Marvel Rivals players agree this might be what’s holding the Thing back in the current meta

The Thing is one of the new heroes to join Marvel Rivals, and players are already figuring out a fundamental flaw with his kit that makes him weaker than other tanks. 

He has all the makings of a powerhouse—a durable Vanguard with solid sustain and powerful crowd control, but his teammates often let him down. Marvel Rivals players offered their opinions on Fantastic Four’s tank on Reddit, saying he’s “extremely useless” if his team doesn’t push with him.

“It’s all vanguards/tanks at this point, The Thing just proves that point the best,” a player said. “But if your team refuses to push up, even slightly, that ability is absolutely wasted,” they added, referring to the Embattled Leap ability that allows the Thing to jump to the nearest ally in his vicinity and gain 30 percent damage resistance to himself and the ally. But as many players don’t push with the tank in teamfights, The Thing suffers as he lacks an escape tool.

The Thing has access to the Yancy Street Charge as his movement ability, which allows him to push rapidly into the enemy team, finding access to their backline. But he can’t use it to escape a tricky position, making him vulnerable by not having any allies around him. 

Marvel Rivals players already have better alternatives to The Thing with heroes such as Magneto, Peni Parker, and Dr. Strange who don’t need to rely on allies’ positioning as much, and can dish out enough poke damage to take down enemies. 

The Thing is also a melee tank and meta tanks are ranged. This forces the hero to get close to the enemy and makes it harder to find allies around him because he’s always too deep.. He doesn’t get that extra defense and reliable escape option through his allies, leading to having a low impact.

NetEase could potentially buff the range on his leap to make it easier for the hero to jump back into safety and become somewhat like Venom, who relies heavily on his swinging ability to escape from danger. It can also buff his resistances to compliment his melee kit, making it harder to take him down like a Wolverine.

As it stands now, The Thing remains an unpopular pick among fans and other meta tank picks will continue to appear in your ranked matches.