If there’s one gripe that I’ve had with Marvel Rivals since its launch, it’s that everything is overtuned, seemingly intentionally by NetEase. High DPS means you need high, consistent healing to counteract it. If you’re not bursting an enemy down in a nanosecond, chances are they’ll get to cover and be back to full health faster than you can say “bullshit”. And nothing has been worse than almost every Strategist’s ultimate being a straightforward no one dies for ten whole seconds.
Emma Frost’s ultimate in Season 2 was a step forward in preventing these clutch, cheap-feeling stalls, but Blade takes it to the next level: anti-healing, a power that once given can never be undone, as Overwatch has taught us in the past.
I’ve been looking forward to Blade ever since he was leaked before the game even launched, but I was hoping he’d be a Vanguard: NetEase, we don’t need any more Duelists for a while, ok? Nevertheless, after putting him to the test in the Marvel Rivals Season 3.5 preview build, he feels like a necessary addition to the roster.
Being half-human, half-vampire, Blade brings both a gun and a vampiric sword to the battlefield, and you’re able to swap between the two on the fly. This makes Blade a remarkably flexible DPS, able to poke from a distance (including at flying targets) or get stuck in with his Ancestral Sword. Oddly, he felt quite similar to Winter Soldier, where you’re able to duke it out no matter the range or the opponent you’re fighting.
It’s not as simple as just picking the correct weapon for whatever range you’re at, though, as your equipped weapon actually affects Blade’s “main” ability, Daywalker Dash. If you’re holding your gun, you’ll finish the dash off with a quick shot that applies a healing reduction effect to the targets. If using your sword, you’ll instead deliver a cleaving strike that inflicts a slow. In other words, Blade has an answer for everything.
If you’re fighting a Wolverine, especially one benefiting from Phoenix’s team-up, then reducing their healing can help you put them in the grave. However, say you’re fighting a Captain America or Black Panther, then slashing them with your sword can slow them down so your team can pile on. It’s incredibly fun figuring out which one you should use at any given moment. Hell, you could even use both since this ability has two charges, though you’d then lose your ability to escape.
This leads me into Blade’s Bloodline Awakening and Scarlet Shroud abilities. As soon as I heard that Blade would be getting an ability that gave him lifesteal, I was worried it would be busted, just like Wolverine’s new team-up—and much of the other healing in the game, if we’re being honest. It’s refreshing to see some restraint here, with Bloodline Awakening also reducing the healing Blade can receive from allies when it’s active to avoid creating a bullet sponge.
Much like his block, Scarlet Shroud—which reduces damage taken and the cooldown of Daywalker Dash—this self-healing isn’t going to save you in a pinch and immediately UNO–reverse your limping healthbar. He’s scrappy, but Blade’s intended to be played alongside the rest of the team—he’s not a rogue dive hero like Iron Fist or Spider-Man—so it’s more a way to relieve pressure on your supports. If you’re not careful, you’ll absolutely be blasted in no time, making Blade feel like a skilful character that rewards you for great game sense and cooldown awareness.
While Daywalker Dash’s healing reduction is a welcome counter to bloated healing, it’s his Thousand-Fold Slash ultimate that really brings the heat. This ability deals massive damage in a relatively large radius, but more importantly, it also reduces the healing enemies hit can receive. What this means is you can dash into something like Invisible Woman’s ultimate and hit the off switch, shutting her down with little trouble. Of course, he’s not the only counter to ultimates like this—Iron Man and Scarlet Witch drop nukes—but it’s certainly a little easier to pull off.
With the current state of the meta, underpinned by NetEase’s apparent love for high burst healing and invincibility ultimates, Blade’s focus on anti-healing is a welcome addition. Most of all, though, I’m glad that this kind of potential power comes alongside a moderately high skill floor. As we’ve seen in Overwatch in the past, though, solving a fundamental balance issue with anti-healing is a band-aid that can quickly spiral to become a balancing nightmare of its own. It’s safe to say I’m also extremely cautious of what comes next.
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