The Marvel Rivals Emma Frost Vanguard is about to be part of the game with Season 2, the Diamond Queen of the Hellfire Gala serving as a tank brawler with a mixture of both ranged and melee attacks to disrupt foes and protect allies. Emma Frost has certainly captured the attention of the fanbase – I can’t possibly think thigh why – but having played as her myself, I can confirm that she lives up to the hype, at least in terms of raw ability and power. In fact, as somebody who usually finds themselves playing Vanguards, Emma might be a new main for many.
With that in mind, I’ll explain everything you need to know about how to play Emma Frost in Marvel Rivals below, including all her abilities, attacks, tips and strategies, and more besides, so you’re ready for when she goes live with the S2 update on April 11.
How to play as Emma Frost in Marvel Rivals
- Class: Vanguard
- Difficulty: 3 Stars
- Playstyle: Tank/Brawler/Control
In Marvel Rivals Emma Frost effectively functions in two modes – a ranged fighter when in her human form, and a melee fighter when in her diamond form. Her abilities change depending on which form she’s in, similar to playing Cloak and Dagger, only here there’s a clear intention of strategy, at least in theory.
Namely, you stay in human form when far away from enemies, using your shield and telepathic attacks to whittle them down from cover, then switch to diamond form and close the distance to devastate them in melee. With a good healer to keep you alive and supporting fire from your Duelist teammates, Emma Frost can blast through any Marvel Rivals team accordingly.
All Emma Frost Abilities and attacks
Below we’ve listed every ability and attack that Emma Frost has in Marvel Rivals, what they do, and what you need to press to trigger it.
|
Ability |
Effect |
Button Input |
|---|---|---|
|
Telepathic Pulse |
(Human form only) Fire a sustained beam that deals damage. The damage of the beam increases as you do more damage with it, marked out of 100 on the central reticule. |
R2/RT/LMB |
|
Psychic Spear |
(Human Form Only) Pull a “sentience” out of an enemy – a small crystal that floats on the battlefield. Damage to the crystal also damages the enemy, and they take extra damage when it shatters. Telepathic Pulse pierces the crystal, allowing you to hit both it and the target with the same attack. |
L1/LB/E |
|
Mind’s Aegis |
(Human Form Only) Create a barrier shield in a fixed location. It has 500 health, and blocks projectiles, though melee attacks and players can move through it. |
L2/LT/RMB |
|
Diamond Form |
Emma Frost changes to her Diamond Form. This lasts for 8 seconds, then has a 15 second cooldown before it can be used again. In this state, Emma Frost gains a different move set, has damage reduction, and cannot be moved by other players’ abilities (“Unstoppable”). |
R1/RB/LShift |
|
Faceted Fury |
(Diamond Form Only) Reasonably strong melee attack. |
R2/RT/LMB |
|
Crystal Kick |
(Diamond Form Only) A forward flying kick that damages enemies and knocks them back. If they hit a wall or other object, they take extra damage. |
L2/LT/RMB |
|
Carbon Crush |
(Diamond Form Only) Lunge forward, grab an enemy, and throw them to the ground behind you for minor damage. This interrupts their current action and leaves them facing away from you. |
L1/LB/E |
|
ULTIMATE: Psionic Seduction |
Create a sustained cone of damage in front of Emma Frost that deals damage to all enemies, prevents them from using their Ultimates while under its effect, and forces them to move towards her if they spend too long effected by it. |
L3+R3/LS+RS/Q |
All Emma Frost Team-Ups
Emma Frost has one contribution to the Marvel Rival Team Ups: “Mind Link”, which she is the trigger for in both Magneto and Psylocke.
When Emma is on the field, the others can create illusory duplicates of themselves that move about the field and cast abilities to confuse opponents. As the team-up anchor, Emma herself simply gets an extra 100 Max Health, but no extra abilities.
Emma Frost tips and strategy
Playing Emma Frost is similar to playing the Thing, but with a bit more complexity and nuance. You want to use your Aegis to protect your team as you advance, then switch to Diamond Form as you get into melee. Emma is difficult enough to kill and able to disrupt the enemy line up by throwing them around, so while you might not get a lot of kills, you’re impossible to ignore and good at making foes vulnerable to your Duelists’ ranged attacks.
- The Telepathic Pulse is better than you think! When charged to full, this beam does startlingly high damage, devastating enemies. However, it takes a lot of time and some luck to get it to that point.
- Be liberal with the Aegis. This shield can be cast out rapidly and repeatedly, and you should use it a lot – the ability to block up to 500 damage is something you need to make use of.
- The kick is strong, but the chokeslam isn’t. Emma’s Diamond Form melee attacks are supposed to disrupt the enemy frontline, but while they’re both good at that, it’s only the kick that does real damage. The chokeslam is more about interrupting enemies and setting them up for your allies to attack, rather than dealing any major hurt.
- Emma thrives with ranged Duelists. Emma can find her footing in any team with at least a couple of Strategists, but her abilities are best suited to tanking when her Duelist allies are focused on ranged attacks, such as Moon Knight and the Punisher. The nature of the Aegis means that she can’t really protect anybody from melee attacks, especially if she hasn’t made it into melee range herself.
- Watch your Diamond Cooldown! With so much of Emma’s power stemming from her Diamond Form, you need to keep an eye on its recharge and how long it has left when you do use it – 8 seconds is not especially long, and without a healer protecting you, you don’t want to be left on the frontline without your main defensive ability.
All Emma Frost Skins and Cosmetics
Upon her release in Marvel Rivals, Emma Frost will have three available skins:
- Blue Sapphire (Store Purchase)
- X-Revolution (Store Purchase)
Is Emma Frost good?
Yes, Emma Frost is definitely a good character, and arguably one of the better Vanguards in Marvel Rivals right now. We’ll have to see where she emerges in the meta and if she becomes one of the best Marvel Rivals characters, but the fact that she has strong options for both ranged and melee fighting make her a force to be reckoned with, even if she’s not necessarily quite as stalwart as a tank like the Hulk.
Not only that, but her Ultimate is unbelievably powerful, especially in games where the enemy is grouped up together (such as a payload or capture point). Learn the natural ebb and flow dictated by her Diamond Form, and you’ll be very hard to stop.
Later on in S2, we’re promised to get the villain Ultron – find out all about the impending threat of AI at our page for all Marvel Rivals upcoming characters. Or in the here-and-now, there’s still time to get the iconic Marvel Rivals Venom twerk emote. You heard me.
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