Mantis might be known as the gentle Guardian, but in Marvel Rivals she's a game-changing support who can heal allies, buff damage, and even dish out surprising DPS herself. Think of her as your team's guardian angel and secret sniper buddy. She excels at keeping teammates alive while boosting their offense, turning fights around when played right. Recent balance updates have only amplified her impact – for example, her healing and damage buffs now stack up to 16 seconds (instead of just refreshing), and her basic attack got a damage buff (50 → 55) to reflect her "fighting spirit". In short, Mantis is stronger than ever, and a top-tier Strategist pick if you use her toolkit well.
Fundamentals of Mantis
Mantis is classified as a Strategist (support) hero. Your job is to hang just behind the frontlines, keep allies healed, and boost your carry's damage, all while disrupting enemies who get too close. Unlike a pure healer, Mantis can output serious damage with her energy blasts (especially if you land headshots). So you have a choice: play pure support, or go hybrid support/DPS. Both styles are viable – and we'll cover how to excel at each – but either way, smart positioning and timing are key. Remember, you're relatively squishy (recent patches even trimmed her base HP a bit), so survivability is as important as making plays.
Abilities & Key Tips
Life Energy Blast (Primary Fire)
Mantis fires thorny energy projectiles that deal solid damage. Headshots are your best friend – a crit deals big damage (100+) and refunds a Life Orb. Tips: Abuse its no damage falloff – you can safely poke from long range for full damage. Practice leading shots (the projectile isn't hitscan) to consistently land hits. Whenever it's safe, peck at squishy enemies to farm Orbs and pressure the enemy supports. In short: aim for the head and keep the Orbs flowing.
Healing Flower (Secondary Fire – Heal)
A targeted heal that costs 1 Life Orb, giving an instant burst (~50 HP) plus a heal-over-time (~20 HP/sec for 8s). It's like planting a regen flower on your ally. Tips: Use it as save button when an ally is in danger – the immediate heal might prevent a death, and the HoT will sustain them afterward. Don't spam it unnecessarily; the HoT doesn't stack with itself (recasting just resets the duration). So, top someone up, then let the heal-over-time do its work instead of burning multiple orbs at once. Coordinate with your co-support (if you have one) and health pack locations – if your other healer or a health pack can do the job, save your orb.
Allied Inspiration (Ability 1 – Damage Buff)
Target an ally to grant them a +12% damage boost for 8 seconds (costs 1 Orb). This is huge for amplifying your team's DPS. Tips: Keep this buff on your hardest hitter whenever possible – if you've got a DPS popping off, make them really pop off! If a duelist is diving in or a carry is using their ultimate, juice them up at the right moment and watch the kill feed blow up. Thanks to the latest patch, you can even stack the buff duration by reapplying it, up to 16 seconds total – meaning a well-timed second Inspo can extend your ally's powered-up state through a full teamfight.
Natural Anger (Ability 2 – Self Buff)
Instantly boosts your own damage by 12% for 8 seconds (costs 1 Orb). Think of it as "Inspiration, but for Mantis herself." Tips: This is your gateway to a hybrid DPS playstyle. If you can consistently land shots, keep Natural Anger active whenever fights break out – with the self-buff, your thorns hit like a truck. Combo it with headshots to melt key targets (it also triggers your passive heal, so it double-dips value). However, if you struggle to hit enemies or Orbs are scarce, don't prioritize this over healing/buffing others.
Spore Slumber (Ability 3 – Sleep CC)
Mantis tosses a purple spore that puts enemies to sleep for ~3.5 seconds if it hits them. Sleeping targets are basically stunned until they take damage. Tips: This is one of the best defensive tools in your kit – save it for when a wild enemy dives your backline or to interrupt a channeling enemy ultimate. The spore has a short base range, but here's a trick: aim it upward or at nearby terrain to increase its throw distance. Often the easiest way to hit a diving melee is to drop the sleep at your own feet – when that Venom or Iron Fist jumps on you, poof, nap time.
Soul Resurgence (Ultimate)
Mantis creates a large healing field around herself, granting continuous healing and a movement speed boost to all allies inside. It even converts excess healing into bonus shields (up to +100 HP). Basically, it's a clutch AoE heal that can turn the tide of a teamfight. Tips: Don't think of this as a simple heal – think of it as a tempo swing button. Use Soul Resurgence reactively to counter big enemy ultimates or burst damage, or use it proactively to enable a push. A nice aspect is Mantis can still move, attack, and use abilities during her ult, so keep fighting while it's up – you're essentially a walking fountain for your team.
Passive – Nature's Favor
Every time Mantis spends a Life Orb on an ability, she heals herself a bit over time, and if she hasn't taken damage for 3 seconds, she gains a 40% movement speed boost. Tips: This passive is a lifesaver. The self-heal means whenever you use an orb (heal, buff, etc.), you're also topping yourself up – effectively you get more value out of every orb. The speed boost is fantastic for positioning: in fights, duck out of danger for a few seconds to trigger the speed, then zip to your next cover or teammate.
Team-Up Synergy – Adam Warlock (Nature's Soul)
If your team includes Adam Warlock, you unlock a special bonus: Mantis will revive herself in a cocoon instead of dying once (essentially a self-resurrection on a long cooldown). Tips: This duo is incredible – Adam + Mantis form one of the strongest backlines in the game. With this synergy, even if enemies manage to focus you down, you get a second chance mid-fight. It allows you to play slightly more aggressively or to take a death risk to save an ally, knowing you'll pop back up.
Support vs Hybrid Playstyles
One of the coolest things about Mantis is that you can adjust your playstyle on the fly. Some games you'll need to be the dedicated healer/support, other times you can shift into a damage-dealing hybrid and carry fights. Here's how to approach each style:
- Team's health and buffs are the priority
- Stick with backline or midline positioning
- Use Healing Flower frequently but smartly
- Keep Allied Inspiration on your biggest damage-dealer
- Position safely on high ground or behind cover
- Focus on enabling allies to carry harder
- Take advantage of surprisingly high damage potential
- Keep Natural Anger active in fights
- Actively look to secure kills on enemy squishies
- Play closer to action but behind tanks
- Take off-angles when team has momentum
- Still fulfill support duties when needed
Support Mantis (Healing/Buffer Primary): In this mode, your team's health and buffs are the priority. Stick with your backline or midline and keep a protective eye on your teammates' HP bars. You'll be using Healing Flower frequently (but smartly – remember not to double-stack heals needlessly) and throwing Allied Inspiration on your biggest damage-dealer whenever it's up. The idea is to enable your allies to carry harder while you keep them alive and kicking.
Hybrid Mantis (Damage/Support Hybrid): Ready to sting like a bee? This playstyle takes advantage of Mantis's surprisingly high damage potential. You'll still fulfill your support duties, but you're also actively looking to secure kills and duel enemy squishies. Natural Anger is your new BFF – keep that self-buff up in fights whenever you can spare an Orb, and go for headshots on vulnerable targets. With the buff, your damage is non-trivial; enemy supports or low-health heroes will fear peeking you.
Effective Combos & Tactics
Sleep & Snipe
This is your bread-and-butter anti-diver combo. When an enemy tries to jump you or an ally (say a Spider-Man swinging in or an Iron Fist diving) – toss Spore Slumber at the ground as they close in. The AoE sleep will catch them mid-assault. The moment they're snoozing, hit Natural Anger (self-buff) if it's not already on, and line up a headshot. Often, one buffed headshot plus some focus fire will delete a diver before they wake up. But even if they survive, they'll be so chunked and disoriented that they'll retreat immediately.
Buff & Burst
Always be thinking, "Who on my team can benefit most from a damage boost right now?" A great Mantis will coordinate Allied Inspiration with her teammates' power spikes. See your Star-Lord activating his ultimate? Slap the buff on him during his Galactic Legend for extra carnage. Got a Psylocke about to flank with her ult? Buff her right before she engages to ensure anything she touches evaporates.
Ultimate "Oh $#!%" Button
Mantis's Soul Resurgence has multiple uses, but two stand out: clutch save or team push. For a clutch save, watch for big enemy plays – the moment you see something like Psylocke's Dance of the Butterfly or Punisher's barrage unleashed, pop your ult to counter the burst with massive healing. Your healing field can completely nullify what would have been a team wipe, turning it into "lol we're all full health, nice try."
Orb Juggling & Cooldown Management
This one isn't a flashy combo, but it's the skill cap aspect of Mantis. Always be aware of your Life Orb count and ability cooldowns. A great Mantis paces her ability usage so that she's never caught empty-handed. For example, if you have 2 orbs and a fight's brewing, you might hold off on using Natural Anger so you have orbs for a heal and a sleep if needed.
Team Synergies
Adam Warlock – The Backline Duo
If your team has Adam Warlock, rejoice – you have one half of the strongest support duo in Marvel Rivals. Adam and Mantis together create insane sustained healing plus revival. Adam's healing output (and his Avatar Life Stream link) keeps everyone alive, and he can even revive fallen teammates, which combos perfectly with Mantis's ongoing heals and damage boosts. Meanwhile, Mantis protects Adam with her sleep (so he doesn't get dove while channeling heals) and buffs allies to capitalize on Adam's sustain.
Dive/Brawl Comps
Mantis thrives when she has beefy friends upfront and a clear game plan of diving the enemy. In a classic dive comp – say Captain America and Thor as your Vanguards, supported by Mantis and maybe another strategist – your job is to keep the dive alive and enhance its damage. For example, Cap and Thor initiate with a slam and lightning combo; Mantis immediately buffs Cap (or Thor) for extra damage and pumps Healing Flower into whoever gets focused.
High-DPS Carries
Mantis can turn a strong damage-dealer into an unstoppable monster. Take Star-Lord for example – he already dishes big damage at range, but with Mantis feeding him damage buffs and heals, he becomes a team-wiping machine. Star-Lord's Galactic Legend (auto-aim blaster ultimate) with Mantis's Inspiration buff can shred through teams before they even realize what's happening.
Tanks and Bruisers
Any high-health brawler becomes so much scarier with Mantis in their corner. Hulk + Mantis is a great example: Hulk's whole deal is being a massive damage sponge who also smashes hard. Mantis ensures Hulk stays topped up during extended brawls (her heal-over-time perfectly complements Hulk's large HP pool). Meanwhile, when Hulk ults (Monster Hulk) and starts smashing, Mantis can buff his damage so he smashes even harder.
Counters & How to Adapt
Dive Assassins
Agile duelists who can close the gap and burst you down are arguably Mantis's biggest danger. For example, Spider-Man can web-swing into your backline and unleash a devastating combo that can kill a squishy Mantis before you blink. His Spectacular Spin ultimate in particular is lethal if you're caught alone. Black Panther similarly can pounce and shred you, often before your team can react.
Long-Range Burst
These are heroes who can deal heavy damage from outside your effective range, making it dangerous to even poke your head out. Hawkeye is a prime example – his arrows hurt, and a good Hawkeye will be looking to take out the enemy supports first. In fact, Hawkeye's ultimate Hunter's Sight lets him see and snipe targets through cover for a short time, which is bad news for a low-HP hero like Mantis.
How to deal: Maximize cover and unpredictability. Against a sniper-type, you should almost never be standing in the open or repeating the same peek spot. Use corners, rocks, payloads, whatever you have to break line of sight. Heal and buff from safety; you might even need to briefly play around a corner and only pop out when needed.
Crowd Control & Anti-Heal
Heroes who can shut down your abilities or reduce your healing pose a more situational threat. For instance, an enemy Cloak & Dagger can throw out a blind (Cloak's "Terror Cape") which, if it hits you, leaves you unable to see and easy to kill if you're caught out. They can also pump out burst heals to negate your team's attempts to focus someone, which can make fights drag on.
"Survivability is key: an alive Mantis means continuous heals and buffs for your team, while a dead Mantis often means a lost teamfight."
You're now armed with the knowledge to turn Mantis into the linchpin of your team. Playing Mantis at a high level is all about game sense and timing: knowing when to heal vs. buff, when to hang back vs. push forward, and when to save that clutch sleep or ultimate. Start by practicing the basics – land your shots (aim for those crits!), keep your allies alive – then layer on the advanced stuff like buff timing and aggressive off-angle play.
Remember, even though she's "just" a support, a great Mantis feels like the team's strategic coach on the field, enabling big plays and shutting down enemy moves before they even happen. Most importantly, have fun with her! Mantis brings a unique, high-impact playstyle that's ridiculously satisfying. There's nothing like hearing your excited teammate yell, "We lived through that!? Let's go!" and you know it was your clutch heals/buffs that made the difference.