Marvel vs Capcom 3 Character Strategy Guide

Iron Man

Another solid all-arounder, Iron Man has great mobility, good keepaway and solid normals that allow him to put pressure on opponents. His Unibeam (QCF + Attack) and Repulsor Blast (QCB + Attack) do a great job of damaging characters at mid and long range and his Smart Bomb (Dragon Punch + Attack) can hit opponents on the ground and combo into his Proton Cannon Hyper move (QCF + 2 Attacks).

His level 3 Hyper, Iron Avenger (QCB + 2 Attacks)is one of the game’s best moves as it is completely invlunerable, allowing him to safely punish virtually any other move in the game.

Strengths

Great options at all ranges
Excellent mobility
Best level 3 Hyper in the game

Weaknesses

Jack of all trades, master of none
Very short range on launcher

Weaknesses

Jack of all trades, master of none
Very short range on launcher

Good For Beginners?

Yes. Iron Man is an all around solid character, with good options under any circumstance and easy to use specials. He's fast and intiuitive to boot.

Magneto

Magneto has a solid set of fast, easy to combo normal attacks, though his tall stature will cause some of them to go right over a lot of characters. Magneto’s strength lies in his ability to put big pressure on his opponent with his normal attacks, then punishing them with his throw when they block. Magneto’s throw freezes the opponent and allows you to get a free combo in on them. His L Electromagnetic Disruptor (QCF + Attack) is a super fast beam type projectile that can be hard to punish. Two of his Hypers hit on the ground, making it easy for Magneto to add damage to the end of any combo.

Professional Magneto players use a tactic called tri-jumping which involves repeatedly using and cancelling his Flight ability (QCB + S) todrastically increase his movement speed and allow him to perform looped aerial combos with normal attacks.

Magento's Hyper Grav special (QCB + ATK) is also dangerous when used in combos, as the long startup can fake blocking players into not blocking, meaning they'll get grabbed and you'll be able tostart a new combowith unmodified damage and hit stun.

Strengths

Excellent pressure game
Excellent normal attacks and advanced movement tricks
Level 3 Hyper hits entire screen

Weaknesses

Has a hard time pressuring smaller/shorter characters
Very short range on his S/Launcher

Weaknesses

Has a hard time pressuring smaller/shorter characters
Very short range on his S/Launcher

Good For Beginners?

Sort of. Like MVC2, Magneto needs a little finesse to put pressure on opponents by air canceling some of his moves and faking players out so he can reset combo damage. That said, his projectile attacks are good and his normals are easy to use.

M.O.D.O.K.

Another of MVC3’s more unique characters, MODOK is even more unorthodox than Hsien Ko. Instead of jumping, MODOK can float in any direction for long periods of time, though his floating movement speed is pretty slow. MODOK has weird normals, his H attacks are short range beams with long start ups. His Forward + H bounces the opponent off the wall for an easy combo, and his crouching M hits opponents on the ground. Backward + H creates a barrier that temporarily blocks attacks and cannot be walked through by the opponent.

His Analyze Cube is a long duration projectile that gives him a “Level of Understanding”. This is represented by the flame in the middle of his forehead getting bigger, he can have up to 9 LoUs. 1 level can be used to do an EX-like version of one of his special moves, by doing the regular command + S instead of Attack. Hyper Psionic Blaster (QCF + 2 Attacks) automaticaly consumes all of his LoUs when used, a level 9 Hyper Psionic Blaster is incredibly powerful and hits 100 times. While more effective at keepaway and zoning rather than beating people down up close, MODOK’s playstyle is as strange as his looks and his weird attacks allow him to control a lot of space on the screen.

MODOK's Jamming Bomb (Dragon Punch + S) is a slow homing projectile that does mediocre damage, but if it hits, it reverses that players command inputs, meaning they'll have to hold forward to block etc. Incredibly annoying.

Strengths

Wide array of projectiles and attacks to control the screen
Level of Understanding powered moves are dangerous
More dangerous than he looks

Weaknesses

Mediocre attack options up close
Weird normals require some practice
Number of options, LoUs and technical play can be daunting at first

Good For Beginners?

No. MODOK has a bizarre set of normal attacks, players need to micromange his Levels of Understanding, and he's generally too confusingto easily pick up and play.

Morrigan

With some fast, powerful, multi-hit normals, easy to perform big combos, and a crazy level one Hyper, Morrigan is an above average character. Her standing H does 5 hits and can be canceled into her standing S launcher. Morrigan doesn’t have a regular ground dash as she instantly moves diagonally forward into the air when you dash on the ground. It’s a little slow, but can cross opponents up when used correctly, try dashing and using her aerial drill S attack to confuse opponents.

Her Astral Vision Hyper (Down, Down + 2 Attacks) summons a mirror image of Morrigan that copies your attacks. Use this to single handedly sandwich the opponent and cross them up/ confuse them. The clone stays out for a surprisingly long time, but vanishes if you tag out or use another Hyper Move. Her Finishing Shower Hyper ( QCF + 2 Attacks) is extremely slow to start up and should be used sparingly. Her Dark Harmonizer assist automatically fill some of your Hyper bar when she’s called in.

Strengths

Great normals
Very tricky Level one Hyper

Weaknesses

Awkward ground dash needs practice
Slow projectiles and projectile Hyper

Weaknesses

Awkward ground dash needs practice
Slow projectiles and projectile Hyper

Good For Beginners?

Sort of. Morrigan has great normal attacks but she needs to cross players up and pressure them to do damage. Also her projectile attack isn't very spamable.

Phoenix

The most unique character in MVC3, Phoenix is the ultimate in offense, with lightning fast speed, flying and air dash options, great projectiles and huge combo potential. If she’s knocked out with 5 meters, she instantly transforms into Dark Phoenix, a supercharged version of Phoenix who can easily wipe out entire teams. Despite her amazing offense, both Phoenix and Dark Phoenix have the lowest health in the game, and can easily be taken out with only a single combo in some cases. Because using Dark Phoenix requires 5 Hyper Meters you really need to build your entire team around her, picking characters with solid normals and specials that are effective without meter. You’ll also need to be particularly good with Phoenix, because as scary as Dark Phoenix is, all it takes is one mistake for her to get taken out.

Strengths

Incredibly effective offense
Dark Phoenix is the most powerful character in the game

Weaknesses

By far the lowest health in the game
Using Dark Phoenix requires 5 Hyper Meters
Entire team must be built around her

Weaknesses

By far the lowest health in the game
Using Dark Phoenix requires 5 Hyper Meters
Entire team must be built around her

Good For Beginners?

Absolutely not. Phoenix has so little health that unless you know her very well you're wasting a character slot. One mistake is all it takes for an experienced player to take her out.