Captain America Guide: How to Play, Combos, & Counters

Captain America is a Vanguard in Marvel Rivals who is really good at bothering enemies in the back while still helping his team at the front. Many new players don't know how strong he can be. He moves around the map quickly, jumps into fights to attack healers and lower HP heroes, and stays alive longer than you'd expect because of his shield.

This guide will tell you everything about Captain America, from his basic stats and moves to special tricks like animation canceling that will help you play better in your games.

Captain America Overview

Captain America is a Vanguard hero, but he plays more like a dive tank than a normal front-line tank. While other tanks mostly stand in front of their team to block damage, Captain America is best at jumping into the enemy backline, causing trouble, and then using his speed to get away when things get tough.

	Value
Health	650 (+100 with Season 2 Bonuses)
Movement Speed	6 m/s
Role	Vanguard (Dive Tank)

Captain America Abilities

Ability	Input/Key Bind	Description
Sentinel Strike	Primary Fire (Left Click)	Close-range melee attacks that transform into shield throws after landing two hits. Shield throws automatically target enemies near your crosshair.
Living Legend	Secondary Fire (Right Click)	Raise the shield to deflect incoming projectiles, sending them ricocheting in random directions.
Leading Dash	Shift	Boost speed and enable Fearless Leap to jump high into the air.
Super-Soldier Slam	Left Click (while airborne)	Slam down from the sky onto a targeted area, launching enemies up.
Vibranium Energy Saw	E	Hurl the energy-charged shield to strike enemies in a path, ricocheting between multiple targets.
Liberty Rush	F	Raise the shield and charge forward, dealing damage to enemies in your path.
Freedom Charge	Q (Ultimate)	Shield held high, carve a path forward, granting allies along the path continuous bonus health and movement boosts.
Captain's Spirit	Team-Up Passive (with Winter Soldier)	Winter Soldier can leap to allies and slam the ground. Cap and Winter Soldier can also combine forces to create a damaging shockwave that slows enemies.

Ability Management

• Sentinel Strike (Primary Fire): Learn the animation cancel trick.
• Living Legend (Right Click): Don't keep your shield up all the time - use it when you really need to block damage. Try to time your blocks to stop enemy special moves, especially ultimates.
• Leading Dash (Shift): Always have this ability on when you can to move fast. Use it to chase enemies who are running away, or move quickly around the map.
• Super-Soldier Slam (Left Click while airborne): Save this move mainly for starting fights or escaping danger. Since it has a 12-second cooldown, using it without thinking can leave you stuck without a way to move quickly. Always check where you'll land so you don't end up too far from your team.
• Vibranium Energy Saw (E): This is your strongest attack. Use it to finish off enemies with low health or as part of your attack combo. If you're an advanced player, you can cancel the animation of the shield coming back by holding your shield block right after the shield hits an enemy.
• Liberty Rush (F): Mostly use this to escape or to finish off enemies. It has a 10-second cooldown, so don't use it to attack unless you're sure you won't need to escape soon.
• Freedom Charge (Ultimate): Use this ultimate to help your team survive heavy damage. The extra health and speed boost can change the outcome of a fight, especially when pushing objectives. Run near your teammates!
• Captain's Spirit (Team-Up with Winter Soldier): Winter Soldier can jump to help allies and slam the ground to hurt nearby enemies. The best part is that Captain America and Winter Soldier can work together (when both agree) to slam into each other, making a shockwave that damages enemies.

How to Play Captain America in Marvel Rivals?

Positioning and Playstyle

• Positioning: Captain America doesn't play like normal tanks who just stand at the front. He's best when he attacks from places enemies don't expect. Look for chances to go around and jump on healers and weak enemies in the back, but always know how to get back to your team. Good positioning tips include:
  • Get on high ground to see which enemies are easy targets before jumping down
  • Find spots where you can bother enemy healers without everyone shooting at you
  • Always plan your escape route before attacking

• Approach Patterns: Don't just rush in without thinking. Have a plan for both attacking and getting out. Some good ways to approach include:
  • Sprint-Jump-Slam to quickly get to important targets
  • Move with your shield up when going through narrow areas where enemies are shooting
  • Use the map to hide your approach until you're close enough to strike
  • Do quick attacks and then run away to make enemies use their abilities without fully fighting them

• Defensive Positioning: Always know where health packs and your healers are. Your shield only protects you for a short time, and since you don't heal yourself (except the bonus health recovery from ultimate), you need to be in good positions to stay alive in longer fights.

• Health Management: Even though Captain America has 650 health, he can die quickly when everyone focuses on him, and his shield is down.

Target Priority

As Captain America, you should focus on bothering the enemy healers and low-mobility damage dealers in the back. Unlike tanks, who just fight on the objective, you'll often be jumping past the enemy front line to cause trouble.

Your main targets should be:

• Enemy Strategists (Luna, Mantis, Invisible Woman)
• Easy-to-kill damage dealers (such as Punisher during his Turret)

Personally, I'd suggest you not even bother fighting other enemy Tanks because first, they will take so much of your time, and even if you come out on top, I still believe that damage would have been allocated better on other targets.

Captain America Ability Combos in Marvel Rivals

• Dive Combo: Use Leading Dash to jump → Super-Soldier Slam onto enemy → Hit them twice with melee → Shield throws → Use Vibranium Energy Saw
• Shield Cancel Burst Damage: Hit enemy twice with melee → Do animation-canceled shield throws → Use Vibranium Energy Saw and cancel animation with shield block
• Defensive Counter Attack: Use Living Legend to block enemy attack → Hit them twice → Shield throws while moving forward

• Vibranium Saw Animation Cancel: Throw Shield and Use the shield block the moment it lands on a target.
• Ultimate Team Support: Use Freedom Charge → Run through your teammates → Use Living Legend to block enemy attacks

Note: Here are a few guides on Captain America that we recommend you watch to learn his combos properly: CoolGuy and True Vanguard.

How to Counter Captain America in Marvel Rivals?

Captain America's biggest weaknesses are his need to manage cooldowns and his weakness when his defenses are down.

Heroes that are good against Captain America:

• Peni parker: Her webs are annoying for a Cap player.
• Groot: Can put walls in Captain America's paths
• Luna Snow: Can freeze him while he's approaching, stopping his mobility advantage
• Mantis: Sleep abilities can hit him while he's diving in, leaving him open to attack

To beat Captain America, trick him into using his movement abilities before you try to kill him. Watch when he uses Super-Soldier Slam or Liberty Rush, then attack him while these moves are on cooldown.

Best Team Composition for Captain America

Captain America works best with teams that have good healing and teammates who can follow up when he attacks the enemy backline. Here are the best heroes to pair with him:

• Strategists: Luna Snow gives steady healing that Captain America needs after he dives into enemies. Invisible Woman works well with him as well.
• Vanguards: bruce banner can draw attention. You can also play alongside a Venom or Thor, as they are a dive tank as well, and enemies will have to split their attention in case both of you dive together.
• Duelists: Black Panther, Spider-Man, or Iron Fist can dive in with Captain America to put a lot of pressure on enemy healers and damage dealers. There are several other backline DPS characters, such as the Punisher, that work well with Captain America, as a good Cap player can give your team a free pass to attack by drawing the attention towards him or keeping their healers busy, which takes out an important utility for the enemy frontline characters.
• Winter Soldier: Has a special team-up with Captain America.

Best Captain America Settings

Setting	Recommended Value
Mouse Horizontal Sensitivity	3-4 (Based on preference)
Mouse Vertical Sensitivity	3-4 (Based on preference)
Invert Horizontal Look	Off
Invert Vertical Look	Off
Mouse Smoothing	Off
Mouse Acceleration	Off
Allied Health Bars	On

Best Captain America Crosshair Code in Marvel Rivals

Captain America benefits from a crosshair that helps with both his melee targeting and shield throws. Here is a recommended reticle code for Captain America in Marvel Rivals:

1;0.0;10.0,0.0,0.0,16.0;100.0,0.0,50.0,100.0;50.0,24.0,0.0,50.0;100.0,100.0,100.0,100.0;0.0,0.0,0.0,0.0;33.0,84.0,100.0,33.0;13.0;100.0,0.0,50.0,100.0;0.0;5,5,2,1;1.0,1.0,1.0;

Tip: Since Cap's shield throw has a time travel, for longer distances on a moving target, you can use the circle to lead your targets.

Note: You can adjust the crosshair size and color based on personal preference and visibility needs.

Conclusion

Captain America gives you a fun way to play that mixes speed, aggression, and defense. His ability to jump into enemy backlines, cause trouble, and then get away makes him really good at creating space for his team.

He might seem really simple at first, but certain tricks are harder to learn because of the need to master the animation-cancelling playstyle. With practice, you'll learn when to dive in, when to protect your team, and how to make the biggest impact by doing combos correctly in Marvel Rivals.

Remember that playing Captain America well isn't just about getting kills, but about putting pressure on enemies and making space for your team. A good Captain America might not do significant damage, but everyone will notice them throughout the match as they constantly bother enemies.