From Assassins to God Mages, here are 11 Auto Chess Meta Builds, tried and tested for their strength. Ready to go to help you climb that ladder.
Hey all, DefinitelyNotOran here.
I made all these builds for my twitch and I’d thought I’d share them with you all and the thoughts behind each one.
Please note that these builds aren’t in any particular order and I play them all regularly and can vouch for their strength. Additionally, this isn’t all of the strong builds, just the ones I play.
I haven’t included goblins as I don’t feel they’re particularly strong, and I personally don’t like 6 mages due to lack of frontline (although God of War 3 may negate this, haven’t tested it yet).
Check out the updated list of meta builds.
1. 4 Humans, 3 Mages
 The Source (2 Cost) |  Thunder Spirit (3 Cost) |  Tortola Elder (4 Cost) |  Shadow Devil (3 Cost) |  Pirate Captain (4 Cost) |  Werewolf (3 Cost) |  Stone Spirit (1 Cost) |
These are the core 7 units to the build because they provide the best synergies and the most AoE magic damage. Mage builds are all about nuking your opponents before they can respond and Thunder Spirit, Shadow Devil and Tortola Elder provide some of the best AoE magic damage in the game. Our frontline is obvious because there are only 2 human warriors in the game and stone spirit activates spirit synergy.
We have 3 slots open at lvl 8/9/10 leaving this build very versatile. Great additions are Storm Shaman, Duplicate Pirates/Shadow Devils/thunder Spirits or any legendary.
Position your units in a 3×3 block in a corner with elder in the very corner so he doesn’t whiff. You want your team to be directly across from your opponents so that they don’t spread out too much, so make sure to scout often and switch corners as necessary.
This build is strong against squishy teams e.g Gods (Make sure to grab a storm shaman and position it directly in front of their team – don’t be afraid of silences because they can’t run humans), other Mages, Assassins (with proper positioning), Hunters. It is also strong against Warriors as the armour buff is irrelevant. This build is very weak to CC so make sure to position your humans to silence any pesky storm shamans. Against knights, you will need to find Dark Spirit 2* or you’ll probably lose.
Tank items can be put on any of the warriors, I prefer Pirate. Mana item priority is Elder first then whatever units you’re adding at 8/9/10. Damage items can either be put on Elder to secure his mana generation or Shadow Devil for raw damage.
NOTE: Before people ask, I don’t like Wind Ranger in mages. His ability, while it does hit for more damage, hits nowhere near the same amount of space as Shadow Devil and is basically a less reliable Tortolla blast. You’re not aiming to nuke one line of the enemy team, you need to nuke it all.
2. 6 Assassins
 Shining Assassin (4 Cost) |  Shadow Crawler (3 Cost) |  Lord of Sand (3 Cost) |  Abyssal Crawler (2 Cost) |  Phantom Queen (2 Cost) |  Venom (3 Cost) |  Warpwood Sage (3 Cost) |  Razorclaw (4 Cost) |
The assassins I consider absolutely core are Shining Assassin, Shadowcrawler and Lord of Sand as they activate synergies (and are generally just the best assassins) and Phantom Queen as she is the only demon assassin and can carry you hard early game. Abyssal crawler is a beast at 3* and lets you easily put in marine if necessary, but can be subbed out if you want along with venom. Warpwood Sage and Razorclaw are my tanks of choice as they’re very easy to 3* due to being druids and also let us activate feathered/beasts with our assassins.
I usually stick at lvl 8 and roll for 3* assassins with this build (Shadowcrawler > Phantom Queen = Abyssal Crawler > The rest) however you can also go to lvl 9 to put in Tsunami Stalker/Siren for Marine, or Storm Shaman if you’re struggling vs Gods.
Position your assassins at the bottom row with your tanks in front (can also frontline Lord of Sand as he is quite tanky).
This build is strong against any team that cannot CC or burst your units such as warriors or beasts. This build also does well against Gods as your assassins bypass God of War. This build can struggle if you don’t hit 3* units and is also quite weak to Glacier Knights if Desparate Doctor casts. Against mages, you may want to split your team so that your tanks start directly in front of their team with ranged assassins behind and you melee assassins jump into the side. This will prevent their burst/cc hitting all of your team at once.
Tank items all go on Warpwood Sage. Mana item priority is Shining Assassin > Phantom Queen. Damage items usually go on Shadowcrawler however if you can’t 3* her, Shining Assassin 2* is probably a better choice.
3. Feathered Assassins
Shadow Crawler (3 Cost) | Shining Assassin (4 Cost) |  Taboo Witcher (1 Cost) | Warpwood Sage (3 Cost) |  Wisper Seer (2 Cost) |  Wind Ranger (3 Cost) | Lord of Sand (3 Cost) | Razorclaw (4 Cost) |
Basically a tankier variation of 6 assassins with less damage. Whisper Seer and Warpwood Sage are obvious choices due to the ease of 3*ing them, Shining Assassin and Shadowcrawler are the only feathered assassins (and the best assassins imo), Wind Ranger is a very strong unit and Taboo Witcher nerfs enemy demons and can also delay key enemy ults late game. Lord of Sand is my 3rd assassin of choice as he is tanky, he provides CC with his ability and provides easy beast bonus with Razorclaw (who we use because he’s easy to 3* while building your other druids). If you don’t want to run Lord of Sand for whatever reason, Phantom Queen or Shadowcrawler are probably the next best thing.
I usually sit at lvl 8 and try and 3* Shadowcrawler > Lord of Sand however you can also lvl to 10 and add Tsunami and Siren for 2 marine/3 hunters. You can also add another Shining Assassin 2* for even more damage. Your positioning is usually one of two things; your feathered in one corner with Sage/Seer/Razor in front and Taboo/WR behind with the assassins in the other corner. Alternatively, put Whisper Seer/Sage in the very front row, Razorclaw diagonally down and to the side of Sage and Taboo diagonally down to the side of razorclaw. Basically you stagger your front line so that the aggro is spread across them. Then put Windranger in the very back corner behind your team with the assassins next to him. I much prefer the second formation and have seen more success with it, however you need to shuffle your team around a lot to make full use of your Taboo witcher.
This build is very strong against autoattack reliant teams such as Warriors and beasts, it has a favourable matchup vs Knights and is surprisingly good against Mages/Gods as they don’t generate mana if they miss (and Shining Assassin is insane vs mages if she gets her shield off). This build is obviously very weak to 6 Hunters as it is Feathered’s natural counter.
Tank items all go on Warpwood Sage again. Damage items go on Shadowcrawler (if 3*), otherwise you can put attack speed items on Shining Assassin and Damage items on Wind Ranger as he has the fastest base attack speed in the game. Mana items go on Shining Assassin > Wind Ranger.
4. God Mages
 God of War (1 Cost) |  God of Thunder (5 Cost) | The Source (2 Cost) | Thunder Spirit (3 Cost) |  Desperate Doctor (2 Cost) |  Siren (4 Cost) |  Storm Shaman (4 Cost) |  Soul Reaper (4 Cost) |
This is my preferred God build though there are a lot of different units you can run. I’d consider the core units as the two gods, Source and Thunder Spirit. Run shining dragon in place of God of Thunder until you find him. I run Desparate doctor as he is cheap, easy to 3*, provides a LOT of cc with reduced cd’s and can also unlock warlock synergy for you. Storm shaman is an obvious choice because he can almost permanently silence the enemy team with 2 gods and does huge damage. Siren provides hard, almost board-wide CC and can cast multiple times whereas Tsunami usually dies after the first cast. Soul Reaper is insanely strong with reduced cd’s and can make your God of War almost unkillable due to his spam heal/nuke.
You usually want to aim for lvl 9 or 10 as you benefit from a lot of expensive units and want to find Lord of Thunder who is a 5 cost. At lvl 9 and 10 you can add Venomancer/Poison Worm for 3 warlocks or duplicate Storm shaman/Thunder Spirits. You can also add multiple sources for super quick mana gain.
Your positioning is basically God of War at the front and then everything behind it. You may also want to frontline your Storm Shaman as long as he’s not at risk of being silenced or mana-drained.
This is probably what I’d consider at the strongest build in the game and also the least consistent. As of writing this, God of War and Storm Shaman are pre-nerf (They’re both weaker in DAC) and so are insanely good. This build can win vs any build in the game however if it gets CC’d, you’ll probably die. You need your Storm Shaman to go off before your opponent can CC you. Knights can beat you as they are heavily resistant to your damage however vs Knights, you can replace Thunder Spirit for Shining Dragon and add Dark Spirit. Vs assassins, move your God of War to the back so he tanks for your team.
Tank items all go on God of War. Damage and mana items should be put on any unit you need to cast first which depends on your opponents, however usually you’ll want to put mana/damage items on Storm Shaman and Siren.
5. 6 Hunters
 Dwarf Sniper (3 Cost) |  Egersis Ranger (1 Cost) | Siren (4 Cost) |  Skull Hunter (2 Cost) |  Tsunami Stalker (5 Cost) | Wind Ranger (3 Cost) | God of War (1 Cost) | Soul Reaper (4 Cost) |  Evil Knight (3 Cost) |  Blight Sorcerer (5 Cost) |
There’s not much to say about the hunters because there’s currently only 6 to choose from. God of War 3* is the tankiest unit in the game and so is an obvious choice. 4 Egersis massively increases your damage however you may want to go down to 2 egersis to add cc units (looking at you, Storm shaman). If you can’t get a 3* God of War, you can run the cave clan instead or even 3 warriors (I prefer Pirate and Werewolf, and Tusk or Doom).
You’ll probably want to aim for lvl 9/10 to find Tsunami however you may get him at lvl 8. Most of my 6 hunter games the only units I try to 3* are God of War (always), Egersis (most of the time) and Skull Hunter (sometimes) because they’re cheap. The 3-cost hunters are good to 3* but not always possible due to their cost. Siren needs to be 2*’d.
Hunters are best when positioned in the same column so they can focus fire, and you want to position your God of War at the very front so he can tank everything. Don’t frontline your Tsunami if he’s only 1* as he will probably die before he casts.
This build, when pulled off correctly, can beat most comps in the game due to its sheer damage, innate marine buff, cc from Siren/Tsunami and the OP tankiness of God of War. It may struggle with Knights due to the shields and if you’re againstly a particularly strong Mage Comp, they may be able to burst your backline. This team is also countered by Gods due to them running God of War as your hunters will struggle to get through it and have no way to reach the backline. Vs assassins, position your God of War and Evil Knight at the back so they tank long enough for Siren to ult.
All tank items go on God of War though you can put some hp items on Tsunami. Mana item priority is Siren > Blight. Damage items usually go on Egersis if 3*’d, otherwise Sniper due to his range and base stats.
6. Dragon Knights
 Argali Knight (3 Cost) |  Dragon Knight (4 Cost) | Evil Knight (3 Cost) |  Hell Knight (2 Cost) |  Frost Knight (1 Cost) |  Lightblade Knight (2 Cost) |  Shining Dragon (2 Cost) | Venom (3 Cost) | Soul Reaper (4 Cost) |
This one probably doesn’t need much explanation because of how common and straightforward it is. Knights are incredibly tanky due to their shields giving +30 armour and 75% magic resist per proc (they can stack) and your dragons provide a lot of damage.
I either stick at lvl 8 or 9 and find Lightblade + Hell Knight 3, or go to lvl 2 and put in a legendary, storm shaman or 2x DK2’s.
For dragon knights, I position them in a 3×3 block in the corner with DK in the very corner, Lightblade in Front of him and my 3 melee knights at the front. I put Soul reaper in the middle of the block, the two other dragons at the very back and Frost knight at the middle edge. Knights need time at the start of a fight to proc shields and DK needs time to transform, so I never position them in the front row. Consider splitting your team if vs a lot of CC or Dark spirit.
This build (with good knight shield procs) counters any build that can’t CC your team repeatedly or teams without pure damage. The biggest weakness of Knights is Dark Spirit and if your opponent gets one, spread your team or you’ll lose.
I put all tank items on Hell Knight as I always aim to 3* him and he provides a lot of damage. I put damage items on Lightblade if 3*, otherwise on DK. Mana items usually on Soul Reaper or your legendaries/storm shaman.
7. Glacier Knights Warlocks
Evil Knight (3 Cost) | Hell Knight (2 Cost) | Frost Knight (1 Cost) | Lightblade Knight (2 Cost) |  Berserker (4 Cost) |  Defector (1 Cost) | Desperate Doctor (2 Cost) | Soul Reaper (4 Cost) |  Venomancer (4 Cost) |
This has been my favourite build for a long time. The Knights I run are always Hell Knight (because he has insane base damage, is a demon and is easy to 3*), Lightblade Knight (probably one of the best carries in the game at 3* with items), Evil Knight (For Egersis) and Frost Knight (because he’s bae. Also because we don’t have a choice). Glaciers provide attack speed and utility – desparate doctor is pretty easy to 3* when going for HK/LK and provides huge CC. I add Soul Reaper at 8 for Egersis and massive healing/damage and Venomancer at 9 for insane armour shred and warlock passive. Venomancer can be subbed for Dark Spirit vs Knights.
Stick at lvl 9 and roll for the 3*’s mentioned above unless you’re getting wrecked by Gods/Mages. If you are, get to 10 and add Storm shaman 2.
I always position glacier Knights in the back 2 rows with knights/veno in the front and glacier/lightblade behind. This is so my knight shields proc, soul reaper is protected and my damage is more-or-less focused. Same as Dragon Knights, if you’re getting CC’d or killed by a dark spirit, split your team.
I much prefer this to Dragon Knights as it has more damage and more CC at the expense of some tankiness. This comp has much better lategame potential than dragon knights IMO and can beat most comps if you hit your 3*’s. Again, the biggest weaknesses are Dark Spirit and CC.
Tank items go on Hell Knight, Damage items on Lightblade and Mana items on Desparate Doctor/Storm shaman.
8. Cave Mages
 Redaxe Chief (1 Cost) | Skull Hunter (2 Cost) | Storm Shaman (4 Cost) |  Swordman (2 Cost) | Tortola Elder (4 Cost) | The Source (2 Cost) | Thunder Spirit (3 Cost) | Shadow Devil (3 Cost) | Pirate Captain (4 Cost) |
It’s the traditional mage core with a cave frontline. Cave provides a huge frontline, swordsman does a lot of magic damage and it gives your Storm Shaman an extra 600 hp which guarantees he’s almost always going to survive and cast so you can play him more agressively. Pirate is your 3rd warrior and his boat is nice damage and cc.
I usually stick at lvl 9 to roll for 3* cave clan (especially swordsman) however levelling to 10 for a legendary/dupe storm shaman is also a good idea if necessary.
I position my mages in the corner as usual with the 4 cave in the front. I usually put Storm Shaman at the very edge (towards the middle) so he gets hit and casts faster. I usually put swordsman in the middle of the 4-caves so his spin hits more units. I position pirate behind my cave to partially protect from assassins and also so he doesn’t tank the initial hits.
This comp is very strong vs other mage comps (especially gods as there’s almost no way they’ll kill your Storm Shaman before he casts) at the expense of being slightly weaker to the comps mages usually counter due to trading some damage for tankiness. Again, vs knights you need a dark spirit or you’re screwed.
Tank items usually on Swordsman so he doesn’t die before he spins. Damage items can be used as per mages, though you can also consider putting them on Swordsman or Skull hunter as they have decent dps stats. Mana items on Tortolla or Storm Shaman.
9. Beast Warriors
 Tusk Champion (1 Cost) | Werewolf (3 Cost) | Pirate Captain (4 Cost) |  Abyssal Guard (2 Cost) |  Doom Arbiter (4 Cost) | Berserker (4 Cost) |  Poisonous Worm (3 Cost) | Razorclaw (4 Cost) |
6 Warriors, 4 beasts. I don’t like the cave warriors outside of cave mages/hunters as I don’t feel like their abilities or stats are worthwhile. Additionally, stone spirit’s throw is garbage in this game. That only leaves these 6 and God of War. If you get a God of War 3, you can replace Abyssal Guard for him (As long as you don’t need marine buff), otherwise stick to these units. Poison worm and Razorclaw are the preferred beasts are they summons are very strong and also make your opponents die quicker. Warrior comps are very versatile – You could replace the extra beasts for warlocks at 9, or add 4 marine, or add shamans or whatever the hell you want.
I’d probably suggest getting to lvl 10 after getting your main comp to 2/3*. Add Siren at 9 for Marine and cc and then either add a legendary or Storm shaman at 10. If you’re going to 3* a unit, Tusk or Abyssal Guard are probably the best options as they’re cheap. You could also consider sitting at lvl 8 and trying to 3* all of your 1/2/3 cost units if you don’t need marine buff.
Positioning is usually just all of your warriors + razorclaw at the very front with berserker/worm/siren behind however you could also position at the back to pull enemy comps out of their corner.
This comp is very strong against any team without AoE and due to the flexibility of warriors, you’re able to adapt your team to beast almost any opponent. The main issue with this comp is that it’s more of a mid-game comp than a late-game comp. Other comps can severely outscale you (e.g. gods, mages) as there are a limited number of ways you can upgrade your team due to having so many 4-costs that you’ll likely not be able to 3*. As such, the longer the game goes on, the weaker you get. This comp can struggle against Feathered as it is very auto-attack reliant, and strong mage/gods teams can nuke you if you don’t cc them.
Tank items can be put on almost any warrior – I usually put them on pirate or doom. Damage items go on Berserker. Mana items should be put on Poison Worm early game or Siren/Storm shaman late game.
10. Hunter Warriors
Siren (4 Cost) | Tsunami Stalker (5 Cost) | Egersis Ranger (1 Cost) | Pirate Captain (4 Cost) | Doom Arbiter (4 Cost) | Berserker (4 Cost) | Werewolf (3 Cost) | Tusk Champion (1 Cost) | Abyssal Guard (2 Cost) | Soul Reaper (4 Cost) |
A variation of 6 warriors that adds hunters for CC, damage and Marine passive. Abyssal guard can be replaced for another warrior when you get Tsunami and Siren together, or you can replace Soul Reaper for Abyssal Crawler if you want 4 marines. You can also add Storm Shaman at 10 instead of Soul Reaper if you really hate mages.
This build needs lvl 9 or 10 to work and you most likely won’t be going for any 3 star units.
Position your warriors the same as in a standard warrior comp, and put your hunters to one side in a line to focus fire. This comp combines the tankiness of warriors with the damage of hunters. It also has a crazy amount of cc (Tsunami, Pirate, Siren, Doom).
This comp has better lategame potential than standard warriors and can also beat almost any team if you build it correctly. The downside is that this is a very, very expensive build and requires lvl 9/10. You’ll probably not be able to build this unless you’re having a very good game, however you can potentially transition into this build from a standard warrior build to secure your late game.
Tank items usually on Pirate or Doom. Damage items on Berserker unless your Egersis is 3*. Mana items on Siren or Storm Shaman if you’re running him.
11. Glacier Warriors
Tusk Champion (1 Cost) | Werewolf (3 Cost) | Pirate Captain (4 Cost) | Abyssal Guard (2 Cost) | Doom Arbiter (4 Cost) | Berserker (4 Cost) | Defector (1 Cost) | Desperate Doctor (2 Cost) | Frost Knight (1 Cost) |
ANOTHER variation of warriors. This time it’s more damage and a potential hyper-carry berserker. Desperate Doctor also provides good CC and Defector can give shaman passive with Storm Shaman at 10.
This build needs lvl 9 to work (or 10 if you want to add Storm Shaman/Siren). Desparate Doctor is a great unit to 3* and you can also 3* Tusk/Abyssal Guard/Defector/Frost Knight if you decide to sit at 9 as they’re all cheap. If you want more survivability, you can replace Defector and Frost Knight for 2 more warlocks (Usually two of these; Venomancer/Soul Reaper/Dark Spirit)
Again, standard warrior positioning. I usually line my berserker up with Doom for focused dps. What’s better than having a tanky warrior comp? A tanky warrior comp that hits real fast. Some warriors have surprisingly good dps stats, such as Abyssal Guard and Doom, so extra attack speed can make them absolute monsters. I much prefer this build late-game to beast warriors as it generally has a lot more damage and cc. Don’t be afraid to go down to 2-glaciers if you need to adapt your comp e.g. adding marines/storm shaman early. The downside is that this build needs lvl 9 to really come to life and requires multiple 4-costs to have a chance late game as does any warrior build.
This build has the same weaknesses of any warrior comp – mages – especially since you can’t add marine passive until lvl 10, however it is slightly better against Feathered as more hits = more chances for those hits to land.
Again, tank items on pirate or doom and damage items on berserker. Mana items can go on Desparate Doctor or Siren/Storm shaman at 10.
I hope these builds can help you guys out, and feel free to ask any questions below. I wanted to add an image showing positioning but there doesn’t seem to be a website for mobile auto chess to let me do this.
