Best Vanguards in Marvel Rivals

Key insights

• Vanguards are key frontline powerhouses in Marvel Rivals, crucial to initiating battles and creating opportunities for teammates.
• Choosing the right Vanguard is crucial, each with unique skills and playstyles that suit different team compositions.
• Characters like Captain America, Thor, and Groot have different strengths and weaknesses, making mastering them essential.

Vanguard in Marvel Rivals play a critical role in any team composition, acting as frontline powerhouses who combine consistency with disruptive capabilities. These characters excel at initiating battles, absorbing damage, and creating opportunities for their teammates to capitalize and inflict maximum damage. Their presence can often turn the tide of a game, dictating both attack and defense strategies.

However, choosing the right Vanguard is no easy task, as each character has their own unique abilities that set them apart from each other. Some are better at soaking up damage as tanks, while others are great at providing zone protection to their target. Regardless of preference, Vanguards are an essential class to master. Therefore, it is important to understand which of these are the most effective choices.

8 Captain America

Needed more time in the ice

• Health: 650
• difficulty: 3/5
• First appearance: Captain America Comics #1 (1940)

The First Avenger is probably one of Marvel's most iconic characters, so it might surprise some fans to discover that he may be one of the weakest characters around Marvel Rivals. He is a melee-focused vanguard whose equipment revolves around his famous shield, which he can raise to protect himself and his allies from harm. However, the shield only has 400 horsepower and will deplete fairly quickly in the heat of battle. At least it reflects projectiles back at enemies, compensating for its lower health.

Since its defensive capabilities are weaker compared to other Vanguards, one can expect its damage output to decrease, but here too it falters. His movement is excellent, as he is quick to charge and spring into action, but his attacks are lackluster and pose more of a nuisance to enemies than a serious threat. Even with his Ultimate, which heals and boosts his team's movement, he can quickly be overwhelmed by enemy duelists when aiming.

7 Thor

The power of a god is missing

• Health: 600
• difficulty: 3/5
• First appearance: Journey into Mystery #83 (1962)

The God of Thunder has it all, as he has the greatest damage potential among his fellow Vanguards. Thor wields his trusty Mjolnir, which allows him to shatter enemies, charge forward, or throw them at greater distances. Players looking to master Thor's loadout will need to prepare to harass the opposing team as they aim to deal large amounts of thunderous damage.

Despite his divine nature, Thor is still far from invincible. His health is relatively low compared to other Vanguards and his limited movement options make it easy to get left behind. Unless he's Awakened, which gives him 200 extra HP, it's unlikely he can be the face of the attack for any length of time.

6 Bruce Banner / The Hulk

Decent damage, but easily thwarted by duelists

• Health: 200 / 800 / 1550
• difficulty: 4/5
• First appearance: The Incredible Hulk #1 (1962)

The Hulk can sometimes seem like a simple character and seem like an angry green giant, but the developers of Marvel Rivals gave it more nuance. He has three forms that players can switch between by building his ultimate: Bruce Banner, Hero Hulk, and Monster Hulk. Playstyles vary between versions: Bruce Banner has a gamma ray cannon to shoot at enemies, while Hero Hulk focuses on getting up close and personal.

He is difficult to master (hence the difficulty level), and his forms can sometimes be frustrating to deal with, especially when he transforms back into Bruce Banner. His damage is decent, but it's his range and speed that let him down, as any duelist with some range for their attacks can bring Hero Hulk back to Bruce in a few hits. From then on, he's a sitting duck ready to be eliminated.

5 Groot

A versatile vanguard that can control the map

• Health: 850
• difficulty: 2/5
• First appearance: Stories to Amaze #13 (1960)

Although he may seem simple at first glance, playing Groot is uniquely complex. His abilities allow him to create thorny walls across the map, meaning he can cut off targets or funnel enemies through certain areas. They can double much-needed cover in open areas, and when Groot stands near them and attacks, they grant additional damage to enemies or healing to allies.

His state of health is also not to be despised. With 850 horsepower and ways to regain it on his own, Groot is fairly self-sufficient, making him the perfect anchor for a goal. Pair him with a well-trained healer and he should be able to hold targets fairly well. His main limiting factor is his normal attack, which deals decent damage but has no chance of critical hits. Otherwise, he is an incredibly versatile Vanguard who deserves a place on the team.

4 Peni Parker

Queen of the spider bots

• Health: 650
• difficulty: 4/5
• First appearance: Edge Of Spider-Verse #5 (2014)

Peni Parker is perhaps the best character in Marvel Rivals for zone denial. Her Bionic Spider Nest ability covers an area with cyberwebs that grant healing over time and a movement boost. As long as it's placed somewhere enemies can't destroy it, Peni can easily anchor a target. However, if the spider nest is destroyed, Peni can be singled out for a vanguard due to her large frame and relatively low health. It's important to guard it at all times, which Peni should be able to do with her heavy explosive cannons.

There are spider drones scattered throughout their cybernets, and Peni can also shoot them down quite frequently. When placed in difficult spots, they can easily catch an enemy off guard and deal decent damage, especially when stacked in a busy area. Her ultimate allows her to reach and claim a target by placing cyberwebs and launching enemies into the air, making her an easy target for friendly duelists.

3 Magneto

Use metal for protection and destruction

• Health: 650
• difficulty: 2/5
• First appearance: X Men #1 (1963)

Magneto strikes the perfect balance between defensive and offensive character. He can summon a metallic curtain that blocks all incoming projectiles and is wide enough to protect him and some allies. It doesn't have a health bar like Captain America or Doctor Strange, but is based on a short cooldown. So players need to make sure they don't come under fire once the cooldown expires, as movement is pretty limited.

If players want individual protection, Magneto can summon shields around allies and himself, converting damage taken into metal rings on Magneto's back. These rings can be converted into a mag cannon that deals decent damage at range, and his ultimate is great for dealing heavy damage to a group of enemies in a group.

2 Doctor Strange

Shield bearer and portal maker

• Health: 650
• difficulty: 2/5
• First appearance: Strange Tales #110 (1963)

The Sorcerer Supreme has the upper hand when it comes to tanking damage on the front lines. His Shield of the Seraphim ability projects a gigantic 800 HP circular shield that blocks all incoming projectiles. Strange can also levitate for a short time, meaning he can even protect flying players if they need it. However, it is his utility that sets him apart, as he can summon a portal on the map that allows allies to quickly navigate the battlefield or lure enemies into a death trap.

However, he doesn't let up when it comes to attacks, as his normal attacks deal constant damage, creating a powerful explosion that can hit multiple enemies at once. His ultimate is also respectable, as it separates enemies' souls from their bodies and transfers the damage dealt to them to their physical selves.

1 Poison

Bring the entire team to a symbiotic standstill

• Health: 800
• difficulty: 1/5
• First appearance: The Amazing Spider-Man #300 (1988)

The perfect marriage between a tank and a DPS-focused character, Venom is suitable as a frontline fighter for any team Marvel Rivals. With 800 health and the ability to regenerate some on the fly, Venom is incredibly self-sufficient in the heat of battle. When push comes to shove, he can always dodge with his quick movements, something many other Vanguards lack.

However, his movement is not only suitable for fleeing, but is also particularly well used to initiate fights with unsuspecting enemies. Combined with his Cellular Corrosion ability, which slows enemies, and his normal attack, which deals large amounts of damage, Venom can single-handedly disrupt a group of enemies. With the right player at the helm, Venom can be nearly immortal and pose a serious threat to any opposing team.