Jeff the Land Shark has probably one of the most infamous ultimates in Marvel Rivals. With the ability to swallow up any hero that gets caught up in the area of effect, friend or foe, and then launch them off the side of the map (or into an ulting Scarlet Witch—dealers choice). It's a handful to counter and even harder to escape, but thankfully, Guangyun Chen, the director of Marvel Rivals, has one helpful tip for players to remember.
"We actually have an interesting tip for how to avoid Jeff’s ultimate," Chens says in an interview with Metro. "Make sure you keep your formation spread out, and as soon as you hear Jeff saying 'Nom, Nom, Nom' before he unleashes the ultimate, you want to scatter away. And don't hesitate to use your Mobility skills if you need to." In other words, players just need to stop panicking, git gud, and flee the scene as quickly as possible.
Jeff's ult was so annoying to deal with in Season 0 that it has to be nerfed as part of the hero changes for Season 1. His ultimate ability range went from a 10m sphere to a 10m radius, with a 5m high cylindrical spell field. This change meant that it was easier for flying heroes to get out of the area of effect, and the range of the ability better fit the warning marker. The ultimate's casting time was also supposedly made a little longer so players had more time to escape its clutches, but I've found the change is barely noticeable.
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There are already plenty of heroes that can dodge Jeff's ult animation by just flying off or zipping away, like Star-Lord, Iron Man, Spider-Man, Venom, Hela, Black Panther, Psylocke, Doctor Strange, and Scarlet Witch. But running from Jeff's ultimate isn't the only way to counter it. Over the last few weeks, I've witnessed and used various tricks and abilities to escape the clutches of this little land shark.
While Punisher can get away using his zip lines, he is also immune to Jeff's ultimate while he's in his turret. The animation of Punisher getting in his turret is also enough to negate the ultimate. Then there's Hulk and Magneto's bubble shield, Namor's water shield, or Luna Snow's ultimate, which can all protect the users from getting gulped.
There are also some slightly more complex abilities to negate Jeff's jaws, but this may take a little more practice to pull off. If you're playing Groot, a hero who can't move very fast, your best bet at surviving the ultimate is to place a wall between you and the centre of Jeff's ult—if he can't see you, then you will be spared. Moon Knight can also avoid Jeff's ult if he throws his grappling hook at the ground by his feet, as this will launch him up into the sky and out of harm's way.
But my favourite way to avoid Jeff's ultimate, and the only one that has real potential for saving your entire team as well, is Cloak and Dagger's right click. To be more specific, you need to use Cloak's right-click, which temporarily makes you and any other teammate within the radius immune to incoming damage. The area of effect for this ability is about the same size as Jeff's ult, so if you time it right, you can save all your teammates caught in the whirlpool in one go.
Players will probably get more attuned to dealing with Jeff as the seasons continue. I'm already reflexively avoiding this annoying ult with a couple of my more-played heroes. But for the time being, as players get more practice countering the ult, it's probably best to follow the director's advice and scatter at the first sign of danger.
