Support vs Strategy: Overwatch 2 support heroes and their Marvel Rivals counterparts

The Marvel Rivals and Overwatch 2 comparisons have become a topic of discussion in the video game community since Marvel Rivals released back in December 2024. Both games are online PVP shooters with very similar hero roles. 

Despite Marvel Rivals only being a few months old, it is also taking steps to become a prominent game in the esports scene. Overwatch 2 is also attempting to make a comeback in esports, so it’s clear why the Overwatch 2 vs. Marvel Rivals debate rumbles on. 

As mentioned, the hero roles in Overwatch 2 and Marvel Rivals are among the most noticeable similarities between the two games, such as the Strategists and Support Heroes. But what do each of these roles do, and how are they similar? 

Support Heroes in Overwatch 2 and Marvel Rivals Strategists are similar in that they support their team on the battlefield. They are usually in the backline, making sure that the team is healed, protected, and buffed when necessary. 

As well as keeping teammates alive with healing abilities, Supports and Strategists offer general utility skills, such as damage amplification and speed boosts. These characters are a crucial part of any game. Without them, a team cannot function, as they lose all survivability. 

Supports and Strategists do have a great deal of similarities, but they also have some key differences. These are different games after all, and the Marvel Rivals devs, NetEase, and Overwatch 2 devs, Blizzard, go about creating effective support heroes in their own ways. Let’s first take a closer look at the similarities and differences.

Certain Support heroes in Overwatch 2 and Marvel Rivals Strategists do have distinctive similarities. Here are some particularly noteworthy Supports and Strategists counterparts. 

The biggest similarity between Overwatch 2’s Lucio and Marvel Rivals’s Luna Snow is their background and narrative. Both have a significant connection to music, as both are international music stars turned superheroes. 

Their powers are intertwined with their musical prowess, though Luna has the addition of ice and snow abilities, while Lucio’s skills are mostly music-based, with a bit of mobility thrown in thanks to his rollerblading. 

Luna’s The Fate of Both Worlds Ultimate ability is also incredibly similar to Lucio’s general healing. Lucio creates a healing AOE passively, but he can switch the effect to a speed boost with his Crossfade skill. When Luna uses her ultimate, she too can switch between healing and a speed boost buff. 

Both heroes also have movement-related abilities. Luna can skate with her ice powers, making her move much more quickly. Lucio skates with rollerblades and can ride walls. 

While Mercy’s Resurrection ability is incredibly similar to Adam Warlock’s Karmic Revival, it is Rocket Raccoon that she shares the most similarities with. Rocket also has a lot in common with Overwatch 2 hero Baptiste, but his parallels with Mercy are undeniable. 

Both Mercy and Rocket are healers who don’t usually get tons of kills in a game. They each have a primary attack fire with their weapons, but using it means neglecting their healing, which isn’t going to happen most of the time.

Their strength lies in their healing abilities, and this is where both characters excel. They are also easy to play with, as their healing is simplistic. As well as that, Rocket can also resurrect allies with his B.R.B. (Battle Rebirth Beacon), similarly to Mercy’s Resurrect. 

The themes of one supporting hero representing both light and dark are apparent in Overwatch 2’s Moira and Marvel Rivals’s Cloak and Dagger. 

Moira can heal and harm with her Biotic Orbs. Cloak and Dagger are two people merged into one hero, with one focusing on healing and the other on damage. Dagger’s healing Lightforce Daggers are similar to Moira’s healing Biotic Orbs, while Cloak’s Darkforce Cloak skill is almost identical to Moira’s damaging Biotic Grasp alternate fire. 

Moira can also use her Fade skill to briefly disappear and become invulnerable. Cloak’s Dark Teleportation can also do this, but it also enshrouds allies, making them invisible, boosting their speed, and making them impossible to target.

In the Overwatch 2 vs Marvel Rivals discussion, the similarities between Supports and Strategists is a topic that is sure to keep cropping up. While their similarities are undeniable, as are some of the hero counterparts, there are enough differences between these two games and roles to make each player’s experiences unique.