Marvel Rivals took the gaming community by storm when they introduced us to another team-based hero shooter using the characters we’ve known for decades from Marvel Comics. Out of all the characters you get to play, we can easily see that there are clear favorites in popularity. However, there’s one character many Marvel fans have come to love on the big screen but haven’t translated that same love to Marvel Rivals. That character is Black Widow.

Out of all the hours I’ve spent playing Marvel Rivals I noticed that there aren’t many people playing with Black Widow, and after selecting her for a few matches, I can see why people stray away from her. Black Widow doesn’t have many abilities, and she can be underwhelming against other duelists. Still, I wanted to give myself a challenge, so I began practicing with her, and let me tell you that she can be a HUGE asset to her team if she is used properly.

After hours of playing as Black Widow, here’s what I learned.

Black Widow Abilities

Of course, each character has their special abilities that allow them to utilize their attacks (or heals) accordingly. Playing to your character’s strong suit and adjusting your play style depending on who you pick is key to success.

Before we look into the tips and tricks of Black Widow, we’ll need to take a look at all of her abilities.

Fleet Foot

Dash forward and enable a powerful jump

Within Marvel Rivals, all characters have a fixed walking speed with a few abilities that will help them chase down or escape enemies and that’s what Black Widow’s Fleet Foot is for. Players can use “R1” to run, and use “X” to do a power jump while running.

Edge Dancer

Unleash a spinning kick to Launch Up enemies. Landing the hit will allow her to zip to the target with a grappling hook for a second kick.

This is one of Black Widow’s close-range abilities. This allows her to do quick damage and it can be an option for quickly getting out of a pinch as well.

Straight Shooter

Switch the Red Room Rifle to Sniper mode to fire high-energy rounds.

This is just her aiming her rifle for long-range shots.

Electro-Plasma Explosion (Ult)

Switch the Red Room Rifle to Destruction mode and unleash an electro-plasma blast, damaging enemies within range and leaving a plasma on the ground to Slow nearby enemies.

This is Black Widow’s ultimate ability. It allows her to do splash damage and create an opportunity for her team to do damage.

Supersensory Hunt (Team-Up Ability)

Hawkeye can share his Hunter’s Sight with Black Widow, enabling her to catch sight of and damage afterimages of enemies.

This is Black Widow’s Team-up ability. Partnering with Hawkeye makes her much more of a threat to the other team.

Now that we have a clear look at what abilities Black Widow has, we can talk about how and when to use them.

Tip #1: Stay On The Move

With only 250 health getting pinned down in one spot is a death sentence for Black Widow. Unless you have near-perfect positioning, you should always use Black Widow’s Fleet Foot to keep moving.

Keep in mind that Fleet Foot is limited because Black Widow has a stamina bar, but it recharges fairly quickly. Once you get off a shot, you should make sure you are weaving between different areas to protect yourself from other snipers, or that disgruntled player who will stop at nothing to take you out.

Remember, standing still is always a mistake, no matter who you play as.

Tip #2: Find A Good Spot

Once again, Fleet Foot will come in handy when trying to find good sniper positioning. While running, you can do a power jump to find a high point and get the edge over the enemy team. Even if you don’t use your power jump, you can always find a nice spot on the ground to attack oncoming enemies.

Be sure to find a spot with some slight cover in case you have to quickly retreat until a healer comes to help you out. And don’t forget to weave in and out of cover to protect yourself from other snipers.

Tip #3: Use Edge Dancer Effectively For Quick Defense

You may find yourself getting rushed by a melee hero or just in a close-quarter battle in general. If escape with Fleet Foot isn’t an option, use Edge Dancer to knock enemies away from you and even good an easy kill.

The best thing about Edge Dancer is that Black Widow can hit the enemy twice. Once you get the first hit off, you’ll have 5 seconds to initiate a second edge dancer attack and knock the enemy back even further. At this point, you can either escape or get a quick headshot while the enemy is disoriented for a second. Edge Dancer almost always works best as a defensive attack. Even though Black Widow is a sniper, you’ll find yourself in dangerous close combat situations, and you want to use this ability in those cases.

Here’s a video of how I managed to get out of a tight situation against The Punisher using Edge Dancer.

Tip #4: Use Black Widow’s Ultimate Wisely

Black Widow’s Electro-Plasma Explosion is a weak ultimate. It doesn’t do a whole lot of damage, and it takes a while to fire it off. All things considered, this ultimate isn’t my favorite, however, there have been plenty of times I’ve used it to make a difference for my team.

Yes, you won’t be the star of the show when you use Black Widow’s ultimate, but you can change the tide of a match in a second. Pick a good spot where you can safely charge the shot without getting rushed by enemies and fire it off when your teammates are in the middle of a good push for the objective.

Also, be sure to save your ultimate for when there are a bunch of enemies in one spot to get the best out of it. This attack does splash damage and slows down enemies, which can give you the edge to get a couple of quick easy headshots, or a few assists as your team finishes the affected enemies off.

Tip #5: Stay In The Back

You may be tempted at times to rush in and be on the front lines but this puts Black Widow at a huge disadvantage for both you and your team. Yes, Black Widow is canonically an assassin and she is known for close-quarter battles, but that isn’t the case for her in Marvel Rivals.

Be sure to stay behind your teammates, pick your spots well, and take your time with your shots. You’ll quickly grow to love her playstyle and become one of the better Black Widows in Marvel Rivals if you do so.

Bonus Tip: Be sure to switch to Widow’s Bite Baton when you are out of other options. Don’t try to take a shot when an enemy is practically breathing down your neck unless you are an amazing shot.

I hope these tips help you with Black Widow on Marvel Rivals. Go out and practice her abilities and you’ll soon be on the defending end when someone says “Black Widow is bad.” As always, thanks for reading. Stay Gritty, Gamers!