Greetings, true believers! Today we are going to be looking at every single 3-threat in the game that has been released at the time of writing. This means that we will be looking at a grand total of 73 characters in Marvel Crisis Protocol. 3 threats are vital to rosters, as they allow you to add models to your squad, make affiliation, and get work done in the game. This list is 100% subjective, so feel free to discuss it! Before we jump in, here are the criteria I am using for each tier in the list:
S-Tier: these are exceptional characters. Not only are they usually the best in their affiliations, but you should also consider them every time you build a list, or expect to face them in nearly every game and you should have a plan.
A-Tier: these are almost always included for their affiliation and they get splashed into rosters quite often.
B-Tier: these are solid models within their given affiliation, however they don’t really see their best play outside of affiliation. This is where the majority of characters will land.
C-Tier: these characters typically have better alternatives within their own affiliation.
D-Tier: I won’t say these are hot garbage because I think everyone should be able to play the characters they love. However, you are facing an uphill battle if you include these characters in your Squad.
Let the controversy begin! I am tackling these characters in alphabetical order instead of going through each tier.
Yes, Angel is a medium base M mover with Healing Factor. Those are all good things. However, X-Men are absolutely flush with quality 3-threat models that I would pick over Angel. And the new Hellfire affiliation is a hot mess at the moment full of mediocre-at-best models.
Ranking: C
I want Scott to work so badly. I love this character. But this is a game about scoring points, and if you are playing Ant-Man and using his powers, he is effectively not scoring you points for the Extract half of the game, and he’s not tanky enough to reliably sit on a Secure. He needs a pass in an independent update or a repackage update.
Ranking: D
A Gainer and Scientific Hubris do not a good Power Economy make. Zola is starved for power to use the parts of his kit that will actually benefit his team. And he has 2 Defense against Physical Attacks, the most widely seen attack type in the game.
Ranking: D
The reason I think Avalanche is a decent choice within Brotherhood (specifically Magneto) is because the only reactive superpower on his card has great synergy with Mags’s leadership. Additionally, his Tactics Card Fault Line works really great with Pyro, and Brotherhood is about the only place where you can play both of these models in a squad together.
Ranking: B
Mordo is cute in wide Weapon X squads sometimes. But within Convocation, those models can’t heal the damage that Ferocity of Cyttorak causes. The rest of his kit is just plain meh.
Ranking: C
I only placed him this high because for whatever reason, I’ve never beaten him. You really have to build specifically for his leadership, and your characters have to be debuffed in some way to use his leadership. Making your own models worse to use a leadership isn’t the best strategy, generally speaking.
Ranking: C
He is, without question, one of the best models in the game. And credit to AMG, he hasn’t been touched since his release in the original Core Set. He provides a re-roll bubble, he can re-roll all of his dice, he can charge (with an L move), he can grab extracts on the other side of the board and can hunt down opposing extract holders. Really does it all exceptionally well.
Ranking: S
Beast is fantastic in all of his affiliations. His Medium base, medium move gives him incredible mobility, and he has a fantastic character throw. He is also surprisingly tanky with his re-rolls.
Ranking: B
Ignore her defensive stats, because she is way more durable than her stat line indicates. Attacks are essentially Hexed and she has stealth. Manage to get some damage through? Cool, now she’s going to drink your milkshake and then run away with it after she auto-staggers you. Bye, Felicia. Meow indeed.
Ranking: S
The biggest sin of this model is having the alter ego of T’Challa. There are two other T’Challas in the game, and both of them have leaderships. And there are just better 3-threats in all of his affiliations.
Ranking: C
This character is a mess. Her attacks are R3 or shorter and she has Stealth. And the rest of her card might as well be blank. The higher and lower threat versions of Natasha are much better than this one, too. 2-threat Natasha has Martial Artist, an L move, a Counter-Attack, and only costs 2–threat.
Ranking: D
To begin with, he is an L mover with Flight, so he can go wherever he wants to go on the map. Additionally, he has action compression with a Charge and a R4 Shield Throw. Additionally, he can reposition his teammates if he needs to with his Air Lift superpower.
Ranking: A
Don’t get me wrong, she needed the help she got in the May 2025 updates. But it’s still not quite enough. She wants to be a support character at R4, but she has to be in R3 to use her Gainer. Otherwise, she risks doing damage to herself to giver herself the ability to do ONE of her superpowers.
Ranking: C
Somebody please give this man a M move. Even with his Aggressive, it’s hard to get him in range to impact the game. And quite frankly, the newer version of him is much more useful on the table.
Ranking: C
Still no M move, sadly. However, the B3 attack makes him a much more attractive choice to put in your roster than the OG Crossbones.
Ranking: B
She is low-threat investment that loves Special Delivery in A-Force. Until the recent releases of Karnak and Gorgon, she was a staple in Inhumans. If you can consistently pass her power (which, incidentally, both of her affiliations can do), she can make three attack actions a turn (or two if she needs to move), which can help you forget that all of her attacks are 4-dice Gainers. Her ability to prevent Shake actions is cute, but I don’t think it’s exactly game-changing.
Ranking: B
This character is an example of terrible design. And the fact that she hasn’t gotten an update since release really makes me think someone at AMG hates her. Her superpowers are serviceable, but that’s not the problem. They both cost 3 power. And she only has a single Gainer to generate power, which means her most reliable form of power generation is getting punched in the face and taking damage. But she’s only got 3s for defense against physical and energy attacks and 5 health, so she doesn’t stand up to much of anything. Her tactics card is a trap, don’t bother taking it.
Ranking: D
I love this idiot. He can steal power, threaten at R4, and teleport himself when he needs to. He also has Healing Factor and an always counts as a Healthy character when he is contesting Secure objectives. His spender is also really good. If all of that isn’t enough, he also has built-in re-roll for his Attack and Defense rolls and an Injured Side that is better than his Healthy Side.
Ranking: A
Like Chosen of Bast, this version of Doc Ock suffers from a better version existing within the game. Before the second Core Box released, I would have ranked this version of Doc higher. He was a low cost Spider Foe with decent attacks, power generation, defenses, and displacement on his card. He’s not bad, but Doc Ock 2 is so good.
Ranking: C
Her card hides how effective she is. Being able to change skull results and turning off all of the Crit results for your opponent in attack and defense makes her an incredibly tanky model. She’s great in X-Force with the free re-rolls and ignoring cover, and she’s excellent in Weapon X and X-Men too. If you’re playing any of those affiliations, you should really think hard about including her in your roster.
Ranking: B
Before the release of Dracula, Drax was really struggling. While he liked the re-rolls granted in Guardians courtesy of the Winging It tokens, there were just a glut of great options where Drax was just good. In Dracula, however, he has found a place to shine. Having Blled on basically the entire team means he can re-roll dice in all of his Builder attacks, and can also remove Damage from himself if he needs to. He is a star in that affiliation.
Ranking: B
I would not have placed him here prior to the May 2025 updates, but he has had quite the glow-up. If his Wilds only counted doubles on his Attacks, I probably wouldn’t rank him so highly, but the fact that they count double on Defense and Dodge rolls too really pushes him up. If you splash him into an affiliation that allows him dice manipulation (looking at you Mighty Steve) or passes him Power (Xavier notably) he amps up really quickly.
Ranking: A
Gwen is great as a Web Warrior. It’s debatable whether or not she is a staple for every game, because she can just die since she doesn’t have Spider-Sense. I’ve tried splashing her in other affiliations, but she didn’t feel right. At least not as good has her displacement stacking with the other Spiders feel.
Ranking: B
A new arrival on the scene, but he is proving to be a pretty effective 3-threat across several affiliations. He has a very efficient kit with action compression as well as a taunt, and since he’s an Inhuman, he can also re-roll one attack and one defense dice every time he rolls them.
Ranking: B
If you play Rocket in Guardians, you are probably taking Groot with you. Beyond that, I don’t see him played much, whereas Rocket can be played all over the place with his threat cost of 2. His kit isn’t bad, per se, but the more spread out crises we have right now really hurt S movers in the game.
Ranking: B
Hawkeye feels great in Defenders now under Nu Dr. Strange. Being able to hand out Hex along with the other conditions he can hand out from R5 can really give him value. Additionally, he can pretty reliably shoot twice a turn and fund his movement through those attacks to use Hook Arrow to move around the board as he needs to. He is also fantastic in both versions of Avengers under Steve Rogers, though I’m not sure how much he helps a Namor-led S.H.I.E.L.D list.
Ranking: B
Bless his heart. He can’t help how he was designed, even with an update pass. Within Asgard, there are better options for what he tries to do. He wants to be a support character at R4, but his only way of generating power outside of the Power Phase is at R2. He might be better under Steve 1 where his powers are cheaper, but he is hard to play otherwise.
Ranking: C
Reducing damage by 2 is definitely useful when Hood is possessed. But I just keep seeing him passed over for other 3 threats in affiliation and much better 4 threats.
Ranking: C
I recognize my bias towards mutants, and I also recognize that Bobby can die pretty easily. But I still think he has a place in X-Men with his Medium base, M move coupled with his hit and run and pseudo air lift abilities.
Ranking: B
If for nothing else, he gives Midnight Sons an affiliated model that can bring Heroes For Hire. Is Luke Cage a better option for that card? Yes, absolutely. But sometimes you’ve got to have that affiliated 3 that can bring it along. And his kit isn’t terrible, just don’t hinge your entire game plan on being able to use his Spender.
Ranking: B
I really feel bad for this version of Tony. Before Invincible Iron Man was released with the second Core Set, I would have said this was the best version of Iron Man. Now, I’m not entirely sure. He is good and solid under all of the Captains America in Avengers, and his range bands for attacks and effects associated with them are also good. He’s not an auto-include, but he still has a place in rosters.
Ranking: B
An incredibly solid performer for Inhumans, but I don’t see him being splashed much of anywhere outside of that. Between Martial Artist and his Weakness token, he is deceptively tanky for a 3 threat model, and if he is able to attack you twice with at least two power, that second attack is going to hit hard.
Ranking: B
Don’t come at me with the Fearful Symmetry memery. You want to use the myriad good Spider-Foes cards on him to really turn him into a force to be reckoned with. I also really like what he is able to do for his team by discouraging your opponent from moving (really good against Extract runners) with his Corner the Beast superpower, and giving everyone on your team an extra dice when they attack one specific opposing model with his Expert Tracker superpower.
Ranking: B
The absolute definition of a simple, efficient kit. He’s a medium-base, M move character with displacement, Healing Factor, and DR. Is it flashy? Not really. Is it effective? Absolutely.
Ranking: A
Lockjaw used to be everywhere, but there are more characters in the game that can teleport teammates around now, so his value has gone down a little bit outside of affiliation. Within the Inhumans, though, I think he still has a place to help move his allies around on the more spread out Crises we have now.
Ranking: B
He has damage reduction (DR), a taunt to take attacks off of his allies, and an absolutely insane TTC in Heroes For Hire. Luke can also randomly pop off for some offense, too, but his main job is to soak up hits for your really important characters and frustrate your opponent. And he is the best at that.
Ranking: S
Magik post-update is much more survivable than pre-update Magik. Don’t expect her to just tank hits, but she may be able to survive getting punched more than once. Her kit is still very good, though. Her ability to teleport gives her a ton of mobility to hop in and out of range for her attacks, Darkchylde is still a great spender, and Journey Through Limbo is one of the best Tactics cards in the game (and you don’t even have to use it on enemy characters). I don’t even blame the criticism leveled at her as the only leader for the New Mutants. That is a bigger problem with that entire affiliated roster than it is with her specific model, but they are getting help down the road with more models so maybe it will work better.
Ranking: B
The reason I am ranking him where I am is because he is great in his affiliations, but I don’t see him much outside of them. In Midnight Sons, Blade’s leadership gives his Medium base just a little bit more mobility to make up for his S movement. In Defenders, he can hand out Hex along with his native Incinerate to just add to the condition stacking and tee up models for his allies to take care of. Great control model to throw into either of those rosters.
Ranking: B
I really think Maverick is slept on. He has a R3 rapid fire for his main attack, can throw off his Spender, has hit and run, and can turn off healing with R3 of himself. In addition to giving them a ranged attacker, he also brings Weapon X one of their best cards in Weapons Stash.
Ranking: B
There are just better models to choose from in each and every one of his affiliations. If you love him, I’m not going to look at you too funny if you decide to include him in your squad.
Ranking: C
She is a mainstay in her Inhumans affiliation, and she can do solid work in an Avengers squad, too.
Ranking: B
Don’t let the small base and S move turn you off from Mysterio. He can be difficult to find room to splash outside of his affiliations, but between Tricks and Traps and his tactics card The Grand Illusion, he can create a wide area of “don’t come around here”.
Ranking: B
Even though she doesn’t have Deception to work with anymore (and you can’t convince me that Stolen Identity replaces it), Mystique still has a solid kit. Being able to move to any objective on the board is extremely powerful, and her leadership is still GOOD.
Ranking: B
I think this is another character that suffers from the new, more spread out Crises. When missions were right down the middle and they could just shoot and help move their teammates around, they were fantastic. SHIELD has other options at this threat level and higher.
Ranking: C
Hoo-boy was I wrong about this character when he was released. In a world with Apocalypse in it, his immunities are invaluable, and offensively he is a self-sustaining R4 machine from Round 2 at the latest. Chucking 6 Mystic dice at that range and consistently gaining Captured Souls to pay for whatever you need them to is incredibly satisfying.
Ranking: S
She is a very durable and fast model for Black Order, but some of her effectiveness has been lost since Corvus took a hit when the Reality Gem was updated. I’ve seen some wild experimentation with her outside of Black Order, but it’s a rare sight.
Ranking: B
Between the new Crises selection and the re-vamped leadership of Dr. Strange, I think Punisher is due for a renaissance. He can hand out Hex at range, and on a turn where you know you’re going to KO several models (because defenders be punchy like that), he brings an incredibly powerful card in Blood Red and Personal.
Ranking: B
Not only does he hand out some of the best conditions in the game (Incinerate and Root), but he has an absolutely insane TTC in Pyrotechnics. I can’t think of an affiliation that doesn’t benefit from what Pyro brings to the table.
Ranking: A
He’s an L mover with a superpower that gives him even more movement if he’s not holding an Extract. Can I Borrow That is also a supremely good card if you can power him up early in the game to use it.
Ranking: B
I am only putting him here because if you’re playing Winter Guard, he is part of your core by default. I do not ever see him played outside of that.
Ranking: B
Kitty is not very tanky, but she can punch above her weight class by turning off defensive Crit rolls entirely. She is also an L mover with a R2 place so she can really cover some ground during an activation if she needs to.
Ranking: B
His card looks real boring, but in practice he is actually really fun to play within his affiliations.
Ranking: B
Is she great in Wakanda and A-Force? For sure. She’s just as good outside of her home affiliations, too. Her R5 guaranteed Size 3 displacement can be game-changing, and she pretty much always has power to pay for re-rolls within her R4 bubble.
Ranking: A
Aside from BarBarJonks (who I interviewed here), who has really made Sin, and especially her leadership, work? If you are in range to attack with her, you are also within range to be attacked back and cancel your Stealth. She needs an update pass. Bad.
Ranking: D
He has a taunt, aggressive, and a Size 3 terrain throw. All of these things help make a good kit.
Ranking: B
This is the Spider-Man you should be worried about. With a R4 Gainer, this version of Pete can go an entire game without making a Move action, but still going wherever he wants to on the board. He has Spidey Sense to help his defense, if you ever have the power for his Spender, it ain’t bad, and he can displace models off Secure Objectives and score you points. Such an incredible character and character design.
Ranking: S
Yes, his leadership is fantastic. Giving your entire squad the ability to modify Failures if they’re playing the game can’t be undersold. However, even if he didn’t have that leadership ability, he is still a solid model across multiple affiliations. I really like him in Steve 1 Avengers where his Web Swing ability is online on Round 1, which gives him a 6 die attack with a Wild throw trigger, and he can afford that web swing every round as long as he’s not Poisoned.
Ranking: A
He is the only leader for Guardians, and he’s not hot garbage, so by default he gets ranked here.
Ranking: B
Storm’s leadership is still very good, even after it got changed. And I think as more games get played on these wider crises, the mobility her leadership gives will become even more valuable, and more space means more opportunities for your X-Men to re-roll a defense dice. And she can have a noticeable effect on the game through her own kit as well.
Ranking: B
R3 is not far enough when the designers decided that was going to be Supergiant’s only other way of generating power. This model has a Gainer and can only ever suffer one damage. Bad power economy plus superpowers that don’t really do anything does not a good model make.
Ranking: D
If you are one of those crazy people that build those dual or triple affiliated rosters, you’ve got to have some Rogue Agents to make it work. And I really think Taskmaster is the best of that bunch.
Ranking: A
Apoc has given The Blob a whole new audience to show his kit off to, and guess what? It’s still good.
Ranking: B
I don’t think that risking damaging yourself if an attack is successful is inherently bad design. When it’s on a 5 health model, however, I’m just never going to use that attack. Also, can we change Too Hot to Handle to “any Extract” being dropped instead of just Assets? If I’m burning, I’m not going to hold on to a Civilian, either.
Ranking: D
Valk can still do work in all of her affiliations, and shouldn’t be left at home when roster building.
Ranking: B
Is she completely broken and unplayable? No. Are you going to bring her to any of your games? Maybe, but more likely probably no. Her L move and stun on her pistol are what keep her here instead of the ranking below it. She needs an update.
Ranking: C
Angel, but worse.
Ranking: D
This model needs a complete overhaul from the ground up. Thematically, he should be the damage-dealing Iron Suit character, and Tony should be more about control. Right now, I’m taking any of the Iron Man variants over War Machine in an MCP brawl.
Ranking: D
Warlock is not bad in any of his affiliations because he can help reduce the effectiveness of the other team’s characters. If you play him in New Mutants, his ability to eat terrain so the rest of the team doesn’t have to dodge it is huge.
Ranking: B
Her best version does not allow her to hold objective tokens. Additionally, there are just better options in both A-Force and Avengers now than when she was first released.
Ranking: C
He is good in his home affiliation and also under Dormammu’s leadership. He is a Cruise Missile that you point at something and send him to delete it off the board. He’s not great at scoring you points, but your opponent HAS to deal with him.
Ranking: B
I still think original Bucky has some play. He has long range with rapid fire, and if he can pick up a hammer, he can be especially scary. And he is also a Rogue Agent, so he can give you another cheap option to help make affiliation if you don’t want to really bring a third affiliated model in your squad, or if you want to run multiple affiliations in your roster.
Ranking: B
The May 2025 update was very good for Laura. Not being Size 3 any more when she is thrown into her allies should give them a huge sigh of relief, and not having to have the power for Frenzy before she makes an attack is also huge. She is very efficient and is very much still a staple in all of her affiliations, but you won’t see her much outside of them.
Ranking: B
What did I get wrong or right? Let us know in the comments below!
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