Climb up the ranks by taking most of the aggression as a Vanguard and save the universe. Here are the top 5 Vanguards in Marvel Rivals you should try!
Marvel Rivals have been breaking records and is witnessing an all time high in the past 20 days. This hero shooter in corporates heroes and villains across the marvel comic universe and puts them together in a 6 vs 6 team up match.
While quick matches are always fun, the real action begins in competitive. Here you will have to strategize and use the right mix of duelists, strategists, and vanguards to overcome your opponents.
While everyone glorifies the duelists, my past 200+ hours of playing suggest that it’s the vanguards and strategists who decide the outcomes of matches in Marvel Rivals. Especially Vanguards as their kits are catered towards tanking, dealing damage, and protecting the team all at the same time.
That’s why in this article, I will discuss the top 5 vanguards in Marvel Rivals. This is based on player usage rate, my personal experience with them and professional plays.
Top 5 Vanguards in Marvel Rivals
| Name | Primary Focus |
|---|---|
| Venom | Assault |
| Doctor Strange | Defense |
| Groot | Defense |
| Thor | Assault |
| Penny Parker | Defense |
Venom
The top 5 vanguards in Marvel Rivals list won’t be completed without Venom. Considered to be the best Vanguard by many, Venom is the most picked vanguard you will see in a competitive match. He comes with a massive health pull of 800 HP. He is an easy escape option with his Venom Swing, a shield for himself, and a speed decrease on opponents.
The role a Venom plays in a team is to provide distraction and damage. He will dive headfirst into battle with his Venom swing and dive between the enemy lines. Your primary role is to stop the healers and bring attention to yourself.
When HP gets low you need to pop up your shield. This is very important as the shield provides health based on the damage you have taken. You will need some practice before you get the timing right.
Finally, there is your ult. You will dive into the ground and come out biting your opponents. This is an AoE effect and successful bites will provide additional health. The more opponents you can bite the higher the HP gain would be.
Pros
- Easy escape options
- Has a massive health pull
- Great attack potential in close and mid-range
- Slows enemies down
- Self-sustainable
Cons
- Swinging can be unpredictable in assisted mode and requires training in non-assisted mode.
Doctor Strange
Out of all the vanguards, strange offers the lowest HP but that doesn’t mean he is out of the contention. No, he is actually the one professionals and players with high elo prefers. Why? It’s because the insane mobility and defensive utility strange provides.
Doctor Strange can open portals to any place on the map. So, you can easily transfer to choke points and unleash hell with your squad. Not only that but he also comes with a beefy 800 HP shield. His attacks build up dark magic which he can unleash as an AoE blast dealing massive damage.
As Strange you will won’t to co-ordinate with your team and open portals that will allow you to take control of the map. You can do some pretty insane team-up plays with them. And you will be the one in the frontlines opening the way for your duelists to attack from your massive shield.
Lastly, you will use his ultimate which will stunlock all the surrounding opponents for 3 seconds.
Pros
- Instant teleportation from one point to another point on the map
- Shield that can cover the entire team if played right
- Good mele damage
- Stunlock with his ultimate
Cons
- Dark magic rate over 100 chips away HP
- Attacks are very slow and clunky
Groot
If you want a complete defensive tank then there is no better option than Groot. With 700 HP he is the second tankiest Vanguard. But unlike Venom Groot is all about Crowd control. His kit includes two different types of walls/tree vines that will block the enemy and do constant damage or heal him over time.
This is great for systems like domination where you can keep the opponents off more easily than ever. His secondary attack offers a mid-ranged bomb attack that will allow you to deal good damage while his primary has a great range of up to 25m.
His ultimate will gather enemies around based on where you aim and bind them. This makes your team rain down on them. Overall, Groot is a complete support character. And he only gets better with team-ups and proper buffs.
Pros
- Can block off pathways
- Self-heal
- Stun locking options
- Great team-up choices
- Complete site holder
Cons
- Very slow movement
- No massive damage potential through skills
- Ultimate binds the opponents in a place but they can still attack while captured
Thor
If you want to play like a duelist but still want the comfort of vanguards then Thor is the best choice for you. His entire kit revolves around the Thorforce.
The more you build it up the better. There are three bars of Thorforce and you can consume all three to channel lightning and deal massive damage. Hammer throws and pushes will grant you extra health. You do this until you go for your ult which is a massive AoE nuke.
Pros
- Very strong attack potential
- Easy to obtain extra HP
- Very strong ultimate
Cons
- Quite slow and clunky
- There aren’t any defensive capabilities
- The ultimate is very difficult to hit
Penny Parker
Finally, we have come to the most technical and versatile tank in the game, Penny Parker. She is great on both attack and defense. You can take easy site control or hold on choke points all by yourself if you play her right.
To play Penny, you need to understand her spiderbot. Once you place it, the bot will spread a web around a specific area, while you are there you will get additional health and damage reduction.
The bot will also spawn small spider bombs that will go off when enemies cross it. She can also web-lock enemies with her secondary attack. This stun is extremely effective.
Once your setup is ready then you will place power spiders bots around you. You will be able to do 4 in an instant and they regen over time. This way you can set up traps all around the map and make it your own kingdom.
Her ultimate is fast and damaging, she will run across providing spider bombs and using the spider claws to damage the enemies. They are extremely effective to distract opponents and move their placements. Personally, she is my number-one vanguard in the game right now.
Pros
- Versatile in both attack and defense
- Easy to obtain extra HP
- Very strong ultimate
- Stunlocks her opponents
- Can hold on to multiple angles
- Easily move around with spider webs
Cons
- Requires time to learn
- Relies too heavily on the spider bot once it’s destroyed she is useless
Read more: Marvel Rivals – All Leaked Characters
