I still remember diving into Marvel Rivals back in December 2024, completely overwhelmed by the sheer chaos of superpowered brawls. As a dedicated support main, I gravitated straight to the Strategist role because, let\u2019s face it, everyone loves a good healer. Three years and a mountain of balance patches later, I find myself asking the same burning question whenever I queue up: who truly brings the most value when the objective is on the line? If you\u2019ve ever wondered whether Jeff the Land Shark still holds up or why everyone and their grandmother seems to instalock Mantis, you\u2019re in the right place. I\u2019m here to break down the current state of Strategists \u2013 without any sugarcoating \u2013 based on hundreds of hours of trial, plenty of silly deaths, and a healthy dose of sarcasm.

Let\u2019s kick things off with a painful truth: nobody wants to see their teammate pick Jeff the Land Shark in a competitive lobby these days. Don\u2019t get me wrong, the adorable little guy remains the undisputed mascot of Marvel Rivals, and his Ultimate \u2013 swallowing an entire team and spitting them off a cliff \u2013 can still single-handedly win a round. The problem? That\u2019s pretty much all he brings to the table. Why would you settle for a healer whose damage is as mediocre as a wet noodle and whose utility barely exists? Sure, he pumps out reliable healing, but when a Black Panther is diving your backline, Jeff has precisely one panic button: hope your Ult is ready and that nobody hears the telltale chomp sound. In 2026, with so many heroes capable of saving a teammate from certain doom, relying on a tiny shark whose only escape is to swim away has become a liability. He\u2019s not bad, but he\u2019s just so\u2026 vanilla.

Moving up the ladder, Rocket Raccoon still occupies that weird middle ground that I have a love-hate relationship with. On one hand, the fuzzy little genius is an absolute menace to kill. His hitbox is microscopic, his jetpack dashes make him ridiculously slippery, and his B.R.B. (the resurrection beacon) and Amplifier are persistent distractions that the enemy team has to deal with. His AoE healing orbs can keep a clustered team alive through a choke point. But can we please talk about the travel time on those heals? It feels like waiting for a pizza delivery during a firefight. Despite that, Rocket\u2019s team-up with The Punisher and Winter Soldier remains one of the most devastating offensive boosts in the game. He\u2019s the definition of a situational pick \u2013 incredible on certain maps, forgettable on others.

Adam Warlock is an enigma wrapped in gold. He\u2019s rated three stars for difficulty, yet his healing is literally \u201cpress button, everyone gets health.\u201d That burst healing potential through Soul Bond and his Avatar Life Stream charge is unmatched when things get chaotic. I\u2019ve seen an entire dive composition crumble because Adam popped Soul Bond and effectively merged the team\u2019s health bars. The catch? His healing is locked behind charges, and once those are gone, you\u2019re praying your other Strategist is awake. Adam basically mandates a second healer, which, honestly, isn\u2019t the end of the world since two Strategists is the meta anyway. Still, if you\u2019re forced to solo heal, Adam isn\u2019t your guy.

Now we enter the territory of genuine game-changers. Cloak and Dagger has been my personal safety net for seasons. I\u2019ll never understand why more players don\u2019t abuse Dark Teleportation. This ability, on a measly 12-second cooldown, grants complete invulnerability to anyone nearby. You hear \u201cLEGENDARY!\u201d from an enemy Iron Man? Pop Dark Teleportation and watch his Ultimate harmlessly fizzle. That single ability cancels out the most devastating ultimates in the game, and it requires zero aim. Their recent balance adjustments, particularly to Eternal Bond not stacking as of 2025, toned down their overly oppressive healing fields, but the clairvoyant duo remains a top-tier pick for anyone who can manage the stance-dancing.

Loki, the trickster god, is my spirit animal. Why face a problem head-on when you can annoy the enemy into submission? His illusion swapping and stealth make him the slipperiest target imaginable, and the Regeneration Domain rune provides near-immunity if the enemy is foolish enough to ignore it. I\u2019ve baited entire teams into wasting ultimates on a clone while I stood three feet away laughing. Like Cloak and Dagger, Loki can nullify dives and ultimates with his healing field, but he adds a layer of psychological warfare. His damage can skyrocket if you position illusions correctly, turning him into a pseudo-damage dealer. The only downside is that a bad Loki is a throw, while a good Loki makes you want to uninstall the game.

Speaking of frustrating heroes, Luna Snow has seen better days. Once the undisputed queen of healing whose Ultimate could single-handedly escort a payload across the finish line, the 2025 nerfs hit her hard. Her AoE healing and damage boost switching is now slower and harder to charge. That said, Luna still has a tool for every situation: piercing heals that can top off multiple allies, a strong freeze for crowd control, and Ice Arts for those \u201coh no, the tank is dying\u201d moments. She\u2019s still a fantastic pick, but she\u2019s no longer the solo Strategist savior she used to be. You need a co-healer to cover her downtime, but when she does pop off, it\u2019s still a spectacle.

This brings me to The Invisible Woman, who burst onto the scene in Season 1 and never really left the meta. Sue Storm\u2019s primary attack bounces off walls, healing allies and hurting enemies simultaneously \u2013 can you say efficiency? Her Force Physics lets her push a Wolverine off a ledge or pull a suicidal Duelist back to safety. And her Ultimate? A colossal invisible boundary that blocks enemy vision while healing everyone inside. It\u2019s the only reason my team survived certain wipes. The skill ceiling is high, requiring map awareness and quick reactions, but once you master her, you feel like a puppeteer controlling the entire fight.

Finally, we arrive at the queen herself: Mantis. Why does Mantis sit at the top of my 2026 tier list, unchanged while everyone else got nerfed? Consistency. Her Spore Slumber is the best single-target crowd control ability in the game, functioning like an I-win button against divers. If a Venom dives my backline, I put him to sleep, damage-boost myself, and simply walk away. Her healing-over-time and damage buffs, when managed properly, make your entire team unkillable. Plus, she self-heals with practically every action, making her frustratingly independent. The only catch? You need pinpoint aim to spread those buffs quickly. If you can click heads and track cooldowns, Mantis will carry you to victory. There\u2019s a reason she\u2019s the first Strategist I lock when the stakes are high.

In the end, no Strategist in Marvel Rivals is genuinely unplayable, but after three years of meta shifts, some have aged better than others. Learning multiple heroes remains the smartest investment you can make, because I promise you, the moment you master Cloak and Dagger\u2019s Dark Teleportation timing or Mantis\u2019s sleep dart, you\u2019ll wonder why you ever wasted time chasing cliffs with a little shark.