Summary
Marvel Rivalsis the new competitive hero shooter game released by NetEase Games that is taking the world by storm. Fans of Marvel Comics can take control of their favorite characters and duel it out in familiar and dynamic maps. Players with a more competitive spirit will find themselves climbing the ranks to become the One Above All, or the designation as the bestMarvel Rivalsplayer.
Once players reach the rank of Diamond and upward, they will encounter a curveball. The hero banning system inMarvel Rivalsforces teams to adapt their strategy according to the bans each team put in place. Themost powerful and meta charactersget banned more often, with those stats fluctuating based on in-game changes to their characters.
All stats on the ban rates and win rates are courtesy ofRivalsTracker.com
10Hela
Hel Unleashed
Helahas seen a bit of a drop-off in her pick rate and ban rate afterbalancing changesin Season 1, which slightly reduced her total health. However, she still outputs plenty of damage to compensate and has a versatile kit.
Her abilities are simple to understand, but her high precision projectiles require a steady hand. As a result, she has traditionally been a more popular Duelist pick since the launch of Marvel Rivals and continues to be a true Goddess of Death in the right hands.
9Magik
Hack And Slash
As one of few melee characters inMarvel Rivals,Magikbrings some of the most unique gameplay into matches. She is aneasy-to-learn, hard-to-master character. Experienced players can take advantage of both her high-damaging swings and movement, resulting in a win rate just above 50%.
Players can tend to focus on melee characters who are in their face, rather than the rest of a team, because they can usually cause loads of disruption at the objective point if not dealt with otherwise. This means that Magik tends to draw a lot of enemy attention.
8Black Panther
Trim Those Claws
Black Pantherhas many of the same problems as Magik would, being an easy target for characters to focus on if not being healed quickly enough bya Strategist. He has great movement, but isn’t picked very often, with a pick rate below 10%.
That being said, Black Panther’s win rate is above 50%. He also has a low enough ban rate that Black Panther mains won’t have to worry about their character being banned more often than not.
7Doctor Strange
Sorceror Supreme
Doctor Strangeis considered one of the bestVanguards in Marvel Rivals, with a pick rate and win rate to show for it. He can more or less do it all, including blocking some Ultimate abilities with his shield.
Strange offers a shield with an absurd amount of health, alongside solid movement and fun gameplay. As a result, Strange’s win rate is juat above 50%, with little changes between the updates to the stats and rates, leading to a consistent performance of one of the best-in-class.
6Namor
Squids, Squids, And More Squids
Namorfeels solid with his existing kit, but gets plenty better with histrio team-up abilitieswith Jeff the Land Shark and Luna Snow. This ability grants a freezing, slowing effect on one of Namor’s Monstro turrets with increased damage.
By himself, however, Namor is one of the more underpicked Duelists in the game. He has a relatively low pick rate and ban rate, resulting in Namor being more of a wild card pick in a competitive environment.
5Cloak & Dagger
Pick Me
Cloak & Daggersits as the highest picked character in all ofMarvel Rivalsaccording toRivalsTracker.com. She sits well above second place, Doctor Strange, with a 38% pick rate. Cloak’s healing is elite, and Dagger excels at blinding and damaging opponents.
The reason why Cloak & Dagger has the highest pick rate, but not the highest ban rate, is because players want to play the character themselves. This results in a must-bring scenario for either team, so they might shy away from banning the duo.
4Luna Snow
Deep Freeze
With a sharp increase in ban percentage, players are seeing this hero banned quite often. She has one of thebest Ultimate abilities in the game, making characters in her Ultimate radius functionally invincible for a time. Only the highest damaging abilities can thaw outLuna Snow.
With the higher ban rate, some Luna Snow players could get cold feet from picking her, as she has one of the steeper drop-offs in pick percentage too. Though, Luna Snow’s win rate hasn’t really moved the needle significantly, sitting just below 50%. Still, Luna is the most-banned Strategist in competitive play.
3Storm
The Storm That Is Approaching
With another steep incline of ban percentage,Stormsits atop the leaderboards in Win Rate according to RivalsTracker, with a stunning 56%. Storm’s pick rate has been historically somewhat low compared to that win rate percentage, however.
With her damage and movement buffs, plus her flying capability and solid damage, Storm makes fora fantastic Duelistin plenty of scenarios. Unfortunately, it seems theMarvel Rivalscommunity know this, and has begun banning her more. She sits at a ~41% ban rate of recorded matches.
2Bruce Banner / The Hulk
Hulking Out
This is another case of two characters in one, althoughBruce Banner is more like D.VA from Overwatch,minus the suit. Hulk is one of the best Vanguard characters in the game. He is surprisingly easy to use, with a very straightforward moveset and kit.
ThoughHulkis less picked than some of the other Vanguards, his utility in his Indestructible Guard shield and Radioactive Lockdown are hard to deny. As a result, Bruce Banner and The Hulk find themselves banned from more recorded matches than many other characters.
1Wolverine
Talk To The Claws, Bub
It’s not hard to see whyWolverinesits out more matches inMarvel Rivals’competitive multiplayer than anyone else. His damage is incredible, making Wolverine a tank-buster, mauling and shredding the health bars of any and all characters, especially Vanguards.
His team-up with Hulk, the Metal Cannonball, is a force to be reckoned with too. Hulk can throw Wolverine deep into the enemy lines so that Wolverine can claw his way into the Strategists and Vanguards back there. Sitting with very little fluctuation between Wolverine’s pick rate and win rate, it shows that Wolverine is a consistent threat to any team who wants to win.
