The Punisher is one of the most deadliest characters in Marvel Rivals. Despite not having superpowers, he relies on his weapons to damage his enemies significantly. Due to his kit, he not only ensures offense but also gains supporting fire whilst also being able to reposition efficiently.
He quickly becomes a menace to his enemies when put in the right hands. To counter him, though, there are certain characters in the line-up. Read on below to learn more about them.
Understanding the Punisher
Due to Punisher being a Duelist, you can expect him to be huge on the damage output. That being said, he doesn’t boast the best health pool. Secondly, he excels in mid-range combat, dealing consistent damage to his opponents through his Assault Rifle Adjudication.
Unlike other long-range characters in the game, you can’t disable the Punisher in close-range combat due to his shotgun, Deliverance, allowing him to deal significant damage even on short ranges.
Whilst he may not have impeccable speed like some Duelists in the roster, he has Vantage Connection—a grappling hook that allows the Punisher to maneuver across various points of the map fairly quickly. Due to this (plus his ranged attributes), you’ll commonly find the Punisher taking the high ground and acquiring strategic positions.
Another buffy ability that the Punisher has is his Cullting Turret, which he can place at a marked location to deal consistent rounds of armor-piercing bullets to his enemies. Finally, Punisher’s Ultimate, the Final Judgement. This ability is considered one of the strongest ultimates in the game, thanks to its high damage output to the surrounding enemy characters.
How to Counter Punisher
Below, we’ll look at a few characters who can counter the Punisher in Marvel Rivals.
1. Spider-Man (Duelist)
Spider-Man is one of the best characters to use against the Punisher. Being a Duelist, he has a similar health pool to the Punisher, but he makes up for it through his impeccable mobility and web-slinging abilities.
By efficiently maneuvering across the map, Spider-Man ensures that the Punisher cannot lock on him. He can also use his mobility to close gaps between himself and the Punisher to deal devastating and consistent damage to the characters.
Through abilities like Get Over Here!, Spidey can reel himself towards the enemy. This can also help stun the character, allowing him to utilize some of his follow-up combos.
2. Doctor Strange (Vanguard)
Being a Vanguard, Stephen already has an advantage over Punisher due to his large health pool. That’s not the main reason he’s an effective counter against the character.
If you’ve consumed Marvel’s content, you know Doctor Strange can bend space and time according to his will. The game is no different, so Stephen instantly becomes a suitable character against the Punisher.
To counter his arsenal of weapons, Strange can utilize his Shield of Seraphim to block incoming attacks. He can also use the Eye of Agamotto to restrict the Punisher’s movement, disallowing him to take advantage of his repositioning abilities and creating enough gaps to deal him damage.
3. Luna Snow (Strategist)
Despite being a healer fundamentally, Luna acts as an ideal counter for Punisher due to her crowd-control abilities. Being able to maneuver across the map quite efficiently, thanks to her Smooth Skating ability, Luna ensures that Punisher is always on his feet while going up against her.
By being able to immobilize her enemies, Luna can disable Punisher’s movement for a temporary period, disallowing him to reposition or even escape. This makes enough room for her to come up with follow-up attacks alongside her teammates.
From the healing side, she can grant additional health to her allies, ensuring they don’t succumb to the Punisher’s wrath.
4. Hawkeye (Duelist)
Since Punisher is ideal for mid-range combats, this duelist can stay at quite a distance whilst being able to deal significant damage due to his precision arrows. With abilities like Piercing Arrow, his shots become penetrable, and he deals damage to the Punisher despite being on the cover.
Another attribute that makes Hawkeye a great counter to the Punisher is his Skyward Leap ability, which, like the Punisher, allows him to reach high ground. This helps him attack his enemies from unexpected angles and serves as an escape route at times.
5. Peni Parker (Vanguard)
Like Doctor Strange, Peni Parker has a health advantage over the Punisher, so she instantly creates a pressing environment for him. That said, her toolkit is far more effective than her health in combat.
By deploying certain gadgets, Peni can disrupt the Punisher’s setup. Using her Spider-Sweeper ability, she can launch the Punisher into the air, effectively interrupting his positioning and offensive strategy and allowing her and her teammates to devise a counter-offensive strategy.
Secondly, she can crawl on walls and reach high ground, damaging the Punisher from unexpected angles and making it difficult for him to breathe. Additionally, she has certain tools in her kit that annoy the Punisher (Arachno-Mines and Spider Drones), diverting his attention from his primary targets.
Suppose the Punisher starts to win on the offensive side of things. In that case, Peni can deploy her Cyber-Web ability to replenish her health, allowing her to gain 20 HP per second, with excessive health converted into bonus health.