In Marvel Strike Force, players form teams of five characters at a time to fight through Raids, Arena, War, and more. With hundreds of characters available to collect and power up, it can be overwhelming for players to know where to put their resources.
Legendary characters are the most powerful heroes and villains in the game, but with 14 Legendaries released so far, there is significant variance even among this top class. A few are rarely used anymore, but most dominate at least one mode of play. Unlocking these toons should be a priority for any player looking to make the most of their roster.
Black Bolt
While stronger teams with more synergy have largely power crept Black Bolt out of use, he was once a member of some of the best Raid teams in Marvel Strike Force. An Inhuman Blaster-class hero, the King of Attilan is an offensive powerhouse with a unique passive ability.
Characters like Ultron and Minerva thrive through reviving themselves or others, and Black Bolt was the first character who could prevent revival altogether for any character that he defeated. With the growing popularity of Dormamu, Black Bolt has seen some increased niche use in Arena and War.
Invisible Woman
Invisible Woman has some synergy with Doctor Doom, but the two are rarely used together. Instead, the Fantastic Four pair with She-Hulk to make a powerful War defense team, and Invisible Woman can join any four characters to make them harder to take down.
Invisible Woman's other significant advantage is that she uses Bio gear. Fewer top-level characters use these resources, so many have found success with her in the Legendary sections of the Dark Dimensions. However, as Legendary characters are released, her usefulness there is likely waning.
Phoenix
Phoenix is one of the best characters in Marvel Ultimate Alliance, and her power is equally impressive in Marvel Strike Force. Her damage potential is no longer among the best in the game, but her unique mechanics make her helpful in Dark Dimension.
When Phoenix dies, she comes back as Dark Phoenix. Her Special steals a flat percentage of all enemy health in this second form, and this move scales incredibly well with the buffed health pools in Dark Dimension 1-5. Furthermore, the recent release of Magik has boosted the Uncanny X-Men back into War usability.
Shuri
Shuri was initially supposed to be the healer for the Wakandans, but she has never seen much play there. While Scopely described them as the "apex Raid team," Black Panther and friends never performed better than their peers. Fortunately for Shuri, she functions well as a healer on any team.
Shuri is still useful due to the lack of a cohesive Tech Raid team in Doom Raids. She can join characters like Doctor Doom, Kestral, Lady Deathstrike, and Misty Knight to provide healing and Defense Up.
Ebony Maw
There was once a time when The Black Order was the best team in every Marvel Strike Force game mode except Raid. This is no longer the case, but Ebony Maw, Cull Obsidian, Proxima Midnight, Corvus Glaive, and Thanos are still challenging for most teams to defeat.
Ebony Maw is the team's Support character, and he combines impressive buffing, debuffing, and healing into one package. His Ultimate bypasses heal block, so he is a good choice for players who haven't unlocked better Mystic Raid characters like the New Warriors or Eternals.
Doctor Octopus
Many fans felt underwhelmed when Scopely first revealed Doctor Octopus' kit, but time proved him a much more formidable character than he seems on paper. This tanky healer still has use in Doom Raids and War.
Doc Ock grants charge to two of his fellow Sinister Six members, and their War-specific bonuses make them a common sight at all levels of War play. Furthermore, he gives heal to all teammates with his Special and deals Slow with his Basic, so many players use him in the Tech nodes of Doom Raid and the Legendary Dark Dimension sections.
Adam Warlock
Adam Warlock was the first Mythic Legendary character in Marvel Strike Force, and his power level and team reflect the increased difficulty obtaining him. He may seem like one of the more obscure characters in Marvel Strike Force to exclusive Marvel Cinematic Universe fans, but comic readers know how important Adam is to several popular stories.
His Infinity Watch team is no longer the Arena meta, but they reigned unchallenged for most of a year. They are still beneficial in Arena War and the upcoming Cosmic Crucible.
Jubilee
When Scopely announced that they were introducing a new Mutant team and Legendary character to Marvel Strike Force, many fans expected a popular X-Men member like Nightcrawler or Professor X. Jubilee seemed to be an unexpected choice when she hasn't seen much multimedia representation outside of the popular 1990s cartoon.
Despite any initial doubt, Jubilee has proven herself as one of the most enduringly valuable characters in the game. She is a top Dark Dimension choice, and the Astonishing X-Men is still the best mutant raid team available.
Morgan Le Fay
This year, Marvel Strike Force is going through its first-ever long-form narrative event. Individual Horseman (separate from those in the comics) will come out as Legendary characters with their own teams; then they will come together with Apocalypse in late 2022.
Morgan Le Fay is the first Legendary character who uses a Scourge event instead of a traditional unlock campaign. Players will play through narrative missions to earn points toward a leaderboard that grants character shard. Morgan joins Scarlet Witch, Wong, Agatha Harkness, and Doctor Strange (Heartless) to form the Darkhold team. This group's Arena dominance is worthy of the smartest magic users in comic books.
Omega Red
The Heroes for Hire was one of the most controversial team releases in Marvel Strike Force history due to their complete dominance of War. Omega Red and his Weapon X are a direct counter to them and are the current strongest War offense team.
Omega Red was also the first character to use the Trauma debuff, which stops characters from clearing negative effects. Outside of War, Omega Red is also one of the most popular Legendary characters in Dark Dimension due to his attack that steals a flat percentage of enemy health.