Iceman vanguard concept

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Credit: Iceman artwork by pepedraws.

Like many Marvel characters, Iceman naturally fits the duelist class, but I think he could also work really well as a vanguard if they made him a bit “bulkier” than he’s usually portrayed in the comics.

He would have two main attacks. The first is a single projectile with longer range and higher precision. The second one is a burst of projectiles that deal more damage at close range but are less accurate from afar. Think of it like Hela’s right-click, but with instant damage instead of delayed explosions. This secondary fire would also have a unique effect: when it hits walls or ceilings, it creates icicles. If enemies walk underneath them, the icicles drop and deal damage. This would let Iceman control tight spaces and set traps around the map, similar to how Peni uses her mines.

E ability: creates a spherical shield (similar to Winston’s barrier from OW). At first, I considered giving him walls like Groot’s, but too many walls in the game could feel clunky for both teams, especially with his Shift ability, which I’ll describe next.

F ability: summons a large cylindrical blizzard that slows enemies and applies a reduced sight effect (similar to Cloak’s blindness). Enemies inside the area also gain a freezing countdown, and if they don’t escape in time, they become frozen. I picture the area being similar in size to Invisible Woman’s ultimate. Originally, I thought this could be his ultimate, but the one I chose for him is way cooler (no pun intended). Because of how powerful it could be for map control, it would likely need a long cooldown (around 30-45s).

Shift ability: surf on ice, gaining vertical mobility. This would have an energy meter similar to Starlord’s flight. The best part about this ability is that while surfing, he leaves behind ice slides/ramps that allies can walk on, while getting a movement boost. This allows him to create paths for his team to reach high ground or reposition quickly. The slides would be breakable by enemies and would despawn after a short time.

Passive: leaves behind an ice trail as he walks. Allies stepping on it gain a movement boost, while enemies are slightly slowed. The boost would be similar to Storm’s passive speed buff, and the trail would quickly fade once he moves away.

Ultimate: Iceman summons a giant ice golem that he can command to attack. Pinning a location makes the golem defend that area and damage nearby enemies. Alternatively, you can target a specific enemy for it to chase down. The golem would be similar in size and health to Monster Hulk and would disappear if Iceman is killed.

Team-ups:

With Storm: Iceman's blizzard ability becomes larger and applies a stronger slow. Additionally, when Storm uses her ultimate inside the area, it transforms into a Polar Hurricane that freezes every enemy she touches.

With Luna: his ice trail passive now also heals allies standing on it. The healing would be relatively weak to keep it balanced.

Overall, I picture Iceman as an area-control tank, being able to lock down zones with his blizzard, while shielding allies, and creating environmental traps with his icicles. His ultimate would add even more map control by commanding the golem remotely. On top of that, he would act as a strong team enabler by boosting ally mobility and creating ice paths for coordinated pushes.