Name the enemy shape before you name a hero
You beat a team by its shape, not its names. A lobby of Magneto plus Doctor Strange reads as “double shield” whether the rest are Hela or Hawkeye; the counter is the same either way. Read the comp, then apply the counter below.
For the self-check on your own draft, the comp builder does the reverse. For per-hero swaps, the counter picker answers a specific enemy lock.
Double-shield shell
Two Vanguards holding a corner with ranged Duelists behind them.
- Counter: high-burst Duelists who pierce or shoot over shields — Hela, Hawkeye, Iron Man. Phoenix and Namor output around walls as well.
- Why: the shield blocks one direction. Damage that arrives from above or through it removes the frontline’s protection, and the ranged Duelists behind lose their cover.
- Do not: trade shots into the barrier. You lose that exchange every time.
Dive
Three or more mobile Duelists with a Strategist who follows the engage.
- Counter: peel-heavy Strategists and crowd-control Vanguards — Mantis, Scarlet Witch, Thor. Group your backline so a diver crosses two players before it gets value.
- Why: dive wins by deleting one support before the team reacts. Held crowd control on the arrival, plus discipline to let the overextended diver die, breaks the pattern.
- Do not: chase the diver. Punish it on the way out, not the way in.
Poke
Ranged Duelists who win by controlling lanes and out-trading from distance.
- Counter: close the distance — Spider-Man, Black Panther reach a poke backline that needs room. If you cannot dive, hold cover and force the fight into range where poke loses its edge.
- Why: poke needs space to operate. Remove the space and the damage stops landing.
- Do not: stand in the open trading — that is exactly the fight poke wants.
Sustain / triple support
Three Strategists with one or two Duelists.
- Counter: burst that kills a support before healing lands. Two Duelists and one Vanguard cannot punish a mistake the way three Duelists can, so a triple-support team that loses a support first is just a five-hero team.
- Why: the sustain wall only matters if the fight lasts. End it fast on one target and the healing math inverts.
- Do not: mirror with more sustain. Long fights are exactly what triple support wants.
If-then summary
- Enemy shows two Vanguards + shields → pick burst that ignores cover.
- Enemy shows three mobile Duelists → pick peel and crowd control, group up.
- Enemy shows lane-control ranged → pick dive or force close range.
- Enemy shows three Strategists → pick burst, focus one support.
These shapes and their counters are also covered in the team composition guide, which names the comps you will meet and links back here for the detailed counters.