How To Play Winter Soldier Effectively

Winter Soldier is one of the strongest Duelists in Marvel Rivals, with an aggressive chasing and grappling kit that impairs the movement of his foes and a powerful execution ability that can be spammed to wipe out an entire team. He is moderately difficult to master but fun to play, and it feels rewarding when getting the hang of his kit.

If players want to get the best out of this Hybrid Duelist, they should take a look at this guide, as it has a lot of great info. It will go through an overview of all Winter Soldier’s abilities, how to play him, how to counter him, and the best team composition to make the most out of his abilities.

Winter Soldier Abilities Overview

• Roterstern – Primary Attack: Winter Soldier aims and shoots his faithful revolver, dealing great damage at moderate range (40 m). Can do precision damage (headshots) and needs to reload every three shots. But, thanks to its passive, each time Winter Soldier uses a skill, this will refill the magazine automatically.
• Kraken Impact – Ultimate Attack: Winter Soldier jumps into the air and smashes the ground, dealing damage in an AoE and marking all targets with “Culling,” which makes them be automatically executed upon reaching 20% Health. Killing Marked enemies resets Kraken Impact for a re-cast and can be spammed as long as Winter Soldier kills marked enemies. Enemies that are at 20% or lower will be immediately executed by the initial impact.
• Trooper’s Fist – Winter Soldier dashes in the aiming direction and pushes back the enemies, then propels them into the air for a brief instant, making them vulnerable to all attacks.
• Tainted Voltage – Shoots an orb of electricity from his fist that slows down foes, making them vulnerable to combos. It also makes flying targets (such as Iron Man and Storm) fall to the ground.
• Bionic Hook – Fires a Grappling Hook that penetrates rivals, grabbing enemies in a straight line and pulling them toward Winter Soldier. Enemies hiding behind their allies are also reeled in.
• Ceaseless Charge – Passive: Each time Winter Soldier uses an ability, his bionic arm automatically loads Roterstern and grants bonus Health to Winter Soldier.
• Infinite Grit – Team-Up Passive: When Rocket Raccoon is in the same team, he can throw a power up station that makes Winter Soldier’s Roterstern increase its fire rate and have infinite ammo. Getting out of the AoE provided by this support skill will cease the effect after 0.5 seconds.

Winter Soldier is a combo-based Duelist that shifts from mid-range attacks to powerful chasing and crowd-control abilities in a matter of seconds. Any Winter Soldier that is left unattended for long can wipe out an entire team, and with his powerful execution ultimate (Kraken Impact), he can basically chain combos and kill enemies endlessly. If the team is struggling to deal with pesky foes like Scarlet Witch, there’s no better chaser than him.

He is a great initiator, but a lousy brawler, so having him take the lead during battle is not a good idea. Instead, take advantage of his passive and combo ranged attacks with abilities to perform masterful takedowns and pin down priority targets such as Cloak & Dagger, Spider-Man, Black Widow, Hawkeye, Jeff The Land Shark, and Iron Fist.

Winter Soldier Basic Combos

His basic combo consists of Two Shots + Tainted Voltage + Trooper’s Fist + Shot x2. Alternatively, players can target more than one enemy by using the following combo: Shot x2 + Bionic Hook + Shot x2 + Tainted Voltage. Another alternative is to chain the following attacks: Shot + Trooper’s Fist, Shot x3 + Tainted Voltage + Shoot + Bionic Hook + Shoot x2.

Winter Soldier Ultimate Combo

When his Ultimate ability is ready, Winter Soldier can engage using Trooper’s Fist, then Kraken Impact + Shoot + Tainted Voltage + Kraken Impact + Shoot + Kraken Impact. This devastating combo can wipe out an entire team, and players can chain it endlessly since Kraken Fist resets after executing a Rival.

Take advantage of Winter Soldier’s powerful crowd control skills and
stick with the team to share the glory
. Leading the team to victory is quite rewarding, more so if he ends up wiping an entire team by landing a timely Kraken Impact. Remember that this hero’s crowd control can greatly benefit other characters that have a hard time landing a precise shot, like Black Widow and Hawkeye.

How To Play Winter Soldier In Marvel Rivals

Winter Soldier is a side-initiator, flanker, and chaser, so naturally, he is going to be playing near the frontlines next to Melee Duelists and Vanguards. His kit is filled with lots of crowd control and creates incredible synergies with many heroes like Punisher, Captain America, Storm, Black Widow, Hawkeye, Groot, Jeff, Loki, and Thor.

Having Winter Soldier playing as a mid-range marksman is useful for certain tactics and specific team goals like escorting the payload in Convoy or defending an area in Domination, but his kit is more optimized to grab, chase, and destroy rivals. So, with this in mind, let’s analyze how to play Winter Soldier in each of the game modes of Marvel Rivals.

Convoy Mode Winter Soldier Tips

During Defense, Winter Soldier plays a fundamental role that is flanking opponents, chasing down Strategists (Healers), and destroying annoying targets such as Jeff The Land Shark (or the most annoying of them all: Luna Snow). Have Winter Soldier tailgate opponents that are trying to flank the team, and associate with fast Duelists like Spider-Man, Iron Fist, or Hawkeye to pin down flying opponents like Storm, Iron Man, and Moon Knight (who doesn’t fly but falls with style — still annoying). Remember to combo each ability with basic attacks for maximum output damage, and use that grappling hook to pick up fleeing targets.

During Offense, always prioritize healers first, then ranged Duelists. Winter Soldier will be an easy target if he is cornered by many rivals, so the best approach here is to use Trooper’s Fist to either pick up Healing stations (by dashing toward them) or make Winter Soldier retreat to a more secure area. Dash and grab isolated targets, or stick near the Strategists to prevent melee duelists from overwhelming them, but keep an eye out for Iron Fist and Wolverine as they’re Winter Soldier’s natural counters. If Winter Soldier is near Punisher and Rocket Raccoon, he will become nearly unstoppable, so having these three in a team is a recipe for a win.

Domination Mode Winter Soldier Tips

Domination basically consists of taking zones, moving from one zone to the next and retaining them until they reach 100% completion. The team that captures two zones is the winner, and Winter Soldier is the key to a fast victory. By pinning down opponents, or isolating squishier targets like Black Widow, Hawkeye, or the agile Psylocke, this hero proves that he has what it needs to be a great team player. Having Winter Soldier outflanking foes, harassing their healers and supports, and creating mayhem by unleashing the Kraken Impact (pun intended) at the right time can shift the balance toward victory in a finger snap.

Just remember not to overextend attacks or become isolated. Winter Soldier might be equipped with a self-heal passive (Infinite Grit), but that doesn’t make him immortal, so knowing when to retreat and search for aid is the best approach. Flee from Iron Fist, Wolverine, and Venom, because they can totally overwhelm Winter Soldier in a matter of seconds.

Winter Soldier can use abilities like Trooper’s Fist to “Negate Healing.” Simply dash to intercept enemies that are looking for Health stations or pull them off their route with Bionic Hook, then punish them with a good combo. Sometimes, camping in the sidelines waiting for weakened enemies to go back and heal can be rewarding.

Convergence Mode Winter Soldier Tips

During Defense, Winter Soldier doesn’t benefit too much from over preparation; he is more of a spontaneous, combo-based assault hero (all in one) and will lead the charge when needed — or rotate when there’s a problem in the backline. Most of the time, he’s a great defense for the back line, since enemies prefer to target healers first for obvious reasons. So, in Defense Mode, make sure to rotate often between the mid line (behind the Vanguards) and the backline (next to Strategists) and protect the latter from being isolated by the likes of Spider-Man, Iron Fist, Psylocke, Cloak & Dagger, or Namor.

During Offense, remain next to the frontline, supporting melee duelists to make their foes easier targets by combing Trooper’s Fist, Tainted Voltage, and Bionic Hook. Remember that Tainted Voltage also causes flying enemies to fall (Storm, Iron Man, Moon Knight, and Spider-Man, for example), and a well placed skillshot can make the difference and turn the tides when most needed. Finally, Kraken Impact is a great way to execute targets; follow the team and activate when someone drops near 20% HP, this will create a combo sequence that can be infinitely chained and lead the team to victory.

How To Counter Winter Soldier In Marvel Rivals

Winter Soldier can be annoying, but he is not invulnerable, nor a difficult target to overwhelm. The most basic strategy to counter him in Marvel Rivals is to flank him, since his frontal assault combo is quite powerful. Players need to wait until its on cooldown before engaging him by two sides. Overwhelming him from a distance with ranged duelists like Punisher, or with mid-range mobile Duelists like Star-Lord is a bad idea, since Winter Soldier can easily outmaneuver and make them bleed in a matter of seconds.

Sending something bulkier like Venom to play with him while Black Widow or Hawkeye takes him down from afar is a better strategy. But, in case players are wondering how to deal with him in each situation, here’s an overview of how to counter Winter Soldier in each of Marvel Rivals’ modes.

Convoy Mode (Counter Winter Soldier)

During Defense, Winter Soldier will most likely go after healers, so Strategists like Rocket Raccoon, Mantis, Adam Warlock, and Cloak & Dagger are his priority targets. Stick close to them to negate a gank, and prevent squishier Fronline Duelists like Psylocke and Captain America from overextending, since they will be easily overwhelmed by Winter Soldier’s CC combo assault.

During Offense, severing the lifeline between Winter Soldier and his support is the way to go here. This Duelist doesn’t have too much mitigation, but he’s resilient and has an annoying passive that makes him difficult to kill if he is constantly chaining combos. Better wait until he spends all his abilities — and always attack from both sides at the same time; that way, he cannot grab all the team with his bionic arm and send them back to respawn.

Domination Mode (Counter Winter Soldier)

Here is where Winter Soldier shines the most. His ability to chase, rotate, assassinate, and basically destroy the whole team is concerning. When he has Kraken Impact ready, simply flee, as engaging him is like courting death. Plus, he can execute and re-cast his ultimate endlessly, so a misstep can become a team wipe. Instead, try to use as much crowd control on him as possible, and call out for ranged Duelists (especially Black Widow) when he is pinned down.

If the team sends Captain America to face him, they’re up for a surprise, since Winter Soldier’s kit overwhelms the Best Avenger in a matter of seconds. Instead, use Venom, Hulk, or Thor to smash him against a wall and blast him with everything in the arsenal.

Convergence Mode (Counter Winter Soldier)

During Defense, Winter Soldier will be easy to spot, since in this game mode, players prefer to stick to the frontline and initiate the assault on the objective. All the melee Duelists associated with him will benefit from his powerful crowd control kit, so isolate him and then destroy the rest of the team. Entertaining him for too long or chasing him are bad ideas, since there’s a chance he is kiting, or using his Trooper’s Fist to negate healing (dashing over), so if he starts doing this, try to sideline him with a powerful melee Duelist like Iron FIst.

During Offense, better be prepared for anything, since Winter Soldier will become absolutely annoying. He will rotate, cover his Strategists, and remain associated with Rocket Raccoon and Punisher for a powerful combo. If they’re together, it spells trouble, so it’s time for a counter strategy. Using Magneto or Penni Parker, lead the frontal assault and make them concentrate fire on these targets, while sharpshooters like Black Widow or Hawkeye kill Rocket or Punisher. Once one is down, it’s time for payback.

Remember that Rocket Raccoon’s B.R.B. beacon and other deployable can (and must) be destroyed.

Beast Team Composition For Winter Soldier In Marvel Rivals

The best team composition to play with Winter Soldier in Marvel Rivals has Rocket Raccoon and Punisher working together with this former Hydra Assassin. Rocket’s deployable abilities can buff both Punisher and Winter Soldier at the same time, empowering their attack, making them shoot faster, and providing infinite ammo. When combining this with Winter Soldier’s powerful CC and Punisher’s own deployable, the trio becomes a true menace.

To make this even more powerful, having Groot and Jeff the Land Shark in the team, and a healer like Mantis will surely cause a powerful synergy, since Rocket can climb on Groot’s shoulders and become nearly untargetable, while Jeff protects Mantis from Duelists. Together, these heroes can win battles like crazy, especially when taking over or defending objective areas.