Know Your Uniques: The Current Meta

GamePress is happy to present a guest writer for this article, Agent Allosaurs. Take it away, friend!

For those who aren't familiar with me, I'm Agent Allosaurus. I've been writing some comparative articles in the JWA GamePress Discord lately about meta strategies. Today, I'm here to answer a question a lot of players ask: What are the top creatures in Unique meta? With Ludia often rolling updates quicker than a blink of an eye, it is almost certainly that creatures you may have been using in early 2021 or 2022 had been power crept by other creatures. Constant updates do mess up your fusing schedule on creating your team, but to make note on what DNA you should start grinding for, here are a few instructions before I start:

1: These creatures are last updated since the release notes from the 2.22 update, and with the constantly updating meta, this list may soon be outdated (hopefully not!)

2: The list of creatures shown are not in any order.

3: These notes are for reference only suggestions on building your current team on the Unique meta.

4: Please do not take complaints too seriously.

1.Dsungascorpios, Venomous Arthropods That Make Your Opponents Feel Disgraced.

Now when you ask what is the best creature in the game, I bet 90% would say Geminideus. But under its enormous footsteps comes Dsungascorpios. For those who had played the game during the 2.19 update, many of us were surprised to see such arthropods can kill a level 30 Unique without any bleed and stun resistance. Although being one of the smallest of all creatures in the JWA list, it's a nightmare to be dealt with without the right counters. Shielded Lockdown not only grants you a 75% shielding ability, but also locks the opponent before it can set up something on you. Dispersed Ferocious Impact along with Enfeebling Rampage are the 2 moves that would make any creature's day ruined. It has certainly a guaranteed stun, bleed, swap prevention and nullify as a whole. And with extra 30% armor and 15% critical chance, I'd say it's a must if you want to survive in the arena. And like how Jim Henson once said: If you can't beat them, join them.

2. Tyrannometrodon, The Absolute Destroyer of Everything in Sight.

If you know Tyrannometrodon, then the chances are that you've known how it can demolish everything like a wrecking ball. Like Rexy, the infamous movie star it fuses from, this is a pure fierce powerhouse that chomps opponents to its realm. It can even trick them into its threatened state, allowing Tyrant's Roar as priority move to knock down flocks while increasing the attack and speed AND healing itself. What's better than Fierce Devouring Rampage you say? Decimating Hunger is just on another level. Not only with more damage output, the amount of devour heal you’ll receive after can make the opponent rage. Group Devouring Impact and its many resistances are just icing on the cake. As being the oppressive predator it is, the ingredients of it can be found in the wild, so why not activate that creature tracker and search for Rexy and Postimetrodon DNA now?

3. Compsoraptor, The Many Faces of New Beta: Cute But Deadly.

If you've seen Jurassic World Dominion, you would know how adorable Beta is to us and her mother Blue, but her hybrid can just make you want to get as far away as possible. Although Compsoraptor has been seeing a slight drop in PvPs, it's still recommended to use it even in upper arenas. These alone power-crept Giganyx during update 2.17 with many tools on repelling opponents. With a priority on Alert Surge with a guaranteed critical hit every time (unless threatened state), 2 rampage moves and one with a cleanse, dodge and speed increase makes this raptor flock harder to be hit. Not to mention that it can rally heal in one of its attacks and when it swaps in, and an impact that locks the opponent when it tries to escape. These viable tools make Compsoraptor one of the best Uniques to be released. Next time when you approach Beta, you know what to do!

4. Aenocyonyx, The Wolf That Never Stops Hunting Its Prey.

I am personally a fan of wolves. No matter if it is Wolf Link from The Legend Of Zelda:Twilight Princess, Wolf O' Donnell from Star Fox or Death from Puss In Boots:The Last Wish, I just like how they act and behave in their personalities. This is the case for Aenocyonyx aka Pochita. I was shocked when I first saw its move set: 3 instant moves with different usages. I thoughtthis would be absolutely amazing in the arenas. The word disarming had been a viral trend on the meta, and with Pochita here having 2 of them in its frightening moves et, it can just lock anything, reduce their armor and increase its already high attack, critical chance and speed to take advantage on them with a devastating attack. It just never lets go of its target like a relentless mercenary. So like how Wolf O' Donnell said: When the time comes, just act. So now the time has come, why not act fast and get those precious Dire Wolf DNA today?

5. Pyrorixis, The Berserk Assassin That Smashes Its Opponents Through Ferocious Stun Abuse.

Now onto my favorite Unique hybrid, the assassin of the Unique meta. Pyrorixis, as its name suggests, being the first ever giga-hybrid to be put in the game, is very powerful and a force to be reckoned with. It may seem like a cunning cannon with the group cautious strike and a priority nullifying-distracting move, but hold up, what's better than Berserk Decimation? A wounding Berserk Decimation that hits harder than a truck! With its Instant Precise Impact, it's just a crowning accomplishment for it. But wait, it isn't over yet! It has a viable kit that makes it a superior Unique. A swap in nullification? Checked. A counter that increases your attack and stuns the opponent? Checked. A lockdown on escape? Checked! It has basically a kit that can rival an Apex. And with most useful resistances, it can tank distraction and speed decrease as well. Totally not a waste of Nundasuchus, Einiosaurus, Sarcosuchus, Pyroraptor Gen 2, and Ghost DNA on fusing it!

6. Atrocodistis, The Resilient Armored Angel With A Cunning Mind Of Killing Flocks.

If Pyrorixis is a berserk assassin with the mind of a fiendish devil, Atrocodistis would be a resilient yet cunning angel that hunts down any misbehaved flocks. Not only does it work well against devious and crafty creatures, it can also play tricks on some fierce creatures that rely on attack boosts as well. With an Instant Sheltering Impact that heals it along with a Berserk Resilient Rampage that goes through flocks, it can pair up well if used carefully. Along with this kit is Accelerating Shielded Distraction, which puts up a shield, and distracts the opponent while increasing its speed for 50% and tricking fierce creatures into its trap. With immunity to most creatures that only have a decent amount of resistance to it, what's more better than that? A full precise counter that can go through anything along with an extra 25% armor. So gather up those Red DNA through incubators!

7. Lystrosavis, Feathered Leonard On Steroids.

Another flock you may say, but Lystrosavis is different from Dsungascorpios and Compsoraptor, it's a flock that ignores most distracting traits flocks usually have. Feathered Leonard here doesn't have armor, it instead relies on stun and dodge to trick its opponents. I mean, 3 moves with possible dodges, 1 of them comes with a rally heal and another one comes with a stunning swap out on threatened state? Now that's what a spy would do if they don't want to get their covers blown. So if 3 Lystrosavis were spies, they would be James Bond, Ethan Hunt and Loid Forger. Moreover, it has a dodge+stunning strike that goes through armor when you swap it in. Like how spies portray in their series, the ingredients of Lystrosavis are pretty hard to find, (With Argentavis being Event Exclusive and both Nundasuchus and Einiosaurus being used for Pyrorixis) so better make the most of it if you can!

8. Alankyloceratops, The Invincible Three Horned Dragon That Stuns and Heals.

This final hybrid just barely made it into our list. Although its moveset isn't impressive as of the likes of Tyrannometrodon or Pyrorixis, it's resilient stats just makes it hard to be attacked without the right counters. Since it can put up shields through 2 different moves, it would be painful to fight if your opponent is using something without reducing or bypassing its 40% armor. Stunning Rampage and Invincible Heal On Swapping In can just make things worse for your opponent. I once tried out Alankyloceratops and at level 21, it made a level 26 Indolycan rage quit just because I kept cleansing and shielding, which are 2 of Indolycan's biggest flaws. Since Alankyloceratops's hybrid ingredients are pretty easy to find in the wild, it can be your ultimate Unique tank to stop any cunning creatures that try to get in your way.

Honorable Mentions That Are Currently Unstable In The Long Run.

List of these hybrids are in the range of being power-crept. And there's 4 of them to choose from as well. Although they can still find their way into the lower arenas, they can be easily overpowered by other hybrids that are listed above. Without further ado, let's get into these 4 underrated hybrids:

9. Albertocevia, The Gorgonopsid That Takes Revenge on Another Level.

Albertocevia just missed the 8th spot due to it being too predictable when it's on any of its revenge moves. Although retaining the shield breaking moves from Albertosaurus, being Defense Shattering Alert and Fierce Counter, the majority of its moves just can't go through heavy armor and shields. It also gets outnumbered by flocks like Compsoraptor if it isn’t in a revenge state, especially when it doesn’t have immunity to distraction and swap prevention.

10. Ardontognathus, The Everything Eater Becomes the Shame of the Swamps.

Although Ardontoganthus functions well as a Wildcard flock, recent updates made it less viable due to more precise, distracting and group attacks that dominate the arena. Ludia has made a pretty good moveset on this 'Everything Eater', and unfortunately, the constantly changing meta has made it become the shame of the swamps.

11. Allodrigues, Exotic KFCs That Gives Off a Missed Opportunity.

When Alloraptor got a heavy buff in update 2.20, Allodrigues received nothing unlike its predecessor. Although being a terrifying flock with a turn 1 Alert Peck that rends 60% of opponent's health, more rend resistances of recent creatures had made it flee the arenas. It sometimes makes me think that Alloraptor deserves a better hybrid.

12. Indotaurus, The Menace of Nublar Gets Dominated By Cunnings and a Furry Indominus Rex.

Although Indotaurus is a powerful fierce hybrid with the right creatures, inflecting vulnerability and cloak with a cleansing rampage seemed all good, but with more creatures gaining nullification, rend resistance and dodge abilities like Pyrorixis, it just can not keep its place in the meta for long. Not to mention that update 2.18 also introduced Indonemys, which likewise functions better than Indotaurus, and is more viable as well. So with the existence of more cunning creatures and Indonemys, it now struggles to find its place in the meta.

To everyone who has read this article, thank you all for reading this. Although I'm just a normal JWA player who is still striving the days of being in between Aviary and Library for now, I hoped that these strategies can help any players who are struggling to find their place in the meta a better choice on selecting their team. If there's anything you would like to discuss, feel free to comment on the servers and tell your thoughts on the current meta and its Unique creatures, and of course you can feel free to request any similar articles. Good luck building your team and have fun playing! Not joined to our Discord yet? Come on in today!