Looking For The Ultimate Character?
As with any Hero Shooter, you're only as good as the character you play as. In Marvel Rivals, power levels can shift with every patch, and character performance is often up to the developer's whims. So, who do you choose? Well, here’s a breakdown of the heroes and villains currently shaking up the battlefield—and those who are lagging behind!
Marvel Rivals - Official Squirrel Girl Character Reveal Trailer by IGN
1. Iron Fist
Believe it or not, Danny's breaking the game right now. His chi mechanics are busted in team fights. When you stack the Living Weapon stance with his healing passives, it's basically game over. The craziest part is that his combo meter never resets if you time your chi strikes perfectly.
Avengers: Infinity War (2018) - "Bring Me Thanos!" | Movie Clip by Marvel Universe Entertainment
2. Hela
Talking about Hela's ridiculous objective control, every update just makes her stronger. Her death touch passive is already unfair, but now her undead minions can capture points while she's nowhere near them. Also, did you know her self-revive actually keeps all the death touch stacks?
Marvel Rivals Alpha - Hela Full Game Gameplay (4K 60FPS) by CJR Gaming
3. Cloak & Dagger
Here comes a duo that is ruling Marvel Rivals in ways nobody expected. Cloak's void teleports perfectly into Dagger's light strikes, creating these insane damage loops. They've basically got two character movesets with one health bar. The competitive scene is still searching for new combos with their light-dark synergy.
*NEW* Cloak & Dagger Abilities & Gameplay | Marvel Rivals by Hoshizora
4. Scarlet Witch
Real talk about Wanda in patch 1.2—she's completely destroying the competitive scene. Those hex sphere mechanics weren't properly tested. Watch any pro tournament, and you'll see her banned in about 90% of matches. Her reality warps are literally breaking the game engine in some situations.
NEW Scarlet Witch Gameplay - Marvel Rivals Game by DVESF
5. Winter Soldier
Bucky's current build is totally destroying high-rank play! The recent buff to his arm upgrades were unnecessary. But you know what's better? His sniper mode can penetrate spawn point shields if you position them correctly. The stealth rework made it impossible for him to counter.
Marvel's Avengers - NEW Winter Soldier MCU Suit Gameplay 4K 60FPS (PlayStation 5) by CJR Gaming
6. Spider-Man
Every mobility-based hero in the game looks slow compared to Spidey. After all, his web-swing cancel tech is changing how people approach map control. The developers admitted they couldn't fix his combo system without completely rebuilding the physics engine. Now, that's what we call a broken character!
Marvel's Spider-Man (PS4) 2017 E3 Gameplay by Marvel Entertainment
7. Luna Snow
The Korean servers figured out Luna's infinite freeze combo first. Now, it's spreading globally and decimating competitive play. Her ice skating mechanic ignores movement penalties, and her frost accumulation has no internal cooldown. Basically, the Asian tournament scene is Luna Snow everywhere.
MARVEL Super War - Luna Snow by MARVEL Super War
8. Hawkeye
What happened when players discovered Hawkeye's animation was canceled? His arrow-swapping mechanic started to skip the entire cooldown system. In the last championship, one player held an entire team at their spawn using just precision aim and sonic arrows, and that's not even counting his trick arrow tech.
Marvel Rivals Hero Guide: HawkEye by Setharoner
9. Moon Knight
The stance-switching master himself is crushing win rates across all ranks. Every time players think they've figured out a counter, someone finds a new Moon Knight tech. His crescent darts can ricochet off map geometry in ways the developers never intended, and it's just beautiful chaos.
Marvel Rivals - Official Moon Knight Character Reveal Trailer by IGN
10. Squirrel Girl
Speaking of unintended mechanics, Doreen's squirrel AI is now learning from player behavior! The latest patch tried to nerf her nut-based attacks, but it backfired completely. Her squirrel army can now chain-capture objectives faster than the respawn timer. Even the dev team admits they're confused.
Marvel Rivals | 13 Minutes of Squirrel Girl Gameplay by IGN
1. Adam Warlock
Well, they did Adam quite dirty in this game. His cosmic powers feel like sparklers compared to others. The Soul Gem mechanics are clunky and take forever to charge up. When other heroes dominate team fights, poor Adam is still trying to get his basic abilities to work properly.
Marvel Rivals - Official Adam Warlock Character Reveal Trailer by IGN
2. Storm
Weather control sounds cool until you realize her abilities have the longest cast times in the game. Ororo's lightning strikes are super easy to dodge, and her wind powers barely push anyone. But what's worse is that her powers sometimes help enemy players escape with those updrafts.
Storm Abilities Gameplay | Marvel Rivals by Comic Geek
3. Black Widow
Natasha's stealth mechanics are entirely broken—and not in a good way! Her grappling hook regularly glitches through walls, and her Widow's Bite does less damage than basic attacks. Everyone thought she'd be an assassin character, but she can't even take down support heroes effectively.
4. The Punisher
So, this character's arsenal looks impressive until you start playing him. The Punisher's reload times are painfully slow, and his damage output is laughably weak. Plus, his grenades have such a tiny blast radius that players have to stand still to get hit. Even his ultimate feels like shooting rubber bullets.
The Punisher - Marvel Rivals - Gameplay by Game Mojo
5. Rocket
Everyone expected this tech genius to dominate, but Rocket's gadgets are underwhelming. Half his inventions malfunction mid-fight and his jetpack burns out faster than a cheap lighter. The dev team nerfed his trap mechanics so hard that they're basically just blinking decorations at this point.
Marvel Rivals - Rocket Raccoon Gameplay and Tips (Strategist Hero) by Colin The Gamer
6. Loki
The God of Mischief is more like the God of Missed Opportunities in Marvel Rivals. Loki's illusions are buggy and often reveal his position. Moreover, the backstab mechanics rarely register, and his shape-shifting abilities lock him into animations for way too long.
Marvel Rivals Alpha - Loki Full Game Gameplay (4K 60FPS) by CJR Gaming
7. Jeff The Land Shark
This little "shark" simply can't catch a break. Jeff's bite attack's hitbox is smaller than an ant, and his underground travel is slower than walking. Yes, he's adorable, but when your best move can be countered by just stepping slightly to the left, you know something's wrong.
This Hero Is Amazing! [Marvel Rivals Jeff The Land Shark] by Jeff The Creator
8. Venom
Although they appear fantastic, Eddie's symbiote abilities don't work well in gameplay. His symbiote talents deplete his health faster than opposing attacks, and his web-swinging is clumsier than a rusty bicycle. Besides, the tracking of the tendrils is awful, as his ultimate gets caught on any map geometry.
Marvel Rivals - Character Reveal: Venom - Lethal Protector | PS5 Games by PlayStation
9. Mister Fantastic
Prior to realizing that Reed's stretchy abilities are a liability, they seemed fantastic. However, his damage stats are low, and his extended hitbox makes him a great target. For making one of Marvel's most intelligent heroes feel like a wet noodle in battle, the developers surely must take some responsibility.
Mister Fantastic Gameplay | Marvel Rivals | Season 1 by Val Starlight
10. Hulk
Somehow, they made the strongest Avenger feel like a pushover. Bruce's rage meter takes forever to build, and his jumps have ridiculous landing lag. Everyone just kites him around while he struggles to land a single hit. The mighty Hulk reduced to a big green punching bag is just sad.
HULK Cartoon Superhero Video Game - PS4 D. Infinity 2.0 Marvel Super Heroes by Best Game Videos
