Marvel Rivals strategists can be the trump cards to your team’s success. No matter how good your damage dealers are (Vanguards and Duelists), your team is bound to crumble if the strategists are eliminated during a fight. With the game introducing new heroes frequently, the meta also changes, and so does the usability of the strategists.
If you are wondering who the best strategists are in Marvel Rivals in the current meta, look no further, as we have compiled a comprehensive tier list based on hard facts: Raw Output (Healing Factor); Offensive Output, Mobility, and Ultimate. To make this tier list more accurate, we will also take into account the playing difficulty of a Strategist since the game is not only created for the pros but also for the casual players.
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This is the bottom tier and consists of only one hero who has been nerfed and put to rest. Yes, we are talking about the elder son of Odin, Loki. He is just not usable in the current meta, and you can extract better results playing other strategists. Yes, he still brings his tricks to the table, but the nerfs on his healing and damage output have left him struggling to keep up. Loki is now a novelty pick. Unless you’re intentionally handicapping yourself, there’s little reason to pick him.
The heroes in this tier are also a bit difficult to handle due to their complex abilities, which require an accurate understanding and usage. A skilled pro can easily elevate any of the heroes of this tier to higher tiers, but that is limited to better players, not everyone.
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Adam Warlock has no mobility or escape tools, making him a prime target for flankers and assassins. His healing is cooldown-dependent and inconsistent compared to other healers like Luna Snow or Invisible Woman. His ultimate is situational and can also be hard to execute in an effective manner. In solo queue, teammates often blame the Warlock pick due to its higher skill requirement and unique playstyle.
At high skill levels, however, he can be a hidden powerhouse. Some mains report high win rates with disciplined cooldown management, synergy with triple support team comps, and smart positioning. Adam Warlock can effectively counter burst flankers like Black Panther, Psylocke, and Spider-Man using Soul Bond—provided his team doesn’t demand constant healing—but he struggles to survive sustained divers like Iron Fist and Daredevil, who can stay on him relentlessly.
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Mantis is another strategist whose abilities can be exploited mostly by high-skilled players. She can put the enemies to sleep with her ability ‘Spore Slumber’ and cancel their ultimates or deadly combos. Her Life Orbs either heal an ally or buff their damage output. But here is the catch: you need to hit a headshot to refill them instantly. And this is difficult due to her primary fire’s slow projectile speed, making consistent hit registration challenging in fast-paced fights.
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Cloak and Dagger used to be one of the best strategists in Marvel Rivals, but is no longer the meta pick due to how the game has evolved. Their healing and damage output is inconsistent – while their ultimate can be strong, their regular healing and DPS often aren’t enough to save teammates under pressure, especially against sustained dives or high burst. They require high situational awareness and timing to swap between healing and damage effectively. A lot of players find that mistimed form switches or poor cooldown usage neutralize their impact. And the fact that they are the easiest strategist to play with adds to the narrative.
These strategists in Marvel Rivals require the players to have a decent knowledge of how and when to use their abilities. These heroes can easily land in the S-tier, but only when handled by a semi-pro or above (Diamond or above). The A-tier Strategists in Marvel Rivals are solid at what they should be doing, which is either healing or doing damage.
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One of the most adorable yet sinister heroes in Marvel Rivals. Jeff had huge changes to his kit that have now helped him achieve a good balance between survivability and effective chip damage. As his primary can now both heal allies and damage opponents, it becomes a very effective tool to keep flyer heroes in the opponent team at bay when the team is focused on the fight at hand.
His healing kit, especially Healing Bubble, provides consistent AoE healing while also improving ally mobility, making rotations and objective plays much smoother. But what’s most important is that Jeff is one of the rare Strategists who offers true area denial – his abilities can control space around objectives and choke points, which can easily decide the fate of games during overtimes and late-fight scenarios.
Image Credit: Rocket Raccoon
Some players call him the best healer in the game, backed by one of the highest win rates among Strategists, while others feel his kit pushes him into a repetitive healbot role. At higher ranks, his limitations show — his healing is very binary, you’re either healing or shooting, and he struggles to do both at once unless the team plays around him. That said, in chaotic fights where he isn’t being focused, Rocket’s close-range fire can quietly shred tanks, and his wall-climbing passive often creates match-altering moments, letting him survive situations no healer should while still keeping his team alive.
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Ultron received a huge buff in season 5.5, which equipped him with two healing drones. Often regarded as an odd pick amongst other strategists in Marvel Rivals, Ultron demands a high skill set and precision from the players. With 2 healing drones, Ultron can now directly heal 2 allies and all others in the range. Ultron’s ultimate ‘Rage of Ultron’ not only has a great AoE but also provides additional healing to the allies, all while boosting his own HP. However, he is very average when it comes to mobility and with the influx of projectile-based DPS, it may get harder for Ultron to survive in the sky in the upcoming seasons.
As the name suggests, these are the cream of the pie. They are the best strategists in Marvel Rivals to master in the current meta (season 5.5). The heroes in this tier are not only great healers but also offer great DPS. They are mobile and have great survivability odds due to their strong offensive outputs. They can gel up into any team and are not very difficult to play with, even for beginners.
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The Pop star hero is the best strategist in Marvel Rivals in the current meta. She is one of the fastest heroes in the game. Her smooth skate ability seemingly lets her glide to the objectives and her allies. Her ultimate ‘Fate of Both Worlds’ is one of the strongest healing moves in the game that restores 250 hp per second to all allies inside it. She can dictate endgame fights with her freezing abilities and is herself the counter to aggressive pushes. To top it all, she is easy to play, and her primary attack heals the allies while dealing damage to the opposition. It’s difficult to put Luna in danger cause she is one in her own right.
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Let’s just be honest, she is not the easiest to play, and that’s for the better, cause if she were, the other strategists in this list wouldn’t even come close to this hide and seek customer. You will never see Invisible Woman going down early, thanks to her ability to get invisible when faced with danger. Her ability to shield allies, all while dealing damage with the rare push-pull ability, makes her a nuisance if used tactically. Her ultimate ‘Invisible Boundary’ is one of the strongest healing moves in the game. She can control fights with her Guardian shield, helping allies to stay alive and capture the objective.
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He is one of the aura farming strategists whose abilities hit stronger than his jawline. While being slightly difficult to handle, Gambit’s buffed abilities can be exploited once mastered by a skilled player. His normal attack, ‘Kinetic shards,’ is good at both healing and dealing damage. His ultimate ‘Rage and Royal Flash’ not only heals and removes all the negative effects but also boosts the mobility of the allies and their ultimate charge rates. It also deals damage to surrounding enemies in the area. Gambit is extremely useful when pushing for objectives and counting enemy ultimates.
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