How to Play Magneto in Marvel Rivals

Magneto is the only tank whose shield is a resource instead of a cooldown, and the only one whose ultimate is stronger the more the enemy shoots at him. Metallic Curtain eats projectiles from an energy bar, Metal Bulwark converts absorbed damage into Mag-Cannon charge, and Meteor M turns a whole enemy team’s poke into a 300-damage meteor that deletes squishies through healing ultimates. He is the answer to projectile comps — as long as you never let the meter overload.

Role and difficulty

Vanguard. Magneto has 600 health. Difficulty Medium (2/5). He holds the frontline behind his curtain, pockets allies with bubbles, and rises for Meteor M only when the enemy is actively firing.

Abilities and what they actually do

• Iron Volley (Normal Attack): Key numbers: DAMAGE — Projectile: 40, Spell Field: 40; PROJECTILE SPEED — 80m/s; AMMO — 10.
• Meteor M (Abilities): Draw in all materials around to forge an iron meteor that deals massive damage upon impact. Absorbing enemy can enhance the meteor’s power, yet overloading will cause it to self-destruct. Key numbers: MAX DURATION — 5s; PROJECTILE SPEED — 45m/s.
• Mag-Cannon (Abilities): Convert the iron rings on Magneto’s back into a Mag-Cannon and launch a metallic mass forward. Higher stacks of rings increase damage, and full stacks enemies. Key numbers: DAMAGE — 1 Ring: 40 / 2 Rings: 65 / 3 Rings: 90; PROJECTILE SPEED — 120m/s.
• Metallic Curtain (Abilities): Change the magnetic field around to form a metallic curtain, blocking all incoming. Key numbers: COOLDOWN — 3s.
• Metal Bulwark (Abilities): Conjure a metal shield around a chosen ally. Damage taken will transform into rings on Magneto’s back. Key numbers: COOLDOWN — 15s.
• Iron Bulwark (Abilities): Conjure an iron shield around himself. Damage taken will transform into rings on Magneto’s back. Key numbers: COOLDOWN — 10s.
• Magnetic Descent (Abilities): Hold Space to fall slowly. Key numbers: MOVEMENT SPEED — 6m/s (horizontal speed) - 3.5m/s (descent speed).

Shields that feed the cannon

Iron Volley throws metal for 80 direct damage with a falling splash, and the wiki’s core combo is Iron Volley into a three-stack Mag-Cannon into Iron Volley — all three must land direct hits. Mag-Cannon stores up to three charge stacks that recharge over time, and three charged shots knock back. Metallic Curtain is a frontal shield that absorbs every projectile from an energy bar, but it does not stop melee and cannot be held forever. Metal Bulwark bubbles an ally with 200 durability, and every 100 damage it absorbs grants one Mag-Cannon stack — so pocket the ally being focused and your cannon charges itself. Iron Bulwark is the same bubble on yourself for 2.5 seconds on a 12-second cooldown. Meteor M rises and absorbs nearby projectiles to forge a meteor; the more it eats, the harder it hits, and at full charge it deletes 300-health heroes through ultimates like Invisible Woman’s and Luna Snow’s. The catch: absorbing too many projectiles overloads and cancels the ultimate, and the overload counts projectiles, not damage — Punisher’s multi-projectile turret is the classic trap.

How to play Magneto

1. Run the core combo: Iron Volley, three-stack Mag-Cannon, Iron Volley — land all three direct hits.
2. Hold Metallic Curtain into projectile teams, but drop it before the energy bar empties.
3. Bubble the focused ally with Metal Bulwark; every 100 absorbed damage is a free cannon stack.
4. Self-bubble with Iron Bulwark when the enemy commits burst, then re-engage on the 12-second cooldown.
5. Cast Meteor M into active projectile fire — Star-Lord, Hela, Rocket, and Punisher all feed it.
6. Release the meteor immediately against Punisher; waiting overloads and cancels the ultimate.

Matchups

Magneto hard-counters projectile comps and his meteor punches through healing ultimates for the kill. Melee-heavy teams walk through his curtain, and he is surprisingly frail with both shields on cooldown. His limited mobility means he holds ground rather than rotates, so maps with long flanks force him to rely on his team.

Strengths (per the wiki):

• Defensive-oriented yet with a strong offensive power, capable to protecting his allies with on demand shields, as well being able to block projectiles. He shines in defensive objectives. While he cannot fly, he can fall slowly after falling from high heights.
• His primary fire, Iron Volley, shoots relatively slow moving projectile blasts. There is a small delay in-between shots.
• • These projectiles explode after traveling 25 meters, or upon impact, generating a spell field that deals damage in a small radius.
• His secondary fire, Mag-Cannon, launches a projectile which damage scales on the iron rings on his back. The number of stacks (up to three) can be seen physically on the character but are also shown on screen by the arrow-shaped icon right below the aiming reticle. At max stacks, Mag-Cannon deals knockback to enemies.
• Magneto can shield his allies and himself using his electromagnetic fields with Metal Bulwark and Iron Bulwark, respectively. Shown as a purple bubble around the target, it expires after 2.5 seconds or after absorbing up to 200 damage.
• • Metal Bulwark and Iron Bulwark are on different cooldowns, meaning Magneto can shield himself and an ally.
• • All damage dealt while shielded converts into energy for Magneto’s iron rings that fuel his Mag-Cannon.
• Metallic Curtain functions similarly to Doctor Strange’s Shield of the Seraphim, projects a magnetic field shield in front of him that absorbs all incoming projectiles while moving at a slower speed. The shield has no health, but is on a resource meter.
• • This ability can even block certain Ultimates, such as the blasts shot by Hela’s Goddess of Death and Iron Man’s Invincible Pulse Cannon.
• His Ultimate, Meteor M, has Magneto floating up into the sky and charging-up a magnetic meteor that he can unleash upon will, to strike in a large radius. The damage of the meteor increases over-time before releasing.
• • The true power of this Ultimate is when used defensively, as while channeling the meteor, a magnetic field around Magneto absorbs any enemy projectiles shot in his general direction, which adds extra damage for Meteor M.
• ** This allows Magneto to directly counter other Ultimates, such as Star-Lord’s Galactic Barrage.
• ** This Ultimate can potentially be devastating when combining the base damage with added damage from absorbed enemy projectiles.
• Limited mobility and unable to fly, despite having slow fall.
• Surprisingly frail if his shields are on cooldown.
• Unlike Doctor Strange, he can’t hold his Metallic Curtain indefinitely.
• If Magneto absorbs too many projectiles while charging Meteor M (displayed by a gauge when he casts), the Ultimate will be cancelled.
• • The overloading is based on the number of projectiles, not their damage output. This means that certain attacks that fire multiple projectiles at once, such as The Punisher’s Deliverance shotgun, will absorb more projectiles than his Adjudication automatic rifle.

Weaknesses (per the wiki):

• Limited mobility and unable to fly, despite having slow fall.
• Surprisingly frail if his shields are on cooldown.
• Unlike Doctor Strange, he can’t hold his Metallic Curtain indefinitely.
• If Magneto absorbs too many projectiles while charging Meteor M (displayed by a gauge when he casts), the Ultimate will be cancelled.
• • The overloading is based on the number of projectiles, not their damage output. This means that certain attacks that fire multiple projectiles at once, such as The Punisher’s Deliverance shotgun, will absorb more projectiles than his Adjudication automatic rifle.

Team-ups

• Metallic Chaos (with Scarlet Witch, Season 9.0: The Mystery of Thebes): Swing a colossal Chaos Greatsword forward to inflict damage. Enhanced: When teaming up with Scarlet Witch, Mag-Cannon transforms into a charged ability that consumes his passive energy bar. For every tick of energy burned, a Chaos Greatsword is fired, dealing damage to enemies and inflicting a Launch Up effect.
• Magnetic Resonance (with Emma Frost, Season 9.0: The Mystery of Thebes): Cast a magnetic projection that mimics Magneto’s movement and ability casts perfectly from the enemy’s perspective. Enhanced: When teaming up with Emma Frost, the magnetic projection receives a massive Health bump and will persist indefinitely unless destroyed or manually recalled.

Related guides

• Heroes Database
• Abilities Database
• How To Play Defense
• Frontline Vanguard Guide
• How To Play Scarlet Witch
• How To Play Emma Frost

Common mistakes

• Holding Meteor M too long against multi-projectile heroes and overloading the cancel
• Trying to solo frontline — Magnetto supplements a Vanguard, he does not replace one
• Holding Metallic Curtain until the bar empties instead of cycling cover
• Firing single-stack Mag-Cannon shots — the wiki is explicit that one charge is not worth it
• Bubbling yourself when an ally is the one being focused and feeding your cannon