenses, maintaining pressure, and preventing him from using his walls to reposition, Vanguards can effectively shut down Groot and limit his impact in fights.

Countering Groot as a Duelist

As a Duelist, one of the biggest challenges when fighting Groot is dealing with his walls. He often places barriers to block incoming shots from ranged heroes or traps melee opponents to maximize his damage output. If you’re a close-range fighter, it’s crucial to learn his animations and predict when he’s about to summon a wall—this will give you just enough time to escape before getting boxed in.

Best Duelists Against Groot
• Wolverine is the best Duelist counter to Groot, thanks to his percentage-based damage. Even with 800 HP, Groot won’t last long against Wolverine’s high-sustain melee attacks. The key to playing against Groot as Wolverine is to wait for an opportunity when he isn’t protected by a wall, then use Feral Leap to dive in and unleash a relentless flurry of strikes before he has time to react.
• High fire-rate ranged Duelists are also effective against Groot, as they can tear down his walls before he can use them effectively. While Namor and Hela struggle due to their slower attack speed, Moon Knight excels in this matchup. By placing his Ankhs near Groot’s walls, he can destroy them quickly and prevent Groot from using them for defense or extra damage.

Key Strategies for Duelists Against Groot
1. Anticipate wall placements – If you’re a melee Duelist, pay close attention to Groot’s animations and be ready to dodge or reposition before he blocks you in.
2. Use burst damage and mobility – Wolverine and other high-damage Duelists should look for openings to engage before Groot has time to set up his defenses.
3. Prioritize wall destruction – Fast-firing ranged Duelists like Moon Knight should focus on breaking Groot’s walls quickly to limit his survivability and damage potential.

By playing aggressively, timing your engages carefully, and destroying his barriers, Duelists can keep Groot from controlling fights and take him down before he becomes a problem.

Conclusion

Groot is one of the toughest Vanguards in Marvel Rivals, capable of absorbing massive amounts of damage, blocking off enemies with his walls, and supporting his team with area control. However, while he excels at creating barriers and limiting movement, he has clear weaknesses that the right heroes can exploit.

Whether you’re a Strategist freezing him in place, a Vanguard breaking through his defenses, or a Duelist focusing on destroying his walls, there are plenty of ways to shut Groot down before he can take over the battlefield. His biggest strength lies in his wall-based abilities, so by prioritizing wall destruction, keeping him from isolating key teammates, and pressuring him before he sets up, you can limit his effectiveness and force him into an unfavorable fight.

By choosing the right counters and playing aggressively when his walls are down, your team can break through Groot’s defenses and prevent him from controlling the objective, ensuring that he doesn’t become an unstoppable force in battle.