Poke does not need nerfs, supports do
I'm seeing a lot of posts of people complaining that none of the strong poke characters like hela, hawkeye and phoenix received any nerfs. However, it was never necessary to nerf them (for the most part).
Realistically the only poke character that needed a nerf was phoenix because her survivability is a little too much for a character that has such strong ranged damage, but mainly the illusion of poke strength is caused by supports.
When you actually look at it, dive characters beat poke characters in solo interactions almost every time. Jump a hawkeye on spiderman, BP, cap or venom, he dies 95% of the time. The only thing that allows him to win those interactions is the fact that he has supports to sustain him through the fight.
Sustain is a feature of brawl which is why it allows poke to appear to be better than dive. All they have to do is nerf the healing output from supports and buff the survivability of frontline and brawl tanks so poke characters can stop benefiting from a resource that is not meant for them.
Posted Jan 14, 2026, 12:04 AM UTC