The Best Marvel Rivals Tanks: Season 2 Vanguard Meta Tier List

Cale Michael | Apr 18, 2025

Images via NetEase Games

Marvel Rivals runs on Vanguards. The heroes who take the hits for their teammates and keep walking forward to provide space or keep attention on them while the Duelists and Strategists do their things in other positions on each map.

While DPS options are a dime a dozen in Marvel Rivals, Vanguards fill a vital spot that can bridge the gap between holding the line and chasing down targets with their unique abilities. Each tank has their own quirks that make them worth using in different scenarios, you just need to know when to pick them. 

Best Vanguard Heroes in Marvel Rivals Season 2

Image via NetEase Games

Whether you play Vanguard or not, it is hard to miss their impact in a game. Without a proper tank, you won’t have a proper frontline to take hits, control engagements, or create space between the enemy team and your squishy heroes, which almost always leads to one-sided games decided entirely by if your Duelists are good enough to carry through the damage.

Much like Strategists, there are no “bad” Vanguards in Marvel Rivals. Each hero serves at least one purpose that can make them viable in different scenarios. It just so happens that some of the tanks have more utility, meaning they can do more on their own or split roles between a true frontliner or playing off-tank. 

1. Groot

Image via NetEase Games

Groot is still far and away the most impactful Vanguard in Marvel Rivals, both in the right and wrong hands. 

A good Groot can handle almost any enemy on their own while using their walls to completely control parts of a map. Whether those walls are dealing damage or protecting allies is entirely up to the scenario the team finds themselves in, though they can also accidentally cut off their own team if they aren’t careful. 

In high-level competitive matches, you likely won’t see Groot much because he has the highest ban rate of any hero in the game—sitting at just under 40 percent in Diamond rank or above. With an Ultimate that can combo with just about any offensive move to contain and melt targets, along with his sheer presence defining interactions, there is a reason Groot remains a top hero in yet another season.

2. Hulk

Image via NetEase Games

Hulk has always been a formidable tank in the right hands, given that he can easily disrupt layers of an enemy team by jumping deep behind the opposing Vanguards and harassing DPS and healers. His Indestructible Guard also allows him to get out of sticky situations while also protecting nearby allies. 

In Season 2, NetEase buffed his movement speed, decreased the charge time for his super jumps, and lowered the cooldown for his shield ability. Those changes would have been enough to make the gamma monster formidable, but now he also has a Team-Up with the recently reworked Namor.

Namor was already a controversial character, as his Team-Up with Luna Snow in previous seasons allowed him to access a buffed Monstro squid that was perfect for slowing dive characters down. That has since been removed, but his Team-Up with Hulk allows him a new monstrosity that deals increased damage from a distance, giving him more utility when paired with Hulk.

As a result, Hulk is currently the second most-banned hero in the game once you reach Diamond, both so players can avoid playing against a buffed Namor and an annoying rage machine that is now harder to kill than ever.

3. Emma Frost

Screenshot via NetEase Games

Making her Marvel Rivals debut in Season 2, Emma Frost is already the most picked character in the game when it comes to Vanguards, and has the highest usage of any hero across all ranks and in quick play, beating the next heroes in both categories by over 10 percent. 

For reference, RivalsMeta shows that she has been picked 88,900 times in Diamond+, while the next highest Vanguard pick is Magneto at 51,900. This could skew the metrics a bit in her favor, but she remains a top choice for tanks at any rank.

Simply put, Emma is a utility-based disruption machine that can handle almost any scenario as long as it isn’t long distance. She is the perfect secondary tank because she has moves that can dominate the midrange with damage output that scales on targets, a shield to disrupt incoming fire or ultimates, and a secondary form that can outright cancel out opposing players. 

Her Diamond Form can survive massive damage, deal out strong blows, and grab other heroes out of whatever they are doing when timed properly. I have personally been kicked or grabbed out of my startup for Ultimates multiple times by the White Queen, and it never feels good.

Beyond that, her Ultimate can also counter heroes at any level, including other Ults. Much like Groot, it is best used to disrupt the enemy in tandem with an offensive burst, but Emma can hold her own in most positions.

4. Magneto

Screenshot via Esports Illustrated

So far in Season 2, Magneto is the second most picked tank at just under 33 percent usage in Diamond+, according to RivalsMeta. This is a 10 percent decrease in usage compared to Season 1.5, but that isn’t because he has gotten weaker—other tanks have just become more viable. 

The master of magnetism hasn’t dropped from being a top tank; rather, he is now less necessary on every team comp and can now be used as a complementary piece more often based on matchups. He is still capable of controlling a frontline with solid damage and utility options like his shield and bubble, but now other Vanguards can fill in for him or battle alongside him.

His new Team-Up with Emma Frost also provides even greater flexibility for the hero, allowing Magneto to double up on shields and bubbles for his team while also getting extra damage in the form of a controllable illusionary clone.

5. The Thing

Image via NetEase

Punch, Shield, Disrupt. The Thing remains a fantastic secondary tank option that is more than able to hold his own when pushing a point or ensuring his backline remains safe from divers. 

You won’t see many people complaining about having The Thing on their team when he is jumping around and punching enemies to sustain himself. And, while his Embattled Leap did get a nerf to its damage reduction effect, he can still keep allies alive when they are under attack or in the middle of a spread-out Ultimate.

Related Article: Marvel Rivals Season 2 - All Ranked and Competitive Changes

6. Doctor Strange

Doctor Strange / Marvel

Doctor Strange still has some of the best utility in Marvel Rivals with his portal and an Ultimate capable of locking down an entire team. However, nerfs to his damage and the rise of other tanks have made him tumble in usage—a continued trend from Season 1.5.

There is no reason not to pick Strange if you know how to play him; there are just better options on the table that fit more scenarios. You actually see players swap onto him just for the portal in late-game scenarios more often now, purely because he is not the first tank many teams pick in the opening lineup.

7. Captain America

Screenshot via NetEase

While Cap technically got hit with a few nerfs in the Season 2 patch, it looks like more players are getting the hang of leaping around and tossing shields. 

His win rate in Diamond+ is actually the highest of any Vanguard at 55 percent and he has the highest survivability among that lineup. It also helps that he has a new Team-Up with Winter Soldier that gives him bonus health and a clash where both heroes can deal extra damage.

8. Thor

Thor's new 'The Omniscient' Skin is ready for battle. / Marvel Games ; NetEase

A good Thor is always a welcome sight, especially after Season 2 gave him more health and increased movement speed. If you thought you were getting bounced into walls before, just wait until you see what Mjolnir can do with the same combos now that he is faster.

Thor is especially good in dive compositions or paired against other frontlining tanks, though you will need to master his runes if you want to make the most of his abilities without short-circuiting.

9. Venom

Screenshot via NetEase Games

Twerking Vemon does not equal more success for the hero, sadly. Venom remains a fringe pick with a near 50 percent win rate who pairs well with other dive heroes. 

If you have a Spider-Man who knows what their doing, giving them a Venom Team-Up ability and partner to dive with is always dangerous for enemy teams. Just don’t rely on the Symbiote to be your solo tank, or else you might find yourself frontlining while he is struggling to break through Loki lamps.

10. Peni Parker

Peni Parker / Marvel

Much like Venom, Peni serves a very specific role, being a defensive menace, unless you get really good with the character

She was buffed fairly substantially in Season 2, but her kit still serves her team best when the objective is to control a point or defend an objective. On offense or as a solo tank, you will likely struggle to see her make the same impact most other Vanguards could, though webbing an enemy out of their Ultimate or blasting a support with mines is always a treat to see—unless it is happening to you.

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