SEASON 09.5 · HERO INTELLIGENCE

Vanguard

Venom

Compare Venom's Blood Leech Team-Up with Abyssal Flames. Explore community preference by competitive rank and platform, review both anchor partners, and preview every Enhanced effect for Season 9.5.

TOTAL VOTES147

COMMUNITY LEADERAbyssal Flames76% preference

LEAD MARGIN75votes between options

PLATFORM DATA

Team-Up totals

Showing all ranks.

ANCHORBlade24%

Blood Leech

Cellular Corrosion new effect: while tethered to enemies, continuously siphon health from every linked target, restoring Venom’s Health.

COMMUNITY CHOICE

ANCHORPhoenix76%

Abyssal Flames

Ignites the symbiote with Phoenix Flames for a duration, replacing Dark Predation with a sweeping Phoenix Touch frontal slash.

FEATURED TEAM-UP VIDEO

Leeching Life or Flaming Tentacles?! Venom's New Teamups

Venom gets two Team-Up options in Marvel Rivals Season 9.5: Blood Leech with Blade and Abyssal Flames with Phoenix. Both offer different advantages, but which Venom 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.

Venom is not simply choosing between two bonuses: Blood Leech and Abyssal Flames 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

Blood Leech

ANCHOR · Blade

Blood Leech, anchored by Blade, gives Venom a very specific tactical route: Cellular Corrosion new effect: while tethered to enemies, continuously siphon health from every linked target, restoring Venom’s Health. 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. 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 Venom 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 Blade, Venom gains a burst of one-time healing when using certain specific abilities. That raises the option's ceiling, but it also means the composition with Blade has to justify the team slot.

OPTION 2

Abyssal Flames

ANCHOR · Phoenix

Abyssal Flames, anchored by Phoenix, gives Venom a very specific tactical route: Ignites the symbiote with Phoenix Flames for a duration, replacing Dark Predation with a sweeping Phoenix Touch frontal slash. As a Vanguard, it should be judged by how well it helps initiate, hold space, or survive while the team advances. Area pressure makes it especially useful around objectives, doorways, and clustered teams; spread-out fights reduce that advantage. Because the effect is tied to a defined timing window, disciplined activation is more important than simply using it on cooldown. 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 Venom 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 Phoenix, Venom’s Phoenix Force is enhanced: every Phoenix Touch applies Sparks. Upon reaching three stacks, the Sparks detonate. That raises the option's ceiling, but it also means the composition with Phoenix has to justify the team slot.

Detailed rank breakdown

See how preference changes as the competitive tier rises.

Bronze3 votes

Blood Leech (Blade)0 · 0%

Abyssal Flames (Phoenix)3 · 100%

Silver8 votes

Blood Leech (Blade)3 · 38%

Abyssal Flames (Phoenix)5 · 63%

Gold19 votes

Blood Leech (Blade)5 · 26%

Abyssal Flames (Phoenix)14 · 74%

Platinum26 votes

Blood Leech (Blade)6 · 23%

Abyssal Flames (Phoenix)20 · 77%

Diamond31 votes

Blood Leech (Blade)5 · 16%

Abyssal Flames (Phoenix)26 · 84%

Grandmaster35 votes

Blood Leech (Blade)7 · 20%

Abyssal Flames (Phoenix)28 · 80%

Celestial20 votes

Blood Leech (Blade)7 · 35%

Abyssal Flames (Phoenix)13 · 65%

Eternity3 votes

Blood Leech (Blade)2 · 67%

Abyssal Flames (Phoenix)1 · 33%

One Above All2 votes

Blood Leech (Blade)1 · 50%

Abyssal Flames (Phoenix)1 · 50%