In this Marvel Rivals Magneto guide, you’ll learn the fundamentals of his abilities, unique play styles, and fundamental tips.
Marvel RivalsMarvel Rivals Magneto Character Guide
Magneto Overview
One of the world’s most powerful mutants empowered with the ability to control all magnetized objects, fear Magneto. Leading his team out front, Magneto shields and protects his allies better than any other hero. Strongest in the midrange, Magneto wants to constantly be rotating around cover in order to maintain his ideal distance from the enemy.
He’s incredibly good against ranged enemies, but rather weak against melee enemies. Across all levels of play, Magento performs very consistently and with a bit of practice he can be a great asset in winning your games.
Find out where Magneto ranks in our Marvel Rivals tier list.
TLDR
As
- Use a combination of your Shift, E, F, and cover to frontline. You have long gaps between your shield uses, so be more selective with your decisions.
- Your ultimate can absorb damage up to an extent, keep an eye on the bar and make sure to throw it before it breaks.
- Shielding your divers/flankers like Wolverine, Magik, and so on can greatly enable their playmaking.
Against
- Magneto's primary attacks have a burst AoE, keep that in mind when trying to take cover as he can often hit you from behind certain areas.
- He has to choose between bubbling himself or bubbling an ally, if you see him use one, you know he can’t use the other for a while.
- Magneto is at his most dangerous when his rings are fully charged and at his weakest when he has no rings.
Strengths and Weaknesses
Strengths
Infinite Health Shield
Having a shield be time resource based rather than having a health pool makes it superior at absorbing high amounts of incoming damage. No matter if Magneto is shielding a single Hawkeye arrow or Punisher’s double machine gun Ult, his Metallic Curtain lasts the same duration. Due to the infinite health, Magneto excels at countering team comps built around heavy poke damage.
Ally Ranged Shielding
The only Vanguard with the ability to protect allies at range from himself means Magneto is the perfect pick to enable aggressive team plays. Anytime a teammate goes deep in enemy territory, Metal Bulwark makes them immune to stuns and CC. Magneto’s Ally bubble can turn an ally’s feeding into a massive game-winning play.
Strong Knockback
Stuns are one of the best abilities to have in any heroes tool kit. Magneto’s Mag-Cannon gets massive value when stunning a flanker off his backline, cancelling enemy abilities, or stopping approaching enemy Vanguard in their tracks. Because he is so strong at medium ranges, his stun helps him control and maintain that distance, keeping himself always in an advantageous position.
Weaknesses
Weak Against Melee
Melee heroes attacks go through Metallic Curtain, and their speed makes it extremely difficult for Magneto to play keep away once they have closed the distance on him. Typically, Magneto has the advantage at poking down melee heroes in the beginning of fights, but get shuts down as soon as these heroes break through and get into their melee range.
Very Slow Fire Rate and Projectile Speed
With one of the slowest primary fires in all of Rivals, Magneto gets punished hard when missing his shots. Against fast and small targets it becomes even more difficult to land hits.
No Mobility Abilities
Unlike most other Vanguards, Magneto doesn’t have any movement abilities. Instead he relies on damage mitigation and his stun to survive. If Magneto gets displaced, he becomes completely reliant on his team to help keep him alive. Additionally, he is unable to reposition himself on high ground or navigate map terrain which basically every other Vanguard would be capable of traversing.
Ability Tips
Primary Fire: Iron Volley
DESCRIPTION | Fire a volley of magnetic orbs forward. The range of the resulting explosion increases based on distance flown |
KEY | Left Click |
CASTING | Single-cast projectile with delayed impact that also generates a spell field |
PROJECTILE SPEED | 80m/s |
CHARGES | 10 |
MAXIMUM DISTANCE | 25m |
RANGE | Initially, it produces a spell field with a 1m spherical radius; when the projectile reaches maximum distance, the explosion radius expands to a spell field with a 3m spherical radius |
ATTACK INTERVAL | 0.8s |
DAMAGE | Projectile Damage: 35. The spell field deals 40 damage at its center, reducing to 50% within a 3m radius from the center |
Tips for Iron Volley
Maintain distance
- Take full advantage of Iron Volley’s 25m range by rotating the map, moving from one cover to another.
Being at near max range also takes advantage of its AoE damage even when slightly missing your target.
At max distance the AoE radius increases to 3m allowing higher total damage output potential.
Poke phase
- During the beginning of every fight when both teams are just poking each other with range damage, continually peek around corners in between shots to minimize damage taken.
Animation Cancel
- Magneto can cancel the recovery animation of Iron Volley with his melee sword, Team-up sword, and Mag-Cannon.
[SHIFT]: Metallic Curtain
DESCRIPTION | Change the magnetic field around to form a metallic curtain, blocking all incoming projectiles |
KEY | SHIFT |
CASTING | Shield |
MAXIMUM ENERGY | 100 |
ENERGY COST | 50/s |
ENERGY RECOVERY DELAY | 1s |
ENERGY RECOVERY SPEED | 11/s |
COOLDOWN | 3s |
Tips for Metallic Curtain
Resource Management
- Unlike Doctor Strange, Magneto can’t spam his shield as it’s resources deplete whether damage is taken or not.
- Three second cool down
- When an enemy has a block that Magneto will need to block, (Strange Ult, Iron Man Ult, etc) the enemy can watch for your shield and activate their ult as soon as Magneto drops shield knowing he won’t be able to block.
- You’ll want to avoid using Metallic Curtain when you suspect the enemy has ults like these available and instead rely on Iron Bulwark, cover and healing to stay alive.
Be Patient
- Considering at full energy, it still only has a max two second duration, rushing to activate shield often leads to death.
- Don’t activate immediately in reaction to enemy ultimate ability voice lines. Instead wait for the actual damage to be a threat to yourself or your team
[E]: Metal Bulwark
DESCRIPTION | Conjure a metal shield around a chosen ally. Damage taken will transform into rings on Magneto's back |
KEY | E |
CASTING | Targeted |
MAXIMUM DISTANCE | 20m |
SHIELD VALUE | 300 |
MAX SHIELD DURATION | 2.5s |
COOLDOWN | 12s, and sharing cooldown with Iron Bulwark |
SPECIAL EFFECT | The shield grants one charge of Iron Ring for every 100 damage it absorbs |
Tips for Metal Bulwark
Magneto’s most important ability
- Metal Bulwark can save your backline from death, or enable aggressive plays from an ally Vanguard or Duelist. While simply using it to generate rings for Mag-Cannon may feel good, it wastes the massive potential of a high health bubble.
- Save for aggressive plays.
- If you know you have a Spider-Man about to burn all his abilities in order to confirm an elimination, make sure you save Metal Bulwark to ensure he can successfully get out alive.
- Save for peel.
- When the enemy team has a flanker destroying your backline, save Metal Bulwark to keep your Strategists alive. A 300 HP bubble more than doubles the effective health of any non-Vangaurd and shuts down abilities like Black Panther’s Vibranium Marks.
[F]: Iron Bulwark
DESCRIPTION | Conjure an iron shield around himself. Damage taken will transform into rings on Magneto's back |
KEY | F |
SHIELD VALUE | 300 |
MAX SHIELD DURATION | 2.5s |
COOLDOWN | 12s, and sharing cooldown with Metal Bulwark |
SPECIAL EFFECT | The shield grants one charge of Iron Ring for every 100 damage it absorbs |
Tips for Iron Bulwark
Counter specific attacks and abilities.
- Rather than absorbing random damage at full health, the long 12 second cooldown means you must save this ability for times where your life is in immediate danger.
Use against melee enemies
- Since Metallic Curtain doesn’t mitigate melee damage, Iron Bulwark is Magneto’s only means of staying alive against a flurry melee attacks.
Mag-Cannon combos
- Using Mag-Cannon then immediately popping Iron Bulwark can quickly generate a second full energy Mag-Cannon and allow for fast eliminations against low HP targets.
Secondary Fire: Mag-Cannon
DESCRIPTION | 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 knock back enemies |
KEY | Right Click |
CASTING | Single-cast projectile with delayed impact |
PROJECTILE SPEED | 120m/s |
DAMAGE | Iron Rings' first charge deals 40 damage, the second charge deals 65 damage, and the third charge deals 90 damage |
COOLDOWN | No cooldown, but the ability can only be activated when the Iron Ring has at least one charge |
CRITICAL HIT | No |
SPECIAL EFFECT | When fully charged, the Iron Ring has a 6m knockback distance |
Tips for Mag-Cannon
Shut down approaches
- Example: A well timed Mag-Cannon stun into a swinging Venom cancels his ability and leaves him without the ability to swing away for 8 seconds.
Get off me
- Once a melee hero like Wolverine gets on him, Magneto can use the push back stun to create distance and prevent further melee damage against him.
Combos
- While Magneto isn’t particularly known for combos and burst damage, Mag-Cannon does give him some really strong solo elimination potential. Be sure to learn his bread and butter combo below:
- Primary fire → Melee → Mag-Cannon (3 rings) → Primary Fire
- Eliminates 275 HP heroes
[Space]: Magnetic Descent
DESCRIPTION | Hold Space to fall slowly |
KEY | Space |
HORIZONTAL MOVEMENT SPEED | 6m/s |
DESCENDING SPEED | 3.5m/s |
Tips for Magnetic Descent
- Mostly used after ult to reposition or shoot over barriers.
- Can be good for keeping away from melee attacks if Magneto was already on high ground and jumps away.
Ultimate: Meteor M
DESCRIPTION | Draw in all materials around to forge an iron meteor that deals massive damage upon impact. Absorbing enemy projectiles can enhance the meteor's power, yet overloading will cause it to self-destruct |
KEY | Q |
CASTING | Create a persistent spell field that launches a projectile upon completion, which generates another spell field on impact |
PROJECTILE ABSORPTION RANGE | 15m spherical radius |
PROJECTILE SPEED | 30m/s |
EXPLOSION RANGE | Initially, the ability has a spherical range with a radius of 5m. After charging for 4s, it expands to an 8m radius |
MAXIMUM DURATION | 4s |
DAMAGE | The projectile deals no damage. The base damage at the center of the spell field starts at 100 and increases to 300 when fully charged. Each point of Energy adds an extra 3 points of damage to the spell field, with damage reducing to 50% at a distance of 6m from the center |
ENERGY COST | 3100 |
SPECIAL EFFECT | For each point of projectile damage absorbed, the power increases by 0.125, with a maximum absorption of 800 projectile damage |
Tips for Meteor M
Counter enemy ultimates
- The best use of Meteor M is to counter enemy ultimates such as Star-Lord,Hela, Rocket Racoon boosted damage, etc.
Secure Eliminations through healing
- The 300 burst damage means Magneto can still eliminate 300 HP enemies through healing from ultimates like Invisible Woman and Luna Snow.
- Teams typically group up during these ults making Magneto’s ult a great way to counter such enemy abilities.
- Any Enemies within the AoE can’t be healed by projectiles which gives your team extra time to finish off targets.
Area of Effect
- The circle you see below Magneto as he flies into the air is the range where all projectiles within will be absorbed.
- Absorbs all standard enemy projectiles including damage projectiles, healing projectiles, stun projectiles, etc.
- Does NOT absorb beams like Luna Snow SHIFT or Iron Man Unibeam.
Meteor M breaks at 100 absorption so be sure to fire the projectile just before maxing out.
Team-up: Metallic Fusion
DESCRIPTION | Scarlet Witch can infuse Chaos Energy into Magneto to enchant his greatsword. Upon receiving the Chaos Energy, Magneto can unleash its full force, striking down enemies with his enchanted greatsword |
KEY | C |
CASTING | Grant Ability |
KEY (ENHANCED) | Left Click |
ATTACK INTERVAL | The first two stages each take 0.615s, while the third stage takes 0.954s |
PROJECTILE SPEED | 80m/s |
RANGE | 3m spherical radius |
DAMAGE | Projectile Damage: 60, Spell Field Damage: 35 |
DURATION | 10s |
Tips for Metallic Fusion
- Season 1 buff now makes three direct hits eliminate 275 HP heroes like Luna Snow.
- Cancel 3rd swing with Mag-Cannon
- The long recovery animation of the third stage can be cancelled with Mag-Cannon at any charge level.
- Extremely high burst damage combo:
- Metallic Fusion Swing (x3) → Mag-Cannon → Metallic Fusion Swing (x3)
Synergies
Team Comp Synergies
Ideal team comps built around Magneto have a combination of aggressive allies and backline ranged heroes. When playing with flankers or melee heroes, Metallic Bulwark is the the most powerful enabling ability in all of Rivals to extend the amount of time an ally can stay behind enemy lines.
Paired with ranged heroes, Magneto’s damage mitigation lets his team stand directly behind him and fire into the enemy without fear of getting eliminated. Additionally Magneto plays well with Strategists like Invisible Woman who rely on team peel to survive and counter attack enemy flanks.
Team Comp Example
- Vanguards: Magneto, Thor
- Duelists: Scarlet Witch, Winter Soldier
- Strategists: Invisible Woman, Luna Snow
Hero Synergies
Vanguards: Thor
Thor has amazing burst damage when activating Awakening Rune, but he’s very squishy for a Vanguard. Magneto makes up for Thor’s weaknesses by being his protector and enabling to bypass enemy frontlines and go for quick blackline elims. When playing with Thor, Save every single Bulwark to use on him and Magneto will be passively carrying your games.
Duelists: Scarlet Witch
Wanda’s only problem right now is weak damage stats, and a horrifically bad ultimate. Her ultimate is so slow and so easy to shut down with any stun ability. What if there was a way to make her CC immune while channeling her ultimate? Magneto does exactly that with his ally bubble, which transforms Scarlet Witch ult from useless into the game winning condition. Moreover, their Team-Up greatly raises Magneto’s threat level and helps him farm ult quicker. Uses their ults together also creates two massive kill zones while simutaneously absorbing the projectiles which would typically shut down Wanda’s ult.
Strategists: Invisible Woman
Invisible Woman wants her Vanguards to stay directly in front of her, stand in her ult, and keep her alive during team fights. Magneto does all three of these things by default which gives them great synergy. Ally bubbles let her take duels against flankers, and Invisible Woman’s multiple cc abilities help keep the melee attackers off of Magneto. As long as they are keeping an eye on each other, this duo is a great challenge to eliminate.
Table of Contents
Base Stats
Role | Vanguard |
Difficulty | 2/5 Stars |
Health | 650 |
Movement Speed | 6 m/s |