Human Torch and The Thing have just touched down in Marvel Rivals, fully completing its Fantastic Four collection, but a new team-up ability between Johnny Storm and Storm Storm has me absolutely shaking to join a ranked match.
Season one, part two just dropped for all players, making good on the developer's promise to add new characters every month and a half with Duelist Human Torch (AKA Johnny Storm) and Vanguard The Thing (AKA Mr. Clobberin' Time) now part of the Marvel Rivals characters lineup.
Johnny seems like a pretty fun aerial hero, able to fly around the map like Iron Man and blast fireballs with his primary fire. Of course, the rest of his moveset is also themed around pyromancy. He can shoot a massive fiery blob that explodes and damages enemies around its blast radius, he can do a superhero landing onto the ground to hurt a nearby enemy, he can create static fire tornadoes, and, in one of the most creative moves in the entire game, he can link four torches together to create a steaming square that'll damage any enemies inside it. (A nightmare for domination matches that dip into overtime.)
- Marvel Rivals confirms The Thing and Human Torch release date, but many players are too frustrated with ranks resetting twice every season to care
- New Marvel Rivals balance patch only tweaks "a handful of heroes" to maintain the "rich diversity" of the shooter's current strategies, but it also includes a much-needed buff for Human Torch
It's those fiery tornadoes that promise to turn Storm into even more of a flying nightmare, too, though. You see, Storm's ultimate ability, Omega Hurricane, summons a huge gust of wind around the X-Men icon, and when you then bump into a friendly fire tornado leftover from a Human Torch, well, it swells into a massive, hellish hurricane and that can even out damage the healing that any strategist can dish out.
I'm not the only one who's shaking at their desks, either, but competitive players at Diamond rank and above can take advantage of the handy hero ban feature, at least, and banish one of the two troublemakers.
marvelrivals from r/marvelrivals/comments/1iu4jer/auto_hero_ban_storm_just_got_another_reason
In fairness, the Storm and Storm combo shouldn't penetrate the meta too much. Building a team around two flying damage-dealers is a pretty big commitment, so I don't think the game's competitive balance will be shaken dramatically, especially after a few weeks when Human Torch and The Thing seem like old news.
That aside, I kind of love how Marvel Rivals is incorporating some of the elemental combos I miss so much from magic-slinging battle royale Spellbreak (RIP). More, please!
