The Best Tanks In Marvel Rivals, Ranked

Key Takeaways

• Choosing heroes in Marvel Rivals is based on roles like Vanguard, Duelist, or Strategist
• Each hero has unique perks and drawbacks, influencing gameplay strategies
• Some heroes, like Venom, are easier to play and excel at specific roles in the game

With 33 heroes on launch, choosing who to play in Marvel Rivals can be difficult. Not only does a player have to figure out which role suits them best, Vanguard, Duelist, or Strategist, but they then also have to play for an extended time with each hero in that category to find the right one for them.

Every hero in the game has their perks and negatives, some are harder to kill, and others do significantly more damage. This list looks at the Vanguard heroes, the tanks, ranking them by several factors, including how difficult they are to learn, and how much of a payoff a player is likely to see if they spend their time learning each hero.

8 Captain America

Raise A Shield

• Health: 650
• Difficulty: 3 Stars

Captain America is one of Marvel’s poster boys and is an instantly recognizable character to most players. He functions as a melee-range tank, with a shield he can raise to protect himself and his allies from enemy attacks. He can also throw this shield, dash with it, and create a movement-boosting and healing area.

Captain America can be good in certain team compositions. However, without healers who can keep up with his hyper-aggressive playstyle, he is likely to struggle to defend an objective against the onslaught of enemy Duelists that can overwhelm him quickly.

7 Peni Parker

Cover The Battlefield In Spiderbots

• Health: 650
• Difficulty: 4 Stars

Peni Parker is a fun character for any fans of Mecha media, even though she never appears as the pilot. Peni’s abilities focus on area denial as opposed to negating damage, coating the battlefield in webs that periodically spawn spiderbots that heal Peni and damage enemies.

Her ultimate ability allows her to quickly clear an objective of enemies by pushing them away and creating huge areas of spiderbots, mines, and webs. She can be a super fun hero to play but does somewhat struggle when forced to be the primary frontline tank of a team, as she is better used as a utility hero.

6 Magneto

Use Magnetic Energy To Shield Allies

• Health: 650
• Difficulty: 2 Stars

Magneto plays in a slightly strange way, functioning somewhat as a mixture of Vanguard and Duelist. His main attacks are all ranged and deal good damage, and his abilities allow him to manipulate magnetic energy to shield himself and his allies. His ultimate allows him to form a meteor that does devastating damage in a large area, which can be increased by using the charge-up animation to block enemy attacks.

The main flaw of Magneto is his slow movement and difficulty in dealing with melee-ranged duels. Combined with Scarlet Witch, his melee becomes empowered and negates some of this weakness, but on his own Magneto can struggle to fight the closer-ranged tanks on this list.

5 Thor

The God Of Thunder

• Health: 500
• Difficulty: 3 Stars

Thor is a Vanguard with a surprisingly small health pool. Despite this, Thor can be an absolute nightmare for the enemy team’s backline, as he can very quickly dash in and deal impressive damage at close-to-mid range. Each of his abilities gives Thor temporary shields, which negates his small base health.

Thor’s ultimate ability is one of the best in the game for clearing an objective as it does a huge amount of damage to a large area. Despite all this, without an organized team behind him, Thor could struggle. He requires the player to fully commit to diving into an enemy team, which can often lead to being outnumbered.

4 Bruce Banner/ The Hulk

Hulk Out And Pummel Foes

• Bruce Banner Health: 200
• Hero Hulk Health: 650
• Monster Hulk Health: 1400
• Difficulty: 4 Stars

Bruce Banner is a unique entry on this list, being one of 2 heroes in the game that have multiple forms. Starting as the squishy Bruce Banner, the main ability the player has access to is simply “Puny Banner”, which allows them to transform into Hero Hulk, a powerful melee-focused tank.

Hero Hulk’s ultimate then lets him transform into Monster Hulk, a hugely healthy beast that can completely take a single enemy out of the fight with his grab ability. Bruce Banner’s main downfall is his difficulty for newer players, having to manage the abilities of 3 forms, and when Hero Hulk dies, being stuck as Banner can be tough for both the player and the team left without a tank.

3 Doctor Strange

The Master Of Magic

• Health: 650
• Difficulty: 2 Stars

Doctor Strange is another ranged Vanguard. However, he is much easier to pick up and play than Magneto. Doctor Strange’s abilities are largely focused on shielding his allies with his own body and allowing them to teleport across the battlefield with his portal ability. He can deal decent damage with his main fire, and, thanks to his ability to float, can be very annoying for the enemy team.

Doctor Strange’s main downside is his dark magic build-up. Every attack he unleashes builds up a meter that can be emptied with his E ability. However, if this bar fills up, Doctor Strange enters an anti-heal state that leaves him super vulnerable, so the player has to be very aware of how full the bar is at all times.

2 Groot

Wall Off Opponents And Protect Allies

• Health: 700
• Difficulty: 2 Stars

Groot is the most naturally tanky Vanguard on this list, boasting 700 health rather than the standard 650. This lends itself well to Groot’s playstyle, which emphasizes his wall-building abilities, asking the player to get into the action and divide the enemy team, or block off objectives.

Groot’s ultimate can be used to easily wipe an enemy team, provided the player uses it at the right moment when the enemy team is bunched up. Groot is generally the perfect tank, let down mainly by his lack of movement abilities and slow base movement speed, leading to him being out of the fight for a significant period of time every time he dies.

1 Venom

Consume Foes To Grant Health

• Health: 650
• Difficulty: 1 Star

The final Vanguard on this list, and the best, is Venom. Not only is he on the higher end of the health scale, but he has a powerful main attack that can critically strike at a surprising range and can use his swing ability to get right into the middle of the action from any position.

Venom’s E and ultimate both grant him bonus health, based on how much health he is missing and how much damage he deals, respectively. Once Venom is in a team’s backlines it is difficult to get him away, and he can be a real menace, especially if backed up by Strategists and Dualists following up on his explosive entry.