Marvel Rivals has a cavalcade of superheroes to choose from — be it beloved X-Men like Wolverine or a few of the more obscure champions like Magik or Squirrel Girl. Picking who’s going to be your main is no small task, especially with a massive roster of over 30 characters. Most of those characters fall into the Duelist category, the damage dealers of Marvel Rivals. These are the characters you’re going to see the most of, the ones that everyone wants to play as. With that in mind, ranking Duelists is even more competitive than the Vanguard or Strategist categories. But we’ve put together all 18 of Marvel Rival’s launch Duelists, and how they stack up against each other in a tier list.
Marvel Rivals Duelist Tier List
18. Black Widow
Black Widow can be good in the right hands, but is easily the hardest character to play.
Black Widow has the honor of being the sole sniper in Marvel Rivals, which inevitably means she’s one of the hardest characters in the game to use. It’s hard to say any Duelist is “bad,” but Black Widow feels like a character that only someone really skilled and trained can make good use of. Part of that is because the speed of battles in Marvel Rivals is just so fast, making her sniper shots very hard to land. She just doesn’t have the damage output of other characters and gets demolished in any close-quarters combat.
17. Storm
Storm is put in a bizarre spot as the only Duelist focused on support.
Storm is a support character in a Duelist's body, entirely focused on buffing the team with her abilities. She can be an invaluable asset if your team cooperates with you, and has a good healer to keep everyone alive. But if your team doesn’t buy into your support abilities, Storm becomes nearly useless. The big problems are her absurdly slow movement speed, even while boosted, and low damage output. She simply pales in comparison to everyone else.
16. Black Panther
Black Panther is all about speed, and because of that he’s not as hardy as other melee characters.
Melee characters in Marvel Rivals are, in general, a bit harder to use than ranged ones — as you typically need to have good reaction times and strategies. But there’s also truth in the fact that melee character’s move sets are a bit harder to wrap your head around — and Black Panther is the perfect example of that. He’s a character that heavily relies on guerilla attacks, weaving in and out of the enemy team with swipes and strikes. If you dive into the thick of things and play Black Panther like other characters you’ll get demolished. Because of that, he’s not quite as high as other melee characters.
15. Magik
Magik’s teleportation makes her wildly unpredictable.
Magik is almost exactly the same as Black Panther, in the idea that she’s all about hit-and-run attacks and needs to be careful about getting caught in the thick of things. But Magik has a huge advantage over Black Panther, her teleport ability and ultimate. Magik’s teleport gives her an edge of unpredictability, making her an incredibly hard character to take down if used right. At the same time, her Darkchild ultimate essentially turns her into the Hulk for a short period of time — a hulking tank that can take down a whole team.
14. Namor
Namor’s turrets can make him a deadly hero with the support of a team, but he struggles in one-on-one situations.
Namor is the “turret” character of Marvel Rivals, able to drop down a couple of octopus friends that can pepper enemies with attacks. This makes him completely unique from other characters, and you guessed it, a bit tricky to use. Namor’s turrets have very little health, so if you drop them right on the floor they’ll be taken out instantly. Instead, you need to smartly place them on walls and even ceilings, where they won’t be in the direct line of fire. If you can master the turrets, Namor is a huge asset, but none of his other skills are exceptional outside of them.
13. Iron Man
Iron Man’s flight ability is his defining characteristic.
Outside of Storm, Iron Man is the only hero capable of complete flight — staying in the air the entire time. That difference in elevation is the key to playing Iron Man successfully, letting you pepper the enemy team with ranged blasts and use positioning to take away their cover. Iron Man has fantastic damage output, but his big downfall is that he’s got less health than almost any other Duelist, and can take very little damage. If you play as Iron Man you need to use his speed and elevation to try and avoid damage as much as you can.
12. Wolverine
Wolverine can throw a wrench in an enemy team with his damage and health-boosting abilities.
As you might expect, Wolverine is a little ball of fury in Marvel Rivals. The diminutive X-Men can unleash chaos on a team when he dives in and starts unleashing claw swipes. He’s similar to Black Panther in how he’s best used with hit-and-run tactics, but his health recovery abilities make him much hardier, and able to take a bit of punishment. Finally, his Feral Leap ability, if used just right, can snatch characters like Iron Man right out of the air, or separate a healer from the team and finish them off.
11. Hawkeye
Hawkeye’s ultimate can be devastating if used right, taking down an entire team in a snap.
Hawkeye requires finesse and precision, but boy can he be a force to be reckoned with when you get the hang of the character. Hawkeye’s arrows cause tremendous damage, especially if you charge each shot to its max — but the tradeoff is that you really need to be precise. A headshot with a single charged arrow can take off nearly an entire health bar, and half a health bar for a Vanguard character. Hawkeye’s big catch is that he’s entirely reliant on range, and can’t do much more than escape when put into close-quarters situations.
10. Hela
Hela is one of the more unique Duelists in the game, due to her headshot buffs.
Hela is a fairly average character with solid abilities until you learn about her tremendous unique strength — she gets bonus damage from headshots. That means she requires a lot of precision, but if you nail headshots over and over, Hela can be one of the best Duelists in the entire game. That’s not entirely easy to do, of course, but luckily Hela is completely solid in every other factor — she has good mobility, good range, and an ultimate that can cause a lot of damage.
9. Squirrel Girl
Squirrel Girl is one of the more bizarre heroes, but she’s surprisingly versatile
Squirrel Girl is all about splash damage, meaning her basic shots hit over a small area and can damage multiple enemies at once. This means that you need to rethink how you play — you don’t want to focus on directly hitting enemies, but rather focusing on the ground near them. On top of this, her Squirrel Blockade ability can lock an enemy in place for a few moments, letting you quickly knock them out. She’s definitively a little tricky, but played right Squirrel Girl is a force to be reckoned with.
8. The Punisher
The Punisher fittingly packs a lot of firepower.
The Punisher is, fittingly, all about blasting enemies with as much lead as you can possibly imagine. What makes Punisher so exceptional is just how versatile he is, fitting into any team composition. But the character really flourishes in defense, due to the devastating turret he can drop down anywhere to blast away enemies. The turret has its own health bar and no time limit, so if you position it just right you could potentially hold a spot the entire match. Combine that with Punisher's ability to swap between assault rifle and shotgun, and his smoke grenade, and you’ve got the best defender in the game.
7. Spider-Man
Spider-Man is, by far, the fastest melee character in the game.
Your friendly neighborhood Spider-Man is the most versatile melee character in Marvel Rivals. As we said earlier, melee characters focus on speed and quick reactions, and that’s the epitome of Spider-Man. He has better-ranged options than other melee heroes because of his web shots, can wrap up and stun enemies, and has a devastating ultimate that can wipe an entire team when used right. Spider-Man is a thorn in the other team’s side that can swoop in, get a KO, and swing back out again in the blink of an eye.
6. Star-Lord
Star-Lord is a speedy character that can be just as annoying at long-range as he is up close.
Star-Lord is one of the most annoying Duelists you’ll ever go up against, able to dish out ridiculous damage both at range and up close. His rocket boots and dodges also let him slip out of situations that would take down most other heroes. The dual pistols of Star-Lord cause absurd damage if you can land the entire stream on an enemy, and his Blaster Barrage can be used in a pinch to hit everyone in close range. Then there’s his ultimate, a high-flying stream of bullets that can wipe anyone in range instantly if they don’t seek cover.
5. Scarlet Witch
Scarlet Witch is a great character for newcomers, but deadly in the hands of a master.
Scarlet Witch is one of the easiest characters to use in the entire game, but that doesn’t make her any less dangerous. Her auto-lock basic attack causes great damage, and is absurdly hard to escape. But if you master Scarlet Witch's long-ranged abilities you’ll be unstoppable, hitting enemies with a slowing attack and spears that cause huge damage. Her ultimate is tricky to master, but it’s one of the easiest ways to wipe an entire team.
4. Psylocke
Psylocke is the perfect fusion of a long-range and melee character.
Psylocke is an entirely unique character who feels like a mix between long-ranged and melee. Her basic darts act almost like a shotgun but have ridiculous range, and her abilities let her unleash some devastating sword swipes in close combat. She’s the pinnacle of that “hit-and-run” idea in Marvel Rivals, with stealth abilities that make her as hard to nail down as a greasy pig. If you can master both styles of combat, you’ll be unstoppable.
3. Moon Knight
Moon Knight is surprisingly agile, and able to ambush enemies from the high ground.
Moon Knight is the dark horse of Marvel Rivals, the character no one expected to be one of the best — but he easily is. That’s entirely due to his basic attacks, which have a multi-hit function that can drop a health bar in the blink of an eye. It’s especially deadly when combined with his Ancient Ankh ability, which lets you place up to two ankhs anywhere on the map that will ricochet your attacks in a small area. Past that, his double jump and grapple abilities make Moon Knight surprisingly mobile and able to clamber on top of surfaces for the high ground.
2. Winter Soldier
Winter Soldier is that hero you see on the enemy team that forces you to change your strategy entirely. He’s one of the biggest surprises in Marvel Rivals, with fantastic speed and damage output. His three-shot pistol causes tremendous damage, and his abilities can slow down enemies and give him a quick health boost. But his biggest strength is his ultimate, which damages enemies but applies a vital debuff — if their health falls below a certain point they instantly get knocked out and Winter Soldier’s ultimate recharges. This lets him string together ultimates as long as he’s getting KOs. If you hear him scream “Armed and Dangerous,” run away.
1. Iron Fist
Iron Fist can dive into the backlines to decimate healers with ease.
Iron Fist is the worst enemy of healers, a quick and deadly melee character that’s ridiculously overpowered in almost every way. Iron Fist quite literally has it all — speed, high damage output, and the ability to heal himself. His relentless flurry of attacks can decimate nearly any character in the game, but is especially deadly for healers and low-health Duelists. But what makes Iron Fist number one is the kind of tracking ability his attacks have, making it extremely hard to get away from him — even for the likes of Iron Man. If Marvel Rivals ever gets any nerfs, Iron Fist will be the first one hit.
