Counters and synergies
The Thing counters and matchups
Higher is stronger on every card. Ratings show how lopsided the matchup is, from 7 to 10 for a hard counter and 3 to 6 for a soft one.
Swap to these
Beats The Thing
PhoenixDuelistour note
8/10hardShe stacks Sparks from the air onto the second largest body in the game, and her Slow keeps his charge short. Note The Thing's Unyielding Will ignores displacement, so nothing here launches him.
The PunisherDuelist
7/10hardThe Punisher fights at long range and The Thing has to get to melee to answer, so The Thing takes damage for the whole approach.
Peni ParkerVanguard
7/10hardThe Thing has to walk into Peni Parker's zone to do anything at all, and pays for the approach.
Iron ManDuelist
7/10hardThe Thing is ground-bound and has no way to reach Iron Man in the air.
Squirrel GirlDuelist
7/10hardThe Thing has to walk into Squirrel Girl's zone to do anything at all, and pays for the approach.
Free matchups
The Thing beats these
DaredevilDuelistour note
8/10hardThe zone denies mobility abilities, and Daredevil's defence is movement.
Doctor StrangeVanguardour note
8/10hardEvery Heavy Blow bills a tenth of maximum health, and Strange has one of the biggest to lose it from.
Gorr the God ButcherDuelistour note
8/10hardThe Thing's Yancy Street Charge leaves an 8m zone that prevents mobility abilities, and Gorr's only ways out of a melee are the Shadow Harvest warp and the Living Abyss surge, while Unyielding Will ignores the Launch Up his Berserkers land.
MagikDuelistour note
8/10hardThat zone disables mobility abilities, so there is no portalling out of it.
MagnetoVanguardour note
8/10hardHeavy Blow takes a tenth of maximum health per swing, so Magneto's large pool is the reason it hurts.
Strongest duos
Playstyle synergy, not win rate
No duo notes for The Thing yet.
See all duos for The ThingWhere these numbers come from
The Thing has 50 mapped matchups on this page, 5 of them heroes who counter The Thing hard.
The figures in the header: tier, win rate, pick rate and match count are drawn from community match data, across 36,720 recorded matches, and the tier letter is that data's call rather than ours. Pick rate is the share of matches featuring The Thing. Rank is our ordering of those win rates across the 54 heroes in the snapshot, not a rating we measured. Ban share is the percentage of every ban cast that named The Thing, in the ranked divisions where the ban phase runs. It is our own figure and not the same as a published ban rate. These win rates are shrunk toward 50% in proportion to sample size at the source, so a rarely played hero reads closer to even than it actually played. A sample, not a census, and not split by rank or mode. The matchup counts above are ours, and the 0 to 10 ratings on every card are matchup lopsidedness rather than a win rate, because we measure nothing ourselves. Statistical data is based on external APIs and publicly available information. It may differ from official data.
Who to play The Thing with
Best duos
Highest win rate alongside The Thing, whether or not they share a Team-Up.
Team-Ups
Put The Thing on a team with any of these and the pair unlocks an extra ability. That is a game mechanic rather than a reading of the numbers.
Invisible WomanStrategist
Ability name not published yet
48%across 14,357 matches
Iron FistDuelist
Ability name not published yet
52.9%across 5,251 matches
Mister FantasticDuelist
Ability name not published yet
52.3%across 3,305 matches
Human TorchDuelist
TWO IN ONE
When teaming up with Human Torch, Human Torch can lift The Thing into the air and slam him down, dealing damage and Stun to enemies. The Thing then automatically enters his flaming enhanced state upon landing.
53.5%across 2,854 matches
Best allies per hero, ranked by how often teams won with both on the field. Win rates are shrunk toward 50% by sample size at the source, because duo samples are far thinner than solo ones. This is not the same as a Team-Up, which is a specific ability a pair unlocks. A Team-Up is a game mechanic: these two heroes on one team unlock an extra ability. The win rate is how often teams containing both won, which is not the same as how much the Team-Up itself contributed. Match data as of Nov 2, 2026. Which heroes pair, and what the ability is called, come from the game itself. Team-Ups are reshuffled between seasons, so this list is refreshed rather than written once.
Ban suggestions
Heroes to ban against The Thing
Highest expected impact: heroes that beat The Thing hard and that the ladder already spends its bans on, so you are not the only person treating them as a problem.
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How is this calculated?
Counter rating is how lopsided that hero is against The Thing, 7 to 10 for a hard counter and 3 to 6 for a soft one. It comes from this site's matchup data.
Ban share is the percentage of every ban that named that hero, counted across the ranked divisions where the ban phase runs, so it does not describe lower divisions or Quick Play. Ban counts are drawn from community match data, as of Nov 2, 2026. It sums to 100% across the roster, so 9% means roughly one ban in eleven. Declined bans are not counted. Combined multiplies the counter rating by the ban share, after damping the share so the most banned hero on the roster cannot swamp a genuinely bad matchup. A hero has to both answer The Thing and be someone the ladder already treats as a problem.
Why bans and not pick rate: a ban is chosen before the match and on purpose, which makes it the cleanest signal that a hero is considered a problem. It is also the same question this panel is asking. This is our own figure, not the same as a published ban rate, so the two will not match.
Win rate by map
Where The Thing actually performs. Bars above the average line are green, below it red.
ArakkoConvoy49.4%
ThebesConvoy49.2%
Museum of ContemplationConvoy48.2%
Spider-islandsConvoy48.1%
Birnin t'challaDomination48.0%
Heart of HeavenConvergence47.9%
Yggdrasill pathConvoy47.5%
Lower ManhattanConvergence47.4%
KrakoaDomination47.3%
Symbiotic surfaceConvergence47.2%
- Best maps
- Arakko (49.4%), Thebes (49.2%), Museum of Contemplation (48.2%)
- Worst maps
- Shin-shibuya (46.0%), Midtown (46.2%), Royal palace (46.4%)
18 maps with enough recorded matches, which is not necessarily every map in the game. One row per map, averaged across its modes by match volume. The scale is zoomed to the data, so read the axis. Win rates are shrunk toward 50% by sample size at the source, so a thinly played map reads closer to even than it played., as of Nov 2, 2026.
Win rate by rank
How The Thing holds up as lobbies get better. They gain 1.2 points from Bronze to Celestial+.
- 48.5
- 47.1
- 47.2
- 47.9
- 47.5
- 47.1
- 49.7
- Bronze6.3% pick
- Silver6.9% pick
- Gold7.7% pick
- Plat10.0% pick
- Diamond10.7% pick
- GM11.2% pick
- Cel+*10.4% pick
Bars above the 50% line are green, below it red. The scale is zoomed to the data, so read the axis. Divisions marked with an asterisk are faded because the sample is thin, and their win rate can swing on a handful of matches. Higher divisions always have far fewer matches than Bronze, and win rates are shrunk toward 50% by sample size at the source, which flattens the thinnest divisions further., as of Nov 2, 2026.
Every mapped matchup
The boxes above show the top three per role. This is the full picture for The Thing, strongest first.
Loses to26
- Phoenixhard8/10
- The Punisherhard7/10
- Peni Parkerhard7/10
- Iron Manhard7/10
- Squirrel Girlhard7/10
- Cyclopssoft5/10
- Moon Knightsoft6/10
- Wolverinesoft6/10
- Scarlet Witchsoft6/10
- Ultronsoft6/10
- Hawkeyesoft5/10
- Helasoft5/10
- Devil Dinosaursoft5/10
- Elsa Bloodstonesoft5/10
- Luna Snowsoft5/10
- Adam Warlocksoft4/10
- Human Torchsoft4/10
- Jeff the Land Sharksoft4/10
- Psylockesoft4/10
- Stormsoft4/10
- Lokisoft4/10
- Mantissoft4/10
- Namorsoft4/10
- Iron Fistsoft4/10
- Winter Soldiersoft3/10
- Gambitsoft3/10
Beats24
- Daredevilhard8/10
- Doctor Strangehard8/10
- Gorr the God Butcherhard8/10
- Magikhard8/10
- Magnetohard8/10
- Spider-Manhard8/10
- Venomhard8/10
- Black Pantherhard9/10
- Black Cathard8/10
- Mister Fantastichard8/10
- Angelahard8/10
- Captain Americahard7/10
- Roguehard7/10
- Invisible Womansoft5/10
- Thorsoft5/10
- Deadpoolsoft4/10
- The Hoodsoft4/10
- Grootsoft4/10
- Hulksoft4/10
- Rocket Raccoonsoft3/10
- Star-Lordsoft3/10
- Bladesoft3/10
- Cloak & Daggersoft3/10
- Emma Frostsoft3/10
The Thing counters, answered
Who counters The Thing in Marvel Rivals?
Phoenix is the strongest answer to The Thing right now, rated 8 out of 10. She stacks Sparks from the air onto the second largest body in the game, and her Slow keeps his charge short. Note The Thing's Unyielding Will ignores displacement, so nothing here launches him.
Who is The Thing good against?
The Thing punishes Daredevil hardest, rated 8 out of 10. The zone denies mobility abilities, and Daredevil's defence is movement.
Is The Thing still worth playing on the Season 10.5 roster?
The Thing sits at a 47.5% win rate and shows up in 7.8% of matches. Read that as a shape rather than a verdict: 5 heroes counter them hard, and 24 matchups go their way. The win rate is community match data. These win rates are shrunk toward 50% in proportion to sample size at the source, so a rarely played hero reads closer to even than it actually played. The D tier letter is that data's call, not ours, and the rank is our ordering of those win rates rather than a rating we measured. Statistical data is based on external APIs and publicly available information. It may differ from official data.