With Marvel Rivals now live globally, we finally have answers to the burning question: Who are the best characters in the game? In this guide, week will break down our tier list for every character. You can't fairly compare characters to each other from different classes, so in this tier list, we are focusing on the Duelist class. If you want see more characters, check out our Vanguard Meta Tier List and Strategist Meta Tier List!
For any tier list to make sense in this style of game, you need to understand the kind of players this list is designed for. Pro players and casual players will play characters very differently, so their rankings can vastly differ. In these tier lists, we are ranking for the average player. This means not brand new to the game, but not a high ranking player either.
If you are interested in seeing a tier list designed for competitive play, check out our Competitive Duelist Tier List!
Any low tier ratings for characters doesn't mean the character is outright bad. You can play any character in this game, practice them a bunch, and perform well in a match despite a low ranking.
S Tier
A Tier
B Tier
C Tier
C Tier
The characters in this tier are Black Panther, Black Widow, Psylocke, and Spider-Man. These are all characters that struggle to make a meaningful impact in your typical casual setting. Their damage output and flexibility aren't up to par with the rest of the Duelists.
Black Panther has struggled to be a strong character since the beta. Even after receiving a buff, he can't output the same amount of damage as other brawler characters. His ultimate ability is also very tricky to properly use, making it often a complete dud for most casual players.
Black Widow can pack a punch with her sniper, but she gets outclassed in every way versus Hawkeye. Besides needing great accuracy, you lose a lot of peripheral view when scoping, making the character difficult to use. If players want the same style, but much easier to use, just use Hawkeye.
Psylock is a menace at top tier play, but she is is very difficult to use properly. It takes a lot of practice to manage her abilities well enough to rush in, deal quick and high damage, then escape. You could farm her ultimate, which is very strong, by simply landing hits. Ultimately though, the average player will cause the team to fall way behind before that ultimate ability is ready again.
Spider-Man follows a similar path as Psylock: great for competitive, bad for casual. He can swing in quickly and bounce around, making him hard to hit. For the average player though, you will be more of a nuisance than a real threat. He is one of the most difficult characters to use, and requires a significant amount of practice to make work due to all of the combos you have to master. For the average player, you don't have the time for that kind of mastery. For that reason, Spider-Man ranks in our lowest tier.
B Tier
For this tier, we have Namor, Star-Lord, Storm, Magik, and Wolverine. All of these characters still fall short from the bulk of this class, but they definitely are higher than the C-Tier.
Namor is the definition of an okay character. His main appeal is his place-able turrets. Low ranking and casual players ignore these for some reason, making them great at ticking away enemy health. Outside of that, Namor is pretty bland. His ultimate is too slow and doesn't do enough damage. If not for the turrets, Namor could be C-Tier.
Star-Lord can be a strong attacker, but you have to be accurate with his shots. He requires a lot of movement, which can be a bit complex to get right. He does have a great ultimate that gives you auto aim to quickly melt through the enemy team. His biggest weakness is his difficulty keeping up with moving targets. Since his individual bullets do so little damage, you have to land a lot of shots to make a real impact.
Storm recently saw a buff, making her much more playable than she was before. She is much closer in line with Iron Man, but she requires much more accuracy. To play her well, you need to stay closer to the ground to share your buffs with the team. Then you have to be accurate with your wind shots. She also lacks a fast getaway option, which will often leave a casual player stranded since they aren't really thinking about their spacing. Her ultimate is almost good enough to bump her to A-Tier, but I don't think she compares to the simplicity of Iron Man, making them distinctly separate ranks.
Magik can be a fun, hard hitting melee character to play with. To really get good use out of her though, you have to target the backing squishy characters like healers. That isn't easy to do in a casual, uncoordinated setting. To really lock in those kills, you need to know her melee cancels out of her abilities, which is a bit advanced for casual play. You can still make an impact with this character, but just not as reliably as other heroes.
Wolverine is designed to be a tank killer. This means you really have to go hard into your role and be locked in every match. That's a lot to ask for every casual game. He isn't easy to use since you can't just jump in and instantly win versus a tank. You have to know your combos, time your attacks to separate them from healers, and know how to escape when you need to. He isn't great for general combat, which is what most of casual play pans out to be.
A Tier
Moving up to the A-Tier brings the largest amount of characters: Iron Fist, Iron Man, Squirrel Girl, Winter Soldier, Hawkeye, and Mister Fantastic. These are all solid characters for your average player, offering a good balance of strong abilities and great DPS.
Iron Fist is the only brawler character to be ranked this high. This is specifically because of his self healing and fast speed. He can remain very mobile, making him harder to hit. His self healing let's you survive longer on your own, as well as his damage deflector. He has good potential for S-Tier at the higher ranks, but A-Tier is a safe rating for your average player.
Iron Man is the best flying characters currently in the game. He can move quickly, lowering the downside of being vulnerable in the air. His ability to quickly move behind the enemy team makes him great at picking off unsuspecting victims. At lower and casual ranks, you won't see much counter-picking, making him a bit safer to play than at high ranks. His ultimate can be devastating if you manage to fire it without being spotted first.
Squirrel Girl is a ranged character that doesn't mandate accuracy. You can launch bouncy area of effect projectiles into a general area and land hits. Her super jump let's her quickly dip out of bad combat situations, or get better angles for her shots. After her ultimate buff, she now can make a much bigger impact by herself than she could before.
Winter Soldier is a great character if your aim is at least decent. He has good options for close quarters and ranged combat, and his moveset isn't complicated to learn. His ultimate is easily the most appealing part of the character since you can use it repeatedly if you kill someone who was hit by the previous ultimate.
Hawkeye was previously an S-Tiercharacters, but he's dropping down a tier this season. He simply mandates accuracy at all times and doesn't have a flexible ability set. With Doctor Strange dominating every meta level, it's much more difficult for Hawkeye to make a meaningful impact.
Mister Fantastic is the newest hero added to the roster. His duelist-vanguard hybrid abilities makes him great for casual players. His attacks are simple but effective. His abilities help you to get close and keep pressure up, which let's him beef up into a dps monster. His damage Absorbing ability is also perfect to allow you to escape or stall the match for your team to back you up. He's all around a solid character that is easy to use.
S Tier
Capping out at the top of our tier list, we have Scarlet Witch, Hela, The Punisher, and Moon Knight.
Scarlet Witch is one of the best characters for casual players. She doesn't need to reload, she doesn't have to aim, and she can vanish and fly away at any time. She can terrorize the enemy team, and most casual players don't know how to deal with her lock on attack. Her ultimate is loud and has a long windup, but will often team wipe in casual settings. She's just a great "turn your brain off and play" kind of character.
Hela has been strong since the beta, and she continues to be. Her primary attack is good at both long range and short. Her dagger barrage can threaten larger targets very well. Her ultimate is one of the best in the game, as it teleports you into the air and gives you a perfect view of the enemy team. You then can rain hellfire down to them, and quickly teleport out once the ultimate is over. It's extremely safe and very effective.
Moon Knight has been the most surprisingly strong character. His ability to leap and glide let's him easily reposition himself and flank the enemy team. The grapple helps to jump into and out of battle quickly. His primary fire rate is very strong, especially if you land your heads hots. His Ultimate is also very effective, it just has a smaller radius than many area based ultimates.
Finally, we have the Punisher, who has been one of the top characters for obvious reasons. A simple character that's easy to learn, easy to play, and packs an enormous punch. His turret mount can single handedly hold down locations, turning him into a borderline stationary tank. His ultimate ability has so much firepower, you can easily team wipe, especially if you have a good Vanguard supporting you.
Wrap Up
That's it for our Duelist Tier list! As new characters are added and balance changes are made, we will release updated tier lists for these characters. If you haven't already, be sure to check out our tier lists for Vanguards and Strategists!
