[Top 10] Marvel Strike Force Best Villain Teams
We’ve all been obsessed with a villain in a superhero movie at some point in our lives. That’s why we’re going to be talking about the 10 best villain teams in Marvel Strike Force currently.
Fair warning – there will be a decent amount of overlap with hard-to-get characters because the best villains are hard to come by. The vast majority of top-tier villains are going to be Dark Dimension rewards or a member of the Four Horsemen.
Personally, I love playing with villain teams, and there are many scenarios where these teams will come in handy. Some may be more viable in certain game modes than others, but the sentiment is that each of these teams will be effective in their respective areas.
So prepare your villain monologue and let’s jump into it!
10. Marauders: Madelyne Pryor + Mister Sinister + Mystique + Sabretooth + Stryfe
Clones aren't the only thing he'll bring to the team.
If you play MSF, you may be wondering why this team is on this list. Simple – they’re easy to obtain and can work for newer players.
You can’t go wrong with a team that is easy to obtain. All of these toons are farmable in early campaign nodes or are available in the stores. Sabretooth has moved onto a new team, but in order to complete that team you’d have to get to the Horseman Saga to obtain Archangel.
You won’t regret throwing this team in your war defense, especially if you’re not far along in the game and don’t have a lot of villains unlocked.
Marauders Strengths
- War - You’ll find this team on war defense most commonly. They have buffs that are activated in war defense which makes it their primary use.
- Cosmic Crucible - Again, you can drop this team on your Crucible defense. It’ll be even more useful if the room benefits mutants or villains.
- Raid - Not their main purpose, but in Greek raids you can use them in the mutant and Marauders nodes with decent success.
How Marauders Work
- Madelyne Pryor - A lover’s clone of Phoenix, Madelyne Pryor is going to provide your damage and debuffs. She also gives passive focus and damage to Maraudes allies.
- Mister Sinister - He is an interesting character. He’s the original creator of clones, and he also provides healing to the team.
- Mystique - True to her lore, she utilizes stealth to prevent herself from taking damage and uses it as a basis for her attacks. She also has an insanely high resistance to bleed.
- Sabretooth - Sabretooth is a member of multiple teams at this point, but his role tends to be the same. He provides quality damage while applying bleeds and offense down.
- Stryfe - Stryfe is the protector of the group who utilizes taunt and ability block to keep your team healthy. On top of taunts, he will gain barriers to stifle incoming damage.
9. Masters of Evil: Absorbing Man + Kang the Conqueror + Moonstone + Titania + Ultron
They don't call them the Masters of Evil for nothing.
Another team that you may not have considered is the Masters of Evil. All of these are villains, but they are harder to obtain. This team is a menace in Cosmic Crucible, and I regularly use them in War.
The most difficult to obtain would be Ultron, but if you’ve been playing for a little while, that should be no issue at all. The most important and probably one of the most powerful characters in general is Kang. He is a solid addition to any team so you’ll be seeing him in some later configurations.
I’m obviously not going to say this team is the best, which is why it sits at #9 on my list, but it has redeeming qualities for sure. You don’t need to max out the entire team as long as your Kang is high enough. It’s also worth investing in Absorbing Man for the taunts and Moonstone for the damage. You could consider Ultron and Titania as luxury toons.
Masters of Evil Strengths
- Cosmic Crucible - You’ll find this team most useful in punching up in the Cosmic Crucible. Since they are one of only a handful of teams that are created for this purpose, it makes them worth the investmentWar - I’ll regularly use this team to attack in war. I’ll generally use them to punch down on a team that I know Kang can basically take out in one shot with his ultimate ability.
- Dark Dimension - All of these characters could have a potential use in Dark Dimension. They are not super expensive in terms of gear and each of them make for a nice substitute for some of the more mainstream, high-resource characters.
How Masters of Evil Works
- Absorbing Man - You’ll find yourself relying on this toon to keep your team alive by taunting. I mean, who wouldn’t want to try to run through a brick wall? He’s also great because a lot of his abilities have a “copy and clear” effect which keeps your team from having a disadvantage.
- Kang - Don’t neglect this toon. He’ll be your primary damage dealer with attacks that deal punishing blows to multiple enemies at once. Not to mention he also manipulates the speed bar and has a passive that deals damage to all enemies. Definitely the most overpowered toon on this team.
- Moonstone - Another speed bar manipulator, Moonstone creates openings for Kang to take advantage of by applying defense down and destroying an enemy’s turn meter.
- Titania - Depending on how you apply your ISO-8 materials, she can go a couple ways. She’s quite good at clearing positive effects on enemies, but she also possesses multiple attacks that are unavoidable. I’d use her as another character to create openings for Kang to take advantage of.
- Ultron - A once very useful character, Ultron has become somewhat easy to handle. At this point, his biggest benefit is being able to summon minions that can heal, speed up, and increase your team’s attack. The minions serve an additional purpose of taking hits from toons you are trying to protect, like Kang.
8. Weapon XPoc: Lady Deathstrike + Omega Red + Sabretooth + Silver Samurai + Apocalypse
Those long fingers are precisely where the death strikes come from, M'lady.
When you’re in need of a substitute for a hero on the team, it’s always a safe bet to go with one of the hardest hitting villains there is – Apocalypse. You can substitute Apocalypse into essentially any team, and he’ll carry it.
The reason Weapon X is on this list is because of their versatility within different attacking modes such as War and Crucible. You’ll rarely find these sorts of teams on defense because user controlling Apoc can easily swing a battle in your favor.
In almost any situation, having Apoc on your team can result in a punch up. His ultimate ability followed by the devastating second attack will almost guarantee the destruction of one enemy toon.
Weapon XPoc Strengths
- War - Bring this squad to the helicarrier. Did you find a room that needs cleared or weakened but has one really juiced-up toon waiting for you? Perfect for an Apoc ultimate smackdown.
- Cosmic Crucible - Similar to war, you can easily scrap one of those pesky teams with a single dominant toon. Not saying it’s only effective with a single toon, but a 1v1 with Apocalypse is a pretty tough feat.
- Raids - You can drop this lovely bunch of mutants into the raids for a decent amount of success. Again, Apoc will be your bread and butter so make sure you have him powered up as much as you can to take full advantage of this team’s potential.
How Weapon XPoc Works
- Lady Deathstrike - Bring on the debuffs! Each of her abilities apply bleed to multiple enemies with the added bonus of applying defense down.
- Omega Red - Your second in command for this team. His high-damage output coupled with his passive ability that helps keep himself and your team alive. This makes him a priceless member of Weapon X and thus this team as well.
- Sabretooth - Claw your way through enemy teams while applying debuffs. He is going to help apply debuffs to multiple allies through rebound chains and abilities targeting adjacent enemies.
- Silver Samurai - His primary function is to keep your team alive by taunting and applying counters, deflects, and barriers. He is a lighter member of the debuff army by contributing stun, heal block, and bleed.
- Apocalypse - They have an entire saga dedicated to this toon which requires 4 other legendary characters, so you better believe he’s going to be doing the majority of the work. All of his abilities rely on applying debuffs to double down on all of the debuffs this team applies. Each ability also has a drain element which makes killing him a hassle and a half.
7. Death Seed + Apoc: Archangel + Dark Beast + Magneto + Nemesis + Apocalypse
The seed of death has been planted in raids.
You’re going to like using this team in Cosmic Crucible. By replacing Psylocke on Death Seed, you’re replacing one of the squishiest characters with one of the best sustain characters that exist.
Like I previously stated, Apoc is going to appear in a lot of teams due to his ability to keep himself alive and being quite difficult to obtain. I really like utilizing this team to takeout enemies reliant on summons.
With Apoc having multiple AOE attacks, it will trigger Archangel’s passive which attacks the enemy with the least health anytime an enemy dies. You’ll cut through summoning teams like a warm knife through butter.
Death Seed + Apoc Strengths
- Raids - The Death Seed team benefits from being in raids, and Apoc benefits from being on a team full of mutants, especially a horseman (Archangel). You’ll run through raids even quicker with the Apoc substitution.
- War - Using this team on war against summoning teams will work in your favor. You can’t go wrong with stimulating Archangel’s passive attack.
- Cosmic Crucible - Use this team as an attack squad in Crucible. They do particularly well in a room that benefits mutant characters.
How Death Seed + Apoc Works
- Magneto - His passive grants buffs to health, focus, and resistances. In raids, he increases the speed bar for himself and Death Seed allies on spawn which makes the team attack quicker. His ultimate uses gravity to pull all enemies together to make adjacent attacks more effective.
- Archangel - He is the second most important toon on this team. On top of his damage, he generates energy for allies on enemy death while also reducing speed bar for enemies. Any team that summons minions or creates clones are in peril against this toon. Not to mention he can steal buffs from enemies and cleanse.
- Dark Beast - In raids, he assists any time an ally attacks and applies an absurd amount of buffs and buff enhancements to your team while crippling enemies. Arguably the best part of Dark Beast’s kit is the ability to revive a fallen ally.
- Nemesis - is another damage dealer. Not only do all of his attacks hit multiple enemies, they also siphon health from them which bypasses heal block. His passive also increases the overall damage of allies making everyone hit a little bit harder.
- Apocalypse - Bring the pain! All of his abilities rely on applying debuffs to double down on all of the debuffs this team applies. Each of his abilities also has a drain element which makes killing him a hassle and a half. He’ll also gain a speed boost when his health drops below 50% to make him extremely difficult to kill.
6. Undying + Apoc + Super Skrull: Hela + Iron Man (Zombie) + Juggernaut (Zombie) + Apocalypse + Super Skrull
Limbs are more effective when they're removeable.
Oh yes, you read that correctly. The Undying team is making an appearance on the Top 10 list. This might be a little more of a personal bias position than a truly accurate villain placement.
My favorite superhero is Iron Man, so Iron Man (Zombie) is up there also. However, my main reason for throwing this team at #6 is because of Hela. It FINALLY makes her a relevant character again after being left behind on the original Asgardian team.
Hela is one of my favorite villains in Marvel and was my strongest toon for a long time when I first started playing. Unfortunately, the Undying team is not complete, but there are some very, very competent additions we can use to round it out.
Undying + Apoc + Super Skrull Strengths
- War - You’ll find this team viable on both offense and defense since different toons get different buffs depending where they’re used.
- Cosmic Crucible - Undying, in general, holds its own pretty well in Crucible, but with the addition of the other two, you'd have little trouble getting a decisive victory.
- Raids - You’ll need Apoc and Skrull to carry you through the raids with their wide range of attacks and brutal damage.
How Undying + Apoc + Super Skrull Works
- Hela - Her ability to perma-kill and spread debuffs makes her a valuable member. She also summons Greg who heals here when he is killed or self-destructs. Her synergy with Iron Man (Zombie) allows her to summon additional Gregs and bring Iron Man (Zombie) back from the dead each time he dies.
- Iron Man (Zombie) - Like a true zombie, his attacks are perma-death. His primary purpose is to bolster the undead army summoned by Hela. This toon is expendable as long as Hela lives. Let him eat all of the counter attacks and big hits since he will revive with 50% or higher health.
- Juggernaut (Zombie) - This fella works similarly to the normal Juggernaut in terms of taunting, however, he packs a bigger punch. His abilities help him stay alive by healing when clearing negative effects, but he applies and spreads plenty of bleeds.
- Apocalypse - Like his role in any team, he is going to deal a ton of damage. All of his abilities rely on applying debuffs to double down on all of the debuffs this team applies. Each of his abilities also has a drain element which makes killing him a hassle and a half. He’ll also gain a speed boost when his health drops below 50% and his passive grants increased health to himself and allies makes him extremely difficult to kill.
- Super Skrull - Like Apoc, his passive is going to bolster your team’s max health. He cannot be stunned, which is a great feature. The amount of damage he provides can exceedApoc and apply a swath of debuffs like exposed and trauma to enemies.
5. Superior Six: Lizard + Doctor Octopus + Green Goblin (Classic) + Kraven the Hunter + Spider-Slayer
Now, this is the Green Goblin we remember from the movies.
This team has grown on me recently because they can be useful in any game mode. It’s hard to beat this team’s ability to sustain itself.
The addition of Green Goblin (Classic) really makes this team fun to use. I’ll often use this team manually in Cosmic Crucible so I can win in the least amount of turns. There are very few counters, so if you use the correct kill order, you’ll be surprised at how fast they disappear.
You’ll find Goblin in the arena much more frequently with a gaggle of other mismatched toons. Him alone is not enough to carry a team, but when supported by the correct characters, he can turn the tides.
Superior Six Strengths
- Cosmic Crucible - Superior Six is by far the best team in Crucible. Other teams can’t touch them without a major punch down, and even then it’d still be difficult to beat. Their abilities are primed for Crucible and it shows particularly well on offense.
- War - This team is a regular in my war offense. I use them to take out many of the staple teams with war buffs.
- Mix and Match - If you don’t have a particular character unlocked or powered up, each of them also contain the Sinister Six tag. They’ll have synergy with any of the others using that tag. It may not be quite as strong with the subs, but you’ll still be impressed. My most common sub is Vulture for speed bar manipulation.
How Superior Six Works
- Lizard - Lizard provides a lot of bonus effects on his abilities. In particular, his ultimate will copy and clear negative effects from your team while applying disrupted to enemies.
- Doctor Octopus - I use him as a healer. On top of that, he gets pretty beefed up summons that he can charge for big damage.
- Green Goblin (Classic) - He manipulates speed bars so effectively that basically your entire team will have a chance to hit before the enemy has a chance to move.
- Kraven the Hunter - He deals big damage and applies really nice debuffs. His attacks all hit multiple enemies making him ideal for wiping out teams quickly.
- Spider-Slayer - This toon is probably my least favorite and the most forgettable of the group. His main function is to provide a damage increase with his passive and apply offense up.
4. Darkhold + Super Skrull + Apoc: Agatha Harkness + Morgan le Fay + Strange (Heartless) + Super Skrull + Apocalypse
She may look lonely, but in her head she's not alone.
We have another Horsemen team in our midst! Wong and Scarlet Witch had to be subbed out for obvious reasons, but the replacements are exponentially better. A powerful team normally, this version takes it to the next level.
As with most powerful villain teams, you’ll find the lovely duo of Super Skrull and Apoc. They will carry this team through some of the strongest enemies with the help of Darkhold villains.
Morgan le Fay is a Horseman that pairs quite nicely with Apoc. They work well with each other by granting passive buffs. I used this team in the arena for quite a long time before it fell out of favor for a Secret Defender squad.
Darkhold + Super Skrull + Apoc Strengths
- Arena - If you don’t have the most recent meta characters unlocked yet but you’ve beaten Dark Dimension 5&6, you can use this team with good success.
- War - Similar to the Deathseed combo, you’ll use Skrull and Apoc to carry you through the toughest rooms, but Morgan le Fay can add a lot of benefit to this team.
- Cosmic Crucible - You’ll find that this team does incredibly well in Crucible. I tend to save this team to take out one of the strongest teams alongside the Secret Defenders.
How Darkhold + Super Skrull + Apoc Works
- Agatha Harkness - She is going to bolster your Darkhold toons with barriers and positive effects, while at the same time applying debuffs to enemies such as defense down, stun, and slow.
- Morgan le Fay - As previously mentioned, her passive provides stat enhancements for herself, Darkhold allies, and Apoc. She’ll also provide safeguard on spawn which is really nice for keeping your buffs from Agatha. She can also drains everyone’s speed bar to zero to essentially reset the turn meter while clearing buffs.
- Strange (Heartless) - Probably your weakest link on this team, but he does provide value. One way he makes himself useful is by a 25% speed bar reduction to an enemy. The second way is with his ultimate that hits every enemy and deals extra damage for each positive or negative effect on himself and the primary target. It’s a really powerful attack as long as you can keep him alive long enough to use it.
- Apocalypse - Similar to his role with Deathseed, he benefits with a Horsemen ally. All of his abilities rely on applying debuffs to double down on all of the debuffs this team applies. Each of his abilities have a drain element which makes killing him a pain. He’ll also gain a speed boost when his health drops below 50%, and his passive grants increased health to himself and allies makes him extremely difficult to kill.
- Super Skrull - Like Apoc, his passive is going to bolster your team’s max health. He cannot be stunned which is a great feature. The amount of damage he can do may also exceed that of Apoc and applies a swath of debuffs like exposed and trauma to enemies. He pairs nicely with Morgan because of her speed bar reset.
3. Morgan le Fay + Green Goblin (Classic) + Apoc + Super Skrull + Dormammu
Some would say he's a little hotheaded.
I have to admit – this team is a little bit random when it comes to synergy. The next few teams that follow will not be your typical high-synergy teams, but rather a collection of high-power teams with what many people will agree are the best characters in the game.
I’ve used this combination several times to take out a similar hodgepodge of high-powered enemies. Morgan le Fay makes an appearance here because of her speed bar manipulation and disrupted.
Since only 2 of these toons have a full team (unless you count Apoc and the Horsemen by dismantling the 4 other teams), there’s a decent chance that you have all of these toons left in a game mode. If you need to take out a whale defense, there’s a pretty good chance this team can help you out.
Strengths
- Cosmic Crucible - Since there are only 6 teams to beat in this mode, it makes it much more likely you could have these toons available to you. If you do, you’re in good shape.
- War - The chances of you putting all of these toons together to work on one team is pretty slim here unless you’re a closer. However, if you do, there are very few teams you couldn’t defeat.
- Arena - I’m throwing this one in here because I’ve seen it in some of the higher-tier arena fights. I’m consistently sitting above rank 20 and have come across this team, which is a pain to beat.
How it Works
- Morgan le Fay - On this team, her passive only provides stat enhancements for herself and Apoc. Thankfully, she can still manipulate the speed bar by resetting the turn meter to 0.
- Green Goblin (Classic) - He manipulates speed bar so effectively that basically your entire team will have a chance to hit before the enemy team has a chance to move.
- Apocalypse - He’s Morgan’s partner primarily, but he does benefit from the other members' passives. All of his abilities rely on applying debuffs to double down on all of the debuffs this team applies. Each of his abilities also has a drain element which makes killing him a hassle. That drain is also distributed among allies which is a nice version of healing. He’ll gain a speed boost when his health drops below 50%, and his passive grants increased health to himself and allies making him extremely difficult to kill.
- Super Skrull - Like Apoc, his passive is going to bolster your team’s max health. He cannot be stunned which is a great feature. He’s going to deal significant damage and apply a swath of debuffs like exposed and trauma. He pairs nicely with Morgan because of her speed bar reset.
- Dormammu - Dormammu has so many benefits for this team that it’s hard to mention them all. The biggest benefit is that he provides revive once to all allies on spawn (except Apoc who cannot be revived). Each turn he gives himself offense up, defense up, and immunity making him hard to damage. His ultimate heals himself and all allies for a percentage of his max health and also gives offense up, defense up, and speed up. At the same time, he applies offense down, defense down, and slow to enemies. Other abilities apply trauma, heal block, slow and stun. Lastly, he gains an extra 50% resistance from mystic allies (Morgan).
2. Doom + Kang + Apocalypse + Super Skrull + Dormammu
No, he's not a Na'vi. He's a really powerful space warrior.
Here we’re swapping out two members of the previous team to create a new team that is even more lethal. By dropping Morgan and Goblin, we changed how this team works. Instead of focusing on turn meter, this composition focuses on maximum damage output.
Kang is a freak of nature when it comes to smacking enemies into the quantum realm. Doom gives your team the chance to take 6 turns in a row. Yes, 6 turns in a row with a team composed of some of the highest damage toons in the game.
When you’re looking for a quick victory against a top tier team, this is a great solution.
Strengths
- Cosmic Crucible - Kang gets benefits from being in Crucible and all of the others accumulate so much damage. It’d be hard to find a team that can rival this one.
- War - There aren’t any unique benefits in war, but this team continues with the high damage trend and will eat through a defense of your choice.
- Raids - Since they’re not all the same type, you won’t be able to use them in the Incursion or Doom raids, but you can dash through any raids that require villains.
How it Works
- Doom - As mentioned earlier, Doom can let your team attack 6 times in a row if you keep him alive long enough to use his ultimate. Use the stuns and ability blocks from other characters to prevent big hits from smacking Doom around.
- Kang - Kang will eliminate those pesky enemy barriers. His abilities ignore defense up and apply offense up to himself which makes his potential damage much higher. If you kill an enemy with his ultimate attack, they cannot be revived. Another benefit of Kang is that his passive ability attacks all enemies and drains a percentage of their health.
- Apocalypse - All of his abilities rely on applying debuffs to double down on all of the debuffs this team applies. Each of his abilities also has a drain element which makes killing him a hassle. That drain is also distributed among allies which is a nice version of healing. He’ll gain a speed boost when his health drops below 50%, and his passive grants increased health to himself and allies makes him extremely difficult to kill.
- Super Skrull - Like Apoc, his passive is going to bolster your team’s max health. He cannot be stunned which is a great feature. Having high damage and the ability to apply debuffs like exposed and trauma to enemies makes him a prime member of this team.
- Dormammu - Dormammu continues his list of benefits on this team. He provides revive once to all allies on spawn (except Apoc who cannot be revived). Each turn, he gives himself offense up, defense up, and immunity making him hard to damage. His ultimate heals himself and all allies for a percentage of his max health and also gives them offense up, defense up, and speed up, while also giving enemies offense down, defense down, and slow. Other abilities apply trauma, heal block, slow and stun. He will gain the extra 50% focus from Doom since he is a tech/mystic character.
1.Green Goblin (Classic) + Apoc + Super Skrull + Kang + Dormammu
You could call him the Fantastic 4 in 1.
We made it! The moment you’ve all been waiting for – the best villain team. Okay, you’ve seen literally all of these toons somewhere else in this list, but this is THE BEST combination of them.
If you have these characters maxed out, you have one of the most powerful teams in MSF. This team is incredibly fun to play and often works better when controlled manually. You’ll find that this combination has the perfect amount of damage and sustain to turn the tides of any battle.
Again, the synergy of this team doesn’t have a ton of synergy together, but the little they do have amplifies what they’re able to do.
Strengths
- Arena - It’s not often that we get a top-notch arena team in the mix. You will find this team completely maxed out in the top tiers of the arena. You’ll have trouble with Black Knight and company because, let’s be honest, he’s probably the best toon in the game.
- Cosmic Crucible - They’re an absolute terror in Crucible. It’s easily one of the best modes to use this team in due to their ability to outlast and outmuscle almost any team. Not to mention that Goblin gets his buffs from here.
- War - Bring in the war tank. Let this team lead you into battle on the helicarrier. Again, you won’t see much synergy here, but you will see the sheer strength of this team, especially if the war room buffs are still in effect.
How it Works
- Green Goblin (Classic) - He manipulates speed bar and flips positive effects to create openings for the bruisers to hit like a freight train. Since none of his attacks can be dodged or counterattacked, it makes the setup that much sweeter. His passive lowers enemy damage and resistances when charged rendering the enemies more susceptible to debuffs.
- Apocalypse - All of his abilities rely on applying debuffs to double down on all of the debuffs this team applies. Each of his abilities also has a drain element which makes killing him a hassle. That drain is also distributed among allies which is a nice version of healing. He’ll gain a speed boost when his health drops below 50%, and his passive grants increased health to himself and allies makes him extremely difficult to kill.
- Super Skrull - Like Apoc, his passive is going to bolster your team’s max health. He cannot be stunned which is a great feature. He keeps bring the same debuffs of trauma and exposed on this team too.Since he spawned with 2 or more villain allies, his basic will ignore defense up, and his special will decrease speed bar by 40%. Skrull’s ultimate will apply a barrier to himself and all allies based on a percentage of his health. It’s also an unavoidable attack that damages all enemies.
- Kang - Kang eliminates barriers. His abilities ignore defense up and apply offense up to himself which increases his potential damage. If you kill an enemy with an ultimate attack, they cannot be revived. Another benefit of Kang is that his passive attacks all enemies and drains a percentage of their health.
- Dormammu - Dormammu continues his list of benefits once again. He provides revive once to all allies on spawn (except Apoc who cannot be revived). Each turn he gives himself offense up, defense up, and immunity making him hard to damage. His ultimate heals himself and all allies for a percentage of his max health. It also grants offense up, defense up, and speed up to all allies while giving enemies offense down, defense down, and slow. Other abilities apply trauma, heal block, slow and stun.
