If you’ve spent any time with NetEase’s new hero shooter Marvel Rivals, then you already know that the game features many powerful heroes and villains. Yet with a base roster of 33 characters, some were inevitably going to rise to the top of the heap once players got their hands on them. Memes and humorous videos about the game have already taken social media by storm, with many focusing on which characters are causing tons of frustration and annoyance for the game’s ten million plus playerbase. After playing a few hundred matches of my own, I’ve found certain ones are far more dreaded than others.
So today, we’re going to rank the top Marvel Rivals characters by how much they’re driving fans crazy. Obviously this list could change in the future depending on new additions or balance patches, but for now, here are the most overpowered characters in Marvel Rivals.
6. Moon Knight
Marc Spector, aka Moon Knight, may be a relatively low level character powerwise in the pantheon of Marvel comics, but he’s a serious threat in Rivals. Both his Crescent Darts and Moon Blades can bounce not just between enemies who are close together, but also between his Ankhs, which crafty players can place at all sorts of weird angles to get bonus damage without their foes even knowing where they’re being hit from. This is even easier for Moon Knight players because of how agile he is, easily scaling buildings or vantage points with his double jump and hookshot skills. And while his ultimate, Hand of Khonshu, is easily dodgeable if spotted, the fact that it comes from directly above means many Moon Knights have discovered it’s best to place it slightly behind the enemy team. This takes advantage of the natural inclination for players to back up when they can’t instantly see where an ultimate attack is coming from, leading them straight into the damage zone.
He does require forethought and positioning, but once you grasp the fundamentals, Moon Knight can devastate an enemy team before he’s even spotted.
5. Star-Lord
The title of “Legendary Star-Lord” may be something Peter Quill calls himself more than anyone else does, but in Rivals he more than lives up to the hype. Playing like a variant of Overwatch’s Tracer with the ability to fly instead of zip back in time, Star-Lord is a lightning-fast triggerman. His Element Guns deal high damage at a rapid rate, he can fly out of a hot zone at a moment’s notice, and his Stellar Shift dodge ability, for which he has two charges before cooldown, not only reload his guns but also grant him invincibility frames. When it comes to hit and run tactics, few Rivals characters can match Star-Lord, which makes his ultimate even more outrageous. Galactic Legend couples his hard hitting and quick reloading weapons with free flight and auto-aim, meaning that unless someone snipes him the second he activates it, there’s little the enemy team can do but scramble for cover and wait the ability out.
He still needs to be careful health-wise due to being a squishy DPS character, so he can be something of a glass cannon. But if you’re quick and good at managing cooldowns, Star-Lord can feel unbeatable in the right hands.
4. Scarlet Witch
There was no way the strongest Avenger was going to sit out a Marvel hero shooter, and Wanda Maximoff makes another return to the spotlight as one of Rivals’ most deadly duelists. Perfect for Moira players from Overwatch who couldn’t help but get the most eliminations in a match while ostensibly being a healer (guilty as charged), Scarlet Witch can drain enemy health bars without needing to aim much. Joining her lock-on magic are powerful Chthonian Burst missiles which she can toss frequently, and two charges of Mystic Projection, which gives her free flight and a ‘Phased’ state that allows her to avoid all damage for a short time. Once you get into a rhythm, Wanda can annihilate foes at both close and long range while easily ducking out of retaliation or enemy ultimates without even needing to be well-positioned. And then there’s her ultimate, Reality Erasure, and while it does have a long charge time, it instantly vaporizes any enemy within range. It’s more than worth the wait.
As a Scarlet Witch main myself, plenty of players probably hate me. But if loving Wanda in this game is wrong, I don’t want to be right.
3. Hela
This one might not be as obvious to casual players, but real Rivals heads are sure to know why Hela makes this list. The Goddess of Death lives up to her namesake, with her Nightsword Thorn primary fire able to wipe out heroes at a far distance with only a couple of critical strikes, and her Piercing Night attack often killing them outright with a single cast. Although she’s not technically a sniper, she can basically function as one in the hands of a skilled enough player.
And let’s not forget her ultimate, Goddess of Death, which allows Hela to soar above the field and rain hellfire from above. Although it is technically possible to drain her health bar in this state, it’s not really worth it because she gets a HP boost, meaning it takes pretty much the entire duration of the ability’s cast time to shoot her down. This means she can clear a point single-handedly by forcing the enemy team to flee for cover, making her an early favorite for character bans once you reach Diamond rank in Competitive Mode.
Thor and Loki may be more popular characters, but Hela is the true Asgardian threat you need to watch out for.
2. Jeff
No one would have thought that an adorable baby shark could cause so much hysteria, but Jeff the Land Shark has quickly become one of the most hated heroes in Marvel Rivals.
Why? He’s a healer, and he’s not exactly built for the front lines (even if his primary attack is deceptively powerful and he has a damage reduction against critical hits.) But the real reason Jeff is so feared is his ultimate ability, It’s Jeff!, where the little land shark reveals his monstrous appetite. Jeff is invincible while casting and, after selecting a circular area, he instantly swallows everyone within it, friend and foe alike. Enemies do take damage when they’re in Jeff’s stomach, but the real value of this ability is that he can move with other players inside him, meaning Jeffs will often spit their foes into bottomless pits. Some will even guarantee the kills by committing suicide, leaping over the edge with enemies inside.
There is counterplay to this ability (Scarlet Witch can usually escape being swallowed with a well-timed Mystic Projection, for example), but the indignity of being eaten and thrown off a cliff by a baby shark has enraged many a player.
He may be intended for keeping his allies healthy, but smart use of his ultimate makes Jeff an absolute menace on the battlefield.
1. Iron Fist
No character inspires more primal terror in the hearts of Marvel Rivals players than Lin Lie, the Immortal Iron Fist. This master martial artist has far and away the most insane powers in the game. Not only do his rapid fire punches allow him to assassinate healers and duelists with impunity while giving him bonus health in the process, but he also has four air jumps before cooldown, as well as a spin kick that dashes him forward. This means that he can effectively fly with well-timed use of his attacks and jumps, chasing characters like Iron Man literally through the sky. But that’s not even the worst of it. He can also use Dragon’s Defense as a parry maneuver against virtually any attack in the game. No, really. He can somehow prevent himself from being nuked, eaten by Jeff or erased from reality by Wanda with nothing more than a well-timed flex of his shoulders. If there’s an Iron Fist on the enemy team with even a moderate understanding of his toolkit, you’re in for a world of pain.
Seriously, NetEase, do something about this man. My healers are dying.
Carlos Morales writes novels, articles and Mass Effect essays. You can follow his fixations on Bluesky.
