Marvel Rivals Tier List Of All The Heroes

Last Updated: January 17, 2026

Author – Darren Buser

Introduction

Marvel Rivals Season 5: Love is a Battlefield launched November 14, 2025, introducing Gambit as the 44th hero and ushering in the most aggressive meta the game has seen. The November 14 patch brought massive Vanguard buffs, new team-up abilities, and significant balance changes that have completely reshaped competitive play.

This tier list ranks all 42 heroes based on their performance in Season 5’s anchor tank meta, where 2-2-1 compositions (two Vanguards, two Strategists, one Duelist) dominate high-level play. We’ve introduced a new S+ tier for the three meta-defining heroes who have become essential picks in competitive matches.

Whether you’re climbing ranked or mastering Quick Play, understanding where each hero stands in the current meta will help you make better team compositions and counter-pick effectively.

Current Meta Overview

Season 5 has introduced the most aggressive meta Marvel Rivals has ever seen. The November 14, 2025 patch brought massive Vanguard buffs-particularly Magneto’s separated bubble cooldowns, Peni Parker’s ally healing, Groot’s Unstoppable status, and Captain America’s ultimate charge acceleration-creating an anchor tank meta that favors sustained brawls over poke compositions.

Gambit’s arrival as a versatile Strategist with cleansing (removing stuns from ultimates), anti-heal, and burst healing capabilities has fundamentally changed team-fight dynamics. His debuff cleanse alone makes many previously dominant ultimate abilities significantly less effective. Combined with Invisible Woman’s buffs positioning her as the top healer, the support role has never been more impactful.

The current meta rewards dive compositions with strong peel, high-impact ultimates, and heroes who can quickly eliminate backline threats. Tank synergy with supports is stronger than ever, with 2-2-1 compositions (two Vanguards, two Strategists, one Duelist) becoming increasingly dominant at high ranks. This creates massive pressure on the solo Duelist to be accurate, smart, and well-positioned. Heroes like Punisher, Psylocke, and Phoenix thrive in this style, while Wolverine and some other melee-focused Duelists struggle against the concentrated firepower.

How We Compiled Our Marvel Rivals Tier List

This tier list is based on extensive gameplay through both the closed beta (two full weeks) and the official release. It reflects the latest balance changes and shows which heroes might dominate the meta and which ones currently struggle. The rankings consider win rates, pick rates, and overall effectiveness across different skill levels and team compositions.

Our tier list methodology balances competitive tournament data, ranked ladder statistics, and community consensus from top players. We prioritize heroes based on their impact in organized play while considering their effectiveness across all skill levels.

Season 5’s meta shift toward sustained brawls and anchor tank compositions means heroes are evaluated on their ability to contribute to prolonged team fights rather than quick picks or poke damage. The separated bubble cooldowns for Magneto, Gambit’s debuff cleansing, and Invisible Woman’s improved healing throughput have created a new paradigm where team coordination and sustain matter more than individual fragging potential.

We update this tier list regularly as patches and meta shifts occur. Rankings reflect the current Season 5 balance as of the November 14, 2025 patch.

Complete Marvel Rivals Character Tier List

In Marvel Rivals, all heroes are divided into three roles (just like Overwatch): Vanguard (tanks), Duelist (high DPS), and Strategist (support). Here’s the complete tier breakdown for Season 5:

S+ Tier: Meta-Defining Heroes

Season 5 introduces the S+ tier for heroes so dominant they warp the entire meta and require pick/ban consideration in every draft. These three heroes define the current competitive landscape and force teams to build compositions around or against them.

Gambit

The star of Season 5, Gambit is a game-changing Strategist who combines high healing output with unprecedented utility. His kit revolves around Sleight of Hand resource management, switching between Hearts cards (healing/cleansing) and Spades cards (damage/anti-heal).

What makes Gambit S+ tier is his debuff cleansing ability – he can instantly remove stuns, including from powerful ultimates like Doctor Strange’s Eye of Agamotto. His burst healing rivals top healers, while his Spades cards apply rare anti-heal debuffs. His ultimate, Ragin’ Royal Flush, locks onto up to three allies, providing healing, movement speed, jump boost, explosive damage, and ultimate charge acceleration.

Gambit’s mobility via Cajun Charge dash and Bayou Bash makes him difficult to dive, while his bo staff provides self-healing and knockback. The only downside is his high skill ceiling requiring careful resource management. Mastered Gambit players enable aggressive compositions while shutting down enemy ultimates, earning him “main character of Season 5” status.

Magneto

Magneto received the biggest glow-up in Season 5 with separated cooldowns for Metal Bulwark (self-bubble) and Iron Bulwark (ally-bubble). Previously forced to choose between protecting himself or teammates, he can now do both simultaneously. This change transformed him into an absolute monster in the frontline-he can play aggressively to take space, bubble himself to absorb damage, and still have a defensive cooldown ready for diving Duelists.

Invisible Woman

Across recent patches culminating in Season 5’s November 14 update, Invisible Woman has received significant buffs that position her as one of the top healers in the current meta. Earlier patches boosted her healing output, while Season 5 added projectile speed, range, and Guardian Shield quality-of-life improvements. Her healing throughput now rivals Rocket Raccoon, while her force field utility provides game-changing protection. The combination of consistent healing, damage mitigation through barriers, and her ultimate’s team-wide invisibility makes her incredibly versatile. 

She excels in the anchor tank meta by enabling sustained brawls and protecting key targets from burst damage. Her versatility on both offense and defense-force field bubbles can trap and isolate enemies while dealing constant damage-makes her indispensable in competitive play.

S Tier: The Best Heroes in Marvel Rivals

S-tier contains the best Marvel Rivals characters who excel in virtually any situation. These heroes have few weaknesses, high impact across all game modes, strong team-fight presence, and reliable performance regardless of map or composition. They’re consistently dominant picks that shape the meta.

What makes Gambit S+ tier is his debuff cleansing ability-he can instantly remove stuns, including from ultimates like Doctor Strange’s Eye of Agamotto, making enemy crowd control nearly useless. His burst healing through Hearts cards rivals top healers, while his Spades cards apply rare anti-heal debuffs that shut down enemy sustain.

His ultimate, Ragin’ Royal Flush, locks onto up to three visible allies, providing healing, purification, movement speed buff, jump boost, explosive attack damage enhancement, and ultimate charge acceleration-one of the most impactful support ultimates in the game. This transforms good pushes into overwhelming team-fight victories.

Gambit’s mobility via Cajun Charge dash (which combines with Bayou Bash for Big Easy Impact covering longer distance) and defensive capabilities make him incredibly difficult to dive. His bo staff slam provides self-healing and knockback for peeling flankers. The versatility of his kit-burst healing, cleansing, anti-heal, mobility, and self-defense-makes him the most complete Strategist in Season 5.

The only downside is his high skill ceiling. Managing four Sleight of Hand charges wisely and choosing between Hearts and Spades decks requires practice. However, mastered Gambit players enable aggressive compositions while shutting down enemy ultimates, earning him “main character of Season 5” status in the competitive community.

Combined with his ranged damage, crowd control ultimate, and the new team-up with Gambit (Explosive Entanglement team-up), Magneto has become a pick-or-ban hero at high ranks. He outranges Emma Frost in poke battles and counters her ultimate with his bubbles, making him the premier solo Vanguard choice. His Metal Magnetism ultimate also absorbs enemy damage and healing, countering most Strategist ultimates. Against Emma specifically, he dominates: outranges her in poke, bubbles himself to counter her grab+kick combo, and his shields directly counter her ultimate.

Hela

Currently, one of the strongest Duelist heroes in Marvel Rivals, Hela deals devastatingly serious damage at long range. Her primary attack takes some getting used to (it’s slower than Star-Lord’s), but this is balanced by the fact that two headshots can eliminate most squishy targets instantly. Her Goddess of Death ultimate provides an invulnerable aerial perspective with its own 1000 shield HP, raining death on the battlefield with high AoE damage for 10 full seconds. The new team-up with Namor (Goddess’s Offering) provides additional synergy options. Her consistency across all metas and lack of hard counters keep her firmly in S-tier, though she requires excellent aim to maximize value.

Hawkeye

A top-tier Ranged DPS character in Marvel Rivals, Hawkeye excels at dealing precise, high-impact damage from a safe distance. His abilities include long-range attacks that target multiple enemies, making him perfect for crowd control and picking off vulnerable opponents. With his versatility, he can adapt to various situations, using trick arrows to apply effects like slowing or stunning enemies. His ultimate unleashes a flurry of explosive arrows, dealing massive AoE damage and turning the tide of battle. A must-have for teams looking to maximize firepower and strategic precision.

Jeff the Land Shark 

The adorable land shark has proven himself as clear S-tier in Season 5. His ultimate now provides team healing when activated, meaning players no longer abandon teammates when attempting to devour opponents. This change, combined with his exceptional mobility, solid healing output, and game-changing swallow mechanic makes Jeff incredibly impactful. His ultimate can counter key enemy abilities-he can swallow Gambit during Ragin’ Royal Flush, instantly canceling the buff and potentially spitting him out to his death. While easy to master with Hide and Seek helping dodge danger, he’s still vulnerable to melee heroes.

Rocket Raccoon 

A classic support hero with two main jobs: heal allies and boost damage output. Rocket also deals impressive damage thanks to his comically oversized gun. He’s most effective when paired with Groot (sitting on his shoulder while focusing on damage), creating one of the game’s best synergy combinations.

Magik

A solid Duelist with an aggressive teleportation-based kit who has emerged as one of the top dive specialists in Season 5. She rushes into battle, deals melee damage with her Soulsword, gains health on hits, then quickly escapes with her short-range teleportation ability. The current meta’s focus on quick engagements and backline pressure plays directly into Magik’s strengths. Her Darkchild form provides significant damage boosts, and her Eldritch Whirl can clear grouped enemies. Despite vulnerability when teleportation is on cooldown, mastered Magik players dominate by timing engagements perfectly.

Winter Soldier

Winter Soldier’s Kraken Impact ultimate has become infamous for team-wiping potential. The April 30 hotfix gave him a significant quality-of-life buff by adding a second charge to Tainted Voltage while keeping its cooldown the same. Combined with earlier buffs to his passive bonus health and the Stars Aligned team-up with Captain America (which grants 50 bonus health to nearby allies), Winter Soldier has become a dominant force in Season 5. Now everyone has been in a game where a single use of Winter Soldier’s Kraken Impact turns into an endless barrage of team-wiping slams. Combined with his Captain America team-up, Winter Soldier rarely finds himself without bonus health. His blend of close and long-range capabilities with strong displacement abilities makes him incredibly versatile.

Punisher

A relentless damage dealer who excels at sustained fire and tactical positioning. The Punisher’s arsenal allows him to maintain consistent pressure on enemy lines while providing cover fire for his team. His abilities focus on zone control and suppressive fire, making him excellent at holding positions and denying access to key areas. His ultimate delivers devastating damage to multiple targets, perfect for breaking down defenses and creating openings for your team.

Emma Frost

Emma maintains her demon status thanks to her versatile kit. Her diamond form provides damage reduction and crowd control, while her regular form functions as a short-range bruiser. Her main combo can 100-to-zero tanks when executed properly. The long diamond form cooldown and charging requirement for Telepathic Pulse create counterplay windows, but competent Emma players exploit these weaknesses rarely. She works best as an off-tank in 2-2-1 compositions rather than solo Vanguard.

Daredevil

The Hell’s Kitchen hero thrives in Season 5’s melee and mobility meta. His ability to chain combos, tag and track targets with his radar sense, and apply consistent pressure makes him one of the best divers in the current meta. His team-up with Punisher provides a blinding grenade for additional utility. Daredevil excels at disrupting backlines and forcing enemy cooldowns, particularly effective against the current support-heavy compositions.

A Tier: Second-Best Characters

A-tier heroes are fantastic picks with only minor drawbacks compared to S-tier. They’re usually more challenging to master, requiring more time and practice from the player, but they’re incredibly effective once you learn them. These are solid, reliable picks that can carry games in the right hands.

Loki 

The god of mischief (yes, really!) acts as an excellent support hero who can both reliably heal teammates and deal solid damage to opponents. Mastering Loki requires time to learn how to use his projections correctly, but it’s worth the effort. His ultimate is incredibly useful, allowing you to temporarily transform into any hero on your team or the enemy team, copying their abilities. Talk about versatility!

Luna Snow

Luna has cooled off in the meta as players favor higher-impact ultimates like Rocket’s revive or Gambit’s team buff. She remains solid with great healing output, freeze mechanics for crowd control, and the fastest running speed for quick objective returns. Her ability to heal allies to keep teammates alive and control enemies by freezing them for crucial seconds provides value, but the emergence of more versatile Strategists like Gambit and buffed Invisible Woman pushes her to A-tier. Still a reliable pick, just outshone by new additions.

Moon Knight

A versatile Melee DPS character who stands out with his ability to adapt to different combat situations. His unique kit revolves around dealing consistent damage while maintaining survivability through self-healing abilities. Moon Knight can switch between aggressive burst damage and sustained combat modes, giving him an edge in prolonged fights. His ultimate unleashes a devastating chain of attacks that overwhelm enemies and provide a damage boost for a short duration. Perfect for players who value adaptability and raw melee power.

Venom 

A powerful tank with excellent mobility and impressive damage-dealing capabilities. Venom excels in the front-line role, diving into fights and breaking through enemy lines with his tentacles to slow down opponents. This creates crucial windows for your team to deal devastating damage. Thanks to his high mobility and healing boosts, Venom has one of the best survivability ratings of all Vanguard heroes in the game.

Scarlet Witch 

An exceptional Duelist who can deal massive damage at close range. Her incredibly powerful ultimate can easily wipe out an entire team if used correctly and timed well. While Scarlet Witch has weaker defenses than some duelists, this is compensated by her high mobility and devastating combat abilities. She’s a glass cannon that rewards aggressive, skilled play.

Groot 

The gentle giant got tougher in Season 5! Groot is a big winner this patch. His new passive grants Unstoppable status when within 15 meters of Awakened Ironwood Walls-meaning he cannot be stunned, knocked back, or crowd-controlled while holding ground. This creates immense pressure on objective maps where enemies must push into him, making their CC abilities useless. Combined with natural tankiness and protective barriers that cover the team while absorbing damage, Groot becomes an S-tier pick for anchoring defenses. His slow movement speed is compensated by excellent zone control.

Adam Warlock 

A support hero with excellent revival abilities and the power to keep teammates alive during critical moments. His situational but powerful ultimate allows him to instantly revive a fallen ally and grant invulnerability for a short time. This can completely swing team fights in your favor.

Mantis

Beyond healing and buffing the team, Mantis brings valuable crowd control. She provides reliable healing with bonus health regeneration and damage boosts to herself and allies. Her Spore Slumber ability can stun enemies for crucial seconds, creating opportunities for your team to secure eliminations.

Iron Fist

A formidable Melee DPS combining martial arts mastery with mystical dragon power. His abilities focus on delivering high-impact, chi-powered strikes that deal heavy damage while restoring his health, making him incredibly resilient in combat. Iron Fist excels in close-quarters combat, where his agility and precision allow him to dominate. His ultimate channels the full power of the Iron Fist, unleashing devastating burst energy that deals massive AoE damage and stuns enemies. Great for players who enjoy fluid, high-damage melee combat with self-sustaining capabilities.

Squirrel Girl

Don’t let the adorable exterior fool you! This quirky Hybrid DPS and Crowd Control character is a surprising powerhouse. Squirrel Girl’s abilities focus on overwhelming enemies with an army of squirrels, dealing consistent AoE damage, and disrupting enemy formations. She can summon her furry allies to distract and debilitate foes, making her excellent at controlling the battlefield. Her ultimate unleashes a massive squirrel swarm, dealing significant damage and applying debuffs. Perfect for players who enjoy unconventional strategies and chaotic combat effectiveness.

Doctor Strange

Season 5 has been the most difficult for Strange mains used to him being top-tier. Buffs to other Vanguards and the heavy shift toward melee/mobility meta don’t favor his stationary shield playstyle. However, Eye of Agamotto and portal remain some of the best abilities in Marvel Rivals. Even with the 3-minute cooldown, having the unique ability to reposition himself and his entire team anywhere on the map allows for playmaking that is simply not possible without him. Strange falls to A-tier not because he’s weak, but because other Vanguards received massive buffs while his kit remained unchanged.

Star-Lord 

An excellent Duelist if you can handle his lightning-fast pace. Star-Lord gets in and out of fights at incredible speed thanks to his famous Element Guns and rocket boots. His ultimate makes him almost untouchable for a short time while he continues dealing damage. Star-Lord is perfect for forcing fights, flanking enemy positions, and finding weak spots in the opponent’s defense.

Phoenix

Phoenix provides unparalleled consistent damage and ultimate power. Her transformation ability can instantly turn lost fights into victories. The melee/mobility meta creates more opportunities for Phoenix to find value, though she still requires high mechanical skill to maximize effectiveness.

B Tier: Solid Situational Picks

B-tier contains good heroes with several drawbacks that prevent them from ranking higher. These characters are often limited to specific game situations where they excel, have weaker abilities compared to higher-tier characters, or have been power-crept by Season 5’s significant buffs to top-tier heroes. They can still be effective in the right hands and team compositions, but require more effort to generate equivalent value.

Black Widow

A masterful Stealth DPS and Debuff Specialist who excels at eliminating priority targets while disrupting enemy strategies. Her abilities focus on agility, stealth, and precision, allowing her to infiltrate enemy lines and deal devastating single-target damage. She can apply debilitating effects like poison or stuns, weakening foes, and creating openings for her team. Her ultimate unleashes a tactical strike with high-tech gadgets, delivering massive burst damage and area-wide debuffs. Perfect for cunning players who value precision in combat.

Cloak & Dagger

Previously top-tier as one of the best support duos, Cloak & Dagger have been both nerfed directly and power-crept by new Strategists. The new team-up with Hawkeye (Moonlit Slash, replacing his Luna Snow team-up) provides some value, but they’ve fallen significantly behind Gambit’s utility, Invisible Woman’s healing output, and other meta Strategists. Cloak’s crowd control through darkness and Dagger’s healing are still functional, but other supports simply do more with less effort in Season 5’s aggressive meta.

Peni Parker 

After struggling in first few seasons, repeated buffs have finally paid off! Peni’s Cyber-Webs now provide allies with the same healing over time and movement boost she receives (25% movement speed, 15 HP/s healing, with excess converting to 25 bonus health). This transforms her from a selfish zoning hero to a team enabler. When played as a counter pick or on optimal map areas, she’s incredibly strong. Her mech suit with decent range and Spider-Drone spawning from webs create excellent area denial. However, limited effective range and enemy mobility options still create situational limitations, preventing higher tier placement.

Iron Man 

My favorite Marvel superhero, and I’m disappointed he’s currently in B-tier! Iron Man’s ability to fly lets him easily reach high ground and aerial positions, but his primary attack from those positions takes some getting used to. He can be vulnerable in certain situations despite his mobility. His ultimate deals good area damage but isn’t quite impactful enough to compete with higher-tier heroes.

Thor 

Thor is a solid DPS tank but offers no team contributions like other Vanguards now provide after Season 5 buffs. Right when Thor was seeing play again, tanks like Magneto, Groot, Captain America, and Peni Parker received major buffs that make him less enticing. His damage output alone isn’t enough to compete with the utility and synergy other Vanguards bring. He has low HP for a tank and can’t absorb as much damage as other Vanguards. Likely to receive similar team-focused treatment in future patches, but for now sits in B-tier.

Hulk 

A solid Vanguard with a massive health pool and powerful melee abilities. Hulk excels at rushing in, forcing fights, and breaking through defensive capabilities, allowing Duelists to deal the bulk of the damage. His downsides include having multiple forms that take time to master, and he lacks effective counters against ranged heroes who can kite him.

Wolverine

A relentless Melee DPS character who thrives in close-quarters combat. Wolverine’s abilities focus on brutal slashing attacks that deal massive damage, while his healing factor allows him to regenerate health over time to stay alive longer than most melee fighters. His ultimate unleashes a ferocious berserker rampage, delivering devastating blows to multiple enemies and temporarily increasing attack speed. A must-pick for players who enjoy aggressive playstyles and sustained melee dominance.

Storm 

A highly mobile Duelist who can deal excellent area damage and help allies with movement or damage boosts. Her ultimate transforms her into a hurricane, pulling enemies in a certain area toward her while dealing solid damage. She also gains significant ability boosts when teamed up with Thor, showcasing the game’s team-up mechanic.

Captain America

A versatile and reliable character who excels as both frontline tank and team supporter. Season 5 gave Cap a massive utility upgrade: his Freedom Charge ultimate now grants allies within its path a 30% boost to ultimate energy charge efficiency. His incredible mobility as an off-tank who disrupts enemy lines while inspiring and protecting teammates remains unchanged. His shield provides excellent defensive capabilities for absorbing significant damage. While not the best pure diver or pure tank, his versatility and new ultimate buff make him incredibly valuable in team compositions. Always leading by example.

C Tier: Below Average Heroes

C-tier contains heroes that need buffs or reworks to compete in the current meta. These heroes typically have very limited scenarios where they can be effective and possess weaker abilities compared to higher tiers. Season 5’s aggressive pace and buffed S/A-tier heroes have made these characters even more challenging to play effectively. They’re not unplayable, but you’ll work significantly harder for the same results.

Spider-Man 

Potentially very strong Duelist and super fun to play! Spider-Man is ideal for hit-and-run tactics and can become a thorn in the enemy’s side thanks to incredible speed, web abilities, and mobility. However, he’s extremely difficult to master and underperforms compared to other flankers like Daredevil or Magik in the current melee-focused meta. His web-based mobility is flashy but less reliable than direct teleportation or dash abilities. Requires exceptional game sense and mechanical skill to generate value against coordinated teams.

Mr. Fantastic

Mr. Fantastic’s main strength lies in his flexibility (both literally and tactically). He can reach points inaccessible to other heroes and provide decent support to teammates. However, his damage is significantly lower than higher-tier characters, and his survivability is average at best. His stretching attacks can disrupt enemy positions and create space, but they lack the power to consistently secure eliminations. His ultimate, while creative, doesn’t have the same disruptive potential as A- or S-tier heroes.

Ultron

The final Infinity Stone for full-blown flier meta. Capable of safely dishing out damage and healing allies simultaneously, making him a nightmare to deal with. However, his healing alone isn’t sufficient for top-tier support play. He’s a quintessential harmacist who consistently pumps out damage he has no right to, but doesn’t excel enough in either role to climb higher.

Angela

Season 4’s new girl looked incredibly broken on paper – a flying Vanguard capable of dishing out damage, locking down teams with her ultimate, and pushing enemies out of position with her spear charge. Thankfully, she arrived well-balanced, though Season 5 exposed her limitations. She simply lacks kill power, and the triple support meta makes her virtually useless. Her Season 5 buffs (Assassin’s Charge movement speed increased from 16 to 18 m/s, Heven’s Retribution spear health increased from 600 to 800) don’t address her core damage problem.

The Thing

Season 5 gave The Thing interesting buffs – Embattled Leap now grants 20% damage reduction to all allies within 5m of his landing point (removing the self-specific bonus), and Battle Blitz had self-reduction removed. However, there’s simply no reason to use him over alternatives. Hulk has better brawler capabilities, Venom and Captain America can stall or distract better, and even Thor poses more threat against single opponents.

Psylocke

A lethal Melee DPS and Crowd Control specialist who blends swift, high-damage attacks with psychic abilities. Her kit focuses on chaining combos, teleporting to enemies, and inflicting psychic debuffs that reduce their effectiveness. Psylocke’s agility allows her to evade attacks while delivering devastating strikes. Her ultimate is a dazzling display of psychic energy, dealing massive AoE damage and stunning enemies. Perfect for players who enjoy fast-paced, high-skill gameplay with a balance of damage and utility.

D Tier: Needs Buffs

D-tier contains heroes desperately needing improvements. In their current form, they struggle to compete with other heroes in almost every situation. Season 5’s focus on buffing Vanguards and Strategists has left some heroes further behind. You’re better off avoiding these characters for now until they receive significant buffs or reworks.

Black Panther

Still the weakest hero in Marvel Rivals despite high mobility and good damage potential. Black Panther is outperformed by all other Duelists in virtually every metric. The Season 5 meta’s focus on sustained brawls and tank-heavy compositions makes his assassination-style gameplay even less effective. While he has potential, he needs significant buffs to compete with the current roster strength. His hit-and-run style simply can’t keep up with the healing throughput and peel available in Season 5.

Frequently Asked Questions

Who are the best Marvel Rivals characters for beginners?

Gambit, Luna Snow, Groot, and Jeff the Land Shark are excellent starter heroes due to their straightforward abilities and high impact. Gambit is particularly beginner-friendly for supports despite his 4/5 difficulty rating-his healing is reliable even without perfect resource management. Captain America and Punisher remain great choices for tank and DPS respectively. They’re forgiving to learn and effective even when executed imperfectly, providing value while you learn the game.

How often does the Marvel Rivals meta change?

NetEase typically releases balance patches every 2-4 weeks, with major seasonal updates every 6-8 weeks. Season 5 (November 14, 2025) brought one of the largest meta shifts yet with Magneto’s bubble separation, Invisible Woman’s healing buffs, and Gambit’s introduction completely reshaping team compositions. We update this tier list within 48-72 hours of major patches and maintain accuracy throughout each season.

What makes a hero S-tier in Marvel Rivals?

S+ tier heroes (new in Season 5) literally warp the meta and force pick/ban consideration. S-tier heroes typically excel in multiple areas: high damage output or healing throughput, strong survivability, good mobility, and the ability to impact team fights consistently. They have few weaknesses and work in almost any team composition. Season 5’s S-tiers also benefit from strong team-ups-Gambit + Magneto, Winter Soldier + Captain America, and others create powerful synergies.

Should I only play S-tier heroes?

Not necessarily! While S+ and S-tier heroes are objectively powerful, A-tier and even B-tier heroes can be just as effective in the right hands and team compositions. The current 2-2-1 meta (two Vanguards, two Strategists, one Duelist) means team synergy matters more than individual hero strength. Play what you enjoy and what fits your playstyle-a mastered A-tier hero will outperform a poorly played S-tier hero every time. That said, understanding why top-tiers are strong helps you counter them effectively.

Find Your Marvel Rivals Squad on Discord

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Final Thoughts

Marvel Rivals is shaping up to be a worthy competitor to Overwatch, taking the best elements while adding its own unique flavor. Season 5’s massive balance changes prove NetEase is committed to keeping the game fresh and evolving. The team-up abilities create additional depth for meta team compositions, and the new 2-2-1 anchor tank meta offers a refreshing change from previous seasons’ poke-heavy gameplay.

This tier list reflects the Season 5 meta after the November 14, 2025 update and includes all 44 heroes including Gambit. Remember that tier lists are guidelines, not absolute rules. The best hero is the one you can play well consistently. That said, Gambit’s cleanse ability and Magneto’s separated bubbles are objectively powerful tools that shape how games are played at high ranks.

We update this tier list regularly to reflect balance patches and meta shifts. Bookmark this page and check back after major updates to stay current with the competitive scene! With Rogue arriving in Season 5.5 (December 2025), expect another meta shake-up soon.

Now get out there and save the world with your favorite Marvel superheroes!