Read the enemy comp in ten seconds
Look at three things before you pick. How many tanks, how many healers, and whether the damage heroes play at range or dive your back line.
That read tells you which fight is coming. Then pick the tool that answers it.
If they run a shield wall
Two Vanguards holding a corner with a healer behind them is a shield problem.
Shields cover one direction. Beat them with height, with a flank, or with damage that arrives from somewhere the barrier is not facing.
Answer with: Iron Man, Human Torch and Storm — free height — plus Hawkeye from any angle a staircase reaches. Doctor Strange’s portal bypasses the wall entirely.
Do not trade shots into the barrier. You lose that trade every time.
If they run dive
Dive means Spider-Man, Black Panther, Magik or Iron Fist landing on your back line.
Chasing a diver is the mistake. They want you to leave the corner.
Answer with: a Vanguard that stays home, plus a healer who can survive two seconds alone. Peni Parker’s traps and Namor’s summons punish a predictable landing.
Kill them on the exit, when their cooldowns are gone.
If they run two flying heroes
Iron Man, Human Torch and Storm force you to look up. A team that cannot look up loses the sky.
Answer with: hitscan range such as The Punisher or Black Widow, and dive heroes with vertical tools such as Spider-Man or Iron Fist.
A melee-only front line cannot touch them. That is the trap.
If they run a heal core
Two Strategists behind a tank creates a fight you cannot win by trading damage.
Healing has range and line of sight. Break either one.
Answer with: dive that lands behind the healers, or area denial that forces them out of position. Groot’s walls cut the heal line better than any damage.
If they run a single tank
One Vanguard is a clock. Kill it and the team has no front line.
Answer with: focused damage on the tank, plus a tool that stops the retreat. Ultimates that pull or lock a target are worth more here than raw burst.
If they stack one lane
Five bodies in one corridor looks strong and is fragile.
Answer with: one flanker on the empty lane. A single pick from behind turns a stack into a scramble.
Quick matchup table
| Enemy shape | What to add | What to avoid |
|---|---|---|
| Double shield | Height damage, portal flank | Trading into the barrier |
| Heavy dive | Anchor tank, trap tools | Chasing the diver |
| Double flyer | Hitscan, vertical dive | Melee-only comp |
| Double support | Backline dive, wall cuts | Long damage trades |
| Single tank | Focus fire, lock tools | Spreading damage |
| One-lane stack | Off-angle flanker | Walking into the stack |
Countering specific heroes
The matchup table answers comp shapes. This section answers the per-hero version of the question — “who counters Blade”, “how do I stop Hela” — with the kit mechanics that make each counter work.
Countering Hela
Hela wins from range: Nightsword Thorn hits for 80 per round, and Goddess of Death keeps her airborne for up to 10 seconds while she fires Nastrond Crows at 80 m/s. Both are projectiles, so both lose to cover.
Answer with: hitscan that reaches her before she repositions (The Punisher, Black Widow), and divers that punish the landing — Spider-Man or Iron Fist close the gap while her mobility is committed. Fighting from behind a wall breaks her line of sight faster than any damage trade.
Avoid: standing in the open, and walking in a line. Her crows are built to punish exactly those two habits.
Countering the Hela + Namor pair
The poke duo that generates the most “how do I counter this” questions. Hela covers the angle; Namor’s trident (80 damage, infinite ammo, 150 m/s) covers the approach, and Horn of Proteus disables mobility in a 500-damage inner circle.
Answer with: spread out so one cast cannot hit two bodies, then close on one of them — the pair dies to a coordinated dive because neither hero survives contact. Sidestep the trident rather than trading into it; it is a projectile, not hitscan.
Avoid: approaching together through open ground. The pair is built to win that fight twice over.
Countering Wolverine
Savage Claw hits for 18 damage plus 1.5% of the target’s maximum health, scaling with rage — a Wolverine who is allowed to stay on you eventually out-damages any Duelist. His reach is 3.5 metres.
Answer with: Vanguards who out-range him. The Thing’s Stone Haymaker reaches 8 metres for 55 damage plus 8% of his own maximum health, and Emma Frost’s diamond form survives the exchange while he has no answer to it. Luna Snow’s Absolute Zero ends the fight before his rage matters.
Avoid: melee duels inside 4 metres. That is the range the kit is designed to win.
Countering Blade
Blade’s Ancestral Sword trades at 26 per slash with a double-strike follow-up, but the real problem is lifesteal: every extended fight makes the next one easier for him.
Answer with: burst focus fire that ends him before the healing compounds, and displacement that resets his position — Groot’s walls and Magneto’s control both break his engage before it starts. The Punisher and Black Widow out-range him outright.
Avoid: the one-on-one duel. Blade wins every fight that lasts long enough for his lifesteal to matter.
Countering Spider-Man
Spider-Man’s Web Cluster travels at 120 m/s and his mobility lets him choose every engage angle. The counter is not more mobility — it is making the landing expensive.
Answer with: area traps that fire while he is committed. Peni Parker’s mines and Namor’s Giganto both disable mobility on contact, which removes his exit as well as his entry. A grouped backline beats him because he cannot win a two-on-one.
Avoid: isolated supports and solo chases. A Spider-Man who is followed dies last, not first.
Countering Black Cat
Black Cat plays from the smallest effective health pool of any Duelist — 150 health plus a 125-point shield — and her damage output is gated by her Fortune resource. Starve the resource and the kit shrinks.
Answer with: pressure that forces her to spend defensively, hitscan that reaches her before she closes (The Punisher, Black Widow), and any crowd control that interrupts the engage. She is a burst hero: survive the first exchange and she is vulnerable for the cooldown window.
Avoid: extended trades at mid range. That is the distance her kit is tuned to win.
Countering The Thing
The Thing initiates with a committed charge and follows with Clobberin’ Time, a knock-up that punishes grouped teams. His Rocky Jab reaches 4 metres and his heavy blow 8.
Answer with: sidestep the charge — its path is committed, so the counter is lateral movement, not a shield. Once he is on cooldown, ranged damage is free. Spread the team so one knock-up cannot catch four bodies.
Avoid: clumping, and brawling him at close range. Both feed the kit.
Countering Doctor Strange
Doctor Strange’s daggers hit for 18 per cast at 5.56 rounds per second, and his value is entirely in the shield and the portal. He does not out-damage you; he out-positions you.
Answer with: focus fire. His personal damage is the lowest of any Vanguard, so a Duelist who reaches him wins quickly. Fight away from his portals — a portal only helps him if the fight happens near one, and portal placement has limits he cannot ignore.
Avoid: pushing into the shield, and letting the portal split your team. The shield wins trades; the portal wins maps.
Swap rules that stop the bleeding
Change one hero per two fights. More than that keeps your ultimates near zero.
Swap the slot that is failing, not the slot you enjoy. If your team never dies but never kills, add damage. If your team kills but dies first, add sustain.
Read the team composition guide for how the roles fit, and the positioning guide for where these answers should stand. Per-hero detail — full ability numbers and the mistakes each hero invites — lives on each hero’s own page, like how to play Hela, how to play Wolverine and how to play Doctor Strange.