Gobble trap: Broken Jeff tech found hours after his Marvel Rivals release

A funny glitch, or a gamebreaking catastrophe?

Jeff the Land Shark from Marvel Rivals.
Screenshot by Dot Esports

Jeff the Land Shark has barely been available in Marvel Rivals for a day, but players have already discovered a hilarious game-breaking interaction with his ultimate that left unsuspecting enemies stuck in the wrong team’s spawn.

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Jeff’s ultimate, “It’s Jeff!,” sees the Strategist dive below the battlefield and, after a short delay, summon a massive whirlpool swallowing up all allies and enemies. Jeff can then travel a short distance before spitting everyone out, dealing damage along the way. It’s not the damage that’s causing the ruckus, however: A viral clip from @bogur47 on TikTok shows Jeff spitting an enemy hero into Jeff’s own spawn—where they cannot leave.

Jeff the Land Shark using his It's Jeff! ultimate in Marvel Rivals.
I’ve never seen the community so hyped over a Marvel character in gaming before. Screenshot by Dot Esports

Spawn rooms for each team are locked to avoid total spawn camping, which also applies to enemy units if they get stuck in the room. Fortunately, there was no way for Marvel Rivals players to get into the opposing team’s spawn—until now. Bogur47 went above and beyond to make the clip happen, too; thanks to Doctor Strange’s Pentagram of Farallah allowing Portal-like teleportation, it was possible for Jeff to jump through across the map, grab an enemy, come back through the portal to his spawn, and eject the enemy into the spawn room.

Since the barriers are impassible, the enemy player became totally stuck in the room, and the only way they could escape was by disconnecting and reconnecting to the game. Given how often you’re able to charge an ultimate, a decent Jeff player could pull this move off a few times a game.

“This surely has to be considered gameplay abuse right?” one player said in a Reddit thread discussing the clip. They made a comparison between this glitch and the addition of Lifeweaver in Overwatch, who can drag allies around with Life Grip. Many players encountered ally Lifeweavers who abused the ability, forcing teammates into bad situations or off the map entirely.

Another player believes the ability will be changed entirely before the game’s release. “There is a reason most other games don’t give you the ability to actively control other players including teammates,” they said, calling the ability “goofy” but also a “balancing nightmare.” Another said they were dragged under by an allied Jeff moments after activating their ultimate.

Most other players simply laughed off the interaction, knowing it is all but assured to be fixed before the game’s full release—it’s a closed beta, after all. Until then, you might want to steer clear of the otherwise unlikely pairing of Doctor Strange and Jeff the Land Shark.

Author
Image of Nicholas Taifalos
Nicholas Taifalos
Weekend editor for Dot Esports. Nick, better known as Taffy, began his esports career in commentary, switching to journalism with a focus on Oceanic esports, particularly Counter-Strike and Dota. Email: nicholas@dotesports.com