Venom, a Vanguard in Marvel Rivals

Vanguard

How to counter Venom

Tier
B
Win rate
50.7%
Rank
21/53
Pick rate
25.5%
Ban share
3.3%
Matches
87,625

UpdatedAug 31, 2026how to read these

Counters and synergies

Venom 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.

Where these numbers come from

Venom has 46 mapped matchups on this page, 3 of them heroes who counter Venom hard.

The figures in the header: tier, win rate, pick rate and match count are drawn from community match data, across 87,625 recorded matches, and the tier letter is that data's call rather than ours. Pick rate is the share of matches featuring Venom. Rank is our ordering of those win rates across the 53 heroes in the snapshot, not a rating we measured. Ban share is the percentage of every ban cast that named Venom, 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 Venom with

Best duos

Highest win rate alongside Venom, whether or not they share a Team-Up.

Team-Ups

Put Venom 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.

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 Aug 31, 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 Venom

Highest expected impact: heroes that beat Venom hard and that the ladder already spends its bans on, so you are not the only person treating them as a problem.

Sort

  1. 1

    The ThingVanguard

    Counter rating 8/10Ban share 6.5%

    Threat
    Counters
  2. 2

    Peni ParkerVanguard

    Counter rating 5/10Ban share 6.7%

    Threat
    Counters
  3. 3

    Elsa BloodstoneDuelist

    Counter rating 4/10Ban share 7.9%

    Threat
    Counters
  4. 4

    The HoodVanguard

    Counter rating 6/10Ban share 3.0%

    Threat
    Counters
  5. 5

    NamorDuelist

    Counter rating 5/10Ban share 4.3%

    Threat
    Counters
How is this calculated?

Counter rating is how lopsided that hero is against Venom, 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 Aug 31, 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 Venom 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 Venom actually performs. Bars above the average line are green, below it red.

  • ArakkoConvoy51.5%
  • Hall of DjaliaConvergence51.5%
  • MidtownConvoy51.4%
  • Yggdrasill pathConvoy51.3%
  • Lower ManhattanConvergence51.2%
  • Symbiotic surfaceConvergence51.2%
  • Central parkConvergence51.1%
  • Museum of ContemplationConvoy50.9%
  • CECelestial huskDomination50.8%
  • Heart of HeavenConvergence50.7%
48%avg 50.7%53%
Best maps
Arakko (51.5%), Hall of Djalia (51.5%), Midtown (51.4%)
Worst maps
Hell's heaven (49.5%), Birnin t'challa (49.6%), Royal palace (49.7%)

17 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 Aug 31, 2026.

Win rate by rank

How Venom holds up as lobbies get better. Their win rate is broadly flat across divisions.

48%51%53%
  1. 51.1
  2. 49.8
  3. 49.8
  4. 51.8
  5. 51.3
  6. 50.6
  7. 50.3
  1. Bronze28.6% pick
  2. Silver26.5% pick
  3. Gold25.4% pick
  4. Plat22.1% pick
  5. Diamond19.1% pick
  6. GM17.1% pick
  7. Cel+*21.8% 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 Aug 31, 2026.

Strongest duos

Every mapped matchup

The boxes above show the top three per role. This is the full picture for Venom, strongest first.

Venom counters, answered

Who counters Venom in Marvel Rivals?

Devil Dinosaur is the strongest answer to Venom right now, rated 8 out of 10. Bleed scales with the size of the target twice a second, which punishes Venom for being one of the largest.

Who is Venom good against?

Venom punishes Black Panther hardest, rated 7 out of 10. Both want the same close-range fight, and Venom wins it on health pool. Black Panther runs out of body first.

Is Venom still worth playing on the Season 9.5 roster?

Venom sits at a 50.7% win rate and shows up in 25.5% of matches. Read that as a shape rather than a verdict: 3 heroes counter them hard, and 28 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 B 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.