Marvel Rivals’ Magik Already Has a Clear Overwatch…

Summary

Key differences between Marvel Rivals and Overwatch 2 include destructible environments and a third-person perspective.
Magik in Marvel Rivals is likely to share design elements with Symmetra from Overwatch 2, mainly due to teleportation abilities.

Marvel Rivals is shaping up to be a strong competitor to Blizzard's hero-shooter Overwatch 2, taking iconic characters from Marvel's vast roster and putting them in team-based PvP combat. While it's clear Marvel Rivals draws a lot of inspiration from Overwatch 2, there are some key differences that should help the game feel unique, such as destructible environments and a third-person perspective. However, out of all the characters on Marvel Rivals' roster, Magik is likely to be one of the most derivative of one Overwatch 2 character based on her signature portal-conjuring abilities.

Although there are still a lot of details yet to be revealed about the gameplay of Marvel Rivals, the roster of characters confirmed to be in the game at launch paints a solid picture of how matches might play out. There is a good mix of unique characters, like Hulk, Iron Man, Storm, and Magneto that could all play very differently from one another and other characters in similar games like Overwatch 2. While a character like Magik has the potential to be wholly unique, she will likely share a similar design element with Overwatch 2's Symmetra, given her ability to teleport using portals.

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By Cameron Swan

Marvel Rivals’ Magik Could Play Similarly to Overwatch 2’s Symmetra

A core part of Magik's identity as a hero and member of the X-Men is her ability to conjure portals to Limbo using her Soulsword. This power allows Magik to teleport by creating a portal, or Stepping Disc, to Limbo at one location as an entrance and then creating a second one elsewhere as an exit. This teleportation ability is so great that it has helped Magik transport herself and others across incredible distances, from continental divides to intergalactic gaps, meaning it's likely to be a key part of her moveset in Marvel Rivals.

Magik has also been known to travel through time using her Stepping Discs, which could also be translated to Marvel Rivals and allow her to use an ability similar to Tracer's Recall in Overwatch 2.

Teleportation mechanics are a staple for team-based hero-shooters, with titles like Team Fortress 2 allowing the Engineer to build teleporters for players to use, and Overwatch 2's Symmetra having the ability to create similar teleporters to transport players across short distances instantaneously. With this mechanic common to the genre, it seems likely that Magik will fulfill a similar archetype, potentially making her the Symmetra of Marvel Rivals. However, Marvel Rivals will need to make Magik feel unique from other instances of this archetype in order for her to stand out, and there are a few ways the game could accomplish this task.

How Marvel Rivals Can Differentiate Magik from Symmetra

Aside from the ability to create Stepping Disc portals, Magik has a variety of other powers that could help her stand out from Symmertra in Marvel Rivals. Magik can manipulate psionic energy in a variety of ways, including creating psionic shields and armor, as well as weaponizing psionic energy as an offensive energy blast. The use of these abilities would also make for logical additions to Magik's moveset in Marvel Rivals, potentially given her support capabilities similar to Symmetra's at the launch of Overwatch 1.

The main way Marvel Rivals can differentiate Magik from Symmetra is through the use of her Soulsword, potentially giving her an emphasis on close-range melee combat. In contrast, Symmetra's primary attack comes from her Photon Projector, a short-range beam that can also fire long-range projectiles and works in tandem with Symmetra's Sentry Turrets, which also fire short-range beams at enemies within range. Having Magik be a melee character with support capabilities through the use of her Stepping Discs and psionic manipulation would be a good middle ground between a Symmetra-inspired design and a unique Marvel Rivals character.

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