Update
Last month we had mythics added to the game and I wasn’t quite sure what to do with them, so I didn’t do an update. Hence, this month we have 2 months of update to deal with… this post has a lot of new monsters being added!
Mythics are getting their own General and PvP sections. In many ways they can be compared to legendaries but their higher stats make a big difference and they do have more powerful passives and moves so that more than makes up for their higher cost. I think the tiers will be roughly equivalent to the legendary tiers so an A tier legendary is as strong as an A tier mythic, considering the cost, but it may be the case that mythics are half a tier better or maybe a full tier in the future if we begin getting some which really distinguish themselves as better than legendaries.
Notes:
Dolpheonix got a nice combo with Dolphreeze but it is more viable in PvE and the tier list will not include such a specific combo requiring two limited legendaries.
Solariel got link removed from the SS but unfortunately the 16 cost is still there which makes it incredibly costly to simply sacrifice, so nothing has changed in the tier list.
Vulcaroth got a much needed passive added that’s appropriate and makes him better for general use but isn’t significant enough to affect which tiers he’s in.
Deathgazer got a weakness to chrono killer which changes almost nothing for the tiers because the most significant impact is done on entry and after the 20-25s window where it can retreat to get a second entry.
Leogeist got the secret skill balanced a lot better by decreasing the TU from 100 to 50 but the SS is still a minor part of the moveset so nothing significant has changed.
Tiamazus has been given an excellent SS for just +1 to the cost which is clearly perfect for working him into link earth throw teams. This gives him a use in specific teams and makes him viable, but he’s still near the bottom of the tier lists and not getting his position changed.
Banedragon has been given an excellent SS that makes him have a huge impact when he gets his first turn but his slow speed is the thing which holds him back and makes me think this will not improve him significantly enough to push him up a tier.
Nightlord got timestrike all which improves its versatility but most of the time will not be used so the tiers will not change.
Omegasdragon got a very powerful SS (double repulse) which offers a lot but adds +3 cost and the monster doesn’t fit into strategies perfectly. It’s a great addition to the monster but doesn’t actually increase its tier because of the rest of the moveset and the speed bringing it down.
Shivadragon got a perfect secret skill which will make him even better for team support in PvE. In PvP he also has more potential for good combos and is generally better. However, all this is balanced with the +3 cost and he is still held back in PvP by the niche moveset which only works when built around carefully. In PvE he has advanced from S++ tier to S+++.
Wraithcaptain got a secret skill that works perfectly with the moveset and strategy but for +3 cost this is not significant enough to take it up a tier in PvP (it is already S+ for PvE). It’s a great skill to have but is situational.
Cybereon got probably the most usable SS of the shockers but for +3 cost you probably won’t be having it on a lot of the time and it’s not super powerful. This doesn’t impact its position in the tier lists.
Celestrion got an awkward secret skill that is reasonably good but due to the way the monster is typically used it does not add very much. This doesn’t impact its position in the tier lists.
Stormloch got a great secret skill which makes it easier to sweep with it. It’s something you’ll always want on if you have the spare cost but doesn’t significantly impact the way the monster works because it’s not primarily a sweeper and the kill is on a random target.
The Penguinator got a brilliant secret skill which gives it some front line viability in link storm teams. Previously it was not a good candidate for the front line. This has not pushed it up a tier because of the low speed limiting it but has firmly secured the spots in A+ for both tiers.
Additions:
These are done in order of release with mythics, legendaries then super epics.
Kuraokami goes in at A+ for general and A for PvP, with tanky stats, HG and no weakness to a killer move it can be difficult to remove Kurao from the field meanwhile it causes some havoc / distraction with the Yuki. Snowslide can be used even when there are no Yuki on the field for ~1000 piercing damage to two targets. Left unchecked, this monster can do a lot of work to distract the enemy team and sweep when possible. Kurao works a lot better if accelerated and protected from stun because it relies on always being available to use snowslide or snow blessing as soon as a Yuki enters the field.
Mistletorment goes in at B for general and A for PvP, with two weaknesses to killer moves and often no more than a 1-for-1 trade this monster may appear bad. However, it is very tanky when not being hit by critical moves and serves as a great auto-protect distraction. Once it gets a turn it is very hard to avoid taking the 1-for-1 trade thanks to its pure overwatch. Due to the 100TU overwatch and auto-protect it will get drawn into repeating this move and will typically not give any proper value to the team with its other moves. This monster is very one-dimensional and may be subject to lowering in the tiers (especially PvP) if too many counters arise that are common.
Onyxia goes in at S+ for general and S for PvP, with two of the strongest passives and bloodfury this monster has huge potential. However, setting it up requires a narrow setup… basically OoO and not much else. If the setup fails it can struggle a little but that’s the only thing keeping it in balance. The SS is super powerful (one of the best out there in my opinion), ELEM healing can be incredibly useful both for itself and teammates plus fatal sting is strong just as a damage move. At my time writing this the bloodfury is no longer raw and I feel like perhaps this monster is a bit of an overpowered S+ but I’m hesitant to overrate it because it may be trickier to set up than it looks and it has weakness to both toxic and chrono killer.
Na’turgoul goes in at B+ for general and A+ for PvP, with 50TU sweeping/healing moves right from the first turn this monster can be a devastating sweeper and it creates 8 rocks for itself so easily works outside of throw teams. Gravity field is a passive that can help lots of other monsters work better and if protected Na’turgoul should be an easy way to kill lots. However, it has the huge limitation of the attacks each sacrificing the last monster of your team so it struggles with shields and HG plus it has very low defence and mediocre speed. All-in-all, it is a very viable sweeper.
Dragulus goes in at B for general and B+ for PvP, with the restricted TK moveset and no stun immunity this monster will unfortunately be a reliable performer. However, with excessive force and extreme attack the moves do very high damage so getting kills can be a lot easier than it looks on paper, as well as damage in PvE not being a problem like it normally is for killer moves. In PvP if there are any protectors around then Dragulus will do very well. The B+ tier is a rating to the moveset as a whole and not a representation of how he may perform in certain matches.
XYZ-999L goes in at S for general and A+ for PvP, with a moveset that offers a large amount of offence, support, defence and a high speed stat… this monster is the full package. However, the damage is restricted to chrono monsters until 300s has passed and the ion field gives enemy stun converter/counter monsters roaring entrance as well as being drawn in by any stun counter/absorber they have on the field each time a monster enters. The result is it must be carefully built around and you must keep control of the field for it to be working well. Stun absorber can also work against you if this monster gets stunned out of play. This monster may need a review later once we see ion field in practice more. I believe in PvE this can work incredibly well as a double survivor monster that supports the team and doesn’t die, it may even be S+.
Voidress goes in at S+ for general and S+ for PvP, with a moveset that’s an alternative version of Delugazar (is this the real black beast that was going to come through the void?) this monster is an extremely powerful sweeper. In comparison to Delugazar it is far harder to kill but requires more investment to set up and isn’t quite as fast getting charged. However, the payoff is theoretically higher since once it gets going it’s harder to stop. Delugazar can deal with camouflage monsters while Voidress can deal with death revenge. Comparisons aside, Voidress is unbelievably hard to kill and can sweep like a queen so don’t you dare call her ugly.
Dolphreeze goes in at A for general and S+ for PvP, with great speed, time’s up being crazy in PvP and an incredibly good passive for stalling the enemy team this monster has jumped straight into the top of PvP. It’s strong enough to shift the meta with it’s sweeping and stalling power that counters a lot of what people currently play (chrono monsters). Blizzard is a very interesting move that makes Ice Dolph surprisingly useful even when there aren’t chrono monsters around but typically you can get sweeping with ease. A lack of immunity and reasonably low defences are the only thing holding it back.
Capybaragon goes in at C+ for general and A for PvP, a great modern protector design for PvP. The high speed with good defence and HG let it get a turn very easily where you’ll able to choose between protecting the team, knocking back an enemy or dealing high damage to two targets. It has no weaknesses to killer moves so combined with the flexibility makes it a good addition to many points in a team. The issue is that the moves are a little lacklustre, either too slow or too low damage. Hence, this is not a top tier legendary or as good as another “modern” protector like Pawpatrol which even has two weaknesses but can do more powerful things.
Fluffurious goes in at A for general and A+ for PvP, similar to Leoronix this is an alternative to the standard SE protector/absorbers which mostly serves the purpose of fitting into link teams where they want one of these. While the holy option (Leoronix) offers healing as the unique part, a core part of holy, this shadow option offers stealth, a move that can set up sneak attack monsters (a heavily shadow strategy). It’s a little worse than the standard SE protector/absorbers because of the slower purify but in the right team can function better.
Thlugs… there are still 3 more to come (one for each element - like the Flutterdrakes). So far we’ve got probably the weakest of the three. Their tiers for both General and PvP are taking into account them being played with one another, because they are not at all viable outside of there being at least 2 thlugs in your team. Each one has the setup: zealous attack, theast (backstab a thlug), thlug move (piercing damage move only usable if 2+ thlugs on battlefied), tholid passive (immunity to sleep/stun/poison) and a revenge passive triggered by theast which offers support. The only difference between them is the theast passive and two of the active moves. As a general note… they are less viable in PvP unless you use lots or in OoO because of their slow speed and reliance on having multiple thlugs out at once, which a person can stop from happening.
Thlug Bruce goes in at C+ for general and B for PvP, this one is quite dull with thlug retribution and switch friend. You use it to increase the number of thlugs in your team and you can set it up on its first turn by using theast with a different thlug. The “theast revenge” is one of the weakest, not really supporting your team.
Thlug Bruno goes in at B+ for general and B+ for PvP, with a “theast revenge” that helps make Bruce work as well as give you some control over which ones are on the field at very little loss this monster fits in with the thlugs nicely. It’s also a prime candidate for doing the theast and triggering the “theast revenge” you want for the situation because it becomes a 100TU sweeper that’s immune to all and can later be reset back to full health.
Thlug Betty goes in at A+ for general and A for PvP. This thlug opens up the opportunity for a combo with OoO since all thlugs will stay awake and this can do a piercing dreamhunt. If things go sour it can be a theast target for a guaranteed kill on a random enemy and the knockback helps you have some control while playing with the thlugs. This is a thlug that makes going for them desirable.
Amalgamon goes in at B for general and C+ for PvP, with venom fangs being the selling point but incredibly hard to use this monster is not very viable. Stunstrike is a very old callback to Galliodragon’s original moveset and is probably the best thing this monster has to offer. The moves are fun and reasonable strength but without it properly fitting into something viable the monster is too mediocre.
Nefariodon goes in at A+ for general and C+ for PvP, probably the most unique super epic we’ve seen in a long time this monster is a 10/10 for fun design in my books. By itself it struggles because of its low speed and 100TU marks but where this monster can be used is with combos to either give you the time to mark targets then step back / pull back or by creating multiple copies of the monster with skills/passives of other monsters which do that. In PvP any of these setups are hard to pull off but be on the lookout for anything that allows Nefariodon to work someday.
Armadiator goes in at B+ for general and S for PvP, never laugh at mortar combos because this armadillo has some crazy potential. With the right monsters the unlimited pull back can be abused to give almost complete control over the match. This can and will be countered but if left unchecked it can win the battle easily. The “general” rating does not take into account having limited legendaries for the combos. Outside combos it gives very nice control and damage even if it’s quite slow like most mortar monsters.
Electricheetah goes in at A+ for general and B+ for PvP, with “champion entrance” and three good moves this monster is very flashy. Most importantly, it’s a community dream made true… lovely fan service. Accelerate team is always surprisingly useful, protector killer can be vital in the right scenario and timestrike on a roaring entrance + stunning entrance monster is a lovely set up for it. The only issue is the attack stat is not as high as it could be, so the damage is not as high as you’d like. It’s a well-rounded monster that is reliable but far from being amongst the best super epics out there.
Movements:
(the first 6 are from buffs/nerfs in a recent update see here)
Emeraldeus moves from B+ -> A in general, the (twice) buffed SS damage has made this great in link earth teams as a fast-charging sweeper that’s hard to kill because of camouflage. Unfortunately, the low speed makes it stay at A rating against the fierce competition in the PvP tiers. In a link earth team it’s a brilliant choice as a sweeper.
Grovodeus moves from B -> A+ in general and C+ -> A+ in PvP, with one small change to Spriggolo this has revamped the monster to make it more like a sweeper that’s incredibly awkward to deal with and can often trade well.
Flarevern moves from C -> C+ in general and C+ -> B in PvP, with the 100TU double poison eater SS this monster can now have a big impact on its first turn. Being fire element it can fit into link fire poison teams very nicely but it’s still a bit weaker than Vulcaroth because it has worse sweeping potential and is slower.
Shadowhunter moves from A+ -> S in general, for only +1 cost the new secret skill is great for countering poison and grabbing a kill. This makes Shadowhunter more reliable in PvE without the need for a purifier so much. However, sadly in PvP it will only help you if the opponent happens to be playing poison because it is rare you would ever want to use monsters to set this up.
Goldtail moves from S -> A in PvP, while game-winning in the right circumstances there are more sleep immune monsters about and setting it up can be very tricky because of the low speed. The secret skill has added a nice buff for a link storm setup and may offer a few ways to set it up well.
Icefang moves from B+ -> A+ in PvP, with the addition of raw repulse as a SS this has given the monster a huge amount of versatility and it will almost always have something to offer on its first turn with the roaring entrance. Sadly, it still struggles to match up with other top tier monsters in the long-run if it survives on the field but it is now contending with many of them.
Utopion moves from S+ -> S in PvP, with piercing moves becoming more common and better stun protection available this monster is not offering as much as before. However, it is still immensely tanky when it doesn’t meet poison or piercing moves and arguably the best give turn monster other than TT monsters.
Chromera moves from S -> A+ in PvP, with stronger chrono killers becoming available and other monsters that more effectively counter poison Chromera is losing its crown as the best killer monster it used to have on release. Getting blocked by protectors and not offering as much as others makes it sink a tier but it is still very good.
Jingledragon moves from A -> B+ in PvP, on the weaker end of A this is to make more space in the upper half.
Azrazel moves from A+ -> A in general, on the weaker end of A+ this is to make more space near the top.
Botanic moves from B -> A in general, with more good mortar monsters entering the game this combo piece can do quite a lot. General doesn’t take combos into account much but since there are lots of SE mortar monsters I think Botanic deserves a bit more credit.
