Sabretooth Kit Concept
Preface aside, I’m fairly certain Sabretooth concepts have been explored before, but like the ICEMAN post from a few days ago, I wanted to put it out there anyway, FOMO.
My thought is that he functions as a hybrid of Black Panther (combat fundamentals), Hulk (mobility), Wolverine (core concept), and Venom (disruptive playstyle). I also play on console, so I’ll designate abilities using PlayStation inputs.
Main kit:
Moderate tank health.
Primary attack (R2): Claw Swipe – Similar in damage to Wolverine’s slashes but delivered in heavier bursts of five. To tie him closer to Wolverine, I imagine he has a similar berserker gauge, also somewhat like Blade’s, increasing his attack or movement speed rather than raw damage, and potentially reducing the charge time on his L2.
Secondary (L2): Dive Slash – A charge-up ability (similar to Hulk’s leap) but with a more horizontal trajectory. It damages enemies by slashing through one or multiple targets like Black Panther. Not high damage, but highly oppressive and disruptive. Two charges, with a 10-second cooldown for each; cooldown begins only after both charges are used.
Utility (R1): Concentrated Healing Factor – To preface, I’m least attached to this ability, as it may not align perfectly with how healing factors work and could be overpowered. However, I like the idea of converting all incoming damage into lifesteal capabilities for a short duration. It would force enemy teams to be more deliberate with their damage rather than simply brute-forcing him down. I think competitive games benefit from more counter-based abilities rather than only deflection or invincibility frames.
Utility (L1): Savage Spring – A simple movement and evasion tool: omnidirectional acrobatic leaps reaching approximately Invisible Woman’s jump height, including a somersault and brief i-frames. It can also be used forward, but is best suited for retreating, repositioning, or gaining a better angle for his ultimate.
Passive: Predatory Movement – Similar to how Luna begins ice skating after a few seconds of movement, Sabretooth transitions into running on all fours at comparable speed. He can also climb walls and mantle like Venom or Hulk.
Ultimate: Mauling Grapple – Sabretooth snarls and locks onto individual enemies using a targeting icon similar to Black Cat’s Pounce. He pounces and slashes them while wrapped around them like a Redead from Ocarina of Time. This disorients the target, slowing their movement, adding scratch mark graphics on their HUD, and dealing damage per slash. He can chain between enemies, with a total of 18 slash charges dealing roughly 10–15% of each enemy’s total health, distributed however he chooses across the opposing team. He could spread attacks across all enemies or focus on isolating one to three targets, eliminating them gradually. He can still be damaged during his ultimate, but would likely gain an overshield similar to Peni’s during activation.
I could also see him having banter with various X-Men, especially Wolverine, as well as Black Cat regarding feline matters.
Talk to me about it!!