Marvel Rivals: Gambit Hero Guide - Abilities, Team-Ups, & More

In Marvel Rivals, Gambit is the latest hero to join with the launch of Season 5, making him the latest addition to the Strategist Roster. Gambit is paired with a highly useful ability kit that makes him a great fit for almost any team composition or map in the game, yet he is also one of the most complex characters in the free-to-play team shooter to date, which can make him tricky to play. If you’re looking to pick Gambit up as a hero in your playable pool and learn the ins and outs of his kit, this guide covers all information about his abilities, Team-Ups, best synergy picks, playstyle, and more.

All Gambit Abilities in Marvel Rivals

Kinetic Cards - Primary Fire – 21 Ammo

Launch three kinetic-charged cards in an arc ahead. Each card detonates on impact, creating a single-target explosion that damages enemies and heals allies.

Bayou Bash - Secondary Fire / Alt Attack

Channel kinetic energy into the bo staff, then slam it into the ground after a sweeping strike, creating a shockwave that damages nearby enemies and heals allies.

Cajun Charge – Shift

Side-step forward with a bo staff in hand, dashing a short distance.

Pair Cajun Charge with a quick Bayou Bash follow-up to use Big Easy Impact, a spin-dash attack/movement ability that extends the path of travel and creates small explosions that heal nearby allies or damage nearby enemies.

Healing Hearts – E

Conjure a Heart card by consuming one stack of Sleight of Hand to Heal and switch to the Healing Hearts deck.

Breaking Spades – F

Conjure a Spade card by consuming one stack of Sleight of Hand to gain Damage Boost and switch to the Breaking Spades deck.

 Ragin’ Royal Flush - Ultimate Ability (Q)

Lock onto an ally within sight and unleash multiple Aces that heal and Purify. Both enter the Kinetic Transfer state, granting increased Movement Speed and Jump Boost, while enhancing attacks with additional single-target explosive damage and providing the ally with Ultimate Ability Charge Acceleration.

All Gambit Healing Hearts & Breaking Spades Abilities in Marvel Rivals

Aside from having some of the best basic core abilities out of any Strategist in the game, Gambit is also very flexible in being able to draw from the Hearts Deck or Spades Deck, both of which have two additional abilities each. This means that there are four combos in total that can be played, using combinations of Hearts + Hearts, Hearts + Spades, Spades + Hearts, and Spades + Spades. A complete explainer of these combos has been included below.

Bridge Boost: Hearts + Hearts (E + E)

While Healing Hearts deck is active, trigger Flush Empowerment to card spring and fire a full deck forward. Cards bounce between allies on impact, granting Health and a Healing Boost.

Purifying Pick-Up: Hearts + Spades (E + F)

While Healing Hearts deck is active, trigger Raise Empowerment to launch a cluster of cards in an arc ahead. Explosions heal nearby allies and purify them.

Explosive Trick: Spades + Hearts (F + E)

While Breaking Spades deck is active, trigger Flush Empowerment to fire a full set of cards forward. Cards explode on impact, dealing damage while inflicting Reduced Healing.

Bidding Barrage Spades + Spades (F + F)

While Breaking Spades deck is active, trigger Raise Empowerment to scatter cards in an arc in all directions. Explosions damage enemies and launch them up.

Gambit Hero Team-Ups & Best Synergy Picks in Marvel Rivals

Just as any other Marvel Rivals hero, Team-Ups certainly come into play with Gambit, as he has already launched with one to kick things off. Take a look at Gambit’s current Team-Up below to learn how it works, as this is perhaps one of the strongest options to go for this season when selecting your team comp at the start of a match.

Explosive Entanglement - Gambit (Anchor Hero) + Magneto

Gambit charges Magneto's greatsword with kinetic energy. When Magneto activates this ability, Iron Volly is replaced with Ace Greatsword, which detonates upon striking enemies. The explosion leaves residual kinetic energy within the target, inflicting secondary damage after a brief delay.

Best Synergy Picks / Team Comps For Gambit in Marvel Rivals

Gambit fits nicely into most team comps due to the flexibility of his kit, so there are really very few poor options. However, there are also some heroes who stand out due to team-ups and frontline presence, some with the ability to gain huge value from his Ult with burst damage, others mobile heroes that can move in and out of battle alongside him as needed. Here are some of the best characters to consider playing with Gambit.

Vanguard

• Magneto: The Gambit + Magneto Team-Up is undeniably strong for both of them.
• Emma Frost: Emma is a great all-rounder tank with poke/brawl playstyle, which Gambit thrives on. Furthermore, she also has a Team-Up with Magneto, so a Gambit + Emma + Magneto combination results in two Team-Ups for the frontline.
• Peni Parker: Due to buffs, Peni is ridiculously strong in Season 5, particularly on defense. Gambit fits very well into her poke/trapper playstyle and has the ability to cleanse her of debuffs that would have been otherwise threatening due to her lack of shield.

Duelist

• Winter Soldier: Bucky still just remains a brilliant character as far as Duelists go. However, he can be absolutely lethal in Gambit Ult due to his burst damage. If he pops his own Ultimate with a Gambit Ult, the amount of damage poured onto the enemy team is extremely hard to live through, creating huge pressure and turning team fights.
• Daredevil: Daredevil is perhaps in the best spot out of all the dive Duelists in Season 5. He has the potential to chase after targets with anti-heal applied and even peel for Gambit with ease.
• Moon Knight: Moon Knight does crazy burst damage due to how his primary fire bounces between his Ankhs and enemies. A good Moon Knight already creates enough pressure, but with Gambit's Ultimate on the table, he can become a burst-damage beast, taking down half a team in the blink of an eye.
• Phoenix: Similarly to Moon Knight, Phoenix is a great option due to burst potential. She has flying abilities but isn’t a full flyer hero, which makes her remain easy enough for Gambit to heal, and the stacking explosions with her primary fire are absolutely disgusting with the additional burst from Gambit’s ultimate.
• Star-Lord: Star-Lord is a great character to play with Gambit. He’s highly mobile, has great damage output, can peel for Gambit with ease, and his Ultimate (which let’s be real, is pretty much a flying aim-bot) enables easy picks from Gambit’s Ultimate.

Strategist

• Cloak & Dagger: C&D has been strong since Season 0, and this hasn’t changed. Between Gambit’s ability to cleanse and Cloak’s ability to cloak incoming dangers, the enemy will have a very hard time putting pressure on the team. C&D also has one of the highest healing outputs in the game (often easily 20k+), which works well since Gambit’s tends to be a bit lower unless you’re exclusively heal-botting.
• Invisible Woman: Invisible Woman gained massive buffs this season, enabling her primary to travel farther and for her to shield herself. Between Invis and Gambit in the backline, it’s very easy to peel for one another through intense fights and continue keeping your team alive. You can also alternate Ultimates with Sue’s for defensive purposes, and Gambit’s for going on the offensive.
• Luna Snow: Luna is just a great all-rounder Strategist. She has great heals per second, she has the ability to deal damage to confirm kills and get a pick if needed, and her freeze is one of the best CC tools in the game. Furthermore, her Ult, much like Gambit’s, also has huge healing and damage-boosting potential, which makes it perfect for alternating with Gambit’s Ult every other team fight.
• Jeff the Land Shark: While he can be hit or miss as a Strategist, Jeff the Land Shark works surprisingly well with Gambit, and even better with both of them in a triple Strategist comp. Both Jeff and Gambit have great mobility and can make great use of the speed from Jeff’s bubbles to move in and out of the fight to heal allies as needed. Jeff can deal consistent heals with his primary beam, leaving Gambit to top up the other allies as needed. It helps to have his ability cards for crucial moments such as Cleanse, or push-back if he and Jeff are dove by the enemy.

Marvel Rivals: How Gambit’s Playstyle Works & General Gameplay Tips

He may have one of the most fun and flexible kits to play in Marvel Rivals. But this also makes Gambit one of the trickiest characters to master. To help you get started in learning his playstyle and gameplay potential, some beginner tips have been outlined below.

• You do not need to cast from a card deck immediately upon opening it. Instead, you can cast E or F to open the deck and gain the passive self-heal or self-damage boost, then reactively use the abilities those decks offer based on what’s going on in the fight.
• Ability card management is key. It costs 1 card to open a deck, and 1 card to select an ability from an open deck, meaning you need a minimum of 2 cards to cast an ability at a time.
• There is a timer for your ability cards to show how long your current deck will remain active, surrounding your crosshair. You can use this timer to help manage your abilities while your other cards regen.
• Your cleanse (Purifying Pick-Up) is perhaps single-handedly the strongest ability in the game. If you are able to reactively cast it, you can shut down many hard CC and debuff status abilities and Ultimates from the enemy. Examples include freeing your team from Groot Ult, freeing a teammate if enemy Angela has scooped them away, buying enough time to get out of the Moon Knight Ult AOE, immediately getting allies knocked down by Namor’s Ult back on their feet, cancelling stuns from Doctor Strange’s Ult, and so much more.
• Get used to using your spin-dash (Shift + Alt fire) for mobility. You can increase travel distance from around 10m to 20m by slightly delaying the input of your alt fire from the shift/dash.
• Gambit has the potential to control the flow and tempo of fights with his Ultimate. It’s great for leading the charge into a team fight, but it can also be very handy as a sustain ult in retaliation to enemy Strategist ults, or high-damage fights.
• Gambit’s Ultimate affects allies within a cone radius in front of him. To gain the most value from it, you’ll want the majority of your team to be within your line of sight before casting, as only those players will gain the buffs. An indicator of which players will be affected can be seen when you first press the ult button, and you can then press it again to confirm.
• Gambit’s Ultimate also adds burst damage to attacks for both himself and affected allies. Pairing this with certain ally hero abilities and Ultimates can be deadly.