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The new Marvel Rivals Season 2 trailer is here, and alongside it comes the gameplay reveal of the long-awaited Emma Frost! We finally get a glimpse of how her abilities work and how she might shape the upcoming meta. Let’s break down her abilities, role, and a quick gameplay prediction based on what we've seen so far!
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Emma Frost as a Vanguard
The rumor is now confirmed, Emma Frost is a Vanguard.
In the comics and movies, Emma Frost is well known for her diamond form, which grants her incredible durability and makes her nearly unbreakable. This aligns with the Vanguard role, which typically focuses on frontline presence and damage mitigation.
Additionally, she is a powerful psychic, capable of telepathy and creating psychic barriers—abilities that could also be adapted into a Vanguard-style kit. However, a Vanguard usually has a high HP pool, and it’s unlikely that Emma’s human form would have the same level of durability.
Emma Frost In-Game Design Leak
Emma Frost has just had a design leak. Thanks to trusted dataminer @X0X_LEAK, we get to see how she will look. Here's the leaked design:
From the leaked design, we can see that she dons her iconic diamond-colored clothing, and the diamond shoulder pads look amazing! We can also see that Rivals stays true to Emma’s canon design as a tall blonde from X-Men, which is reflected in her boots. Based on her design, it seems that her role as a Vanguard is really fitting.
Emma Frost Abilities Leak
Based on leaks from content creators such as TimTheTatman and dataminers like @X0X_LEAK, here are Emma Frost's abilities:
- Telepathic Pulse (LMB)
- Psychic Spear (E)
- Mind's Aegis (RMB)
- Diamond Form (SHIFT)
- Faceted Fury (LMB in Diamond Form)
- Carbon Crush (E in Diamond Form)
- Crystal Kick (RMB in Diamond Form)
- Psionic Seduction (Ultimate)
Emma Frost Human Form Abilities
In Human Form, her abilities are:
- Primary Attack: Telepathic Pulse
- Secondary Attack: Mind's Aegis
- E Skill: Psychic Spear
- Shift Skill: Diamond Form
As I predicted, her basic attack is not like the other Vanguards. Psychic Ray is a laser-like attack, similar to Iron Man's laser beam. This is a great new addition to the Vanguard hero pool, shaking things up with fresh mechanics.
Hitting enemies using her ray charges up a meter in the middle of the screen. The longer the beam hits, the higher the damage.
Her E skill seizes control of an enemy's sentience. Dealing damage to the sentience will also damage the physical form of the targeted enemy. When the sentience shatters, the enemy takes even more damage.
However, what truly solidifies her as a Vanguard is the Mind's Aegis. She can deploy a psychic barrier from afar to a selected point. This also introduces a new shielding mechanic, where she supports others rather than just herself.
Emma Frost Diamond Form Abilities
It looks like her Diamond Form is not freely available all the time. There is a 6-second ability countdown, meaning there is only a 6-second Diamond Form window, then she will turn back into Human Form. Nevertheless, here are her skills while in her Diamond Form:
- Primary Attack: Faceted Fury
- Secondary Attack: Crystal Kick
- E: Carbon Crush
Faceted Fury is her primary attack in Diamond Form. She turns into a melee brawler who excels at close-range combat, both offensively and defensively, thanks to her diamond-hard body.
Crystal Kick is a knockback skill, pushing enemies away and providing crowd control. The video shows that she can kick enemies either into a wall to deal additional damage or off a ledge for instant elimination.
Carbon Crush is her E skill, where she lunges forward to grab an enemy and quickly slams them toward her backside. In the video, we can see that the main combo is to grab them and immediately use Diamond Kick to push the enemy away.
Emma Frost Ultimate
Emma Frost's ultimate skill is called Psionic Seduction. Her ultimate activates a ranged AoE that stuns enemies who are in front of her, prevents them from unleashing their Ultimate Abilities. The fun part is, if the effect lingers, it gradually commandeers their mind, forcing them to move toward Emma Frost.
This is such a great crowd control ability that could really open up possibilities—either to team wipe or to create a window for huge team combos.
Team Up Ability
Emma will have a new team-up ability with Magneto and Psylocke. It seems that she will be the one activating the team-up, just like Hulk in the Gamma team-up. The video shows that Psylocke or Magneto can call on the White Queen's psionic ability to create illusionary projections of themselves. However, it seems that the illusions will not deal damage, so they are only meant to create diversions.
Since Jean Grey is rumored to be introduced alongside Emma Frost, they might bring a new team-up ability together—despite their love-hate relationship in the comics.
Emma Frost Gameplay Prediction
Based on the leaks and ability video, Emma Frost may not fit to be the sole Vanguard in a team. Her leaked kit suggests a hybrid playstyle, blending elements of both Strategist and Vanguard roles. Instead of focusing on shielding and protection like Doctor Strange or Groot, she appears to be a crowd-control-focused Vanguard, disrupting enemies rather than purely tanking damage.
Additionally, she may not excel at holding capture points due to her abilities. Instead, she seems better suited as a secondary Vanguard in an offensive team, especially for pushing the payload by controlling enemy movements and creating openings for teammates.
If more leaks surface or an update confirms her role, we will revisit and update this prediction accordingly.
