How to Counter Venom Hero In Marvel Rivals

In Marvel Rivals, Vanguards come in different archetypes, including anchors, frontliners, and dive-focused brawlers. Venom falls into the latter category, using his agility and brute strength to swing into the enemy backline, overwhelming opponents with his raw durability and aggressive playstyle. While not the most commonly picked Vanguard, Venom can soak up massive amounts of damage and ensure his team maintains control over objectives.

Beyond his tremendous defense, Venom is also a lethal offensive force. His tendril-based primary fire delivers powerful strikes, and when combined with his movement-restricting grab, escaping his grasp becomes incredibly difficult. However, despite his imposing presence, Venom is far from invincible. With the right strategies and counterpicks, you can exploit his weaknesses, limit his effectiveness, and prevent him from dominating fights. In this guide, we’ll cover the best ways to shut down Venom and take control of the battle.

How to Counter Venom In Marvel Rivals

Venom thrives on aggressive, high-impact dives, using his AoE damage and crowd control to disrupt teams and eliminate key targets quickly. His Frenzied Arrival ability is particularly deadly for Strategists, as it allows him to dive into the backline, grab a target, and follow up with devastating melee attacks for an easy kill.

His Ultimate Ability is another major threat, dealing damage equal to 50% of a target’s health, plus an extra 50 points on impact, making it extremely difficult to survive if caught at low health. However, the biggest strength in Venom’s kit is his Symbiote Resistance passive, which grants him 100 bonus HP and converts 120% of lost health into additional bonus HP, effectively making him tankier the lower his health gets. With an already massive 800 base HP, this ability makes him incredibly hard to take down if left unchecked.

To counter Venom effectively, you need to attack from range and isolate him from his healers. His survivability skyrockets when paired with a strong support, making it crucial to cut off his healing sources early and force him to burn his bonus health ability sooner rather than later. Since Venom relies heavily on chip damage over time, a team with sustained healing from a Strategist can outlast his pressure, forcing him into repeated retreat cycles. If you continuously apply pressure and deny him opportunities to land easy picks, he’ll eventually be forced to disengage, weakening his overall presence in fights.

Countering Venom as a Strategist

As a Strategist, you’re one of Venom’s primary targets, but while you lack the durability to withstand his onslaught, you do have mobility and utility tools that can help you escape and outmaneuver him. Abilities like Luna Snow’s Absolute Zero, Mantis’ Slumbering Spore, and Rocket Raccoon’s Jetpack Dash provide quick getaways, making it harder for Venom to lock you down and secure a kill.

Among all the Strategists, Mantis is one of the best counterpicks to Venom. Her Slumbering Spore ability not only serves as an escape tool but also denies Venom the ability to chase or reposition, preventing him from capitalizing on his dive-heavy playstyle. Additionally, Mantis has one of the highest DPS outputs among Strategists, allowing her to whittle down Venom from a distance while continuously creating space with her rapid movement.

That said, the safest way to avoid being an easy target is to stick with your team and provide support from a distance. While Venom excels at dealing area damage, he struggles to handle multiple opponents at once, meaning that staying grouped forces him into tougher engagements where he can’t easily single out a target. By playing smart, maintaining distance, and using your utility to disrupt his aggression, you can survive Venom’s attacks and help your team shut him down before he becomes a major threat.

Countering Venom as a Vanguard

Only a handful of Vanguards can consistently take on Venom in a direct fight, as his high durability and aggressive dive-focused playstyle make him difficult to handle. The best way to counter him is with Vanguards that can set traps, control movement, or outlast his relentless attacks.

Peni Parker is one of the strongest counters to Venom, thanks to her Spider-Nest and trap-based playstyle. By placing mines and drones around herself, she can bait Venom into diving in, only to snare him instantly and trigger massive damage from her deployed explosives. Since Venom relies on getting in close for his attacks, Peni’s setup allows her to control his approach and punish his aggression heavily.

Groot is another excellent counter, primarily due to Venom’s vulnerability to Thornslash Walls. Since Venom lacks strong escape tools, Groot can trap him inside the walls, allowing the vines to chip away at his health. With his own massive HP pool rivaling Venom’s, Groot can survive a prolonged brawl while steadily wearing the symbiote down.

While not as dominant in the matchup, other melee and ranged Vanguards can still stall or negate Venom’s aggression. Hulk and Magneto, for example, can use Indestructible Guard and Metal Bulwark to absorb Venom’s attacks and outlast his burst damage. Magneto, in particular, can take advantage of his ranged attacks to create space, making it harder for Venom to land his melee combos.

By utilizing traps, movement control, and superior durability, Vanguards can limit Venom’s ability to dive effectively, forcing him into disadvantageous fights where he can be easily countered and eliminated.

Countering Venom as a Duelist

Venom’s large hitbox and sluggish movement make him vulnerable to many Duelists, especially those who can outmaneuver him in melee combat or snipe him from a distance. His lack of agility and reliance on close-range attacks leave him open to fast-moving fighters and airborne threats, making certain Duelists particularly effective at shutting him down.

Wolverine remains the strongest counter, living up to his reputation as a tank shredder. His Feral Leap allows him to isolate Venom, and once in range, he can unleash a relentless flurry of slashes that rip through Venom’s defenses. Since Wolverine’s damage is percentage-based, it allows him to cut through Venom’s massive health pool with ease. The best way to maximize this advantage is by attacking after Venom exhausts his swing, leaving him with no immediate escape option.

Other melee-focused Duelists like Iron Fist, Black Panther, and Magik can also counter Venom effectively by using their superior mobility to dodge his attacks and strike back before he can retaliate. However, Wolverine’s raw damage output and sustain make him the most dangerous in this matchup.

For those who prefer fighting from a distance, high single-shot damage Duelists like Hela, Hawkeye, and Namor can snipe Venom from outside his effective range, making it difficult for him to engage without taking significant damage first. However, if you’re looking for both safety and consistent damage, Iron Man and Storm are excellent choices. Their ability to take the fight to the skies makes them nearly untouchable, as Venom’s kit lacks any tools to effectively reach airborne opponents.

By capitalizing on Venom’s sluggish movement, targeting his massive hitbox, and exploiting his weakness to aerial and ranged combat, Duelists can effectively neutralize his impact and prevent him from dominating the battlefield.

Conclusion

Venom may be a durable, high-impact Vanguard with massive health and deadly close-range attacks, but he has clear weaknesses that the right strategies can exploit. His slow movement, large hitbox, and reliance on diving into fights make him vulnerable to ranged heroes, high-mobility Duelists, and crowd control effects. Whether you’re a Strategist escaping his grasp, a Vanguard setting traps to contain him, or a Duelist taking advantage of his limited agility, the key to countering Venom is keeping him at a distance, cutting off his healing, and forcing him into disadvantageous engagements. By isolating him from his support, pressuring him before he can sustain himself, and denying him easy targets, you can neutralize Venom’s threat and prevent him from overwhelming your team.