SEASON 09.5 · HERO INTELLIGENCE

Vanguard

Captain America

Compare Captain America's Voltaic Union Team-Up with Stars Aligned. Explore community preference by competitive rank and platform, review both anchor partners, and preview every Enhanced effect for Season 9.5.

TOTAL VOTES190

COMMUNITY LEADERVoltaic Union53% preference

LEAD MARGIN12votes between options

PLATFORM DATA

Team-Up totals

Showing all ranks.

COMMUNITY CHOICE

ANCHORThor53%

Voltaic Union

Modifies Sentinel Strike into a Lightning Shield projectile. After landing two hits, Captain America launches the piercing Lightning Shield four times.

ANCHORWinter Soldier47%

Stars Aligned

Captain America can leap directly to a teammate, providing Bonus Health to both himself and the ally, while redirecting a portion of their incoming damage to himself.

FEATURED TEAM-UP VIDEO

Flying Fist-Bump or Lightning Shield?! Captain America's New Team-Ups

Captain America gets two Team-Up options in Marvel Rivals Season 9.5: Voltaic Union with Thor and Stars Aligned with Winter Soldier. Both offer different advantages, but which Captain America Team-Up is better? This featured video compares their strengths, weaknesses, and best use cases.

SEASON 9.5VANGUARD

CHARACTER GUIDE CREATORZestyGuidesWATCH VIDEO ↗

Community insights

Ranked context from players behind the votes.

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Team-Up analysis

Strengths, tradeoffs, and ideal situations for each option.

Captain America is not simply choosing between two bonuses: Voltaic Union and Stars Aligned push the kit toward different priorities. The better choice depends on map geometry, team composition, fight tempo, and whether the anchor partner already provides value on their own. The analysis below weighs both the base effect and Enhanced ceiling without treating a situational advantage as a universal answer.

OPTION 1

Voltaic Union

ANCHOR · Thor

Voltaic Union, anchored by Thor, gives Captain America a very specific tactical route: Modifies Sentinel Strike into a Lightning Shield projectile. After landing two hits, Captain America launches the piercing Lightning Shield four times. As a Vanguard, it should be judged by how well it helps initiate, hold space, or survive while the team advances. The defensive layer can deny a predictable damage window, although timing and placement matter more than raw output. Its control utility can create a clean focus-fire opportunity, but coordinated teammates are needed to fully convert that opening. In practice, this option is best when the composition can play around that condition and reproduce it reliably. Its weakness appears when the fight forces Captain America to react outside that plan, because part of the value is tied to a particular window, position, or interaction. With the Enhanced effect active, when teaming up with Thor, the lightning energy imbued in the shield intensifies. Each hit from the Lightning Shield triggers an extra burst of damage in the surrounding area. That raises the option's ceiling, but it also means the composition with Thor has to justify the team slot.

OPTION 2

Stars Aligned

ANCHOR · Winter Soldier

Stars Aligned, anchored by Winter Soldier, gives Captain America a very specific tactical route: Captain America can leap directly to a teammate, providing Bonus Health to both himself and the ally, while redirecting a portion of their incoming damage to himself. As a Vanguard, it should be judged by how well it helps initiate, hold space, or survive while the team advances. Its sustain component has value in extended fights, but loses impact when allies cannot survive the initial burst. Extra mobility changes positioning and escape routes, making the option strongest when used proactively rather than as a late panic button. In practice, this option is best when the composition can play around that condition and reproduce it reliably. Its weakness appears when the fight forces Captain America to react outside that plan, because part of the value is tied to a particular window, position, or interaction. With the Enhanced effect active, when teaming up with Winter Soldier, the duo can trigger a mutual rally. Upon confirmation, they charge at one another, slamming together to grant Bonus Health and Movement Speed to all nearby friends. The original effect remains, now additionally granting a Speed Boost to the targeted teammate. That raises the option's ceiling, but it also means the composition with Winter Soldier has to justify the team slot.

Detailed rank breakdown

See how preference changes as the competitive tier rises.

Bronze2 votes

Voltaic Union (Thor)2 · 100%

Stars Aligned (Winter Soldier)0 · 0%

Silver7 votes

Voltaic Union (Thor)5 · 71%

Stars Aligned (Winter Soldier)2 · 29%

Gold23 votes

Voltaic Union (Thor)17 · 74%

Stars Aligned (Winter Soldier)6 · 26%

Platinum30 votes

Voltaic Union (Thor)17 · 57%

Stars Aligned (Winter Soldier)13 · 43%

Diamond36 votes

Voltaic Union (Thor)20 · 56%

Stars Aligned (Winter Soldier)16 · 44%

Grandmaster55 votes

Voltaic Union (Thor)26 · 47%

Stars Aligned (Winter Soldier)29 · 53%

Celestial25 votes

Voltaic Union (Thor)10 · 40%

Stars Aligned (Winter Soldier)15 · 60%

Eternity2 votes

Voltaic Union (Thor)0 · 0%

Stars Aligned (Winter Soldier)2 · 100%

One Above All10 votes

Voltaic Union (Thor)4 · 40%

Stars Aligned (Winter Soldier)6 · 60%