The new Marvel Rivals tier list for Season 7.5 hit me harder than I expected, and I’ve been grinding ranked since launch. Black Cat dropped on April 17, the Chain-CC Protection system flipped half my muscle memory upside down, and a few heroes I had buried in C-tier suddenly clawed their way back into rotation. So I rebuilt the whole list from scratch.
Here’s what I’m covering:
- Where every hero in the roster lands across Vanguard, Duelist, and Strategist
- Which picks are actually carrying solo queue right now (it’s not who you think)
- The four heroes getting perma-banned in Diamond+ lobbies
- Why Black Cat is either godlike or useless with nothing in between
- Mistakes I made for two whole weeks before figuring out 7.5
I spent way too long climbing through Plat with the wrong picks before I sat down and actually crunched what was working. This list is the version of itself I wish I’d had on day one of the patch.
Table of Contents
What Changed in Season 7.5 (And Why It Matters for This List)
Before the rankings, you need the context. The patch did three big things and a bunch of small ones, and the small ones matter just as much as the headlines.
The Chain-CC Protection system is the biggest. If you eat 5.5 seconds of total crowd control, or get hit by six separate CC effects within seven seconds, the game cleanses you and slaps a 30% Tenacity buff on you for three seconds. Heroes who built their whole identity around chaining stuns into kills — looking at you, Bucky — got quietly gutted. NetEase walked it back by giving Bucky more raw damage in his frontal cone, but he doesn’t lock people down anymore.
The other thing nobody’s talking about enough: triple-support comps are still meta. The 1-Vanguard, 2-Duelist, 3-Strategist setup didn’t go anywhere. The ult charge nerfs from Season 7 did stretch the windows between teamfights, so games feel less ult-spammy, but the comp itself is fine.
And then there’s Black Cat. New Duelist, brand-new mid-fight ability shop mechanic where she spends Fortune to buy abilities like portals, shields, and dive tools. She’s basically Black Panther fused with Doctor Strange’s utility, and she has obliterated Black Panther’s pick rate overnight. More on her below.
Vanguard Tier List (May 2026) The Tanks Who Actually Win Fights
Tanking in 7.5 is wild because dive is back. Black Cat being a brawler shifted the meta toward aggressive frontlines, which means the slow shield-and-poke tanks are taking a hit while the divers are eating well.
If I had to give one piece of advice: stop swapping tanks. Pick one of the top three, commit, and learn the matchups. Tanks reward repetition harder than any other role.
| Hero | Tier | Why It’s Here |
|---|---|---|
| Hulk (Bruce Banner) | S | Headlining the dive meta, Bruce form gives you a free second life |
| Venom | S | Symbiote dive is unkillable when his cooldowns line up |
| Groot | S | The walls separate healers from carries — that wins fights |
| Doctor Strange | A | Portal still wins games, but dive eats his shield alive |
| The Thing | A | CC immune, refuses to die, 1v1 god in the right brackets |
| Magneto | A | Dropped a tier — Bulwark cooldown nerf hurt his counter-ult |
| Peni Parker | A | Big winner of 7.5, the extra Cyber-Web is a legitimate buff |
| Emma Frost | B | Slight ult buff doesn’t move her, still mid-range bruiser |
| Captain America | B | Animation cancel removed but he’s still a slippery distraction |
| Thor | B | Sleeper pick if you’re already mechanical, otherwise skip |
| Rogue | C | Power-stealing is fun but the skill ceiling is brutal |
If I’m solo queuing right now, I’m locking Hulk or Groot. Hulk because the Bruce Banner second-life mechanic gives you forgiveness when your team forgets you exist, and Groot because the wall placements are still the most impactful tank ability in the game when you actually communicate.
The Thing deserves a special mention. The Chain-CC Protection patch was supposed to help him, and it did, but the dive meta runs around his slow movement. He’s S-tier when the map favors brawls and A-tier everywhere else, so I split the difference.
Duelist Tier List: The DPS Picks That Carry Lobbies
This is where the meta gets interesting. Dive is back. Poke is also fine. The class is split into two camps right now and both work, which is rare.
The S-tier here looks deep, but it’s not — most of these heroes are getting banned constantly in higher ranks, which means the practical S-tier on any given match is whoever survives the ban phase.
| Hero | Tier | Notes |
|---|---|---|
| Hela | S | Two-shot squishies all day, she’s a permaban for a reason |
| Magik | S | Brawl carry of the season, dive into healers and live to tell |
| Wolverine | S | Tank shredder who actually got better with the CC changes |
| Elsa Bloodstone | S | Got nerfed multiple times and she’s still S, that’s how strong she was |
| Hawkeye | A | One-shot threat, the Black Widow players will switch eventually |
| Moon Knight | A | Easiest S-tier candidate to play, ankh ripple damage carries you |
| Storm | A | Top win-rate hero across ranks per tracker data |
| Daredevil | A | Wallhack vision in a faster meta is genuinely broken |
| Black Cat | A | New character, top of A pending more data |
| Namor | A | Turrets melt anyone careless, glow-up from D-tier |
| Punisher | A | Set turret in doorway, win three games before they adapt |
| Squirrel Girl | A | Easy climb pick if you can place arcing shots |
| Iron Man | B | Fliers got pushed into poke jail by hitscan |
| Star-Lord | B | Map-aware Star-Lord is annoying, but the floor is high |
| Psylocke | B | Ult got nerfed, mechanical ceiling intact for mains |
| Black Panther | B | Outclassed by Black Cat in the dive role |
| Iron Fist | B | Functional but you’ll get focused down hard |
| Scarlet Witch | C | Niche, the auto-aim is forgiving but ceiling is low |
| Spider-Man | C | Too hard for low ranks, too lackluster for high ranks |
| Winter Soldier (Bucky) | C | CC nerf gutted his identity even with damage buffs |
| Mister Fantastic | C | CC changes shoved him to the bottom, painful pick |
| Human Torch | C | Buffed mobility doesn’t fix his hitscan vulnerability |
| Blade | D | Weak even after Season 7 damage buffs |
| Black Widow | F | Hawkeye one-shots and she can’t, no role for her |
If you take one thing from this list: stop sleeping on Moon Knight. His attack ripples through enemies, so your aim doesn’t have to be elite. Once you understand Ankh placement on chokepoints, you’ll get top damage in lobbies where Hela mains are missing two-thirds of their shots.
Strategist Tier List: Healers Ranked by How Much They Save Your Team
This is the role that decides games. Triple-support is still the format, the ult charge nerfs hit Strategists slightly harder than the other roles (healing-to-energy went from 90% to 75%), and the gap between the top healers and the bottom healers is genuinely insane right now.
| Hero | Tier | Notes |
|---|---|---|
| Gambit | S | Damage boost ult is the closest thing to a win condition in the game |
| Cloak & Dagger | S | Auto-tracking healing means you can’t really play them wrong |
| Invisible Woman | S | The teleport-to-ally is unique, projectile block is gravy |
| Loki | S | Copies Gambit or Sue’s ult when they get banned, free flex |
| White Fox | A | Charm CC from a healer is unprecedented, Kumiho team-up is filthy |
| Adam Warlock | A | Crit-build healer that hits ridiculous numbers in 3-support comps |
| Mantis | A | Damage boost is solid, falling out of S because of better options |
| Rocket Raccoon | B | Reliable below Diamond, ceiling caps fast |
| Jeff the Land Shark | B | Got hit by the bonus health conversion nerf, still solid |
| Luna Snow | C | Got a buff this patch, still nobody plays her at high ranks |
| Ultron | C | Big ult rework, locked into 3-healer comps to be viable |
Gambit is the unanimous answer if you want one healer to climb with. The damage boost ultimate alone wins fights you had no business winning. Banning him is so common in Diamond+ that I treat it like a coin flip — if he’s open, I lock him; if he’s not, I default to Cloak and Dagger and play it safe.
White Fox is the most fun new pickup of Season 7. The Kumiho team-up with Luna Snow gives a 10% healing anchor bonus, but the real reason to play her is the charm CC, which is genuinely unprecedented for the support role. I lost three matches in a row to a White Fox before I learned to stop looking at her when she popped Kumiho form.
The 4 Heroes Getting Banned in Almost Every Diamond Match
If you’re climbing past Plat, expect these names to disappear in the ban phase basically every game. Knowing this matters because you should never main one hero who shows up here. You’ll waste your queue.
- Hela — The hitscan headshot threat, banned to take pressure off backlines
- Gambit — The damage-boost ult is unfair when comps stack around it
- Magik — Brawl carry that bypasses tanks, frustrates everyone she touches
- Elsa Bloodstone — Even after multiple nerfs, the kit is still oppressive
I learned this the hard way after one-tricking Gambit through Plat 3 to Plat 1, and then watching him get banned in eleven of fifteen Diamond promotion games. Pick a backup main. I switched to Loki, which let me copy whichever S-tier ult was available, and it saved my placement.
Black Cat Is Either a 5-Star Pickup or a Train Wreck — There’s No Middle
Black Cat is the most polarizing release I’ve seen since Hela. Her kit revolves around Fortune, a resource she generates by hitting attacks. She spends Fortune at a mid-fight shop only she can access, buying abilities like a teleport portal, a debuff-cleansing shield, and a bunch of utility tools.
Here’s the thing — she has the dive of Black Panther fused with the utility of Doctor Strange in one character. On paper, that should be S-tier instantly. In practice, casual ranked players are getting absolutely cooked by the Fortune economy because they don’t know which abilities to buy or when.
I’ve seen Black Cats top damage in Diamond games and absolutely zero damage in the same rank, two matches apart. She’s a high-skill-floor character disguised as a flashy newcomer. Give her two more weeks of community theorycrafting and she’s going to settle into a hard A — possibly S — but right now I’ve got her at the top of A because the data isn’t there yet to call her higher.
If you’re learning her, focus on portal usage in your first ten games. Don’t worry about the shield or the dive tools. Get comfortable with the portal and you’ll start understanding the rhythm.
Hero Picks I’d Recommend If You’re Solo Queuing to Rank Up
Solo queue is its own ecosystem. Your team will not communicate. Your tank will walk past your shield. Your DPS will lock Hela and miss every shot. Plan accordingly.
For Vanguard, the picks that don’t require teammate coordination are Doctor Strange (the portal works even when misused), The Thing (refuses to die long enough to matter), and Peni Parker (mine field plays itself). Notice the pattern — they all generate value independently.
For Duelist, my honest answer is Moon Knight, Squirrel Girl, or Punisher. Hela is theoretically better but only if your aim is consistent — Moon Knight’s ripple damage gives you a forgiveness window that Hela doesn’t.
For Strategist, Cloak and Dagger before anything else. The auto-tracking attacks and heals mean you can’t really mess them up, and your win rate will go up just by default.
Mistakes That Tank Your Climb Even When You Pick S-Tier
I made all of these. You can save yourself the LP loss.
- Locking the meta hero with no fallback. I touched on this above but it bears repeating. If you only play Hela, you’re throwing every game where she gets banned. Have a B-pick ready in every role you queue.
- Ignoring the team-up bonuses. Lucky Loan (Black Cat + Captain America + White Fox) gives Black Cat a flat 5% damage bump and Cap an upgraded shield. Most players are still ignoring team-up trees and it’s free stats.
- Refusing to swap. I had a stretch where I locked Magik into every comp, including ones with three flying enemies and a Magneto on the other team. Magik does nothing into that comp. Swapping isn’t a flex on you — it’s the actual game.
- Playing around the wrong ult charge. Post-7.0, ults are slower. If you’re still rotating like it’s Season 6, you’re going to find yourself out of position when a fight breaks out. Track your team’s ult economy and play the neutral phases harder.
FAQs
Is Black Cat broken in Season 7.5?
She’s strong but not broken. Her ceiling is S-tier and her floor is C-tier depending on the player. The Fortune mechanic creates a steep mastery curve, so you’re going to see her dominate in some lobbies and feed in others until the playerbase figures her out.
Why did Bucky drop in this patch even though he got buffed?
His CC was the reason anyone played him. The damage buff doesn’t make up for losing the stunlock identity, and the Chain-CC Protection system means even his remaining CC is less effective. Bucky mains are not having a fun patch.
What’s the best hero for someone new to the game?
Cloak and Dagger if you want to climb fast, Moon Knight if you want to learn DPS without elite aim, and Doctor Strange if you want to tank without dying constantly. None of them require mechanical wizardry.
Is the 1-2-3 comp dead in Season 7.5?
No, it’s still the dominant format at Diamond and above. The ult charge nerfs slowed down teamfight cycles but didn’t change the underlying value of running three Strategists. Stop fighting it.
Why is Mister Fantastic so low when he used to be solid?
The Chain-CC Protection changes hit his playstyle hard, and his low pick rate means he’s not getting balance attention. He’s effectively a meme pick right now even at low ranks.
Should I bother learning Hela if she’s banned all the time?
Yes, if you’re queuing in ranks where she isn’t banned (Plat and below mostly). She’s a transferrable skill — the aim training carries to Hawkeye, Black Widow, and most hitscan DPS. Just don’t main her exclusively.
What’s the strongest team-up in Season 7.5?
Blessing of the Kumiho, the White Fox and Luna Snow pairing. The 10% healing anchor bonus stacks on top of two ults that already win teamfights. Lucky Loan is also strong but it’s anchored on Black Cat, who’s still being figured out.
Will the meta change before Season 8?
NetEase has been doing emergency balance patches all year, so probably yes if Black Cat tilts too hard in either direction. Don’t pick a one-trick this close to a likely mid-season hotfix.
Final Thoughts
The Marvel Rivals tier list shifts with every patch and Season 7.5 is no exception, but the broad strokes hold up — Hulk, Venom, and Groot are anchoring tank, Hela and Magik are still tearing through DPS, and Gambit alone bends entire matches when his ult lands. Pick a main, pick a backup, and stop swapping after every loss. Trust me, that’s where my LP went for a month before I figured it out.
If you’re grinding to Diamond, focus on one role and two heroes inside it. The meta heroes change. The fundamentals — positioning, ult tracking, swap discipline — don’t. Good luck out there.