My rankings of the Moonshadow units!

Moonshadow is a faction of mysterious warriors and assassins (known as Mishnari) that lurk in the shadows and strike with lethal precision. An often forgotten facet of Moonshadow is that they also have a secondary undead theme, which provides an element of horror. Josh Baldwin (the primary Moonshadow illustrator) and Jason did a great job in creating the mystique and cohesion behind the undead units and the Mishnari.

Here is my Moonshadow tier list! (Tiermaker link is here)

• Superb Tier: Ancient Winjaru, Jabari Warlord, Assassin Squad (Assassin Squad was moved last minute and that reflects in the link above!)
• A Tier: Jabari Stormchief
• B Tier: Vukazi Scout, Mishnari Bladethrower, Ahool Nightstalker, Jabari Shadowcharger, Savage Manticore
• C Tier: Vukazi General, Malicious Hantu, Elite Spearfighter, Winjaru Villagestalker
• D Tier: Moonshadow Hantu, Mishnari Soldier

D TIER: Moonshadow Hantu, Mishnari Soldier

Both of the units in this tier are 3 cost units that can be helpful, but overall are not going to be significantly impactful. Moonshadow Hantu’s Poison Orb spell can help slow down enemy attackers, and the Mishnari Soldier has a 3 rank and 2 attack, both of which are solid value. Outside of that, both unit’s stats are relatively weak.

C TIER: Vukazi General, Malicious Hantu, Elite Spearfighter, Winjaru Villagestalker

Speaking of Poison Orb, Malicious Hantu can cast it as well- and also can cast Paralyze. Paralyze is a great tactical spell, but with only 2 Rank, it really limits how impactful Malicious Hantu can be. Vukazi General is a necessary but basic Captain. It’s a good support unit but is not going to do anything beyond commanding 2 Rank units. Elite Spearfighter is a really good offensive unit that can serve as a de-facto clean-up assassin of sorts thanks to the 3 damage ranged attack. Skirmish is always welcome to deter melee attacks. Elite Spearfighter usually gets recruited to go eliminate a unit. Once that ranged attack is used though, it’s really quite fragile even with Skirmish– and that low defense holds it back. This is something the Spearfighter shares with a lot of Moonshadow units! Not Winjaru Villagestalker however. The Winjaru Villagestalker is one of Moonshadow’s toughest units, and in the right board layout can be aggressive offensively with Swiftstriker. The Villagestalker is a good melee unit- but Moonshadow can struggle with gold generation and has some better units that are more expensive, so mana generation can make the Winjaru Villagestalker a tough value play.

B TIER: Vukazi Scout, Mishnari Bladethrower, Ahool Nightstalker, Jabari Shadowcharger, Savage Manticore

Moonshadow has a classic scout unit in Vukazi Scout that costs 1 gold and 3 movement- always useful. The rest of the B-Tier units form Moonshadow’s core support and mid-game forces. Moonshadow is the best faction when units are spread out and positioned on the perimeters of the board- near the edges. Alternatively, they are the worst faction when the action is centralized. If Moonshadow can attack from the outside-in that is ideal. Jabari Shadowcharger is a prime example of this. 4 movement is the best in the game, and with Joust it is an incredible combo. Jabari Shadowcharger is perfect for zooming up for an attack and then retreating to more isolated areas of the battleground. The Shadowcharger does carry a heavy price tag for average attack and defense at 7 gold- making it a favorite enemy target. Mishnari Bladethrower is a really fun unit- 4 rank is outstanding for a ranged unit, and Versatile makes it a good threat in the right situations. Despite Evade, the Bladethrower has that dreaded aforementioned low defense, which keeps them in B Tier. Ahool Nightstalker and Savage Manticore are both units I have grown to like more and more, The Ahool Nightstalker is range-proof when Aerial, and has the speed to get in position for Swiftstriker attacks if they present themselves. The Savage Manticore also good speed and is range-proof when Aerial, and Piercing Sting can totally mitigate a dangerous enemy. At 2 attack for both the Ahool and Manticore, they both lack a little bit of the offensive devastation I like in Aerial units relied on to score points.

A TIER: Jabari Stormchief

While there are a lot of worthy candidates, I personally rank the Jabari Stormchief as the single most dangerous spellcaster in the game (in terms of raw potential impact). Lightning Bolt on its own is a ruthlessly efficient spell at 5 mana (for 3 damage over 3 range) but Lightning Storm is what can flip the battle. 4 damage to any enemy within 2 spaces has massive point scoring potential, and with 4 rank the Jabari Stormchief does not have to sit around and wait too long. All of this power and potential is definitely S-Tier worthy, but the Stormchief is very expensive overall- 8 gold. Lightning Storm, for all it’s power, is still situational in use, which can make the Jabari Stormchief a bit risky.

S TIER: Ancient Winjaru, Jabari Warlord, Assassin Squad

Ancient Winjaru is a personal favorite unit of mine- so maybe I am overrating it a bit- but I love to chip away at enemies with minor melee attacks and Poison Orbs. Once a couple of enemies are wounded, I recruit the Ancient Winjaru and let Deteriorate just wither away the opposing faction. It’s a very situation dependent spell and overall tactic, to be sure, but the Ancient Winjaru can more than hold it’s own as a regular hulking frontline monster. The great attack and defense skills are enhanced by the 3 rank- and immunity to spells is the icing on the cake. The Ancient Winjaru can be the central force behind 2 very different strategies. Jabari Warlord is an excellent, versatile unit, now that they got a stat patch that gave them Skirmish. The movement and rank attributes help the Jabari Warlord maneuver almost at will and thanks to a ranged attack, the Warlord’s attack radius is huge. The Jabari Warlord also makes your opponent pay for positioning mistakes with Swiftstriker. Evade 4 combined with Skirmish means the Jabari Warlord is either extremely risky to attack from range/spell or is going to take a chunk out of a regular melee attacker. Oh and they are a Captain. Both the Winjaru and Warlord cost 8 gold but provide so much. Assassin Squad is another mobile, high-rank ranged unit.. and is the best of the bunch. With the added Versatile, the Assassin Squad becomes a really lethal force. They are able to use Slayer effectively due to their 3 movement. Once Slayer is used the Assassin Squad is still an effective ranged unit with a big attack radius thanks to the movement and rank.

That’s Moonshadow! I am sure that you might disagree, so point out where I am wrong! You can create your own tiers with Factions: Battlegrounds units here. (Next up: Kragg)