Marvel Rivals runs on Team-Up Abilities, the passive and active bonuses that link specific heroes together when you slot them on the same roster. There are 23 of them live in Season 8.5, and none of them actively weaken your team. Some are passive and stay on as long as both anchor characters are selected, while others grant an extra ability on a recharge timer. The gap between the strongest and weakest options is wide, so knowing which ones reward you for building around them matters more than the count.
Quick answer: The S-tier Team-Ups for Season 8.5 are Explosive Entanglement, Lucky Loan, Arcane Order, Psyonic Vortex, Mr. Pool’s Interdimensional Toy Box, and Vibrant Vitality. Prioritize these when they fit your hero pool.
Season 8.5 Team-Up tier list (full ranking)
This ranking reflects the metagame at the end of Season 8.0, the Season 8.5 balance adjustments, the Team-Up changes that shipped with the update, and the addition of new hero Cyclops. A low placement does not mean a Team-Up is useless. It means the payoff rarely justifies the heroes you must lock in to get it.
| Tier | Team-Ups |
|---|---|
| S | Explosive Entanglement, Lucky Loan, Arcane Order, Psyonic Vortex, Mr. Pool’s Interdimensional Toy Box, Vibrant Vitality |
| A | Gamma Charge, Blast Slash, Sword of Duality, Deep Wrath, Divine Armory, Symbiote Shenanigans |
| B | Blessing of the Kumiho, Rocket Network, Blade of Khonshu, Bestial Hunt, Chilling Assault, Primal Punishment |
| C | Fastball Special, Stars Aligned, Stark Protocol, Cosmic Cyclone, Planet-X Pals, Primal Flame |
S Tier Team-Ups
These six Team-Ups deliver upgrades worth shaping a comp around, and most pair characters who are already strong picks on their own.
Explosive Entanglement links Gambit and Magneto, giving Magneto a version of his old Scarlet Witch pairing. It is a straight boost to his offense even though he is already top tier. Season 5.5 folded Rogue into the Team-Up, which pushes Rogue into top-tier territory as well.
Lucky Loan arrived in Season 7.5. Beyond a small damage bump for anchor Black Cat, it hands White Fox an auto-targeting heal in a radius around her, enlarges Captain America’s shield, and lets Cap reflect incoming damage back with high accuracy. Those are major upgrades for all three, making it a clear S-tier choice.
Arcane Order connects Doctor Strange and Magik. It received no direct changes but climbed to S tier as both heroes spiked in relevance. The main draw is giving Magik a way to pin nearby opponents so she can finish off slippery targets.
Psyonic Vortex pairs Invisible Woman with Doctor Strange now that the classic Fantastic Four lineup has split. It takes a strong Strange ability and makes it even better. Since both characters are top tier, you are essentially rewarded for picking good heroes.
Mr. Pool’s Interdimensional Toy Box brings Deadpool, Elsa Bloodstone, and Jeff together. It gives Jeff a rotating set of abilities that change based on whichever role Deadpool is currently playing. With Deadpool a near-permanent fixture in matches, Jeff gets a constant free tool, and handing an S-tier healer extra utility keeps this in the top bracket.
Vibrant Vitality was built to introduce a new healer pairing, and it lands hard. Groot gains a healing option and Loki’s already strong healing lamp expands further. The only catch is running Mantis as the second healer, but high-level play shows strong results with her despite a lower pick rate.
A Tier Team-Ups
The A-tier group is genuinely good, but each one carries a small restriction, whether that is locking in two specific tanks or anchoring around a lower-tier character.
Blast Slash is the new Season 8.5 Team-Up, pairing Wolverine with Cyclops. Cyclops is only the anchor, but Wolverine gains a strong new ability that spins him around to deal fast damage to anything in his path. It punishes a tank with no healer and chews through anyone caught in range. If Cyclops were more than an anchor, this would be S tier.
Gamma Charge still holds firm and now adds The Thing to the mix. The drawback is having to run two specific tanks, which hard-locks your comp, so top-level play rarely uses it. Casual players will still get a lot of mileage out of it.
Sword of Duality adds another arrow to Hawkeye’s quiver, granting healing and anti-healing shots on activation. Giving a DPS character a heal option is a solid, straightforward benefit.
Deep Wrath was once S tier but fell after heavy Season 6.0 nerfs. The change aimed to make Namor less reliant on Team-Ups, but the cut outweighed his buffs, leaving a middling pairing that is far less impactful than before.
Divine Armory finally gives Thor a fast mobility tool. Angela picks up a needed HP boost while Thor gains a throwable spear he can leap toward. That piece makes Thor viable, so the Team-Up ranks A tier even with Angela sitting as a weaker tank.
Symbiote Shenanigans gives Jeff an extra healing option and gets more versatile with Venom surging in the meta. Because Hela is a near must-pick, you will often see this combo happen naturally. A Season 7.5 nerf softened it, which is why it slid from the top tier down to A.
B Tier Team-Ups
B-tier Team-Ups offer real upside, but they usually demand role overlap, force awkward healer combos, or simply do not see much use in practice.
Rocket Network picks up Mister Fantastic, who toggles his inflated state on a cooldown rather than automatically. It is no replacement for Peni Parker, and it reads like a trial run for a future buff. Star-Lord also gains a teleporter that has not made much impact yet.
Primal Punishment is a fresh take on Planet-X Pals that lets Punisher ride Devil Dino the way Rocket and Jeff ride Groot. The difference is Punisher is a DPS who actually belongs near the tank. Devil Dino’s size can obscure Punisher’s hitbox, and you will not use it often, but it is functional.
Blessing of the Kumiho gives Luna Snow a fun new ability but still pushes you into a rough healer alongside the new one, and forced healer combos have never worked. The anchor bonus for White Fox is what keeps it out of C tier, and a third character next season could lift it.
Blade of Khonshu hands Blade a dash that swings his sword and throws crescent moons. It is fine but unremarkable, and it asks you to run two overlapping DPS, so it stays niche.
Chilling Assault looks excellent on paper, but only Hawkeye among its three heroes sees real play, so it rarely reaches meta relevance. A Luna Snow comeback would change that. Bestial Hunt pairs The Punisher with new Duelist Daredevil, adding a temporary blind to Punisher’s grenade launcher. Players mostly use that launcher for movement, so it gets light use, though the blind utility keeps it above C tier.
C Tier Team-Ups
These are the Team-Ups you can comfortably ignore. The conditions to activate them rarely line up, and the payoff is minimal when they do.
Fastball Special is the weakest of the bunch. Bruce Banner and The Thing pair with Wolverine, but both anchors must stop fighting to engage it, and the only reward is launching Wolverine with a lunge. It unlocks no new ability and enhances nothing, so most players never touch it.
Primal Flame took a heavy Season 8.5 nerf that removed Wolverine, leaving only Phoenix and Black Widow, a pairing that almost never appears. Stars Aligned joins Captain America and Winter Soldier, two heroes whose play zones clash, so the stat boosts amount to a little extra health rather than a real tactic.
Stark Protocol has been underwhelming and is on track for removal, since its characters rarely work together and the payoff is small even in ideal cases. Planet-X Pals suffers from the Jeff problem, as Groot’s walls block Jeff’s healing and the “ride on Groot” portion puts a healer on the front line.
Cosmic Cyclone does not fit the current meta. Pairing a mid-tier healer with a low-tier DPS for a mediocre effect is more risk than reward, with Adam Warlock zipping around for a little healing and speed. It may improve when fliers return, but for now it is the weakest launch Team-Up since Stars Aligned.
Since every Team-Up is at least a passive stat bump, there is no penalty for selecting heroes who share one. The practical takeaway is to chase the S- and A-tier pairings when your roster allows, treat the B tier as a bonus rather than a plan, and let the C tier happen incidentally without building around it. These placements can shift if future balance updates buff, nerf, or add Team-Ups, and the rankings will move with them.
