There have been a few tier lists knocking around. Turn Zer0 gaming did a two part episode on tier lists (episodes 6-7), a recently Across the Bifrost did a tier list episode.
For me, tier lists make most sense within an affiliation, so I’m going to produce a series of tier lists, one for each affiliation. First up: Avengers.

Definition of tiers
It’s worth making clear what the tiers I’ll be using mean.
- S Tier – This character will make nearly all rosters for the affiliation.
- A Tier – A character you will always consider, and bring most of the time.
- B Tier – there are some good reasons to bring this character, but they may get left out.
- C Tier – this character fits a niche, but you need to have a plan to include them. C tier does not mean they are bad, but they need to be included for a specific, narrow, plan.
- D Tier – you are very unlikely to take this character.
S Tier
- Captain America – a no brainier. You need him for the excellent leadership ability.
- Thor – such a strong piece, and super powers made cheaper really turns him up a notch, going at full whack from turn one.
- Black Panther – mobile, durable, good offensive options and control elements: wow. The power discount feels great on Pounce and Mantle of the Black Panther. He does so many things he’s close to an auto include on the roster.
A Tier
- Vision – a consideration for S Tier. Such a cheap throw, and the discount on Rapid Phase makes him work really well.
- Iron Man – Durable, but the main consideration is being a three threat Avenger. He makes team construction maths so much easier. Fills a role as a defensive Secure sitter.
- Black Widow – A great two threat Avenger who can go wide and grab extracts.
- Hulk – Hulk is hard to place, but with his Gamma Launch he brings a huge range of tactical options. Ultimately, if you are playing Avengers, having access to the BDT team is something you probably want.
B Tier
- Groot – healing 3 damage for one power is great. Plays in to an durable long game build for Avvengers.
- Venom – the threat of So Many Snacks for one power makes him a real menace. Again, he can play in to a long game durable game plan that Avengers are great at.
- Shuri – lacking any specific synergy with Avengers, but her abilities and rerolls are welcome anywhere. This is probably her weakest affiliation, but she’s still a great support piece.
- Loki – loves the discount on his reactive super powers, and he plays really well in an Avengers mirror match.
- Valkyrie – cheap, high damage potential and a throw. Warrior of Legend for one power is just ridiculous.
- Baron Zemo – Avengers tend not to have much in the way of rerolls and Zemo loves being able to charge in round one.
- Killmonger – having Cap to protect him on the way up, and make a charge cheaper does make him better. Usurp the Throne can tip a slow scoring game heavily in your favour, which makes him applicable in a wide range of crises.
- Winter Soldier – I think ‘Till the End of the Line is a something that can answer some lists that pose a questions around throws/pushes.
C Tier
- Captain Marvel – she is a great character, but comparisons with Vision make her sad. She absolutely can work well, but she needs slow scenarios as she take a a while to come online in Avengers. Have a plan for her and she’ll do really well, but she isn’t as plug and play as other options.
- Okoye – bodyguard for one is great, but why do you need two bodyguards? Maybe you’ve got a plan for her. Hence C tier.
- Rocket – maybe what you need is a cheap ranged character. He’s your raccoon. But probably not.
- Red Skull – Master of the Cosmic Cube might feed in to a bigger plan, and getting it for 2 is pretty great.
- M.O.D.O.K. – discounts on advancing the opponents and throws. You could argue for B tier, but the kind of damage dealing M.O.D.O.K. brings doesn’t line up with my plans when I’m in Avengers, and he’s competing with in-affiliation Thor.
- Spider-Man – Web Line for one and Web-a-pult for two are great, but he is competing for those unaffiliated slots, and often comes up short in that comparison. But with a plan, his L move and turn one Web Line can be great.
- Doctor Octopus – if you are making a throw heavy list, he’s a second three threat thrower after Valkyrie. Reducing the throw cost to two is good on him
D Tier
- Star Lord – Competing with Iron Man or Vision/Captain Marvel, and they have better synergies and affiliation.
- Crossbones – if Cap’s leadership reduced his Inured to Pain he’d be way higher.
- Ultron – you have access to better fliers, better blasters and better reactive powers.
- Hela – durability counts in her favour, but there are other durable characters that synergise better.
Great job! Thanks for this.
In your opinion, would there be any mileage in running both Captain Marvel AND Vision, or is that flogging a dead horse?
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You might have them in your roster for different crises. Captain Marvel is great on Origin bombs. Vision would do better on Extremis Consoles. I can see taking both in to roster, but not in the same team.
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Thanks for the reply 👍
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