JWA Tournament: Epic/Unique Skill - 9.10.2021

It’s that time again, and this time we have a somewhat unique format this weekend for the coin skill tournament. With an epic/unique environment, there will be 2 separate environments at the end of the day: the players with good epics and poor uniques and the players with strong uniques. Unfortunately, I cannot give you unique DNA, but I can help you do your best this upcoming weekend. So today, I’ll go over the best epic and uniques and help you decide what is best for you.

Before we jump into the creatures, first let's go over the Tournament itself.

The rewards for this Tournament are COINS - THOUSANDS OF THEM! You'll be needing these coins to level up your creatures to do well in Advantage Tournaments and in the Arena, so be sure to get your creatures battling in this Tournament. These are the numbers of coins you'll be able to get for each placement:

So, let’s start with the epics. Unfortunately, there aren’t many options here if you want to reach the top ranks, but there are some epics that can keep up with uniques and can hopefully get you as high up as possible.

Compsognathus is an epic that comes to mind when it comes to irritation due to its constant distraction and rally healing abilities. And with swap prevention and a swap-in, it’s an epic that can do some major work while absorbing blow after blow while eating away at the sanity of your opponent. 

Thylacotator is another solid epic. With swap-in distraction, maiming wound, rending takedown, and slow immunity, it has the tools it needs to put up a good fight and take down almost any tank.

How can anyone forget the beloved Woolly Rhino? With a nice 1500 swap in stunning strike, it’s the highest guaranteed damage on a swap in the game, so there’s no wonder why people covet this epic. And with decent stats to back it up,

The last of the really big epics is Titanoboa. Like Woolly Rhino, you need no introduction here. On escape rampage with great resistances and stats across the board.

As for other epics, there are some that can work. Indominus Rex gen 2 or Secondontosaurus are other good fierce options. You have Scutosaurus, Brachiosaurus,  and Brontolasmus as other resilients to choose from. For cunnings, you have the 2 new epic hybrids Megalotops and Argenteryx.

While these are all strong epic options, I must with a heavy heart say that at the top of the arena, almost every epic is not viable. Some uniques can take down many of these epics and not take a single hit or others can just sweep an epic team. While these epics are quite strong, these new few uniques are just much stronger. Some of these uniques are better than others by quite a bit to the point where they dominate the meta. Others are good picks because of how well they counteract the meta. And then some uniques just do not perform at all. So, what uniques should you look out for this weekend?

Let’s get the big bad sauropod out of the way first. Skoonasaurus is a must-have. If you are close to it, farm Sonorasaurus, Scolosaurus, or Koolasuchus. You want this creature. With a resilient counter applying vulnerability, a decelerating rampage, and then an instant impact that distracts on top of great resistances and high hp and armor, Skoonasaurus has it all. The list of creatures that can successfully counter this creature seem to keep shrinking with each update. Your best bet it to use something that doesn’t mind distraction as well as has the bulk to tank hits from this behemoth.

There are 3 new uniques on the block, and they are the subject of much discussion in the community as of now. Phorurex is just on another level compared to other cunning creatures due to all the tools it has. It has a swap-in that is essentially swap-in savagery with a nice pinning effect on top of it all, an on-escape move that stuns, pins, and attacks, an instant rampage that distracts, a shattering rampage that allows it to run AND apply bleed, a strike with enough effects to rival cautious strike, and a spammable priority move that cleanses, speeds up, and buffs critical hit chance. Phorurex has it all, and the stats are there too. At 1600 damage, it is the best revenge killer out there. And 4050 hp is nothing to sneeze at. And if this isn’t enough, it also for some reason can sometimes pin creatures immune to pin like Ardentismaxima! If you don’t have it, run as many giga scents as you can to get this creature.

The other unique that is getting a lot of spotlight is the new Indotaurus. With the deadly combination of a cloak into a greater rending counter-attack, you better be prepared to have something that can tank a hit. And with a nice moveset to back it up as well as great hp, Indotaurus will be able to take a chunk out of anything and everything. And swappers aren’t that big of an issue with pesky alert. Make sure you have some way to deal with this high-powered hybrid. Thankfully it’s slow, otherwise we’d be doomed.

While it got nerfed with the recent patch, never underestimate the mighty Testacornibus. While it lost some healing abilities and some stun and pin resistance, it is still a major force. Being one of the few reliable Skoonasaurus counters is no easy feat, and with ways of dealing with Phorurex, Testacornibus will be prancing its way onto the battlefield. And if you want to save those creatures? You got to swap out, thus giving Testacornibus more hp thanks to on escape heal. Make sure you have a way to get past this beast’s armor. Also, try to avoid Testacornibus mirror matchups, because those aren’t fun for anyone.

No matter the event, there will always be a swapper, and with unique events we have what is arguably the best swapper in the game: Monolorhino. Not only does it have the swap in to back itself up, but it also has good stats, phenomenal resistances, and a nice kit. All of these make Monolorhino almost to 2-hit KO, with the creatures that can do this being not so relevant to begin with in the first place, so it will leave and come back if desired. It also has the ability to take top tier threats like Testacornibus and Indotaurus if it chooses. This is a must-have creature.

Another top tier threat as per usual is Scorpius Rex gen 3. The biggest appeal of this hybrid is the move toxic quills. Being a stunning impact combined with lethal wound makes for a deadly combination that has pushed many creatures like Trykosaurus and Diorajasaur into irrelevancy. And with swap-in critical ambush on top of that, you have a defensive tool to get Scorpius Rex in for little punishment. And being one of the best stunners, if Scorpius stuns Indotaurus, it loses its cloak, which is a really good quality to possess. Prepare for this unique.

Sneaking its way to the top of the meta, we have Spinoconstrictor. With good defensive tools as well as a wounding counter, Spinoconstrictor has been loving the new buffs it got back in 2.9. It has the tools to play offense or defense thanks to precise rampage, instant distraction, and evasive wounding strike. And with its resistances, it can still outspeed many tanks when slowed like Ardentismaxima and Skoonasaurus. And with on escape evasive strike, Spinoconstrictor also loves to deter those pesky swappers. But be careful though. If that on escape doesn’t finish a creature off, they will hit with a counter-attack if they have one.

Waddling its way onto the battlefield is Antarctovenator. This little guy can play 2 different games: a swapper or a revenge killer. As a swapper, you have swap in distraction and a nice medium nullifying counter to safely enter the battlefield. Or, and this is the way most prefer, you can use it as a revenge creature with revenge definite rampage. With great matchups against Phorurex, Indotaurus, Scorpius Rex gen 3, and a few others, Antarctovenator is small but mighty.

Another creature to heavily consider is Compsocaulus. These 3 always seem to sneak their ways into any event thanks to their absorb ability. While not as dominant as they used to be, these 3 will still have use against almost anything that isn’t Skoonasaurus or Testacornibus. With rend resistance to fight against Indotaurus as well as absorb to easily tank hits from Phorurex, Compsocaulus is still a creature to consider.

Soaring into the fray is Poukandactylus. With many defensive cunning abilities as well as offensive potential, this bird has been getting better and better with each new patch. With ways of dealing with Phorurex and Indotaurus as well as slower creatures like Geminititan and Scorpius Rex gen 3, there is a reason why people are ready to test this bird out. With resistances that work well with its kit as well as the tools to take on every class of creature, Poukandactylus will make some sort of impact this weekend.

Despite it not looking as good as it once was, this creature still hangs on. Smilonemyes still has what it takes to compete with the big guys. With the ability to take BOTH Indotaurus and Phorurex, as well as the ability to whittle down Skoonasaurus with its shields and armor and pester Scorpius Rex gen 3, Smilonemyes is somewhat of an underdog, or undercat, this weekend. Good speed, output, and synergy with top tier threats like Monolorhino and Antarctovenator make Smilonemyes a worthy candidate for a team.

There are many good options this weekend besides the ones I’ve listed that can fit your team. Mammolania is a great tank that can dish out some major damage while also allowing creatures like Monolorhino to do more damage on the swap thanks to its updated resilient rampage. Another resilient to consider could be Geminititan as a lead to test the waters as it will never go down without a fight. As for cunnings, you have both Erlikospyx and Magnapyritor to help with creatures like Indotaurus and Scorpius. The last creature you should consider is Grypolyth. With Testacornibus losing most of its pin resistance, Grypolyth can keep it down while also trapping other tanks like Skoonasaurus.

Now, with 2.10, there were 3 uniques that were released, but you probably noticed I only covered 2 of them. So, what about Andrewtops? Well, it’s pretty lousy if you ask me. This is a creature that heavily relies on revenge to the point where it is almost useless without it. It’s swap-in is completely useless unless you want to throw an Andrewtops with 1 hp at something to better set up another creature like Testacornibus. Every creature it has a winning matchup against can swap out to Monolorhino or Phorurex and just kill it. Skoonasaurus can even 1-shot it with or without revenge. Sure it has good output, but it’s poor defenses and a kit that doesn’t work well with its stats make Andrewtops a poor choice.

Well, I hope this helps you this weekend. It's a shame Ludia didn't give some players more time to get these new creatures after the update, especially those who spent all their Carnotaurus on Scorpius Rex gen 3, put then again it does give other players time to FIP the continentals that got hybrids as well. I hope you all have fun this weekend and make sure to do as best you can to save up for the unique advantage tournament next weekend.