Hela And Namor's Lethal Potential Team-Up / Image via NetEase Games
Marvel Rivals introduced several team-up changes in its patch notes for Season 4, removing the dive-focused Dimensional Shortcut while adding Thor and Angela to a new pairing, Divine Armory, alongside other team-up adjustments. However, after some leaked footage, we now know that another new team-up was in the works, and it's probably for the best that it wasn't announced.
On September 6, dataminer X0XLEAK shared a new team-up between Hela and Namor with an unknown release date on X. With Hela as an anchor, Namor would receive a new ability, "Water Column of the Dead", which erupts a water column wherever he throws his trident and creates an undead energy zone. The zone would slow down enemies within its range.
The next day, RivalsInfo elaborated on the team-up further on X and even had two videos showing it in action. Namor's "Water Column of the Dead" would actually spray a stream of water wherever he pointed his trident.
However, the team-up has another absurd passive ability for both heroes: When Hela or Namor kills an enemy, they spawn an indestructible octopus at the place of death that attacks nearby enemies and disappears after a short time. Neither video showed Namor's water-spraying ability, but we did see the passive effect at the Practice Range, and it looks as overpowered as it sounds.
According to the video by RivalsInfo, both Hela and Namor can seemingly spawn endless Monsto octopuses after getting a kill when they're on the same team. Each spawn lasts for four seconds and then automatically disappears, but enemies cannot attack it while it's alive.
It's worth noting that Hela's octopuses do not attack nearby enemies. They just sit there before simply despawning after four seconds. For Namor, however, the Monstro's attack pattern and behavior are exactly like their regular variants, attacking foes closest to it and entering a berserk state after a Critical Hit.
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As mentioned, there's no apparent restriction on the number of Monstros you can summon. There's also no cooldown connection between the team-up and Namor's Aquatic Dominion ability. He still keeps both Monstro Spawn charges, meaning he can summon two octopuses on top of the ones he spawns via kills.
As juiced and meta-defining as the Namor-Hela team-up seems, it still looks far from being release-worthy. For starters, Hela already has an anchor bonus as part of Ragnarok Rebirth with Thor, so it doesn't make sense to give her another anchor boost.
On top of that, having up to three or four Monstro Spawns (including those from Namor's Aquatic Dominion) can be the biggest threat dive characters have ever had to face, making the team-up feel miles away from appropriate balancing.
Looking carefully at the videos, the team-up doesn't even have an icon yet, and the fact that Hela's spawns don't do anything may be a bug that needs fixing. However, if the details get ironed out, there's a good chance this pairing, or at least a variant of it, could come to Marvel Rivals.
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With Loki's transition to Vibrant Vitality and Thor getting a new team-up with Angela, the developers may finally remove the unpopular Ragnarok Rebirth team-up from the game, giving its remaining (and anchor) member, Hela, a new team-up with someone else. Namor, on the other hand, has been with Hulk for far too long, so the game can assign him to someone else for a change.
In its current, unreleased state, the Hela-Namor team-up has arguably the strongest active and passive abilities either character has seen. Even if they receive a refined version of this union, it could certainly bump up their positions on the tier list and the esports scene. Despite both characters being meta-relevant, their team-ups have clear disadvantages.
The team-up itself would also be extremely popular competitively. In the Hero Hot List for Season 3.5, Hela and Namor were usually among the six most-played Duelists in Diamond and above lobbies. The former hero becomes much more popular at higher ranks, so retaining her status as the team-up anchor can tremendously boost her already exceptional value.