Marvel Rivals is a game that hands you a godlike power fantasy and then trips over its own cape. One moment you are Doctor Strange, bending reality with a portal that can torment The Punisher, wipe entire teams, or redirect an Iron Man ultimate like a cosmic game of hot potato. The next moment you are Moon Knight, deleting someone from existence with an ultimate so busted it feels illegal in several dimensions. And then there is Magneto, the master of magnetism, whose ultimate ability appears to be held together by vibes, hope, and a hitbox that may have skipped geometry class.
According to Reddit user Wet_Birthday_Card, Magneto's ultimate has a rather wonky problem. After missing a couple of Magneto ults that 'looked super weird in-game,' this player dived into practice mode to run some tests. What they found is that the ball Magneto conjures can phase straight through a character. In the demonstration, the unlucky target was Luna Snow, who apparently became a ghost for a few frames while a giant metal orb sailed through her like she was a hologram.
So how is Magneto's ultimate supposed to work? The ball absorbs all damage from projectiles in a given area, growing larger as it soaks up more punishment. Magneto then throws that ball at his enemies. Here is the twist: the ball itself does not actually deal damage. When it explodes on contact, it generates a large magical field that does the damage. The size of that field grows depending on how much damage Magneto absorbed. That is why experienced players usually aim at the floor next to an opponent rather than directly at them. The floor, at least, has a reliable hitbox.
But the visual demonstration revealed something suspicious. Magneto's ball grows larger above his head, which is supposed to signal that the ultimate is getting stronger. However, the hitbox of the ball does not seem to grow alongside it. That means the ball can look like it phases through characters when it should realistically hit them if the hitbox were accurate. At least, that is what the problem appears to look like. The alternative is that the ball is just straight-up bugged. Either way, it is not the kind of magnetism that Professor X would put on a motivational poster.
Couple that with the fairly dodgy third-person perspective issues in Marvel Rivals, and you have a perfect recipe for missed ultimates. Is Magneto's ultimate a skill shot or a trust fall? Why does a giant metal orb have the collision detection of a polite ghost? And why does the game's camera make every miss feel like your own personal Shakespearean tragedy? These are the questions that keep Magneto mains awake at night, staring at the ceiling and wondering if they should have just played Hulk.
To be fair, Marvel Rivals has always been equal parts brilliant and janky. Doctor Strange's portal is a masterpiece of creative chaos. Moon Knight's ultimate can delete you in a fraction of a millisecond, which is either hilarious or infuriating depending on which side of the moon you are standing on. Magneto's ultimate, meanwhile, is a majestic ball of confusion. It looks powerful. It sounds powerful. It occasionally behaves like it is trying to avoid eye contact with the enemy team.
Here is a handy table for anyone brave enough to keep Magneto in their rotation:
| Expectation | Reality |
|---|---|
| Throw the ball at an enemy and explode them | The ball politely phases through them like it is late for a meeting |
| A bigger ball means a bigger hitbox | A bigger ball means a bigger visual lie |
| Aim at the character | Aim at the floor and pray to the NetEase gods |
| Master of magnetism | Master of missing |
So what should players do in 2026? The advice remains the same: you are probably better off flinging that thing at the ground for now. Use Magneto's ultimate as a zoning tool, an absorb button, or a dramatic way to redecorate the floor. Do not treat it as a guaranteed deletion button unless you enjoy watching Luna Snow skate away with a sliver of health and a smug expression.
Here are a few survival tips for Magneto enthusiasts:
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🎯 Aim at the ground near enemies, not at their faces. The floor is your friend.
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📏 Do not trust the ball's size. It is a visual liar with a theatrical streak.
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🎥 Fight the third-person camera, not just the enemy team. Your perspective is part of the battle.
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🛡️ Use the ultimate to absorb projectiles and create space, not as a guaranteed nuke.
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🙏 Hope that NetEase tweaks something in the game's next major balance update. Maybe light a candle. Maybe form a support group.
At the end of the day, Marvel Rivals is still a game where a portal can torment The Punisher and an Iron Man ultimate can be redirected like a frisbee. That is the magic. That is also the jank. Magneto's ultimate sits right in the middle: a beautiful, broken, magnetic mess. Maybe NetEase will fix the hitbox. Maybe players will adapt and start calling it a feature. Until then, the master of magnetism will keep throwing his giant ball at the floor, hoping that the explosion field does the heavy lifting. And honestly? In a game this chaotic, that might just be the most magnetic strategy of all.