Season 9 of Marvel Rivals doesn't just add heroes and maps. It tears out the entire Team-Up system and rebuilds it from scratch. Every hero now has two Team-Up abilities, most of which are brand new, and the biggest twist is that you no longer need your partner hero on the team to use them. For Strategists specifically, that means 24 new abilities to learn across 12 characters, and the meta is going to look completely different from day one.
How does the new Team-Up system work in Season 9?
The old rotating Team-Up structure is gone. Starting with Season 9, every hero carries two permanent Team-Up abilities that stay with them regardless of future season updates. You can only equip one at a time, but swapping between them is free in the spawn room, so there's real flexibility in how you approach each match.
The key mechanic to understand: all Team-Up abilities function even when the partner hero isn't on your team. The partner's presence simply enhances the ability, adding an upgraded effect on top of the base version. That means solo-queuing into a random lobby no longer locks you out of your Team-Up kit. Every Strategist gets their full toolkit every game.
Team-Up abilities won't rotate out the way they did before. Instead, NetEase will balance them individually as data comes in post-launch, which means the meta around these abilities will shift more gradually than past seasons.
Luna Snow Team-Up select
Every Strategist Team-Up ability in Season 9
With 12 Strategists in the current roster, there are 24 total abilities to cover. Official patch note descriptions weren't available at the time of the Season 9 reveal, so the descriptions below are based on the announced ability effects. Expect exact numbers and cooldown values to appear in the full patch notes at launch.
| Strategist | Partner | Ability Name | What It Does |
|---|---|---|---|
| Cloak & Dagger | Luna Snow | Frozen Haven | Cloak & Dagger freeze themselves in ice, healing in the process |
| Cloak & Dagger | The Hood | Oblivion Shroud | Light & Dark Explosions linger briefly after use |
| Loki | Mantis | Vibrant Vitality | Loki's healing lanterns increase in size |
| Loki | Hela | Villain's Illusion | Killing an enemy lets Loki briefly transform into them with full ability access |
| Mantis | Adam Warlock | Vitality Pact | When Mantis dies, she can be reborn like Adam Warlock |
| Mantis | Star-Lord | Star Blossom | Mantis grants an ally an AOE healing buff that heals nearby teammates |
| Rocket Raccoon | Groot | Planet X Pals | Primary fire shoots explosive rounds that heal allies and damage enemies |
| Rocket Raccoon | Squirrel Girl | Mammalian Bond | Rocket drops small items on the ground that heal whoever picks them up |
| Ultron | Peni Parker | SP//DR Sync | Ultron can place his drone on every ally |
| Ultron | Iron Man | Stark Protocol | Ultron gains access to a laser that pierces enemies and heals allies |
| Luna Snow | White Fox | Atlas Bond | Luna sends out one of White Fox's foxes, healing allies and pulling enemies in |
| Luna Snow | Adam Warlock | Duality Dance | Luna links herself to allies, healing all attached targets simultaneously |
| Adam Warlock | Storm | Cosmic Cyclone | Soulbound allies gain Storm's speed effects; Adam gains the ability to hover |
| Adam Warlock | Ultron | Flawless Design | Adam can charge his heals for stronger burst healing |
| Jeff the Land Shark | Venom | Guardian of the Deep | Jeff attaches to allies via symbiote for passive healing |
| Jeff the Land Shark | Deadpool | Mr. Pool's Interdimensional Toy Box | Jeff places one of Deadpool's healing unicorns, healing nearby allies |
| Invisible Woman | Human Torch | United Siblings | Susan's shield is enlarged and covered in flames |
| Invisible Woman | Mister Fantastic | First Family | Sue can make an ally invisible |
| Gambit | Jubilee | Sparkling Staff | Gambit's staff deflects attacks and heals those around him |
| Gambit | Magneto | Favorable Odds | Gambit fires a small projectile that knocks back enemies and heals allies within range |
| White Fox | Black Cat | Lucky Loan | Fires an ability that damages enemies and heals an ally |
| White Fox | Psylocke | Psionic Fox | Shooting a fox triggers a switch into melee mode |
| Jubilee | Blade | Vampiric Kin | Jubilee's attacks heal her |
| Jubilee | The Hood | Hellfire Sparks | Increases fire rate and makes enemies vulnerable |
Which Strategist Team-Ups stand out?
Loki's Villain's Illusion is the wildcard
Loki paired with Hela gets access to Villain's Illusion, which lets him transform into any hero he kills and use their full ability kit temporarily. This is the most situationally powerful ability in the entire Strategist list. In the right hands, eliminating a high-value Duelist mid-fight and immediately turning their kit against the enemy team is going to be genuinely disruptive. The ceiling on this one depends entirely on the player, but the potential is obvious.
Rocket Raccoon's Planet X Pals changes his primary fire
Rocket paired with Groot converts his primary fire into explosive rounds that deal damage and heal allies at the same time. That's a fundamental change to how Rocket plays in a teamfight, shifting him from a pure support into something closer to a hybrid that contributes to both sustain and pressure simultaneously.
Adam Warlock's double synergy
Adam Warlock appears as a Team-Up partner for both Mantis (Vitality Pact) and Luna Snow (Duality Dance), and he has his own two abilities pairing with Storm and Ultron. Vitality Pact is especially notable since it gives Mantis a death-rebirth mechanic, which is one of Adam's defining traits now extended to a teammate. Running Adam alongside Mantis effectively gives your team two respawn anchors.
Mantis Vitality Pact details
Invisible Woman's utility expands significantly
Invisible Woman gains two very different options. United Siblings with Human Torch turns her shield into a flaming barrier, adding offensive pressure to what was a purely defensive tool. First Family with Mister Fantastic lets her make an ally invisible, which opens up flanking setups that didn't exist before. Both abilities are worth experimenting with depending on your team's composition.
What this means for Strategist play in Season 9
The removal of Team-Up rotation means you'll need to actually learn each Strategist's two options rather than adapting week to week. The good news is that the baseline abilities work without partner coordination, so you're never locked into a passive role because your team didn't draft the right hero.
For Strategists specifically, several of these abilities blur the line between healing and damage in ways the role hasn't had before. Rocket's explosive healing rounds, Gambit's deflecting staff, and Jubilee's lifesteal attacks all suggest that the Strategist role in Season 9 is going to feel more active than it has in recent patches.
If you want to track how these changes interact with the full balance picture, the Season 8.5 breakdown covers the hero additions and mode changes that set the stage for Season 9.
For the complete picture on every hero class getting the same treatment, the full Marvel Rivals guides collection has breakdowns for Vanguards and Duelists as those details come in ahead of the Season 9 launch on July 10, 2026.
