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 Strategist Meta Tier List and Vanguard 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 high ranking and competitive players. This means a less experienced or new player may have a very different experience playing these higher tier characters, or lower tier might be really good for you.
If you are a new or more casual player, the Meta can look very different than at higher competitive levels. For a more casual take on the meta, check out our Duelist Casual 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 tier rating.
S Tier
A Tier
B Tier
C Tier
C-Tier
In our lowest ranking, the C-Tier, we have Scarlet Witch, and Black Widow. Both of these characters are basically bad picks for competitive matches. You can still use them and not be throwing the match, but there isn't much need to play any of them in their current state while so many better options are available.
Scarlet Witch is a terror to face against for casual players. She auto aims, she can seemingly vanish into thin air, and her ultimate will team wipe every time. For a competitive player, these factors are not nearly as effective. Her auto aim still works of course, but higher ranking players typically have better aim, so they will kill you faster than your auto aim will kill them. Her vanishing is actually fairly easy to track if you follow the red orb, so it's not as easy to sneak away. Her ultimate basically screams "look out I'm about to kill you!" Most competitive players will either quickly kill her before she can finish her animation, or they will know to safely retreat. The character simply gets worse the higher up the ranks you climb, making her a clear bottom tier character.
Black Widow is actually an okay character, but she gets outclassed by Hawkeye in every way. Everything this character does can be outdone by another character in general. Want to be a Sniper? Use Hawkeye. Want to use your assault rifle alternate fire? Use Punisher. Want to use your melee? Use Iron Fist. Black Widow doesn't excel at anything. Instead she is just a shotgun style character that is mediocre at multiple things.
B-Tier
Moving on up to the B-Tier is Iron Fist, Mister Fantastic, Spider-Man, Black Panther, and Squirrel Girl. These characters have utility that can be useful in certain situations, but they are more niche than usable every match. The dps on these characters are also lower than your higher-tier options, but they still outperform the C-tier characters consistently.
Iron FIst is a nightmare to face at lower ranks. At a competitive level though, he is easily countered. His best move is deflecting damage followed by a flurry of punches. You can recognize this move, stop firing at him, and hone in while he is vulnerable again. A decent healer will also keep you alive long enough to survive the flurry. Aside from this move, the character just isn’t as effective as other brawlers, and he hasn’t found a place like Wolverine to stand out in.
Mister Fantastic is the newest Duelist added to Rivals. He acts as a dps / tank hybrid, which sounds great, but comes with a drawback. He is versatile, but has no specialty. He is essentially a jack of all trades, but a master of none. Any decent competitive team won’t have any issue dealing with Mister Fantastic. His ultimate isn’t threatening, his attacks are slow, and his abilities are low impact in most games. In most competitive games, you are better off playing a character who excels in their role instead of being just “okay”. With that said, he is still a playable character in competitive, making him better that a C-Tier character.
Spider-Man is in a tough spot. The character is really cool and fun to play, but his damage output is awful. To actually kill an opponent, you have to use multiple abilities, including the ability from the team up with Venom. If your target is actively being healed, you won’t even kill them with your combo. His abilities take an eternity to recharge, so you are often wasting time waiting for them to recharge so you can make another attempt at being annoying. A buff to Spidey’s Power would really increase his play-ability. As he currently stands though, the character just doesn’t make the cut for anything but B-Tier.
Black Panther has struggled to be a strong character since the beta. Even after receiving a buff at the game’s launch, 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. Players who take the time to master his moveset can really make him a A or debatable S-Tier character, but the number of players who can do that are incredibly low. Black Panther is a B-Tier character just because his potential does make him stand out over C-Tier.
Squirrel Girl has a fun move set with some silly abilities, but her weapon is too slow. Competitive players are often moving around and jumping quite a bit, which makes bouncing shots into them much harder. If you like her style of gameplay, you can just play Hawkeye and do significantly more damage with your shots. Her ultimate can be useful in tight corridors, but very lackluster in other situations.
A-Tier
For our largest tier size, we have Punisher, Iron Man, Star Lord, Namor, Magik, Hawkeye, and Wolverine. These characters consistently provide good dps and have solid abilities that contribute uniquely to the team. They don't quite make the cut for S-Tier due to some limitations or downsides.
The Punisher is a S-Tier character for casual players, but he drops down a tier when you compare him at a competitive level. Nothing about him gets outright worse, he just loses some effectiveness in fast dps. His Zipline is great for establishing a fast return route from spawn or accessing better positioning. His smoke bomb can allow you to safely retreat or push, as well as finish off an enemy behind cover. His turret mount is his greatest strength, offering a way to put immense pressure while giving yourself a shield to protect yourself with. If we see some S-Tier characters get dialed back a bit, Punisher will likely be S-Tier for both casual and competitive players.
Iron Man has proven to be the menace of the sky. If one is in your match, especially with a hulk accompanying him, you have to counter pick to deal with him. While your opponents are fighting your team, you can constantly flank behind and target important characters. If you get pressured, you can use your thrusters and evasive maneuver to safely retreat. If opponents are distracted with you in the air, they are neglecting your team on the ground, allowing them to push the objective easier.
Star Lord has proven to be a solid option for raw power. His rapid fire and instant reload ability lets him melt though small targets, or put immense pressure on tanks. His flight lets him not only move quickly from spawn to objective, but he can escape combat or flank very easily. His ultimate ability is what really makes him A-Tier though. If you time it right after the healers have just use their ultimates, you can wipe out the entire enemy back line thanks to his auto aim and high damage output.
Namor has gotten much better as the game has aged. His turrets are a great way to deal that little extra damage on low hp characters, as well as keep constant pressure on opponents. Since the turrets auto track opponents, they are great at ticking hp away from those evasive characters. His wave shield lets him dodge every ultimate thrown at him, and the flight lets you quickly fly out of harms way. His ultimate is his most lackluster aspect. It doesn’t do impressive damage and has a large, loud signal to give opponents a chance to react.
Magik is your most effective and evasive brawler. Her teleport gives her options to both be aggressive going in and evasive going out. The demons you can summon offer some extra pressure when you attack as well. Her launching dash is similar to Spider-Man in separating your target from their team, making it harder to heal them as you pick them off. She is incredibly effective at picking off stray players, as well as putting a constant pressure to watch their flank. Her ultimate is simple, but it enhances an already strong move set to allow you to quickly rinse your way through targets with just a few hits. She simply does a worse job than Psylocke at attacking the back line, making her A-Tier.
Hawkeye was once an S-Tier character, but has since fallen from grace this season. He got a few nerfs to his strength that makes him less of an auto pick or ban every game. His ability set also lacks diversity or threatening strength. With that said, he can still one shot a large portion of the characters, making him definitely worthy of A-Tier still.
Wolverine found his niche in the meta: being the tank killer. His leap and flurry follow up lets him single out a tank from their team and healers, then follow up with a rapid attack that can take them out. His biggest weakness is dealing with ranged opponents. He can only dash around to get close and has no ranged attacks, making him tough to use against Duelists. His A-Tier rating is simply due to his extreme effectiveness at dealing with Vanguard characters.
S-Tier
Speaking of S-Tier characters, Hela, Storm, Winter Soldier, Moon Knight, and Psylocke are our top character picks for competitive players. Each of these characters are the masters at damage output and evasiveness, allowing you to capitalize on offence, and successfully retreat when you need to.
Hela is the highest regarded S-Tier character, often seeing the most ban picks in the high ranks. She has a number of strong attributes. Her attack speed and damage output are very strong, making her one of the most effective ranged fighters. Her ability to disappear into a crow and fly out of combat quickly lets her reposition and stay alive for long stretches of time. Her ultimate lets her teleport to a vantage point with a bunch of extra health. You can then shower your opponents with a volley of high damage projectiles. It's one of the best ults in the game by a long shot, and it helps solidify her position in the S-Tier.
Storm saw some huge buffs with the Season 1 balancing. These changes have easily moved her straight to S-Tier. With proper aim, you are much more capable of killing your opponents than before, and her buffs help the team to win their battles as well. She also has an incredibly fast charging ultimate, letting you use it extremely often. Of course her ultimate is also incredibly strong, letting you choose a specific spot to eliminate the opponent(s) of your choice. Since her shots don’t make splash impacts like Iron Man, opponents will often not even know you are hitting them. This makes her the perfect choice for targeting the back line.
Winter Soldier is a sort of Punisher-brawler hybrid. You get the potent ranged attack, but you also have some close quarters abilities that let you win those close encounters without needing to slowly swap weapons. All of his abilities give him bonus health and auto reload his weapon, letting him keep constant pressure out. His ultimate is what really bumps him from A-Tier to S-Tier. A competitive players should be able to make consistent use of his repeatable ultimate, letting you do repeated area damage to pressure your opponent.
Moon Knight is a more stealthy duelist than can position himself in ideal locations. His Ankh is the primary reason this character is S-Tier. You can silently throw one of these into a pack of opponents and deal incredible amounts of damage. His jump and grind allow him to constantly seek out vantage points to let him attack the opponent. His ultimate is a fast and silent way to rack up even more kills and damage. Moon Knight is an all around terror to any team once they see their hp plummet and an Ankh on the ground.
Similar to Magik, Psylocke is a great option for aggressively pushing in and being evasive on the way out. A good Psylocke player can burst their shuriken and primary attack at the same time, allowing a massive output of Power rapidly. She requires a high amount of skill to play well, as you have to constantly know when to take advantage of an opportunity and rush in. Poor timing will often kill you, which is why she makes for a great competitive character and not a casual one. Her ultimate is also very easy to use and can help you to quickly eliminate squishy characters who are stacked up together, or attack a healer who is hiding well behind her tanks.
Wrap Up
That's all for this Duelist Meta Tier List for competitive players! 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 Strategist and Vanguard!
