Marvel Contest of Champions Chee’ilth preview: A must-play First Nations combatant

Marvel Contest of Champions has a brand-new character coming, in the First Nations’ Chee’ilth. A character created specifically for The Contest, she was developed with an intense amount of research and knowledge behind the First Nations people of Canada.

In addition to simply being an interesting, powerful character, I learned more about a group of indigenous people that I wasn’t really aware of before, and that might have been the best part. This new character really brings something interesting to Kabam’s mobile game, and combines an incredible moveset with a very dark backstory.

If you have a hard time with Gamma characters in Marvel Contest of Champions, Chee’ilth will bring something to the table to help you stop them while you play Kabam’s free-to-play title. She releases this November alongside Kushala to celebrate Native American Heritage Month.

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Who is Chee’ilth in Marvel Contest of Champions?

Chee’ilth is the latest character to join Marvel Contest of Champions, and is a hunter of Gamma Mutates that were cursed by One Below All. However, unlike many hunters, she is trying to cure them, and save them; not destroy them completely. It’s a nice change of pace that fits her people and lore. It doesn’t always have to be about the annihilation, after all - like it is with Hunters like Blade. It will be interesting to see where she falls on in upcoming MCOC tier lists.

In terms of Marvel Contest of Champions, she uses the power of Brother Grizzly and Sister Eagle to take down her foes in the Battlerealm. She wields their power, alongside her mighty axe, to cut down her foes and assist in curing the Gamma Mutates of their sickness. For reference, Gamma Mutates refers to any character that has been touched by Gamma radiation and transforms as a result: The Abomination, The Incredible Hulk, and so on.

She was caught up in the 60’s Scoop - in Canadian history, this was when the foster system forcibly adopted First Nations people out of their reserves, and, more often than not, put them into Christian homes. She was put into an abusive home and punished for speaking her own language, which does mirror the real-life events of The Scoop.

Due to a nuclear reactor meltdown, her town was overwhelmed by Gamma Mutates, and, when her abusive father was discovered to be trapped inside, she went to save him. Her courage was exactly what the Eagle and Bear spirits were looking for. Brother Grizzly helps her fight the Gamma Mutates, and Sister Eagle helps draw out the curse of the Gamma Mutate, and helps them.

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What can Chee’ilth do in Marvel Contest of Champions?

• There’s a Grizzly Coming: On activation, gain a Grizzly’s Grit Passive for 16s, which counts as a Grit Passive. While active, all attacks gain a 50% chance to inflict a Bleed Debuff.
• The Eagle Soars: The final hit inflicts a non-stacking Eagle’s Tranquilize Debuff for 12s, which counts as a 50% Tranquilize Debuff. While active, this character cannot Miss. Each time a Debuff or Miss is prevented, pause Eagle’s Tranquilize for 3s.
• They Come to War: This attack can only be used once per fight. Gain an indefinite 35% Vicious Passive. Gain a 15s Regeneration Buff, healing 50% of Health lost this fight or 30% of missing health, whichever is greater.

Unfortunately, I only had a brief time to play as Chee’ilth in Marvel Contest of Champions. She’s a pretty powerful character, and I liked how her gameplay worked. She’s a Skill Champion, and features simple, but very powerful game mechanics.

Chee’ilth uses the power of Brother Grizzly, which rewards her aggressive use of Heavy Attacks, and Sister Eagle can grant additional protections with well-timed blocks. She’s also particularly powerful against Gamma opponents in the game. I asked about this specifically because I wanted to know what it meant in terms of in-game mechanics.

Justin Ostensen, Senior Game Designer on Marvel Contest of Champions, explained what it all meant:

“Yeah, she actually has two mechanics for that one. Whenever she’s facing a Gamma Mutate opponent, her debuffs last a lot longer. Just straight across the board - that means her Bleeds will do more damage, and she also has a really powerful Tranquilize. That extra debuff extension can make that debuff last for most of the fight, quite frankly. So she gets an incredible amount of debuff resistance.

He then gave an example and explained how Chee’ilth gets "sort of superpowered" when up against a Gamma Mutate:

“But, in addition to that, she has this unique mechanic where all her synergy bonuses get sort of superpowered whenever she’s facing a Gamma opponent. So, for example, one of her unique synergy powers will give her some extra Cleanse effects at the start of the fight, to deal with some debuffs at the very beginning. But if she’s fighting a Gamma Mutate, instead of 3, she starts with 10. So she can just be immune to the first 10 debuffs if she’s facing a Gamma Mutate. So she gets a decent amount there.”

Chee’ilth sounds like she will be a fun, powerful character who has a unique role to play in Marvel Contest of Champions. In the brief time I played her, she was just aggressive enough to fit my playstyle. If you’re facing off against a lot of Gamma Mutates, this is the character you want on your team.

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Chee’ilth will join Kushala in Marvel Contest of Champions on November 30, 2023. If you’re a fan of aggressive, hard-hitting characters, and don’t like dealing with Hulks, she’s going to be a champion you want to give a try in the Battlerealm.