Marvel Rivals Best Duelist Heroes Guide (Season 9.5): Top 4 DPS to Climb With

🎯 The core idea

Going into Season 9.5, the best duelist marvel rivals players are picking to climb ranked hasn't shifted much from Season 9 — Hela and Elsa Bloodstone remain the two S-tier locks, with Black Cat and Wolverine rounding out the marvel rivals duelist tier list as the picks that punish poor coordination and shred tanks.

• free costs nothing
• cheap small cost
• setup needs preparation
• grind pays off slowly
• skip the thing to stop doing

Honorable mentions before the season 9.5 duelist tier list

Before ranking the top four, it's worth calling out three duelists who almost made the cut. Black Widow is already one of the strongest hitscan heroes in the game, but she gets outclassed by the heroes below her. Magik's Hood team-up now lets her chain double-demon combos with her spin attack for a serious damage spike, making her a very solid dive pick. Phoenix rounds out the mentions — her off-angle holding was already great, and Season 9.5 gave her extra base damage plus extra explosion damage on top.

1. Try Magik if you want a dive-oriented pick freeHer Hood team-up now spawns Limbo Demons more frequently and hits harder, so double-demon plus spin-attack combos output noticeably more damage than before. 0:48
2. Consider Phoenix for off-angle poke freeHer extra base damage and boosted explosion damage this patch make her hold angles more threatening than in Season 9. 1:34

These three are strong picks but didn't make the final four in this creator's ranking — treat them as flexible backups rather than must-picks.

Hela is still the top pick in the marvel rivals duelist tier list

Hela returns from the Season 9 list and keeps her spot at the top. Her Namor team-up (Deep Wrath) took a damage nerf to its Undead Monstro projectiles, but it's still the stronger of her two team-ups for pure damage output; the Venom team-up survives as a solid survivability alternative. Combined with a change letting her barrage attack fire in all directions, Hela remains one of the best dps marvel rivals has for picking off backline targets.

1. Default to the Namor team-up freeEven after the nerf to its projectile damage, Namor's Deep Wrath still edges out the Venom team-up for damage output nine times out of ten. 2:42
2. Hold an off-angle and pick off supports or DPS freeHela doesn't need to brawl — stay on the edge of fights, land poke damage, and use her escape tool to reset if you get caught. 3:05


Elsa Bloodstone: the most versatile pick for season 9.5 duelist tier list

Elsa Bloodstone holds her S-tier spot despite a nerf to her Dino team-up that reduced her traps' health pool and duration. Two traps still deal solid damage, so the nerf barely dents her power level. Her Deadpool team-up is the bigger draw — it reduces all of her cooldowns and adds extra damage to her lock-on bullet, which is exactly the kind of setup that rewards patient marvel rivals dps guide players who like to poke and reposition.

1. Lean on her mobility to hold off-angles freeElsa is one of the highest-mobility duelists in the game, especially once the Deadpool team-up trims her cooldowns — use that to swing between off-angles and main. 4:15
2. Save her ultimate to counter enemy support ultimates setupHer ultimate can knock enemies out of AoE support ultimates like Luna Snow's or Invisible Woman's, and can also displace or knock enemies off the map entirely. 4:37


Elsa fits close-range, long-range poke, dive, anti-dive, and hitscan comps alike — her flexibility is part of why she stays S-tier even after the trap nerf.

Black Cat remains the best duelist to climb with in lower ranks

Black Cat didn't receive a single change in the Season 9.5 patch notes, and she's arguably one of the most oppressive duelists in the game right now. Her kit answers almost every threat, and her Fortune-based Claw Strike deals percentage damage — meaning she can shred tanks, including the new hero The Hood, in a straight 1v1.

1. Farm Fortune with Steal before committing to a dive grindHer Steal ability builds Fortune (up to 1000 max) that fuels the percentage-damage Claw Strike from her ultimate, so build it up before diving the backline. 5:43
2. Don't try to solo-answer her without team coordination skipThe creator points out that only tightly coordinated teams can consistently shut Black Cat down — in lower and mid ELOs, she can run games almost by herself. 6:54

This is a subjective read on how oppressive Black Cat feels in ranked, not an official balance rating — treat "best duelist to climb" as this creator's opinion based on current lobbies.

Wolverine: the tank-buster pick for the marvel rivals dps guide

Wolverine rounds out the list thanks to a buff to his passive, which now builds up faster and holds for slightly longer when he's inactive. Combined with a meta that's likely to see more double-tank comps for a while, Wolverine's tank-busting kit and kidnap tool make him one of the best dps marvel rivals has for shutting down enemy front lines.

1. Bait cooldowns before committing to a kidnap freeMany of the newer off-tanks lack strong escape tools; wait for their defensive cooldown before diving in to grab and isolate them. 8:02
2. Prefer the Gambit team-up over Cyclops freeThe Gambit team-up adds bonus damage and a movement speed buff that flows better with an aggressive, dive-style Wolverine playstyle than the Cyclops blade team-up. 8:25


The creator flags Magneto as one of the few tanks with enough buffs to resist an easy Wolverine kidnap — most others in the current tank pool can still be grabbed and isolated.

How this guide was fact-checked

Hero existence and Duelist role classification for Hela, Elsa Bloodstone, Black Cat, Wolverine, Phoenix, Black Widow, and Magik were confirmed against the Marvel Rivals Fandom wiki. Elsa Bloodstone's trap ability and Deadpool team-up, and Black Cat's Fortune-based percentage-damage Claw Strike ability, were also confirmed against wiki hero pages. The Hela/Namor team-up nerf was cross-checked against third-party Season 9.5 patch note summaries, which specify the nerf targets Undead Monstro projectile damage (reduced from 15 to 10) — the video's more casual "squids dealing slightly less damage" description refers to the same change. Frame-level claims (hero portraits, on-screen ability icons, UI text) were verified directly against the normalized video frames used in this guide. The "best duelist" and "S-tier" rankings themselves are this creator's opinion based on the current Season 9.5 meta and are not an official Marvel Rivals balance designation — other creators and the in-game community may rank these heroes differently.