Marvel Rivals has been shaking up the hero shooter scene since its full release, and Season 5's addition of Gambit has taken the game to a whole new level. If you're looking to dominate with this kinetic card-throwing Cajun, you've come to the right place. This Marvel Rivals ultimate Gambit guide breaks down everything you need to know to become a force to be reckoned with in 2025's competitive meta.

Gambit Overview: The Strategic Playmaker

Gambit enters the Marvel Rivals roster as a 4-star difficulty Strategist with a modest 275 HP pool. Don't let his relatively low health fool you though - what he lacks in durability, he more than makes up for with unparalleled offensive and defensive capabilities that make him a true jack of all trades (pun absolutely intended).

Unlike other Strategists who primarily focus on keeping allies alive, Gambit brings a unique hybrid playstyle that allows him to switch between healing support and aggressive damage dealing. His kit revolves around managing his Sleight of Hand resource system while making tactical decisions about when to heal, when to attack, and when to cleanse debuffs.

As the saying goes, "he's not just playing with a full deck, he's playing with a loaded one."

Abilities Breakdown: Mastering the Cards

Primary Fire: Kinetic Cards

Gambit's bread and butter attack launches three kinetic-charged cards in an arc ahead. Each card explodes on impact, damaging enemies and healing allies in the blast radius. While the damage might seem negligible at range, don't underestimate the value of constant spam - it builds ultimate charge quickly and provides consistent healing.

Pro Tip: Keep firing these non-stop to maintain pressure and healing. The wide spread makes them most effective at close to medium range.

Resource Management: Sleight of Hand

The key to mastering Gambit lies in understanding his unique resource system. You have four charges of Sleight of Hand available, and each card type (Hearts or Spades) consumes one charge when selected, with another charge used when activating a follow-up ability.

This means you need to plan ahead - if you see you have only one stack remaining, you can prime an ability but will need to wait for another stack to refresh before you can actually use it. Talk about a card counting challenge!

Hearts Cards: Healing and Cleansing

Activating Hearts cards (E) transforms your abilities into healing tools:

• Bridge Boost (E): Fires cards that bounce between allies, providing burst healing and a healing boost. The bounce effect is critical - never use this on an isolated ally as it will only heal for 50 HP, but when allies are grouped together, it can bounce up to 6 times for massive healing value.

• Purifying Pick-Up (F): Launches cards in an arc that heal nearby allies and cleanse ALL status effects. This is your ace in the hole (another intended pun), capable of removing everything from stuns to anti-heal effects - even Doctor Strange's ultimate stun!

Spades Cards: Damage and Control

Activating Spades cards (F) transforms your abilities into offensive tools:

• Bidding Barrage (E): Scatters cards in all directions, damaging enemies and launching them upward. The knockback effect and large AOE make this perfect for countering flankers like Black Panther or Daredevil.

• Explosive Trick (F): Fires a full set of cards forward that explode on impact, dealing damage and applying anti-heal. As the only Strategist with anti-heal, this ability is clutch for shutting down enemy healing and securing kills.

Movement and Secondary Fire

• Cajun Charge (Shift): A short dash with two charges on a 12.5-second cooldown. Save at least one charge for escape.

• Bayou Bash (RMB): Channel energy into your bo staff for a ground slam that damages enemies and heals allies.

• Big Easy Impact: When you follow Cajun Charge with Bayou Bash, you perform this special combo, sprinting forward while striking with your staff and triggering three kinetic explosions. This is your bread and butter combo for both mobility and damage.

The 250 HP Killer Combo

Want to delete squishy 250 HP heroes like Psylocke? Here's the combo that'll make enemy Strategists fear you:

1. Breaking Spades (F) to activate damage boost

2. Primary Fire (LMB)

3. Big Easy Impact (Shift + RMB)

4. Bidding Barrage (E)

5. Primary Fire (LMB)

That's F > LMB > Shift > RMB > E > LMB for PC players. This combo only uses two card charges but delivers enough burst damage to eliminate 250 HP targets almost instantly. Against tankier heroes, simply add more primary fire or another Spade attack.

Ultimate: Ragin' Royal Flush

Gambit's ultimate locks onto an ally and unleashes Aces that heal and Purify. Both Gambit and the target enter Kinetic Transfer state, granting:

• Increased movement speed and jump boost

• Enhanced attacks with additional explosive damage

• Ultimate ability charge acceleration for the ally

This ultimate works best as an initiation tool, signaling your team to push aggressively. While it provides 75 HP/sec healing (less than Luna's 250 HP/sec), the initial burst healing plus movement speed can help your team kite enemy ultimates effectively.

Strengths and Weaknesses

Strengths

Cleanse and Burst Heal

Hearts cards enable massive burst healing, while his cleanse effect is one of the most powerful defensive tools in the game. No status effect is safe from Gambit's purifying power.

High Survivability

Between his knockback, self-healing, and mobility options, Gambit is surprisingly hard to kill. As my buddy from New Orleans would say, "You can't corner what you can't catch, cher."

Carry Potential

Gambit might be the ultimate playmaker among Strategists. His combination of burst healing, anti-heal, damage potential, and mobility means there's virtually nothing he can't do when played well.

Weaknesses

Complex Kit

The trade-off for Gambit's versatility is complexity. Managing different ranges, use cases, and resource systems can be overwhelming for new players.

Resource Management Challenges

The Sleight of Hand system requires careful tracking - remember that priming a card AND using the follow-up each consume one stack.

Limited Effective Range

Many of Gambit's abilities require close-range positioning, forcing him to play more aggressively than most Strategists. This can be risky without proper team coordination.

Team Synergies and Compositions

In standard 2-2-2 compositions, Gambit works best when paired with self-sufficient Strategists like Jeff the Land Shark, allowing him to play off-angles and focus on aggression. Despite his card-throwing appearance suggesting a backline playstyle, his Hearts, Spades, and dash abilities actually excel at assisting dive heroes.

For triple support compositions, treat Gambit as a hybrid DPS, focusing on applying anti-heal and dealing damage. Reserve one Heart card for emergency cleanses, but otherwise, lean into his offensive pressure.

Ideal Team Example:

• Vanguards: Emma Frost, Venom

• Duelists: Daredevil, Psylocke

• Strategists: Gambit, Jeff the Land Shark

Team-Up Ability: Explosive Entanglement

When paired with Magneto, Gambit charges Magneto's greatsword with kinetic energy, replacing Iron Volley with Ace Greatsword. This devastating weapon detonates upon striking enemies and leaves residual kinetic energy that causes secondary damage after a brief delay. If you remember how powerful Magneto's sword was with Scarlet Witch in earlier seasons, you'll appreciate this callback that gives him tremendous burst damage potential.

Countering Gambit

When facing a skilled Gambit, remember these key strategies:

1. Force him to choose between defense and offense by pressuring his frontline, then strike aggressively once he's used his healing abilities.

2. Wait for him to use his Dash before diving, as his two charges make chasing him difficult when they're available.

3. During his ultimate, either retreat to force his team to overextend or counter with your own defensive ultimate to outlast the damage boost.

4. Heroes like Hulk (with his Gamma Stun), burst damage specialists like Magik or Blade, and Jeff the Land Shark's ultimate are particularly effective counters.

Final Thoughts

Gambit represents the evolution of Marvel Rivals' Strategist role, blending support capabilities with genuine carry potential. While his learning curve is steep, mastering his card-slinging arsenal makes him one of the most impactful heroes in the current meta.

As we move deeper into Season 5, expect to see Gambit's popularity continue to rise as players discover just how game-changing his kit can be in the right hands. Whether you're healing teammates, cleansing devastating status effects, or deleting enemy backliners with your combo, Gambit gives you the tools to truly stack the deck in your favor.

Now get out there and show them why they call you the Ragin' Cajun!

Information is adapted from OpenCritic, a trusted source for aggregated game reviews and critical consensus. OpenCritic's expert panels often discuss how new hero releases, such as Gambit in Marvel Rivals, impact both player strategies and overall game balance, providing valuable insights into evolving competitive metas and community reception.