Best Strategists and Healers in Marvel Rivals Season 9
The best Marvel Rivals Strategists for Season 9, including new hero Jubilee, ranked with the official Version 20260710 healing and Team-Up numbers.
Strategist is the role with the clearest healing-side story in Season 9. Several kits got broad numeric buffs at once, one hero lost a hybrid identity in exchange for a cleaner one, and the season’s headline new hero, Jubilee, debuts here instead of in Vanguard or Duelist.
Conclusion: The Season 9 Strategist Read
Cloak & Dagger is the clearest tier promotion of the entire patch: every healing number in their kit rose this update (direct-hit, spell field, one-time heal, and channeled healing all increased), and independent Season 9 trackers (Counterwatch.gg, Marvelrivals.gg) agree it pushes them firmly into S tier, largely credited to their new Luna Snow Team-Up. Jubilee arrives as Season 9’s new hero with a dual-function kit that heals allies and damages enemies from the same action, a design no other current Strategist runs — she is unproven at scale, so we place her at A tier with a Watch confidence flag rather than S. Invisible Woman reverses her Season 8 nerf trend with a real healing buff, then got buffed again in the July 11 hotfix. Mantis carries the most mixed signal of the role: real Team-Up synergy buffs on July 10, confirmed partly reversed one day later when the July 11 hotfix cut her base Healing Flower from (15+3% max health)/s to (12+3% max health)/s.
Step by Step: Choosing a Strategist for Your Session
- Decide whether your team needs pure healing or hybrid utility. Cloak & Dagger and Rocket Raccoon lean toward raw healing throughput; Jubilee and Mantis lean toward hybrid value (damage-and-heal, or movement utility).
- Check your team’s Ultimate economy tolerance. The global Strategist Ultimate energy nerf (healing-to-energy conversion dropped 75% to 60%, damage-to-energy dropped 75% to 55%) means every Strategist ultimate arrives later than it did in Season 8. Plan around that instead of assuming a Season 8 timing window.
- Pair healing style with your frontline. A brawl-heavy Vanguard core wants a Strategist who can heal through repeated contact (Cloak & Dagger, White Fox); a poke-heavy core can afford a more positional healer (Loki, Adam Warlock). See the Season 9 best Vanguards tier list and Season 9 best Duelists tier list to check the rest of your comp.
- Reassess Mantis case-by-case. Her Team-Up synergy buffs are official and confirmed, but her raw self-sustain numbers are the least settled on this list — test her yourself before trusting either the buff or the hotfix-nerf narrative fully.
The Current Strategist Tier Table
| Tier | Hero | Season 9 note |
|---|---|---|
| S | Cloak & Dagger | Lightforce Dagger direct-hit healing 12 to 15, spell field 20 to 25; Veil of Lightforce one-time heal 45 to 50; Dagger Storm 45/s to 50/s. Broadest healing buff of the patch. |
| A | Jubilee | Season 9’s new hero. Fireworks-based kit heals allies and damages enemies from the same action. Early placement, unproven at scale — treat as Watch confidence. |
| A | Rocket Raccoon | Repair Mode orb healing 50 to 55, but C.Y.A. Ultimate energy cost rose 4000 to 4300 with new distance-based falloff (8 to 20m). Healing is stronger, the ultimate is slower to reach. |
| A | Invisible Woman | Orb Projection outgoing healing 45 to 50, return healing 35 to 40. Reverses the Season 8 nerf trend; moved up from a Season 8 B-tier read. |
| A | White Fox | Spirit Sanctuary cooldown extended 12s to 15s (nerf), but Kumiho Unleashed total health rose 900 to 1,200 (buff). Ultimate uptime is more valuable, passive cadence is slower. |
| A | Adam Warlock | Base health up 250 to 275, but Cosmic Cluster projectile damage down 38 to 35. Tankier, less raw poke damage. |
| A | Luna Snow | Number One Idol’s damage boost was removed (10% to 0%) for a bigger healing boost (10% to 20%); Idol Aura healing rose 35% to 40%. Loses her hybrid damage role, becomes a pure healer. |
| A | Ultron | Imperative: Firewall drone area healing rose 30/s to 35/s in the base patch. Confirmed in the July 11 hotfix: his Peni Parker Team-Up ally drone healing was cut from 35/s to 15/s and its cooldown extended 15s to 20s — his general kit got stronger, that one Team-Up got weaker. |
| A | Loki | No confirmed direct Season 9 balance change this patch; still governed by the global Ultimate energy nerf and Team-Up Anchor Bonus removal. |
| B | Mantis | Star-Lord Team-Up healing buffed (10+2.5% to 15+3% of max health/s) and Adam Warlock Team-Up self-heal buffed (12.5/s to 17.5/s) on July 10, then confirmed cut back the next day: the July 11 hotfix reduced her base Healing Flower from (15+3% max health)/s to (12+3% max health)/s, with the Star-Lord Team-Up healing reduced proportionally. |
| B | Jeff the Land Shark | No confirmed direct Season 9 balance change this patch. |
Comparison: Raw Healers vs. Hybrid Strategists
| Type | Heroes | Trade-off |
|---|---|---|
| Raw healing throughput | Cloak & Dagger, Rocket Raccoon, White Fox | Highest sustained output, less independent damage or utility contribution. |
| Hybrid heal-and-utility | Jubilee, Mantis, Luna Snow | Split value between healing and either damage or team utility, but each ability does less of either than a specialist would. |
| Positional support | Loki, Adam Warlock, Invisible Woman | Healing tied to safer positioning or illusion/projection mechanics rather than direct line-of-sight commitment. |
Jubilee’s arrival is the interesting wrinkle here: no other current Strategist runs a true heal-and-damage-from-the-same-action kit, which means her matchup value will depend heavily on comps that can capitalize on the dual function rather than just adding her as a generic fourth healer option.
FAQ
Is Jubilee good in Season 9?
Too early to call with confidence. Her fireworks-based dual heal-and-damage kit is genuinely unique among current Strategists, which is why we place her at A tier with a Watch confidence flag rather than committing to S or B. Test her against your own team’s needs before trusting any early placement, ours included.
What is the single clearest Strategist buff this patch?
Cloak & Dagger. Every healing number in their kit rose in the same patch, and independent Season 9 trackers agree it pushes them firmly into S tier as a result, largely on the strength of their new Luna Snow Team-Up.
Why is Mantis ranked lower despite getting buffs?
Her official Team-Up synergy numbers went up on July 10, but the July 11 hotfix confirmed a same-week reversal: her base Healing Flower was cut from (15+3% max health)/s to (12+3% max health)/s. We rank her conservatively because the two patches mostly cancel out, not because the picture is unclear — see our Season 9 July 11 hotfix explainer for the full list.
How does the Strategist Ultimate energy nerf change my rotation?
Healing-to-energy conversion dropped from 75% to 60% and damage-to-energy from 75% to 55%, so every Strategist ultimate now takes noticeably longer to charge than it did in Season 8. Plan your engagement timing around a later ultimate window rather than a Season 8 habit. See the Season 9 tier list for the full cross-role picture, the Season 9 team comps guide for how to pair a Strategist with a frontline, and the Season 9 patch notes analysis for the complete official balance breakdown.