Marvel Rivals Tier List: Best Heroes After the Season 10.5 Patch

Marvel Rivals' Season 10.5 update went live October 9, and alongside the new Path to Doomsday - Avengers: Infinity War mode, NetEase shipped a mid-season balance pass touching thirteen heroes across all three roles. According to the official Version 20261009 balance notes, nine heroes came out ahead, three were toned down, and Iron Man and Hulk received changes that pull in both directions at once. No new hero arrived with this patch — the headline additions are game modes, not kit changes — so this is purely a numbers update to the existing roster.

This is an opinion piece, not a results sheet. The tiers below reflect our read on how each verified change plays out in ranked matches, built from NetEase's own patch notes rather than guesswork about what might be strong. Where a change is cosmetic rather than meaningful, we say so instead of inflating it into a rank shift.

01S-Tier: The Clearest Winners

Hulk (Vanguard). Banner form's Gamma Ray Gun projectile speed jumped from 80 m/s to 120 m/s, a 50% increase that turns his ranged poke from a near-miss machine into something that actually lands. Pair that with Gamma Grenade now generating 100 energy per self-hit instead of 50, and Hulk converts into his Smash form noticeably faster. With the Wolverine Team-Up active, Furious state now boosts attack and movement speed by 25% instead of 20%, and Unstoppable's cooldown dropped from 60 seconds to 45 even though its health threshold to trigger rose from 300 to 400. Every number here points the same direction: more uptime, more pressure, less time spent waiting to come back online.

Hawkeye (Duelist). Piercing Arrow's projectile speed rose from a 130-195 m/s range to 140-210 m/s, which matters enormously for a hero whose entire kit depends on landing shots before the target reacts. Hypersonic Arrow's initial hit spell field also widened from 3m to 5m, making it far more forgiving to connect with. On top of that, the Cloak & Dagger Team-Up now grants Moonlit Slash a self-heal equal to the healing it deals, a brand-new survivability tool for a hero who previously had almost none. None of these numbers look huge individually, but stacked together they fix Hawkeye's two real weaknesses at once: whiffed shots and zero sustain.

Phoenix (Duelist). Cosmic Flames' single-shot damage rose from 60 to 65, Spark's detonation damage increased on both its direct hit (40 to 45) and its explosion (15 to 20), and her ultimate, Endsong Inferno, now applies two Sparks per hit instead of one, effectively doubling the follow-up damage her ultimate sets up. The only give-back is that Spark's self-heal was replaced with a flat Bonus Health buff (5 per application for 4 seconds, capped at 25), a net loss in raw healing but harder for enemies to burst through. With the Hela Team-Up's ability cooldown also cut from 12 seconds to 10, Phoenix comes out of this patch as a straightforwardly stronger flanker.

02A-Tier: Quietly Better

Cyclops (Duelist). Nothing in his patch note reads as dramatic on its own — Optic Blast's damage ticked up from 22 to 23, Ricochet Force now trims 0.3 seconds off its cooldown per hit instead of 0.25, and his ultimate, Ruby Rage, now costs 3400 energy instead of 3700. But all three numbers push the same lever: faster access to his cooldown-reduction loop and a cheaper ultimate mean Cyclops reaches his power spikes sooner and more often than before. The Gambit Team-Up's Kinetic Kin duration also stretched from 6 to 8 seconds, extending one of his best supported windows.

Jubilee (Strategist). Sparking Sprint now grants 25 health per second of continuous self-healing, something it didn't have at all before this patch, and the Blade Team-Up adds a new 15 health-per-second heal to nearby allies for 6 seconds during Vampiric Kin. Her ultimate, Firework Finale, also had its spell field healing raised from 150 to 180 per second. The one nerf, Dazzling Detonation's blind duration dropping from 1.5 seconds to 0.8, stings in isolation, but it's a fair trade against three separate healing buffs for a Strategist whose aggressive playstyle depends on staying alive, not on blinding for longer.

03B-Tier: Playable, Not a Priority

Magneto (Vanguard). Both of his changes only apply with the Emma Frost Team-Up active: Magnetic Resonance's projection damage rose from 45% to 50%, and the projection's max duration extended from 5 to 6 seconds. Real numbers, but gated entirely behind a specific team-up rather than something every Magneto player benefits from.

The Thing (Vanguard). The Invisible Woman Team-Up's Unbreakable Forces cooldown fell from 20 to 15 seconds, and his Enhanced Effect now triggers healing at a 125-damage threshold instead of 150, meaning he heals off smaller hits than before. Useful quality-of-life, not a reason to pick him up if you weren't already.

Iron Man (Duelist). This is a rework disguised as a balance pass. Micro-Missile Barrage now auto-tracks targets, up to five locks at once, which is a genuine consistency buff, but its per-shot damage was cut in half, from 20 to 10, and Armor Overdrive's missile damage dropped from 15 to 10 as well. Projectile speed on the missiles quadrupled, from 15 m/s to 60 m/s, which helps them actually connect. Net result: Iron Man trades burst for reliability, a wash for players who were already landing their shots and a buff for players who weren't.

Adam Warlock (Strategist). Both of his changes need the Ultron Team-Up: Cosmic Cluster's healing rose from 16 to 18, and its Enhanced Effect explosion healing rose from 5 to 7. Solid for anyone already running that team-up, invisible otherwise.

04C-Tier: Nerfed, Pick With Care

Gorr (Duelist). Three separate nerfs land on the same hero: Shadow Scythe's base damage fell from 55 (plus 2% of the target's max health) to 50, Shockwave's damage dropped from 60 to 55, and Twilight of the Gods' ultimate duration was cut from 12 seconds to 10. Living Abyss's cooldown did improve, from 15 to 12 seconds, but its movement speed fell from 13 m/s to 10, so even his one buff carries a built-in downside. Gorr is still a real pick, just a noticeably softer one than he was on Season 10.0.

Scarlet Witch (Duelist). One change, one direction: Chthonian Burst's single-shot spell field damage dropped from 40 to 35, a targeted 12.5% cut to her primary poke tool with nothing else moved to compensate.

Gambit (Strategist). Healing Hearts and Breaking Spades now charge a stack every 7 seconds instead of 8, a genuine buff to his sustain output. But Ragin' Royal Flush's target search range shrank from 40m to 30m, and the Extra Jump Boost he grants allies fell from 500 to 300, both nerfs to his signature ultimate and his mobility utility. The Jubilee Team-Up's Sparkling Staff duration did rise from 1.5 to 2 seconds, but that's a narrow consolation against two nerfs that hit his core kit.

Devil Dinosaur (Vanguard). The simplest change in the patch: base health fell from 850 to 825. A 3% cut doesn't remove him from the tank rotation, but it's a straightforward step down from where he sat last patch, while every other Vanguard on this list either held steady or improved.

05Team-Up Changes Worth Knowing

Several of this patch's best numbers are locked behind team-ups rather than a hero's base kit, so your mileage depends entirely on your squad composition. Wolverine/Hulk, Emma Frost/Magneto, Invisible Woman/The Thing, Thor/Iron Man, Hela/Phoenix, Psylocke/Hawkeye, Cloak & Dagger/Hawkeye, Ultron/Adam Warlock, Jubilee/Gambit, and Blade/Jubilee all received at least one adjustment this patch. If you're building around any of the S- or A-Tier picks above, check whether their listed partner is actually in your lineup — Hawkeye alone benefits from two separate team-up buffs, but only when Psylocke or Cloak & Dagger is on the team.

NetEase walked through the full Season 10.5 roadmap, including these changes, in its Dev Vision broadcast ahead of launch.

NetEase's Dev Vision Vol. 22, published October 6, previewed Season 10.5's new modes and the balance changes covered above, three days before launch.

The spookiest season yet is almost here! Tune in to Dev Vision Vol. 22 now! 🎃 Brand new modes are heading your way for Season 10.5 of Marvel Rivals as the Path to Doomsday continues. Tune in now as GuangGuang dishes out all the upcoming content and changes being added.

— Marvel Rivals (@MarvelRivals), October 6, 2026 on X

How We Built This Tier List

1. 1We matched every number in this list against NetEase's Version 20261009 balance post rather than early leaks or third-party rundowns that disagreed on specifics.
2. 2Heroes like Hulk and Phoenix got multiple small buffs stacking in the same direction, which we weighted above a single large change elsewhere.
3. 3Magneto and Adam Warlock only improved inside a specific Team-Up, so we ranked them lower than heroes whose buffs apply in every match.
4. 4Iron Man traded burst damage for consistency, which we read as a wash rather than forcing it into either direction.
5. 5This list covers ranked matches on Season 10.5's base roster; the new Path to Doomsday mode's fixed 13-hero pool wasn't factored in since it isn't the same meta.

06Final Verdict for Season 10.5

If you're climbing this patch, Hulk, Hawkeye, and Phoenix are the three heroes whose numbers genuinely changed how they play, not just how efficiently they play. Cyclops and Jubilee are the safe, slightly-better picks if you already know them. Everything in C-Tier remains legal and viable — Gorr, Scarlet Witch, Gambit, and Devil Dinosaur are nerfed, not deleted — but each now asks a little more precision from the player behind it. None of this is set in stone: Season 10.5 runs through December 11 alongside the Path to Doomsday event, which leaves plenty of time for NetEase to ship another adjustment before it ends.