How to counter Hela

Counter picks for Hela

From our counter data, strongest first. Bars show the weight: strong, good, soft. How weights work

What you are playing against

Hela is a projectile headshot duelist. Nightsword Thorn is her bread and butter, Piercing Night throws a spread of thorns that detonate after a short delay, and Soul Drainer is a sphere that stuns anyone near it. That stun is her answer to divers, so the whole matchup comes down to whether she still has it.

Her escape is Astral Flock: she turns into a crow, glides away, and gets bonus health when she lands. Hel's Descent lets her float down slowly from high ground, which is where she likes to be. Nastrond Crowstorm spawns an exploding crow whenever she gets a kill, so a lost fight can snowball if your team keeps walking into the same spot.

Picks that work

Black Panther wins the 1v1 per Counterwatch (+11.1). He reaches her on high ground with Subtle Step and Spirit Rend, and if she has already burned Soul Drainer she has nothing left but Astral Flock.

Invisible Woman (+11.4) and Cloak & Dagger show up as team-pressure counters: they make Hela's poke less valuable by keeping her targets alive.

Magneto is on both our list and Counterwatch's (+7.4). Metallic Curtain blocks every projectile Hela has, and Meteor M can absorb projectiles for extra damage. Doctor Strange, Emma Frost and Captain America do a similar job from the front line.

Long-range duelists such as Hawkeye, Punisher, Winter Soldier and Star-Lord are on our list because they can contest her sightline without walking into Soul Drainer.

Habits that beat her

Bait Soul Drainer before you commit. A dive on Hela with the stun available usually ends with your diver dead and a crow on top of the body.

When she casts Goddess of Death she rises into the open. She is the easiest target in the fight for the next few seconds, so hitscan players should switch to her instead of chasing the frontline.

Do not regroup on a teammate who just died to her. Nastrond Crowstorm leaves an exploding crow there.

Hela by the numbers

Hela wins 51.7% of games across all ranks (A tier on the tier list), from 68,958 tracked matches. Best map: Hall of Djalia. Worst map: Museum of Contemplation.

Best teammates for Hela: Ultron (60.2%), Peni Parker (59.7%), Gorr (59.6%), Mantis (57.5%), Storm (56.6%).

Ratings and win rates from Counterwatch, all ranks, as of October 29, 2026. A rating is how much better a hero does than average in fights against Hela, from duel and teamfight results.