After waiting for more than a year and a half, Cyclops is finally here in Marvel Rivals Season 8.5! He is the first Duelist released after Black Cat since Season 7.5. Unlike our DPS hero, though, he isn’t a melee/dive hero. Although Cyclops’ kit can let him take team fights in varied ways, he is still a poke character, designed to be played at range. Because Marvel Rivals is a hero “shooter”, poke is rarely ever out of meta. So, how does Scott Summers fit in and change it?
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Cyclops Takes the Spot of Already Existing Heroes in Marvel Rivals Season 8.5
The already-existing packed roster of playable heroes allows players to choose from a vast variety, tailored to tackle almost every hero and team comp. One such archetype are poke heroes who are good at controlling choke-points or closely packed groups. Cyclops does well against such enemy teams, just like Moon Knight and his love interest Jean Grey.
His secondary fire, L2/LT on controller and right click on mouse is guaranteed to hit every enemy grouped together even if it just lands on character. The best part? It’s sustained damage beam that doesn’t need manual reload, and automatically reloads over time. Additionally, his Ricochet Force ability lets him fire a blast that hits multiple enemies in an area without even having to aim. This ability is best used to confirm a kill on a low-health target, gives him 25 bonus health, and has two charges.
Just like Moon Knight and Phoenix, Cyclops can also take off angles. However, one thing that he does better than the two is that he doesn’t need high ground to access the enemy backline. Instead, his Optic Ascent ability lets him create his own high ground and use it to his leverage as he shreds the enemy squishies while hovering in the air as a temporary flyer.
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With his superior and quick movement compared to several other poke DPS heroes on the roster, he can also contest and take off angles while still having an ability to get back to his team safely if faced with a greater threat. Since his Ultimate Ability “Ruby Rage” does percentage-based damage, he can put down enemy tanks easily.
Overall, Cyclops’ kit introduced in Marvel Rivals Season 8.5 is simple yet effective. He is balanced with enough room for skill expression. Players can expect to see him dominate mid-to-high elo lobbies with his high damage output and low damage falloff. As always, the leader of the X-Men shows us that poke meta is here to stay and could be a ban-worthy pick this season.
Featured Image Credit
Image via Marvel media kit
