Marvel Rivals: Duelist hero tier list (Closed alpha test, May 2024)

Duelists in Marvel Rivals are the main damage dealers on any team and stand amongst the most popular classes in the game, but some of the choices available are better than others.

There are a total of 10 Duelists in Marvel Rivals, making up almost half of the roster in the closed alpha test, and we’ve sorted all of them into a tier list based on their damage output, abilities, and how valuable they are.

The tier list is subject to change with future updates and new heroes entering the game and will be updated accordingly. For now, check out our tier list for Duelists in Marvel Rivals.

Marvel Rivals: Duelist hero tier list

S Tier

Hela

Hela is arguably the best Duelist in Marvel Rivals right now, with many great abilities to dish out significant damage and a powerful Ultimate that allows you to pick off enemies one by one with shots from the sky.

Firing off swords from range, Hela can deal significant damage from a distance, which is enhanced further by secondary abilities to shoot a barrage of swords and an orb projectile. If you need a quick escape or want to put pressure upon enemies, Hela transforms into a crow for a short period of time.

Hela also has a great Team-Up Ability with Loki, allowing the God of Mischief to respawn at the location where Hela gets a final hit in defeating an enemy. If Loki is still alive, he is given additional armor.

Scarlet Witch

Players in Marvel Rivals should run for cover whenever they hear Scarlet Witch screaming “CHAOS!” at the top of her voice, as this signals her Ultimate ability that can easily wipe out an entire team.

Scarlet Witch can also stun enemies and fire explosive magic missiles, making her an extremely powerful Duelist who is a regular sight in any team composition. She is also fairly easy to pick up and play, increasing her popularity.

Star-Lord

Star-Lord is undoubtedly one of the easiest characters to play in Marvel Heroes and can be a thorn in the side of any opponent, with the ability to quickly move around the map, including into the air, and dishing out huge damage.

While his abilities don’t shine as anything particularly special, he’s a great starting point for any player looking to play as a Duelist and can be an important member of any team composition.

A Tier

The Punisher

The Punisher shares many similarities with Star-Lord and is another character who is easy to pick up and play in Marvel Rivals, though he ranks slightly lower than the Guardian of the Galaxy as his traversal is significantly slower.

Equipped with smoke bombs to obscure enemy lines of sight and the ability to transform into a stationary turret, The Punisher is great at keeping enemies at bay—while his Ultimate can be used to wipe the floor with teams.

Iron Man

Iron Man’s basic attacks utilize Repulsor Blasts and Unibeam, both dealing a sustained amount of damage and, as you’d expect, Iron Man can easily navigate and traverse around the maps in Marvel Rivals.

Missle barrages and the ability to increase the damage of basic attacks make Iron Man even more appealing, while his Ultimate is great for taking out groups of enemies.

B Tier

Spider-Man

Spider-Man is great at fighting at close range but can also do damage from a distance while boasting one of the best skins in Marvel Rivals in the Spider-Punk 2099 look. While he is a decent option, the learning curve is high.

Spider-Man has been given a five-star difficulty level in Marvel Rivals, making him one of the hardest characters in the game to get to grips with, but your effort is rewarded if you can master his skills.

Magik

Magik is another Duelist who thrives up close and personal against enemies, with the ability to quickly teleport into positions of advantage—which can also be used by Black Panther via a Team-Up Ability.

Dealing damage to enemies also provides bonus health to Magik, which is important given she doesn’t boast a huge amount of health, but the lack of ability to deal damage from a greater distance shows her limitations.

C Tier

Namor

Namor is an easy Duelist to play as in Marvel Rivals, with the ability to protect himself in a shield and deploy mini turrets that autofire, and his Ultimate is great for dishing out damage to groups of enemies.

However, the King of Atlantis doesn’t really shine in any particular area and there are better choices available for those who want to play as a Duelist, though partnering Namor with Luna Snow provides a Team-Up Bonus.

D Tier

Black Panther

Given the popularity of Black Panther as a character, it is disappointing that the King of Wakanda feels extremely weak in Marvel Rivals and is outshone by almost every other Duelist available on the roster.

Damage buffs while at low health sound great in principle but don’t seem to provide too much of a difference, while Black Panther doesn’t have great damage output overall. Hopefully, he will receive attention in future updates.

Storm

Storm is one of the most powerful mutants in existence, but that isn’t shown in Marvel Rivals, where the fan-favorite X-Men member feels more like a support character than one to use for high DPS.

Storm provides buffs to allies, increasing damage dealt or movement speed, and while this is useful, it’s her own limited damage output that leaves her overlooked. Like Black Panther, we hope she receives a buff.