Games

The Best Duelists In Marvel Rivals

Published

3 hours ago

December 11, 2024

Christoph Rediske

Key Takeaways

Duelists in Marvel Rivals excel at isolating and eliminating targets with agility and raw damage output.
Ultimate abilities are key to turning the tide of battles, with each duelist offering unique strengths and playstyles.
Masters of dueling like Iron Fist and Hawkeye can dominate matches but require precision and strategy to be effective.

Duelists in Marvel Rivals are the masters of one-on-one combat, specializing in overwhelming enemies with their agility, precision, and raw damage output. These characters thrive in high-pressure scenarios, excelling at isolating and eliminating key targets with swift and decisive actions. Their ability to outmaneuver opponents and dominate skirmishes makes them an invaluable asset in any team.

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With 18 Duelists available at launch, and with more bound to follow in future updates, it’s not easy for players to know who’s worth taking the time to learn. Mastering these characters is the key to dominating matches, but they each have their own unique abilities that set them all apart. Whether it’s ranged attacks that focus on precision or close-quarters combat with brutal melee fights, there’s a wealth of options for players to choose from.

10 Scarlet Witch

Channel Powerful Chaos Magic

Health: 250
Difficulty: 1/5
First Appearance: X-Men #4 (1964)

Wanda Maximoff is an excellent character to choose for beginners to Marvel Rivals; she’s easy to pick up and learn, but devastating to enemy teams. Her normal attack unleashes a continuous stream of Chaos Magic that steadily damages an enemy in range. This charges up her Chaos Energy, which can be used to shoot explosive missiles that splash damage to nearby clusters of enemies. With her kit, players don’t need to rely on precision to have a chance at eliminating their foes.

As far as Ultimates go, Wanda has one of the strongest in the game, as she enters free-flight whilst charging energy until it’s eventually unleashed to devastating effect – just make sure she’s not killed in the process. Luckily, Wanda can enter a Phased state, granting her free flight and invulnerability. She can store two charges of this, so players can chain them together when they need to make a quick escape.

9 The Punisher

Let The Guns Do The Talking

Health: 275
Difficulty: 1/5
First Appearance: The Amazing Spider-Man #129 (1974)

Fans of shooters will love their time playing as Frank Castle. With his arsenal of weapons, he’s essentially a one-man army. Whether he’s dealing steady damage from far with his automatic rifle or blasting enemies up close with his shotgun, The Punisher is capable of felling even the strongest of characters in Marvel Rivals – and that’s without mentioning his abilities!

His standout is his deployable turret, which shields him from damage whilst delivering heavy damage to those in range. If that’s not destructive enough, then his Ultimate should scratch that itch, as he becomes a walking human tank. Two gatling guns and a missile launcher sprout from his back, and for 10 seconds he’s the most dangerous man in the match.

8 Spider-Man

With Great Power, Comes Great Responsibility

Health: 250
Difficulty: 5/5
First Appearance: Amazing Fantasy #15 (1962)

It shouldn’t surprise anyone to hear that Spider-Man is one of the more agile characters in Marvel Rivals, thanks to his web-swinging, double jump, and wall-crawling, but his playstyle can be quite hard to master. He’s the perfect hit-and-run character, as he uses his supreme movement to flank enemy teams and wipe out their backline support with his flurry of melee and web attacks.

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If this sounds incredibly powerful, it’s because it is, but it’s important to truly stress how vital it is that players take the time to master his moveset. In the right hands, he’s perhaps one of the strongest Duelists in the game, but it’s also very easy to mess up and get picked off by a well-organized enemy team. He takes serious coordination, both individually and with his teammates, but when mastered, he can pick apart enemies with ease.

7 Star-Lord

Zip Around With Dual Blasters

Health: 250
Difficulty: 2/5
First Appearance: Marvel Preview #4 (1976)

Fans of Overwatch might immediately feel at home when playing as Star-Lord, as his playstyle is incredibly similar to that of Tracer; his whole kit focuses on quickly navigating the map whilst blasting enemies with highly powerful duel-wielded guns. His flurry of movement-focused abilities can make him incredibly hard to hit, and if players stay on the move with him they should be able to find success.

Star-Lord isn’t just a distraction though, as his blasters deal heavy amounts of damage at close range, and their rapid rate of fire lets him shred through enemy health bars. His Ultimate is truly incredible too, as they remove any need for accuracy whilst Quill soars into the air and locks onto enemies with automatic precision. If opponents see him take to the air, they’ll know their days are numbered.

6 Moon Knight

Throw Darts That Bounce Between Enemies

Health: 250
Difficulty: 3/5
First Appearance: Werewolf By Night #32 (1975)

Moon Knight is an incredibly versatile character, as he has a great mix of mobility and damage potential. He can get around the map in a variety of ways, from using a grappling hook to a double jump followed by a glide; there isn’t anywhere off-limits to him. It might sound counter-intuitive at first, but a neat trick is to shoot his grapple directly into the ground beneath him, as it launches him high into the air, saving precious time looking for somewhere to retreat to in the heat of battle.

Once players have found themselves a decent vantage point, they can begin throwing darts that bounce between targets, dealing damage to numerous enemies at once. When an Ankh is in place, it can bounce between those too, allowing Moon Knight to maximize his damage to clusters of foes. Once they’re grouped up, his Ultimate is devastating, as Khonshu bombards enemies in the area with highly damaging talons.

5 Winter Soldier

Explosive Rounds And Endless Ultimates

Health: 250
Difficulty: 3/5
First Appearance: Captain America #6 (2005)

As far as pure offense goes, The Winter Soldier is one of the strongest. He’s devastating at medium to close range, largely thanks to his explosive pistol. The magazine might be small, but it shoots fast and reloads quickly, meaning he can pack a serious punch in a short amount of time. When he Teams-Up with Rocket Raccoon, he can fire infinitely without reloading, letting him take down even the strongest of tanks in a matter of seconds.

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He might lack movement options for himself, but he makes up for it with his dash and hook, both of which can move enemies around the battlefield instead. His Ultimate is unique though, as he can chain it together as many times as he can muster; so long as he kills an enemy with it or shortly afterward, Bucky can launch back into the air to slam down onto his next target – rinse and repeat, and he’s capable of wiping an entire team off of an objective!

4 Hela

Goddess Of Death Banishes Enemies To Hel

Health: 275
Difficulty: 3/5
First Appearance: Journey Into Mystery #102 (1964)

Befitting her name, Hela is a terrifying damage dealer in Marvel Rivals, but she does require a serious amount of precision to get the most out of her kit. Her normal attack shoots surprisingly fast, and players are incentivized to aim for the head to deal massive critical damage. She might struggle in close-range encounters, especially if she’s flanked by the likes of Spider-Man or Iron Fist, but her ranged potential is nearly unmatched.

Her other abilities only enhance her already devastating potential; her team-up ability with Loki and Thor allows her to grant them Bonus Health upon a kill, or even revive them should they be dead – maybe she’s not so villainous after all? As for her Ultimate, she truly becomes the Goddess of Death as she soars into the sky and rains explosive crows down from above. Not only is the damage deadly, but she gains a 1,000hp shield, meaning she’s nigh on impossible to shoot down, so enemies need to flee an objective lest they want to be sent to Hel.

3 Psylocke

Floats Like A Butterfly, Stings Like A Bee

Health: 250
Difficulty: 5/5
First Appearance: Captain Britain #8 (1976)

Psylocke is an incredibly self-sufficient Duelist, as she can deal heavy damage, navigate the map quickly, and even heal herself in dangerous situations. Her Psychic Stealth ability allows her to go invisible for short periods of time, giving her opportunities to sneak behind enemy lines and deal serious, rapid damage to enemy supports. If she gets found, she can get bonus health with her shurikens and dash out of danger.

The incentive is clearly to play aggressively though, as players are rewarded for being in combat since dealing damage with her normal attacks reduces the cooldowns for all of her abilities. This means high-level players can chain her abilities in rapid succession and run rings around the enemy team, blinking in and out of their vision and hitting them hard and fast.

2 Hawkeye

Arrows Work Just As Well As Bullets

Health: 250
Difficulty: 4/5
First Appearance: Tales Of Suspense #57 (1964)

There was a fear that Black Widow would be the ranged master in Marvel Rivals, but Hawkeye went under the radar and he’s reaping the rewards. Currently, he’s the only character in the game with the potential to one-hit kill someone with a direct headshot, making him a contender for the best Duelist in the game. If he can find a suitable vantage point, he can do some serious damage to enemy teams, though it’s largely reliant on player precision.

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The way his kit works is quite intuitive, as it rewards players for taking their time and lining up shots; if players aim at an enemy long enough, the arrow powers up, dealing insane damage. As might be expected, Hawkeye has a few tricks up his sleeves, such as explosive and hypersonic arrows, so he isn’t just a one-trick pony. He’s even capable at melee range, with a slash that pushes enemies back and a strike that can deflect incoming projectiles!

1 Iron Fist

Fists Of Fury

Health: 250
Difficulty: 4/5
First Appearance: Marvel Premiere #15 (1974)

Iron Fist is undoubtedly the strongest Duelist in Marvel Rivals, and perhaps even the strongest character in the game. That’s not to say that he’s easy to play, as his kit is quite complex; players have to balance dealing damage with blocking oncoming attacks, all whilst making the most of his movement capabilities. However, in the right hands, Iron Fist has the potential to menace an entire team almost single-handedly.

It’s obvious that he’s a melee-focused character, but his ability to quickly close distances makes him almost impossible to escape – he can even take a fight to the skies! Ranged characters that get dived by an Iron Fist are almost certainly a goner unless their team helps defend them, but with Lin Lie’s damage output they’re usually long dead before anyone can retaliate. He’s taken to a whole new level once his Ultimate is active, as he launches a flurry of blows capable of decimating anyone who crosses his path, all whilst gaining bonus health to ensure he stays on the battlefield as long as possible.