Intro

Hello. Welcome to my work-in-progress Ultimate Marvel vs. Capcom 3 team building guide. A lot of the game's best resources are confined to Google Docs, so I want to do what I can to collate these resources and make them somewhat more permanent.

Team Composition

Teams in Marvel are composed of three characters, with one active at a time, backed up by two assists. The ordering of your characters will radically change how your team plays, and its efficacy, since characters are typically slotted into teams based on their performance in a given role.

Keep in mind that even though every character can be described in specific team-building terms, synergy and shell strength matter way more than how well your team adheres to a point-middle-anchor structure. These shells have more going for them than just fitting the formula; point-middle-anchor is just one way of learning to build a team.

With all that said, the traditional three team positions are as follows:

Point

Point characters are placed first on a team, and are generally picked for the following reasons:

Work best when backed by assists, to cover a weakness, reinforce a strength, or allow for specific conversions
Can operate well independently of meter, and are inexpensive to succeed with resource-wise
Tend to be meter positive, or meter neutral with excellent conversion and killing ability
Can survive and succeed in round start scrambles

Middle / Assist

Middle characters are placed second on a team, and are generally picked for the following reasons:

Have an excellent assist to support the point character or the team on the whole
Possess highly useful supers for neutral, combos, and/or DHCs from your point character and generally spend meter well
Have strong TAC potential to build extra meter and damage
Are functional as a 'backup' character if you have a fragile or highly valuable anchor that people will prioritize killing

Anchor

Anchor characters are placed third on a team, and are generally picked for the following reasons:

Can operate highly independently of assists, both for neutral and combos
Have strong uses for meter, especially in the form of damage dumps to kill or chip out
Are extremely powerful when paired with X Factor 3
Have high comeback potential for any reason (including the above)

Shells

What even is a shell?

In Marvel, a 'shell' refers to a specific pairing of two characters that provide a strong backbone for team-building, owing to uniquely strong synergies that are considered dominant in the meta. Strong full teams built on these notable shells will also be discussed.

Not every pair of characters is a shell, and not every pair of strong characters is a shell, but every notable shell will be composed of two strong characters. This list of shells is not comprehensive, ordered, or some sort of tier list or 'you need to pick me' list; it mostly serves to give you a picture of what's considered strong in the game, and to give some foundations to build teams off of.

Zero/Vergil & Zero May Cry

Zero w/ any assist - Point
Vergil w/ Rapid Slash - Anchor

Possibly the most holistically strong shell (and prefab team with Dante added in). Here's how it works:

Zero is an incredibly dominant point character with touch ofdeath potential and devilish incoming mixups; he is well-equipped to survive the round start and turn even scrambly, stray hits into dead characters and meter. At the same time, Vergil is a god-tier anchor who benefits immensely from Zero's massive meter building ability, and has unrivaled comeback potential with X Factor 3.

Adding Dante (with Jam Session) to this shell forms the infamous 'Zero May Cry' composition. Dante's Jam Session assist elevates Zero's incoming presence from 'devilish' to 'godlike,' and raises the likelihood of Zero turning one dead character into an entire dead team on incoming. Furthermore, Dante has phenomenal synergy with Vergil on his own, ensuring the team is still strong even if Zero dies immediately.

MorriDoom & MorriDoom + Vergil

Dr. Doom w/ Hidden Missiles - Any position
Morrigan w/ Dark Harmonizer - Any position

Morridoom has become sort of the 'villain' shell of Marvel, notable for its high execution, death-by-a-thousand-cuts neutral game, and to some, its extreme suck to watch.

Morrigan and Doom are both highly flexible characters that can be reasonably placed anywhere, with each ordering having some tradeoffs. Morrigan and Doom are often placed second and third (in any order), with a third 'battery' character on point, intended to survive the round start onslaught and provide MorriDoom with ample space and meter to run away with the game. Keeping Doom alive is really central to this team's function, as his metered potential and Hidden Missiles assist elevate the team to new heights.

Adding Vergil (with Rapid Slash) basically throws the entire top of the tier list at your opponent, and gives this team incredible staying power between Astral Morrigan, Doom, and the looming threat of X Factor 3 Vergil; there is no easy weak link to snap in and kill to drag the team down, meaning this composition has few equals in terms of synergy or individual character power.

Doom/Phoenix

Dr. Doom w/ Hidden Missiles - Middle
Phoenix w/ TK Shot M or TK Overdrive - Anchor

I can't control it!

This shell is built around Phoenix as a sort of 'MVP Anchor' in that the entire team is designed to prepare her for Dark Phoenix activation, which turns her into a short-lived but nearly unrivaled character - this is a 'checkmate' team composition, where you want Dark Phoenix activation to be the death knell for the enemy team.

Both point and middle characters are intended to simultaneously protect and build meter for Phoenix, and as such, it may even be necessary to play without Phoenix's assist to keep her safe; your middle character is often expected to be highly autonomous, which Doom excels at as one of the most independent characters in the game.

It is important to note that picking this shell is an immediate tell as to what your game plan is; savvy opponents will be very insistent about snapping in Phoenix and killing her before she can build five bars.

Doom/Sent & Mag/Sent

Dr. Doom w/ Hidden Missiles - Point or Middle
Sentinel w/ Sentinel Force (Charge) - Anchor

or

Magneto w/ Electromagnetic Disruptor - Point
Sentinel w/ Sentinel Force (Charge) - Anchor

Doom/Sent and Mag/Sent are both massively powerful shells that take full advantage of the offensive and neutral control provided by Doom/Mag's mobility, paired with Sentinel's superb Sentinel Force assist. Put succinctly, this shell sets you up to lack nothing; any holes can be shored up by your third character pick, and this shell is strong enough to offer a stable platform to succeed with. In that regard, it is a fundamental(-ish) team.

Doom/Vergil

Dr. Doom w/ Hidden Missiles or Plasma Beam - Middle
Vergil w/ Rapid Slash - Anchor

Though your point character will radically change how this team plays, Plasma Beam and Rapid Slash are a brutal pairing of assists that can functionally guarantee an approach and mixup for all but the most immobile of characters. On the whole, Doom's stability and support value, and Vergil's staying power as an anchor combined lend any team built from this shell an unrivaled suite of assists, supers, TACs, and combo opportunities.

Vergil/Strider or "Double Anchor"

Vergil w/ Rapid Slash - Middle
Strider w/ Vajra - Anchor

Imagine a team built around a guaranteed comeback and being snap-proof. That's this team. Do you want to deal with X Factor 3 Vergil or X Factor 3 Strider? Do you want to deal with Vajra or Rapid Slash in play? Good luck.

Though this team is reliant on Strider being played a at a very high level, to lend him the same threat level as Vergil, when played well this team makes better use of resources and X Factor than basically any other.

Dorm/Doom or "Double Support"

Dr. Doom w/ Plasma Beam - Middle
Dormammu w/ Dark Hole - Anchor

Put simply, Dormammu is a pretty unexceptional anchor, and a pretty unexceptional support character (and a bad point character). He lacks god-tier assists and tends to die quickly in scrambles, but balances that with unusually strong matchups versus strong characters like Morrigan, incredible neutral, and a suite of the best supers in the game. As such, he needs to be paired with characters with a lot of support value, like Doom, to keep him in play.

This shell lacks a traditional anchor, but makes up for it with sheer utility and a strong matchup spread versus a lot of relevant characters - but it is absolutely contingent on having a top-shelf Doom, since Doom is truly load-bearing on teams built from this.

Chun/Morrigan

Chun-Li w/ Hyakuretsukyaku - Point
Morrigan w/ Dark Harmonizer - Middle

Built by RyanLV, this team is structured around Chun's ability to stall at superjump heights without superjumping, meaning she is not locked out of calling assists. This unlocks Morrigan's Dark Harmonizer assist at heights where it is functionally unpunishable, constantly building meter in the background for Chun, Morrigan, and any potentially meter-hungry anchors like Phoenix.

Other than meter gain, versatility is this team's main strength, capable of playing keepaway or rushing down, all while keeping potent DHCs on deck for whichever character is leading.

Notable Teams & Discussion

This section is dedicated to breaking down the strengths of notable teams, typically ones used by players that have succeeded in the past.

Keep in mind that some teams rely on all three members to accomplish a very specific game plan, and do not abide by typical conceptions of team structure; these teams are still perfectly good just unique.

Nova/Spencer/Strange AKA Team Nemo

Nova w/ Centurion Rush - Point
Dr. Strange w/ Bolts of Balthakk - Damage engine
Spencer w/ Wire Grapple (Slant Shot) - 'Anchor'

One of the most lethal teams in the game. Any strike or throw by Nova is guaranteed to turn into a meter-positive kill on all but the healthiest characters in the game, and healthier characters will simply be slightly costlier to kill. A handful of strong teams can boast similar lethality from strikes, but nobody makes throws threatening like Nova and his suite of solo OTGs.

In the phases of the game where you aren't actively killing another character, point Nova offers a great degree of flexibility on the ground and in the air when backed up by Bolts, where he is able to rush down, play keepaway, and force mixups as the neutral situation allows for it.

This team doesn't really abide by typical conceptions of team structure because it is largely reliant on all three members being alive, and being able to cleanly 'cycle' the team each time you kill a character - you want to win neutral with Nova, use Spencer's assist to crumple, and hard tag to Strange to deal ludicrous amounts of damage and build meter.

Strange is ill-equipped to fight many characters in neutral, and as such the rest of the team serves to protect him so he can deal all of your damage; if things go south, expect to be playing solo Spencer more often than not. Thus is the main drawback of this team; it is very structurally unsound, as any character going down completely demolishes the clean combo -> crumple -> touch of death structure the team is built around. Its constituent characters are still capable, but not as ludicrously threatening as they are together.

Character Overviews

Capcom

Akuma

Amaterasu

Arthur

C. Viper

Chris

Chun Li

Dante

Felicia

Firebrand

Frank West

Haggar

Hsien Ko

Click here for Hsien Ko's page

Team Value
Hsien Ko offers potent anti-zoning and a strong assist when paired with her Gold Armor install, but struggles mightily with making ends meet; her mobility, low damage, and awkward routing make it difficult for her to be a threat without serious support from other members of the team. Generally she suffers from a lack of inertia; she can stop zoning but not beat it, and she can control her immediate space but has a terribly hard time managing characters that can run from her (which is not hard).

What They Bring

Senpu Bu, which becomes one of the most belligerent assists in the game in her Gold Armor install
Tenrai Ha, which functions as a massive, self-linkable solo damage dump
Generally potent anti-zoning with her Gong move series

What They Want

Characters that can reliably ferry her into Gold Armor install
Teams that can help alleviate her movement and damage shortcomings (see: stronger characters)
Teams that can deal with runaway characters, through assists or actual character strength

Position
Hsien Ko can be played in any position, though most teams with her are built around establishing Gold Armor Senpu Bu early and leveraging it.

Assists
Senpu Bu is her most picked assist, owing to its strength when paired with her Gold Armor install, since the install timer freezes if Hsien Ko isn't on point.

Notable Synergies

Jill

Morrigan

Nemesis

Phoenix Wright

Ryu

Spencer

Strider

Trish

Tron Bonne

Vergil

Viewtiful Joe

Wesker

Zero

Marvel

Captain America

Deadpool

Doctor Doom

Doctor Strange

Dormammu

Ghost Rider

Hawkeye

Hulk

Iron Fist

Iron Man

Magneto

M.O.D.O.K.

Nova

Click here for Nova's page

Team Value
Nova offers a high-mobility kit that is well suited to both rushdown and keepaway, thanks to his excellent selection of air options. Furthermore, he hits hard and offers consistent, rewarding conversions from normal starters, stray hits, grounded throws, and air throws alike owing to his lengthy knockdowns, OTG tools, and potential to set up crumples.