Mr. Fantastic is the only Duelist who plays like a Vanguard. Elastic Strength inflates him at 100 stacks for a large health bonus, Reflexive Rubber makes him completely immune to damage until he absorbs 300, and Brainiac Bounce is a crowd-control immune rampage through clustered teams. He does not out-damage the other Duelists — he out-lives them, then sweeps them with the widest AoE punch in the game.
Role and difficulty
Duelist. Mr. Fantastic has 375 health. Difficulty Hard (3/5). He plays around his team’s frontline and behind his backline, bodyguarding supports with slows and seizes, and only inflates into the fight when his elasticity is banked.
Abilities and what they actually do
- Stretch Punch (Normal Attack): Stretch out a forward punch to attack enemies. Key numbers: DAMAGE — 70; RANGE — 15m; AMMO — ∞.
- Brainiac Bounce (Abilities): Leap upward and smash the ground, enemies within range. Can leap again upon landing a hit. Key numbers: DAMAGE — 70.
- Distended Grip (Abilities): Extend arms forward to entangle an enemy, then press File:Lmb.png to pull the hit enemy toward you, or select and yank another enemy, knocking them airborne against each other. Key numbers: COOLDOWN — 6s; PROJECTILE SPEED — 60m/s.
- Reflexive Rubber (Abilities): Key numbers: COOLDOWN — 12s; MAX DURATION — 3s.
- Flexible Elongation (Abilities): Key numbers: DAMAGE — 30.
- Elastic Strength (Abilities): Key numbers: DAMAGE — 80; RANGE — 8m.
Elasticity, inflation, and the 300-damage absorb
Elastic Strength builds as you attack and use abilities; at 100 elasticity Reed inflates, gaining maximum health and a bonus state — and you can cancel inflation early to get your abilities back when you need Reflexive Rubber or an escape. Stretch Punch is a long-range melee sweep whose AoE lingers through the animation, so you can sweep across a group and hit everything, but it cannot bypass barriers like Doctor Strange’s or Magneto’s. Flexible Elongation dashes you to a targeted ally or enemy, granting 75 overhealth to both of you — on an enemy it deals 30 damage, and the overhealth is what makes dives fail. Distended Grip grabs a target and either pulls them to you or slams two enemies together. Reflexive Rubber stretches you into a damage-immune sheet at 35% reduced move speed, and after absorbing 300 damage — or when the duration ends — you fire a projectile dealing 60% of everything absorbed. Brainiac Bounce slams up to six times with hits, slowing everything around each impact, and Reed is completely CC-immune during it — in a low-ceiling room the slams chain back-to-back for burst the enemy cannot react to.
How to play Mr. Fantastic
- Build elasticity safely near your team before inflating; the inflated state locks your abilities.
- Sweep Stretch Punch across grouped enemies — the lingering AoE hits everything in the arc.
- Dash with Flexible Elongation onto the diver harassing your backline, shielding both of you with 75 overhealth.
- Pop Reflexive Rubber right before a big ultimate lands, then return 60% of the absorbed damage.
- Cancel inflation early when you need Reflexive Rubber or Flexible Elongation to escape.
- Lure enemies into a low-ceiling room before Brainiac Bounce, where the six slams chain instantly.
Matchups
Mr. Fantastic bodyguards supports and punishes clumped teams with sweeps and bounces, and his immunity window hard-counters single-burst ultimates. He cannot solo frontline — the wiki is explicit that he supplements a Vanguard rather than replacing one — and kiting comps that never clump waste his entire kit. His small ability uptime and heavy endlag punish impatient engages.
Strengths (per the wiki):
- Durable mid-range brawler who can disrupt the battlefield with his stretchy powers while making himself and his allies more resilient.
- Has the single highest max health amongst all the Duelists.
- Despite being labeled as a Duelist, his gameplay style is reminiscent of a Vanguard’s.
- His passive, Elastic Strength, builds-up his special Elasticity gauge, which when filled grants him an inflated state for 6 seconds, empowering him.
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- The damage of his primary fire increases and it now deals damage in a small area.
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- He max health is doubled while inflated, and he receives a one-time heal equal to his normal max health.
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- His movement speed is increased by 20%.
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- Elasticity stacks are gained each time Mister Fantastic lands any offensive abilities, up to 100 stacks.
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- Players can prematurely cancel the inflated state manually.
- His primary fire, Stretch Punch, elongates his arm to deal damage from a distance
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- This attack can hit multiple enemies at once if the player quickly moves their aim around. It cannot hit the same enemy twice this way.
- His secondary fire, Distended Grip, stretches one of his arms to grip an enemy. Pressing the primary fire on the same target makes Mister Fantastic throw his other arm to pull the target towards him. This ability grants 30 Elasticity even if an enemy is not hit.
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- If there is another enemy nearby, the player can target them after gripping the first enemy, which will result in Mister Fantastic yanking both enemies into each other, knocking them up and dealing damage.
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- Distended Grip can be used to cancel the endlag of Stretch Punch, increasing its damage-per-second potential.
- Flexible Elongation causes Mister Fantastic to grab a target and dash towards them while gaining 75 bonus health. This ability grants 20 Elasticity and has two charges. It can be used on either enemies or allies.
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- If used against enemies, it deals damage, inflicts slow, and knocks back those nearby on impact.
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- If used on allies, it also grants the target 75 bonus health.
- Reflexive Rubber temporarily stretches Mister Fantastic into a larger form for 3 seconds, whereupon he becomes a shield that can absorb up to 300 damage. Any attacks directed at him will be absorbed and later redirected back as a small projectile.
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- Can be canceled prematurely by reactivating the ability.
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- The redirected damage is equal to 60% of all absorbed damage.
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- Mister Fantastic also becomes immune to all forms of crowd control.
- His Ultimate, Brainiac Bounce, causes Mister Fantastic to jump high into the air and slam down onto the ground, dealing damage in an area.
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- He will always leap at least three times. After leaping at least three times, he can leap one additional time whenever he hits an enemy, up to a total of six leaps.
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- Each leap increases the damage of the next leap by 10, up to 50 extra damage.
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- Each leap adds a stacking slow of 10% to enemies hit, up to 60% reduced movement speed.
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- Using this ability on areas with a low ceiling will cause Mister Fantastic to bounce faster.
- When paired with Rocket Raccoon, Mister Fantastic gains access to Fantastic Amplifier, which when activated allows him to temporarily exceed his Elasticity limit and manually enter his inflated state.
- Cannot fully replace an actual Vanguard, especially as a solo frontline.
- Cannot use other abilities while in his inflated state except for Reflexive Rubber and his Ultimate.
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- In addition, his attack range and attack speed is reduced.
- Cannot use other abilities while in his stretched state from Reflexive Rubber.
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- In addition, his movement speed is reduced by 35%.
- Very small uptime and relatively long endlag between his abilities.
Weaknesses (per the wiki):
- Cannot fully replace an actual Vanguard, especially as a solo frontline.
- Cannot use other abilities while in his inflated state except for Reflexive Rubber and his Ultimate.
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- In addition, his attack range and attack speed is reduced.
- Cannot use other abilities while in his stretched state from Reflexive Rubber.
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- In addition, his movement speed is reduced by 35%.
- Very small uptime and relatively long endlag between his abilities.
Team-ups
- Fantastic Amplifier (with Rocket Raccoon, Season 9.0: The Mystery of Thebes): Equips the Fantastic Amplifier. For the duration, Mister Fantastic’s maximum Elasticity is increased, and he can actively enter Inflation State. Enhanced: When teaming up with Rocket Raccoon, Brainiac Bounce Launches hit enemies.
- Clobberin’ Research Dept. (with The Thing, Season 9.0: The Mystery of Thebes): In brawler stance, Stretch Punch becomes a charged ability, firing a forward Brawling Punch. Hitting an enemy grants Bonus Health scaling with damage, and a full charge Launches hit enemies. Enhanced: When teaming up with The Thing, while in the brawling stance, Distended Grip also becomes a charged ability, slamming down a Distended Hammer. Hitting enemies grants Bonus Health based on damage, and also Launches enemies at full charge.
Related guides
- Heroes Database
- Abilities Database
- Flank Routes Guide
- How To Play Rocket Raccoon
- How To Play The Thing
Common mistakes
- Inflating when you need Reflexive Rubber or an escape — the state locks your abilities
- Trying to solo frontline; he is a bodyguard, not a main tank
- Holding Reflexive Rubber through sustained damage that keeps hitting after the state ends
- Casting Brainiac Bounce in open rooms, where the slams never chain
- Punching into barriers — Stretch Punch cannot bypass Doctor Strange’s or Magneto’s shields