Every hero shooter has characters players loathe to fight against. Marvel Rivals is no exception. Jeff the Land Shark has become an early love-to-hate hero because he literally eats his opponents (and allies) and then spits them off the map. I personally hate to see Hawkeye coming because I know his arrows will find their way right between my eyes, even when I’m in flight as Star-Lord. But Iron Fist has emerged as a surprise pest, even for characters you’d think would be a good counter for him.
As the name implies, Lin “Iron Fist” Lie is a mostly melee-focused character but is a force to be reckoned with even for long-range or flight-based heroes. He’s able to quickly rush down squishy heroes and deliver enough punches and kicks to take out the opposing support, leaving the entire enemy team to quickly fall without heals to back them up. That’s what most melee-based Marvel Rivals heroes are meant to do, but Iron Fist has survivability and mobility that makes him both a nightmare to kill at close range, and a tough enemy to keep at a distance.
Iron Fist becomes especially bothersome when he uses his Living Chi ultimate, which boosts his damage, speed, and range, making it impossible to escape his barrage of punches and kicks. He’s now activating the fight or flight mode for all the support players in the game. Several of the damage-dealing Duelist characters have trouble with him, too. Hilariously enough, his dash abilities give him enough air time that he can nip at the heels of Iron Man as he’s flying away. Some are calling for a patch. I hope he stays busted. Fuck ‘em up, Lin.
Notably, he has a tougher time brawling with the tanky Vanguard heroes like Captain America or Thor, but if your goal is to knock the foundation out from under the enemy team, Iron Fist is good at chasing down and picking off weaker targets. Any good Vanguard who is protecting their team can counter him, but there are plenty of bad Vanguards out there who leave the healers on their teams eating knuckle sandwiches.
Marvel Rivals is still only a few weeks old, and players are still trying to sort out what is a skill issue and what is an actual balance “problem.” Personally, I hope the game doesn’t end up sanded down into a competitive-driven game so concerned with balance that it becomes less fun for the majority of its player base. Only time will tell how NetEase chooses to approach balance changes in the coming months.
