Lore
Benjamin Jacob Grimm, better known as The Thing, was transformed into a rock-skinned powerhouse after being exposed to cosmic radiation aboard Reed Richards' experimental spacecraft. A founding member of the Fantastic Four, Ben carries the weight of his monstrous appearance with gruff humor and an unbreakable will. Despite his fearsome exterior, The Thing is fiercely loyal to his teammates and remains one of Marvel's most beloved and battle-hardened heroes. Learn more on Wikipedia.
Overview
The Thing is a frontline Vanguard built around raw durability, crowd control, and close-quarters punishment. In Season 8, he excels at creating space for his team by wading into the heart of enemy formations, soaking up punishment, and disrupting positioning with his powerful slams and throws. His kit rewards aggressive play — the more pressure he applies up close, the harder he becomes to ignore, forcing enemies to either deal with him or suffer the consequences of leaving him unchecked on an objective.
What sets The Thing apart from other Vanguards in Season 8 is his exceptional synergy between his defensive resilience and his offensive threat. Unlike tanks who are purely passive shields, Ben Grimm punishes enemies who try to kite or poke him from range by closing distance quickly and locking them into melee engagements where he dominates. His Rock Slam and ground-pound abilities let him control tight chokepoints and payload zones, making him a nightmare to push off of high-value positions when played correctly.
In the current Season 8 meta, The Thing thrives on maps with close-range corridors and clustered objectives where his area denial and disruption abilities shine brightest. He pairs especially well with dive or flank-heavy team compositions that benefit from the chaos he creates at the front line. Players who master his positioning and know when to engage versus when to anchor and hold will find him to be one of the most impactful and satisfying Vanguards in the roster.
Strengths & Weaknesses
Strengths
✓Exceptional durability with high base health and natural damage reduction, making him one of the hardest Vanguards to eliminate in a straight fight
✓Strong crowd control toolkit with knock-ups, slams, and throws that disrupt enemy positioning and interrupt key ability activations
✓High melee threat forces enemies to respect his close-range presence, effectively zone-controlling objectives and chokepoints
✓Great team-enabling presence — his ability to draw aggro and lock down priority targets creates openings for flankers and damage dealers to secure kills
Weaknesses
✗Struggles against highly mobile heroes who can consistently kite him from range, as his movement speed is below average for a Vanguard
✗Limited ranged options mean he can be poked down during approach phases on open maps without reliable cover
✗Lacks a strong self-sustain or healing ability, making him dependent on support heroes to maintain his presence in extended fights
Abilities
Clobberin' Time (Primary Attack)
The Thing delivers a powerful two-hit melee combo that deals significant physical damage to enemies in front of him. Each punch applies a brief flinch, interrupting light animations and making it difficult for enemies to act freely while in melee range.
Rock Slam
Ben slams both fists into the ground, sending a shockwave radially outward that damages and knocks up all enemies caught in the blast radius. This ability is a core crowd control tool ideal for disrupting grouped enemies on objectives.
Boulder Toss
The Thing rips a chunk of debris from the environment and hurls it at a targeted enemy, dealing heavy damage and briefly stunning the target on impact. This ability gives him a mid-range option to punish retreating enemies or initiate engagements.
Granite Charge
Ben charges forward at increased speed, trampling through enemies in his path and dealing damage to anyone he contacts. The charge ends with a ground slam that knocks nearby enemies back, making it an excellent gap-closer and crowd-scatter tool.
It's Clobberin' Time! (Ultimate)
The Thing enters an empowered berserker state for several seconds, gaining increased damage, bonus armor, and empowered versions of his basic attacks that release shockwaves on every hit. During this state he also gains immunity to crowd control, making him an unstoppable force on the objective. Enemies caught in the area when the Ultimate activates receive a knockback burst.
⚡ Rocky Resolve (Passive)
When The Thing's health drops below a certain threshold, he gains a burst of temporary bonus armor and his next Rock Slam or Granite Charge cooldown is instantly reset, giving him a second-wind mechanic to escape or turn the tide of a losing fight.
Pro Tips
1
Initiate with Granite Charge into Rock Slam
The most reliable engage combo is to use Granite Charge to close the gap on clustered enemies and immediately follow up with Rock Slam on landing. The charge clusters enemies and the slam knocks them up, giving your team a full window to deal free damage onto airborne targets.
2
Save Boulder Toss for high-value targets
Boulder Toss has a relatively long cooldown, so resist the urge to use it randomly. Instead, save it for priority targets like enemy healers trying to escape, flankers who have overextended, or to cancel an enemy Ultimate activation.
3
Position on the objective, not behind it
The Thing's value comes from being a physical presence enemies must walk through. Stand on the point or payload directly to force enemies into your melee range rather than hanging back. If you are not on the objective, you are not doing your job.
4
Activate your Ultimate defensively as well as offensively
While It's Clobberin' Time! is devastating offensively, it's equally valuable as a defensive tool. If your team is being pushed off an objective or you are being burst down, popping the Ultimate gives you crowd-control immunity and a second life to reset the fight.
5
Use Rocky Resolve as a signal to fight, not flee
When your passive triggers at low health, many players instinctively retreat. Instead, use that window of bonus armor and ability reset to deal maximum damage — enemies often back off thinking you're almost dead, giving you a surprise opportunity to turn the engagement around.
6
Communicate your engage timing with your team
The Thing's crowd control is only devastating when your team follows up. Ping or voice-communicate before using Rock Slam or your Ultimate so your damage dealers are ready to unload on the enemies you knock up or stun.
Best Teammates
🦸
Human Torch →
As a fellow Fantastic Four member, Human Torch benefits enormously from The Thing clustering and knocking up enemies. Torch's area-of-effect flame abilities deal massive damage to grouped targets that Ben's Rock Slam and Granite Charge create, making this pairing devastatingly effective on tight objectives.
🦸
Invisible Woman →
Sue Storm's shielding and sustain abilities patch up The Thing's biggest weakness — his lack of self-healing. She can shield him during his approach phase on open maps and amplify his offensive output during his Ultimate, keeping him alive long enough to fully capitalize on his disruption.
🦸
Spider-Man →
Spider-Man's mobility and single-target burst synergize perfectly with The Thing's ability to lock down priority targets. When Ben stuns an enemy with Boulder Toss or knocks them up with Rock Slam, Spider-Man can rapidly swing in and eliminate the isolated target before they recover.
🦸
Storm →
Storm's lightning area-of-effect abilities shred through the clustered groups that The Thing creates with his slams. Her aerial positioning also means she is rarely targeted while Ben draws all the aggro, allowing her to deal uncontested damage from above.
🦸
Luna Snow →
Luna Snow's healing output and damage amplification abilities give The Thing the sustained front-line presence he needs on longer fights. Her freeze debuff also helps Ben close the distance on kiting enemies who would otherwise be able to escape his melee range.
Counters
⚔️
Mr. Fantastic →
Reed Richards' elastic reach and poke-oriented kit allow him to harass The Thing from distances that Ben struggles to close effectively. His ability to stretch around obstacles and hit The Thing while avoiding his short-range crowd control makes him a frustrating matchup that requires heavy support to deal with.
⚔️
Black Widow →
Black Widow's high mobility, dodge rolls, and ranged burst allow her to weave in and out of The Thing's melee range consistently. Her grapple and movement toolkit let her disengage from Granite Charge before he can connect, neutralizing his primary gap-closer.
⚔️
Hawkeye →
Hawkeye's long-range precision and ability to kite The Thing indefinitely on open maps is a serious problem. His charged shots deal significant damage during The Thing's slow approach, and he can constantly reposition to deny Ben the melee engagement he needs to be effective.
⚔️
Scarlet Witch →
Scarlet Witch's chaos magic abilities can disrupt The Thing's ability rotation and reduce the reliability of his crowd control. Her displacement spells can knock him off objectives at critical moments, and her chaos-field abilities punish him for standing in place, which is normally his strongest position.
🗺️ Best Maps
🗺️
Arakko →
Domination map with tight corridors and close-quarters combat that favors The Things tank abilities and melee damage output.
🗺️
Blood-Shed Palace →
Domination map with confined spaces and multiple choke points where The Thing can effectively block enemy advances and control objectives.
🗺️
HYDRA Charteris Base →
Domination map with compact layout and indoor sections that allow The Thing to leverage his bulk for zone control and team protection.
🤝 Team-Ups
Rank Tips
Bronze — Platinum
In Bronze through Platinum, focus on mastering the Granite Charge into Rock Slam combo and always standing directly on the objective. Most players in these ranks will simply run into your melee range without coordination, so you will naturally win trades by staying planted and swinging. Use Boulder Toss liberally on any enemy that comes close and save your Ultimate for moments when three or more enemies are grouped on the point. Communicate with your healers to stay near you — you will die quickly without any support in lower ranks where healers sometimes stray.
Diamond+
At Diamond and above, enemy teams will actively attempt to kite you, focus you during your approach phase, and use crowd control to interrupt your combos. You must learn to use environmental cover during your engage to reduce poke damage before closing the gap. In high-rank lobbies, save Boulder Toss exclusively for canceling enemy Ultimates or eliminating a retreating healer. Time your own Ultimate to counter enemy defensive Ultimates rather than simply using it on cooldown. Coordinate your engage with your team's cooldown windows via voice communication and learn the specific sight lines on each map where your charge can be used without being intercepted.
For Beginners
The Thing is a beginner-friendly Vanguard in terms of concept — get close, punch things, survive — but mastering his timing and positioning takes practice. New players should focus on three fundamentals first: always be on the objective, always use Granite Charge to initiate rather than walking into range, and never use your Ultimate alone. Your biggest mistake early on will be wandering off the objective to chase kills. The Thing's power comes from forcing enemies to come to YOU, not from hunting them down. Start matches by learning the layout of corridors and chokepoints on each map so you know which angles let you initiate safely. Once you feel comfortable with your basic rotation, start experimenting with using your passive threshold as a deliberate bait tool to lure aggressive enemies into a reset Rock Slam.
FAQ
🎬 The Thing Video
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Alex Marvel
SEO Specialist · 10 years experience
Updated May 28, 2026 · Patch 8.0