~10 min
Season 9 deleted the Team-Up system you knew and replaced it with over 100 new abilities. Every hero now carries two independent Team-Up loadouts, you pick one before the match, you can swap it in the spawn room, and none of it requires a specific partner on your team anymore. This guide explains exactly how the new system works, indexes every ranked Team-Up in the game by tier, and walks through the loadout decisions that actually win matches.
Everything here reflects the Season 9 launch build and the July 11 hotfix, which already re-tuned more than a dozen Team-Up values.
The New Team-Up System in 30 Seconds
Question | Before Season 9 | Now |
|---|---|---|
Do I need the partner hero on my team? | Yes, or the ability never fired | No. The Base Effect works solo; the partner upgrades it to an Enhanced Effect |
How many Team-Ups does my hero have? | Zero, one, or a shared gimmick, depending on the roster | Exactly two loadouts, always |
When do I choose? | Team-Ups activated automatically from team comp | You pick one at hero select and can swap between your two options from the spawn room mid-match |
What happened to Team-Up Anchors? | Anchor heroes granted bonus stats like extra health | Removed entirely, along with their bonus health |
Do Team-Ups rotate out each season? | Abilities were added and removed seasonally | Permanent, balanced through regular patches instead of removal |
The scale is worth spelling out:
Role | Heroes | Team-Up abilities |
|---|---|---|
Vanguard | 13 | 26 |
Duelist | 27 | 54 |
Strategist | 12 | 24 |
Total | 52 | 104 |
Over a hundred abilities landed in one patch, and it is why a hero's raw stat line no longer tells you how strong they are. Two players on the same hero can be running measurably different power levels depending on the loadout they equipped, which is also why our Season 9 tier list tracks Team-Up value alongside base kits.
Base Effect vs Enhanced Effect
Every Team-Up ability has two power levels, and the difference between them is the core of the system.
The Base Effect is what you get just by equipping the loadout. It fires regardless of who else is on your team, which means every hero in the game now has a guaranteed extra ability layer that nobody can take away from you at hero select.
The Enhanced Effect activates when the designated partner hero is also on your team. It is the same ability, stronger. Jubilee is the cleanest example in the game right now: her Blade loadout grants lifesteal on its own, and with Blade actually on the team it adds passive healing on top of the lifesteal.
Two practical rules fall out of this:
- Pick the Base Effect that fits your playstyle first. The enhancement is a bonus, not the point. A loadout whose base version does nothing for you is a bad pick even if its enhanced version is spectacular, because you control your own pick and not your teammates' picks.
- A live partner beats a better ability with an absent one. When your team already includes a partner hero for one of your two loadouts, that enhancement is real, immediate value. Weigh it accordingly, especially in a premade where the pairing is guaranteed for the whole match.
How to Equip and Swap Team-Ups
You select one of your hero's two Team-Up loadouts on the hero select screen before the match. To change it mid-game, return to the spawn room, reopen hero select, switch the loadout, and redeploy. You can only swap between the two abilities your hero owns; there is no wider pool.
The spawn room swap is a genuinely underused tool right now. If the enemy re-picks into a composition that invalidates your first choice, the correct response is often not a hero swap but a loadout swap, which costs you a walk back to spawn instead of all your ultimate charge. Make the decision based on what the enemy team is doing, not on which ability felt good last match.
Every Ranked Team-Up in Season 9
This is the complete ranked index of Team-Up abilities in the current competitive metagame, as of July 12, after the hotfix. Rankings weigh the Base Effect most heavily, since it is the part you are guaranteed to get, with enhanced value as the tiebreaker.
Tier | Team-Up abilities |
|---|---|
S | Deep Wrath, Frozen Haven, Damisa-Yao, Ammo Overload, Chain of Cyttorak, Gamma Charge, Abyssal Flames, Guardian of the Deep, Two-In-One, Mr. & Mrs. X, Slim and Red, Villain's Illusion, Wild Wall, Atlas Bond, Symbiote Bond, Rocket Network, United Siblings, Bleed For Battle, Hellfire Sparks, Gamma Maelstrom, Bubble Buddies, Thunder Overdrive, Ragnarok Rebirth, Gamma Monstro, Pair of Threes, Circle of Life |
A | Gamma Fastball, Bestial Hunt, Jaws of Fate, Psyonic Vortex, Burning Bullets, Divine Armory, Mr. Pool's Interdimensional Toy Box, Light & Dark Darts, Mental Projection, Odin's Unacknowledged, Comprehensive Defense, "Hel-Yeah, Honey", Kinetic Kin, Vitality Pact, Blood Leech, Sorcerers Supreme, Star-Soul, Blast Slash, Clobberin' Research Dept., Blade of Khonshu, Sparkling Staff, Psionic Fox, Voltaic Union, ESU Alumnus, Metallic Chaos, Expert Instinct, Unbreakable Forces, Storming Ignition, Stark Protocol, Explosive Entanglement, Surf & Turf, Vampiric Kin |
B | Savage Slam, Moonlit Slash, Dimensional Shortcut, Duality Dance, Cosmic Cyclone, Iron & Stone, Devilish Affair, Favorable Odds, Lucky Loan, Gods of Thunder, Stars Aligned, Blood Moon, Squirrel Missile, Timeless Veterans, First Family, Iced Out Diamond, Gumbo Chimichangas, Primal Punishment, Vibrant Vitality, Mammalian Bond, Luminous Moon, Magnetic Resonance, Flora Munitions, Fiery Sparks, SP//DR Sync, Prehistoric Trap |
C | Star Blossom, Hel Tendrils, Allied Agents, Vibranium Mech, Fantastic Amplifier, Feline Alliance, Binding Ties, Senbonzakura Strike, Oblivion Shroud, Parker Power-Up, Chilling Charisma, Spirit Breaker, Loudmouth Mercs, Planet-X Pals, Void Pentagram, Hex Fireworks, Flawless Design, Telekinesis Beatdown, Asgardians of the Galaxy |
A few things this table tells you at a glance. First, no Team-Up actively hurts you, so a C placement means low value, not a trap. Second, several classic pairings survived the rework and came back strong, with Ammo Overload and Metallic Chaos both returning as top-half picks. Third, if your hero's two loadouts split across distant tiers, your default choice just got very easy.
The Standout Picks by Role
The full index above answers what to run; this section explains the picks worth building a composition around.
Vanguard
Frontline Team-Ups lean toward sustain and zone control, and the headline is Ragnarok Rebirth on Thor: it lets him shrug off a death entirely and return with bonus overhealth, which turns an enemy ultimate spent killing him into a losing trade. Anchor-style tanks like Groot, Doctor Strange, Magneto, and The Thing skew toward sustained value and area control, while dive tanks get loadouts built around pressure and disruption. If your Vanguard's job is to stand on the point, take the sustain option; if your job is to make their backline miserable, take the disruption one.
Duelist
Damage got the largest pool by far at 54 abilities, and the balance team is watching it closest: several Duelists had baseline stats shaved specifically because their new loadouts tested as overpowered. The S-tier concentration around burst-enabling picks like Chain of Cyttorak, Symbiote Bond, and Ammo Overload reflects where the value is, and the July 11 hotfix already trimmed Psylocke's Emma Frost and Cloak & Dagger loadouts within a day of launch. Expect this role's Team-Up numbers to keep moving all season.
Strategist
Support Team-Ups blur the healer and damage-dealer line harder than the role has ever allowed. The single most disruptive ability in the game is Villain's Illusion on Loki: paired with Hela, it lets him transform into any hero he just killed and borrow their entire kit temporarily. In the right hands that is a fight-deciding steal. The hotfix also quietly buffed Strategist Team-Up healing across the board, with Gambit's Magneto loadout and Rocket Raccoon's Groot and Squirrel Girl loadouts all gaining output.
Confirmed Pairings and What They Do
These are the partner pairings confirmed in official patch notes and launch coverage, with the numbers as they stand after the hotfix. Use this as your cheat sheet for which enhancements are worth drafting around.
Team-Up | Hero + partner | What you get |
|---|---|---|
Ragnarok Rebirth | Thor | Survive a death and return with bonus overhealth |
Villain's Illusion | Loki + Hela | Transform into a hero you just killed and use their kit temporarily |
Jubilee + Blade loadout | Jubilee + Blade | Lifesteal on her attacks (30% after the hotfix); Blade on the team adds passive healing on top |
Cyclops + Gambit loadout | Cyclops + Gambit | Cooldown cut from 18s to 15s in the hotfix |
Phoenix + Rogue loadout | Phoenix + Rogue | Direct hit and ricochet damage up from 40 to 45, cooldown down from 12s to 10s |
Gambit + Magneto loadout | Gambit + Magneto | Area healing raised from 50 to 55 per second |
Invisible Woman + Mister Fantastic loadout | Invisible Woman + Mister Fantastic | Healing over time raised from 15 to 25 per second |
Rocket Raccoon + Groot loadout | Rocket Raccoon + Groot | Spore area healing raised from 15 to 20 |
Rocket Raccoon + Squirrel Girl loadout | Rocket Raccoon + Squirrel Girl | Acorn healing raised from 20 to 30 |
Ultron + Peni Parker loadout | Ultron + Peni Parker | Nerfed: ally drone healing cut from 35 to 15 per second, cooldown up to 20s |
Iron Man + Thor loadout | Iron Man + Thor | Nerfed: Unibeam outer ring damage reduced to 70 per second, 85 in Armor Overdrive |
Psylocke + Emma Frost loadout | Psylocke + Emma Frost | Nerfed: bonus health per shuriken hit cut to 12, illusion duration cut to 3s, illusion damage cut to 15% |
Read the bottom four rows carefully: within one day of launch, the balance team was already tuning individual loadouts rather than heroes. That is the new shape of Marvel Rivals balance, and it means a pairing that is dominant this week can be average next week without the hero's base kit changing at all.
How to Choose Your Loadout
A simple decision order that holds up at every rank:
- Check your teammates first. If someone already locked a partner hero for one of your two loadouts, the enhanced version of that loadout is live value from minute one. In a duo or premade, agree on pairings before the match; a guaranteed enhancement for the whole game is one of the cheapest advantages in Season 9.
- Solo queue: default to the stronger Base Effect. You cannot control what five strangers pick, so weigh the base versions and treat any enhancement that happens as a gift. This is also why self-sufficient S-tier picks like Ragnarok Rebirth rate so highly.
- Swap when the enemy comp changes. The spawn room swap exists for exactly this. Getting dived every fight? Trade the aggressive loadout for the sustain one. Their frontline refuses to die? Take the option that adds pressure.
- Do not force a pairing. Asking a teammate to swap heroes so your Team-Up upgrades is almost always a losing trade. A comfortable hero with a base-level Team-Up beats an uncomfortable hero with an enhanced one.
Team-Up knowledge compounds with rank. In Bronze it barely registers; in Celestial lobbies, both teams draft around enhancements and track spawn room swaps. If you want to shortcut that learning curve, a coaching session with a top-500 player covers loadout drafting in an hour, and if you would rather skip the volatile early-season ladder entirely, a rank boost gets you through it while the meta settles. How rank points and the ladder itself work is covered in our Competitive system guide.
Save -20% on your boost ⚡
Priorities: What to Do With All This
- First: open hero select and read both loadouts on your three most-played heroes. Most players still have not done this, four days into the season, and it is free win rate.
- Second: if your main's two loadouts split across distant tiers in the index above, lock the higher one as your default and stop thinking about it.
- Third: in duo queue, coordinate one guaranteed pairing per match. One live enhancement, every game, costs nothing.
- Fourth: re-check the numbers after every patch. The hotfix changed a dozen loadout values one day into the season; this layer of the game will be tuned constantly, and last week's cheat sheet is exactly that.
- Skip: memorizing all 100+ abilities. You need your own heroes' six to eight loadouts and the headline S-tier threats. The rest is reference material, which is what the index table is for.
What Changes at the Mid-Season Update
Season 9.5 arrives on August 7 and brings The Hood as the next playable hero, which means two more Team-Up loadouts enter the pool and every hero paired with him gains a new enhancement path. Based on how the launch week went, expect the mid-season patch to also re-tune a batch of existing loadout values: the balance team has shown it will adjust Team-Ups within a day when the data demands it.
Practically, that means the index on this page is a living document. The system rules in the first half of this guide are stable; the tier placements in the second half are a snapshot, and we update them as the patches land. If a loadout you rely on gets touched, check the pairing table first, because that is where the tuning has been happening.
FAQ
Do I need the partner hero on my team to use a Team-Up in Season 9?
No. This is the biggest change of the rework. Equipping a Team-Up loadout activates its Base Effect regardless of your team composition. Having the designated partner hero on your team upgrades it to the stronger Enhanced Effect, but the ability works without them.
How many Team-Up abilities does each hero have?
Exactly two, and you equip one at a time. Across the roster that adds up to over 100 abilities: 13 Vanguards carry 26 between them, 27 Duelists carry 54, and 12 Strategists carry 24.
Can I change my Team-Up ability during a match?
Yes, but only from the spawn room. Return to spawn, reopen the hero select screen, switch to your hero's other loadout, and redeploy. You can only swap between the two abilities your hero owns, and you cannot swap mid-fight.
What happened to Team-Up Anchors?
They were removed entirely in Season 9, along with the bonus stats they granted. Several heroes lost Anchor bonus health in the process, which is part of why the launch patch adjusted so much of the roster: every hero was re-balanced around the new Team-Up layer.
What is the best Team-Up ability in Marvel Rivals right now?
For raw fight impact, Ragnarok Rebirth on Thor, which lets him survive a death and return with bonus overhealth, and Villain's Illusion on Loki, which with Hela on the team lets him transform into a hero he just killed and borrow their kit. The full S tier holds around 26 abilities, so the best pick for you depends on which heroes you actually play.
Will Team-Ups be removed or rotated next season?
No. Under the new system Team-Ups are permanent and get adjusted through regular balance patches instead of seasonal removal. The July 11 hotfix already re-tuned more than a dozen loadout values one day after launch, so expect ongoing tuning rather than rotation.
Do bad Team-Up picks actively hurt my team?
No Team-Up ability harms you; a weak pick is just missed value. That said, the gap between a C-tier and an S-tier loadout is real, and at higher ranks both teams draft around enhancements, so consistently equipping the weaker of your two options is leaving free power on the table every match.
