JWA: Top Creatures used by the Top 50

Hello Explorers! As we are almost halfway through the current season, we decided to take a look at the leaderboard and break down the most popular creatures used on the top 50 teams. Huge shout out to our discord member KillerT77 for helping compile this information and assist with the writing of this article! So what creatures are most used amongst the elite of JWA? Let's take a look. 

Below is a breakdown of all the creatures that are used by the top teams. The number next to the creature represents the number of players that have that creature on their team. This information was collected on March 8, 2020 so there could be some minor changes to the numbers currently. Once again, huge shout out to our artist OrangeRex for creating this image!

As you can see, at least half of the teams are using the top 8 dinos: Trykosaurus, Ardentismaxima, Indoraptor Gen 2, Magnapyritor, Diorajasaur, Grypolyth, Erlidominus, and Quetzorion. These creatures are all Tyrant for a reason and together build a pretty balanced team. What is interesting about these top creatures, however, is most of them are very diverse in terms of boosting. So even though 47 people use Tryko, not all of them are going to look the same. With the exception of Grypolyth, how you boost your dino can greatly affect its use on the team. 

Let's discuss these 8 creatures, the role they play on the team and boosting options in the top arenas.

Trykosaurus

Tryko is the most used creature in the top arenas (and honestly probably in the game). It has armor, high hp, high attack, and a counter-attack that can chip away at the opponent. It suffers against creatures like Indoraptor Gen 2, Thylacotator and Tryostronix. When boosted correctly, however, it has the chance to take out Magnapyritor 1v1. We'll talk about Magna boosts later, but Tryko has a variety of options. Most people go pretty heavy on the HP and attack (that's how you take out the Magna's), but I have also seen some speedier ones being used as revenge killers on the higher speed sauropods. 

Ardentismaxima

Ever since it's buff, Maxima has been a staple on many teams. It has a definite move that handles the evasive creatures, a decelerating move to gain priority, a defense shattering move, as well as instant invincibility. It does well against many of the top creatures including Magna, Indoraptor Gen 2 and Quetzorion. This is due to its large health pool making it hard to take down in 2 hits. There are 2 different builds for this creature. You can go high health (some can get over 10,000 HP). That will help you survive, but you aren't going to dish out as much damage. More popular seems to be the higher attack and even speed. They are giving up some HP to deal out massive damage (2370 based attack at tier 20). This is going to hurt speedsters as well as the chompers that are supposed to counter it. 

Indoraptor Gen 2

Indoraptor is still incredibly strong but has fallen a bit depending on your team draw. There are many matches where it is dispatched easily, or you can be almost swept by it if you don't have the right counters. Diorajasaur, Quetzorion, Phorusaura, Smilonemys, and of course Maxima are all good counters for it, but be careful of that Mutual Fury. Boosted Indo2 is difficult but you have 2 options for it. A glass cannon speedster, or a slower high HP creature that can dish out damage, but also survive to take some hits. With Cautious Strike having a speed up component, it's smart to bring Indo Gen2 out as a revenge killer so you are pretty much faster than anything else that comes out. The higher HP Indo2 are making a comeback, but there are also those with high speed and 2550 damage that hurt when they hit. 

Magnapyritor

Magna is in a tough spot right now. Several teams are still running it, but there have been talks among the top teams of wanting to drop it once they have something better to replace it. Magna suffers a bit more in this boosted meta. If you go more attack and speed, you are easily defeated due to your low HP. If you go more attack and HP, you can survive, but get countered easily by faster creatures. If you go more HP and speed, you aren't dealing out enough damage to take things out. Basically, you need to build your Magna based on the role it needs to play on your team. If you already have speedsters, then build it with more attack and HP. If you need more speed, make it more like a glass cannon. Be ready to make some adjustments as you move up arenas as well as the role it plays can change depending on the opponents around you as well.

Diorajasaur

While similar to Tryko, Dioraja plays a different role as more of a defensive counter attacker. With its precise counter-attack and a ferocious attack it can deal some major damage to the high HP creatures as well as those with an evasive ability such as Indoraptor2. Most people focus on attack and HP so it can survive long enough to dish out the damage it needs, but adding a little speed can also help it beat things like Maxima and even Trykosaurus. 

Grypolyth

Grypolyth is not a 1v1 creature and it should be used wisely, but it can dish out major damage before going down. The rending counter-attack, armor, regeneration, and No Escape ability give it versatility on when it can be used in a match. You can almost immediately swap it in on Smilonemys and Dioraja and win the matchup. It's is also effective to take down some HP on things like Trykosaurus and Ardentismaxima before going down. It is especially good to use at the end of a match against a non-immune low HP creature that can't get away. Tier 20 health and 10 attack is pretty much the best boost build for this creature. 

Erlidominus

Similar to Magna, Erildominus can be a powerhouse, or go down easily depending on you (or your opponent's draw). It has an incredibly high turn 1 move with rampage, but can't hit through armor so it suffers against the higher HP creatures. It also has the ability to cloak, but be careful of those nullifying creatures. There are several routes you can take as far as boosts. Many people go really high attack and speed so it can get off some damage before going down. The other option is to go high attack and HP so you can hit hard and also survive. The minimal speed up on Erlidom helps it gain priority after taking a hit. Having a high attack will utilize its abilities best so after that, you just need to decide if you want a speedster or something that can take some hits. 

Quetzorion

Since the addition of immunity to distraction a couple of patches ago, Orion is a force to be reckoned with. It can reliably swap in on anything that doesn't have a nullifying move, sidestep to mitigate even more damage and hit them hard with a Nullfying Rampage. It's an ideal Erlidominus Counter with the addition of its long invincibility. It is susceptible to being slowed and stunned, but sidestep can help it cleanse the slow and gain back priority. High attack seems to be the most popular build on it but then you have to decide if you want to go health or speed. Sidestep does allow it to speed itself up, but you have to be careful using that against creatures like Indo2. Since it can hit through evasive and also speed itself up, you want to make sure you will actually be faster. 

While the 8 creatures highlighted above are the most popular, it doesn't mean there aren't others that are team worthy. Here are some of the other options that the top teams are running and how they work best in a battle. 

Thylacotator

For an epic creature, Thyla is incredibly strong and versatile. It has a slowing move, a bleed move and a rending takedown move that can knock out 60% of its opponents HP. It is used by the top teams to counter creatures such as Grypolyth, Tryko and Maxima. It is immune to stuns but can be slowed and distracted. It also has a swap in distraction that can be used against creatures like Thor. Similar to Grypolyth, the higher HP the better on Thyla. Unlike Grypoly, however, you do want to focus a little on speed. You want to make sure you do add a little speed to it so it has the chance to get off the rending takedown move. 

Phorusaura

While you don't see many Phoru in the arena, they are a pain to deal with when you do have to face them. The reason you probably don't see many is the fact that it has the ability to get a future super-hybrid so many people are not willing to level it past 20. The instant Rampage makes Phoru the best revenge killer in the game. You don't even have to rely on the swap in stun to use it effectively. You can bring it out against almost any opponent and unless they are faster with a priority move, they are going to get hit hard. Even if they swap to something else, Pho is probably going to get at least one rampage off. It is also immune to swap prevention so you can't even lock it down with Grypoly. High attack is the best build on this creature with enough HP to survive a hit to get back out of there and come back to do it again later. 

Smilonemys

Smilonemys isn't as prevalent as many people would think either. Probably due to the fact it is made up of 3 epic creatures and with turtles being locked in parks it is difficult for some people to get to team level. It is an incredibly strong team member, however, and has the versatility to do well with many of the top creatures. The new shielding deceleration move along with Precise Pounce gives it an advantage over Indo Gen2. It can also do well against Orion, Phoru (when played correctly), Thor. It can't be slowed or stunned, but it suffers against shields and things that can distract it. Looking at those that run Nemys, the boosts vary quite a bit. Most of them have a decent amount of HP on it, but then you have to choose between Speed and Attack. A lot of that depends on what teams you normally face (those at the very top tend to face many of the same on a daily basis), but you do want to make sure an have enough speed to counter those creatures it is best against (like Thor). 

Geminititan

Gemini is arguably the best creature in the game right now. So why aren't more people running it? One word: exclusivity. Diplodocus does not spawn in the wild and cannot be found in incubators so people must rely on events and sanctuaries to gain precious DNA. It has 2 very powerful first turn move options. Its new move, Definite Shield Advantage is incredibly strong and allows a guaranteed impact on turn 1 (since it can't be distracted). It can alternate between that and Decelerating Rampage to deal out massive damage. Add on Instant Distraction and a high HP pool, this beast can be tough to take down. High attack seems to be the most popular build, with enough HP to take some hits. There are also some with decent speed (around 123) to try and counter some of the other sauropods like Maxima. 

Tryostronix

Tryos has one main job in this meta. Big damage on high HP creatures. People run it to deal with Tryko, Grypoly, Dio, Maxima, and Geminititan. If it can't kill a counter attacker in turn 1, Ready to Crush allows it to avoid the counter and set up the very strong DSR to take it out. With enough damage and a lucky crit, Tryos has the ability to one-shot even a tier 20 Grypolyth, Dio and even Trykosaurus. Since it is immune and can't be slowed or distracted, many people are running it at very high speed (150) with high attack. When set up properly these builds can often run completely through a team. Others are going more attack and HP builds so they can survive some attacks while still dishing it out. 

Yes, that image is correct. There is a player that is running Secodontosaurus. Not just any player either. The top player in the game, IDGT, is running it on his team. And when you look at its build you'll see why. It has a HUGE turn 1 and 2 damage output (4,872 and 5,196) that can pretty much take out any Tryko, Dio, Maxima, or Geminititan. And since it's immune, it can't be distracted or slowed. Now we aren't saying everyone should go run a Seco on the team, but this just shows you then even those Low Alpha dinos can be useful at the right level and with the right boost distribution. 

We didn't go over all of the creatures used in the top teams and there are plenty more we could probably discuss. Hopefully, this preview shows you what those top teams are seeing and playing with on a daily basis in the arena. We know not all arenas are the same and might not be reflected by this breakdown, but it does show how incredibly strong those top creatures really are. It also shows that there is still some variety at the top and it's best to run the creatures that work best for your team. Make sure to join our discord for more discussion and let us know what you think about the top teams and the creatures being used there!