Marvel Rivals Season 1 tier list: Best and worst characters, ranked

5 days ago 5

With Season 1 well underway in Marvel Rivals, we have a good idea of where each character would be in a tier list. While a lot has changed in terms of updates, there has been somewhat of a meta-shakeup.

Marvel Rivals Season 1 tier list

That said, here is a tier list of all the heroes currently in Marvel Rivals. It will start with the best characters at S-Tier and move all the way to the lowest, B-tier.

S-Tier characters

The following S-Tier characters are listed below in no particular order. These are the best or most consistent-performing currently in the game.

Dr. Strange – To no one’s surprise, Earth’s Sorcerer Supreme is top-tier. His damage output is exceptional, granted you can land his shots or perform the animation canceling trick with his melee attacks. Dr. Strange can push points, hold his own as a tank, and create some very intricate portal setups.

Storm – She is one of the biggest winners of the Season 1 patch. Storm received a bunch of buffs that just overall increased her viability. Before, she used to be an inferior pick to Iron Man, but now, she can do basically everything he does while slightly dipping into support territory.

Hawkeye – While Hawkeye saw some significant nerfs in his kit along with the toning down of his seasonal buff, he’s still very strong in the meta. He’s just a bit more honest of a character who can still dish out incredible damage with good aim.

Hela – Another character who saw some nerfs and became slightly more honest. That decrease to her base health and slight season bonus nerf didn’t really do much. The Goddess of Death is still the best of the best in the DPS department.

An image of Marvel Rivals crossplay customization options

Black Panther – The dark horse from the last season who is really making a mark currently. Black Panther is one of those characters who you won’t see that often in earlier ranks, but once you hit Plat III and higher, he’s picked a lot more and an even bigger headache than characters like Spider-Man.

Loki – The God of Mischief has proven to have a really high skill ceiling, being a clutch support character and a wildcard to break through team comps. Loki excels as burst healing from afar, but also being a solid damage dealer. Also, his copycat ult is something that’s really hard to counter.

Thor – The God of Thunder is a solid tank with great movement, decent damage output, and survivability. He excels in almost all situations, only really being countered by enemy burst damage and crowd control effects.

Luna Snow – This K-Pop star is one of the best Strategists in the game thanks to her healing capabilities, especially her ult. Fate of Both Worlds is so strong because it renders any of her allies invincible with only a few counters to it like Iron Man’s, Punisher’s, or Scarlet Witch’s ults. Beyond that, her ability to freeze enemies and buff ally damage makes her a complete support.

Wolverine – This guy is banned in so many high-level competitive matches because he’s basically the tank killer. Wolverine’s single-target damage output is unmatched. In the hands of a skilled player, he will be your worst nightmare.

Mantis – Sort of in the same vein as Luna Snow, Mantis can cover all bases as a support. She has great healing and other buffs that are useful for a team push or to defend an attack.

Cloak and Dagger – While popular in concept, they also have one of the higher win rates in the game in ranked play. Cloak and Dagger are two-for-one, providing exceptional support for their allies and annoying attacks to slow down or foil enemy advances.

The Hulk – Despite being another one to get nerfs at the start of the Season, the Hulk is one of the strongest tanks in Marvel Rivals. He has really good damage output, great mobility for escaping dicey situations, and survivability. If you’re quick enough after being taken out of the Hulk, Bruce Banner can run away to regain his form.

A-Tier characters

The following characters are A-Tier. In the same fashion as the S-tiers, they are not listed in any particular order. These characters are consistent and strong in their own regard with some faults.

Rocket Raccoon – Rocket is right below being a jack-of-all-trades as a support hero. His healing capabilities are consistent but lack burst potential. However, he makes up for that by being able to revive an ally every 45 seconds and buff his team’s damage output with his ult. Pair that with the fact that if you know your movement, you can be the hardest to kill.

The Punisher – He has consistent damage and can kill Vanguards very easily with a properly placed turret. The Punisher is also a solid counter to any enemies who can be a nuisance in the air, like Iron Man, Storm, and Star-Lord.

Moon Knight – This is a character who performs consistently, but struggles a bit in higher ranked play. Once a competent team knows how to deal with Ankhs, he just becomes another hero similar to The Punisher. However, don’t write that off as he has really good movement options to get out of a dicey situation.

Mister Fantastic – Reed Richards is a Duelist character who, in the right hands, can effectively play a hybrid role as a tank and DPS. His Reflexive Rubber ability is one of the best ways to fend off burst attacks and ults. It’s all about meter buildup with him to gain incredible defensive buffs.

Magik – She is what we’d consider a sleeper hit character. Magik has incredible close-quarters damage, being able to effectively wipe another team with ranged support. Her only real weakness is her mobility.

Venom – Venom is a very consistent tank who can take a bunch of damage with options to get away or stall opponents from advancing. His damage isn’t half bad, especially with recent buffs to his kit. However, he falls off a bit in later levels as he doesn’t have an answer to burst damage if he can’t perform Symbiotic Resilience.

Peni Parker – If you know, you know. Peni Parker is a tank that plays more of a role of a trapper and defender. Her SP//dr mech has good survivability, especially when playing around her Cyber Webs. As an attacker, she is a bit weaker, but on anything where she needs to defend, she racks up so much damage and can even shut down most of the cast’s ultimate abilities.

Iron Man – Tony Stark is a consistent DPS character who has really good flanking and burst potential. A good Iron Man can destroy enemy backlines with ease, but a good team can foil that plan. He will either need a pocket healer or a distracted team to inflict some serious damage.

Groot – Groot is a bit of a flexible Vanguard who can play a tank role and push forward with his walls or act as a trapper to deal with flankers and melee characters. His damage output is quite scary up close. The only issue with him is that without proper team coordination, his walls can mess up an attack or even block ults.

Winter Soldier – The “AGAIN!” memes are hilarious, but this spectacle doesn’t happen too much. Winter Soldier is a very strong hero, having some of the best DPS potential in the game (if you can land your hits), and good isolating potential. With a proper setup, his Kraken Impact is one of the best abilities in the game, giving him multiple charges with each successful kill.

Psylocke – Psylocke is one of the better flankers of the game with a straightforward kit (despite being a 5-star difficulty hero). Her ult is one of the best in the game, having a huge radius and being nearly impossible to get out of once in it, but her solo potential is a bit lacking. Still, with the rest of her kit, she’s very viable.

Namor – Just place a bunch of his Monstros down and throw his tridents nonstop. Namor is a character you can just sort of “unga bunga” with and get some pretty good results. His projectiles have travel time, so you’ll need some aim or good anticipation of enemy movements.

Adam Warlock – Being the Overwatch Mercy equivalent in this game, Adam Warlock can give his team huge potential in the comeback department. What prevents him from being the best (or one of the best) supports is his lack of mobility.

Magneto – Magneto is one of the more standard and honest Vanguards in Marvel Rivals. He has an answer for most things coming at him, but his damage is a big lacking unless he’s up close.

Star-Lord – If we made a tier between A and S, Star-Lord would be right in between. His single-target damage is scary, paired with the fact that his movement is very solid. Star-Lord’s ult is also one of the best in the game, being able to mow down foes from the sky. His only downside is that he can’t fly all the time.

Invisible Woman – Sue Storm assumes a support role that prevents a lot of damage and has good crowd control on top of her strong healing. She can kind of do it all. Although not as potent as a Luna Snow or Mantis, the invisibility can really throw enemy attack plans off.

B-Tier characters

The lowest tier of the bunch. Before you revolt about some choices, there are just some consistency issues that go on with each in this tier.

Squirrel Girl – Yes, Squirrel Girl can rack up incredible damage because she’s essentially a noob-tuber character, but that’s the issue. She’s a good solo carry in early ranks, but in higher-level play where players know how to maneuver their characters better and people land their shots more often, her damage output becomes inconsistent. She’s also not really good against airborne targets.

Jeff the Land Shark – Yet another noob-friendly character. Jeff has his tricks, namely that pesky ult. His healing potential and escape potential aren’t half bad either, but he doesn’t perform consistently at higher ranks.

Captain America – While this guy received buffs in the Season 1 patch, his overall kit is still outshined by other Vanguards. He’s fun and has some really good movement, but his defensive capabilities are on the weaker side, especially being a tank and all.

Scarlet Witch – Wanda has the potential to turn the tide in battle thanks to her ult, but even then, the buildup and damage she racks up doesn’t quite make up for it. In higher ranks, her Reality Erasure can easily be stopped with a Peni web, Luna freeze, burst damage, or hiding from her line of sight.

Black Widow – While high-precision characters like Hawkeye and Hela are the best of the best, Black Widow falters. Sniper characters are only good with proper setups or if the person using them lands headshots consistently. There are better options out there.

Spider-Man – Yes, Spidey has the best movement in the game, but he’s very inconsistent. Getting his combos down to pick off the backline takes a lot of skill. Having him on your team will either help you or be a huge hindrance. There’s no in-between.

Iron Fist – Another DPS character who has the potential to be the biggest headache to fight or a pushover. Iron Fist is one of the better melee-ranged characters with exceptional movement, but he can easily be picked off by any character who can immobilize foes.

How different this list will look once we start getting more consistent balance changes is to be determined. For now, don’t let this dictate who you play just because one character seems more honest than others.

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