Marvel Rivals Season 10.5 Tier List: The Best Heroes After the Mid-Season Patch
Marvel Rivals Season 10.5 went live October 9, 2026 and runs through November 13. The mid-season patch touched enough abilities across all three roles that the Diamond+ and Grandmaster meta has genuinely shifted, not just shuffled a couple of win-rate percentages. Here is where all 54 heroes land right now, broken down by role, with the ability changes that actually explain the movement.
Vanguard Tier List
S-Tier: The Hood, The Thing, Deadpool (Flex).
A-Tier: Emma Frost, Hulk, Doctor Strange, Thor, Captain America, Devil Dinosaur.
B-Tier: Peni Parker, Groot, Magneto, Venom, Angela.
C-Tier: Rogue.
The Hood is unchanged this patch and still the strongest frontline pressure in the game — nothing needed to move for him to stay on top. The Thing climbs alongside him now that Unbreakable Forces drops to a 15-second cooldown through his Invisible Woman Team-Up, letting him body-block far more often. Deadpool remains a true Flex pick who can plug whichever role a comp is missing and scale fast with early upgrades. Devil Dinosaur slipped from A to the bottom of A-tier after a base health cut from 850 to 825, and Rogue stays in C — lean on Ability Absorption to answer whatever ultimate is giving your team trouble rather than trying to out-tank people directly.
Duelist Tier List
S-Tier: Winter Soldier, Gorr the God Butcher, Elsa Bloodstone, The Punisher, Black Cat, Scarlet Witch.
A-Tier: Phoenix, Wolverine, Hela, Star-Lord, Namor, Black Widow, Magik, Black Panther.
B-Tier: Spider-Man, Psylocke, Cyclops, Daredevil, Iron Fist, Blade, Human Torch, Moon Knight, Iron Man.
C-Tier: Hawkeye, Mister Fantastic, Storm, Squirrel Girl.
Phoenix is the big riser on this list, jumping into the top tier on the back of a Cosmic Flames buff (60 to 65 damage) and Endsong Inferno now applying two Sparks per hit — the trade-off is she no longer self-heals off Spark detonations, getting flat bonus health instead, so she plays a little more aggressively than before. Scarlet Witch dropped out of the very top after Chthonian Burst lost 5 damage per shot, but she’s still an S-tier pick overall. Iron Man was reworked rather than nerfed outright: Micro-Missile Barrage now homes but caps at five missiles per target, trading spam for reliability, which is why he’s B-tier rather than a clear pick. Hawkeye got buffs to Piercing Arrow speed and Hypersonic Arrow’s hit width but is still fighting an uphill battle in C-tier.
Strategist Tier List
S-Tier: Gambit, Cloak & Dagger, Invisible Woman, Luna Snow.
A-Tier: Loki, Rocket Raccoon, Jubilee, Jeff the Land Shark.
B-Tier: Mantis, Adam Warlock, Ultron.
C-Tier: White Fox.
Gambit is this patch’s headline mover, going from the middle of the pack to the top Strategist pick after Hearts and Spades dropped from an 8-second to a 7-second charge time. The catch is positioning: his Ragin’ Royal Flush detection range shrank from 40m to 30m and his Jump Boost fell from 500 to 300, so he needs to actually stay near his team rather than freelance across the map. Jubilee rose into A-tier thanks to a self-heal on Sparking Sprint, a 180-per-second Firework Finale, and a shorter Dazzling Detonation blind window. If you prefer a simpler playstyle, Cloak & Dagger remain S-tier specifically because you can heal as Dagger and swap to Cloak the moment you need disruption or an escape.
Team-Up Combos Worth Building Around
A handful of Team-Ups are worth drafting around on purpose this patch. Hulk and Wolverine share a 45-second Unstoppable window once Hulk hits 400 health, with Wolverine’s Team-Up also adding 25% to Hulk’s Furious-state speed boost. Phoenix and Hela cut Hela’s cooldown to 10 seconds when paired, which makes an aggressive Phoenix-Hela backline much easier to sustain through a fight. Cyclops and Gambit share an 8-second Kinetic Kin window, and Jubilee paired with Blade gives nearby allies 15 health per second for 6 seconds through Vampiric Kin — a quiet but efficient bit of sustain if your comp already has both.
For a deeper look at every hero’s Best Strategy notes, KeenGamer’s full Season 10.5 breakdown is worth bookmarking. Marvel Rivals is free-to-play on Steam, and if you want to pick up Lattice or the season’s cosmetics, Dragon4Deals’ Steam Wallet Codes and PC gift card selection both cover it. Catch up on what else changed in our Season 10.5 patch notes rundown.
