Choosing your First Axie Team

Axie Infinity is a play-to-earn game where players use a team of creatures called Axies in battling other players or clearing adventure stages. Players can earn SLP which can be converted to Ethereum, and finally, exchanged to real money should they wish to. In this guide, we will discuss the various factors to consider when building your first Axie team.

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Since a considerable capital is involved, choosing the right axies to build your team is both nerve-wracking and daunting. We have already mentioned in our previous pages that we don’t recommend settling with the floor (cheap) axies since they won’t be viable in most instances, especially in the PvP aspect of the game. Additionally, floor axies can be very challenging to sell off, making it hard for you to get back what you spent for that axie. It’s safe to look for budget-friendly axies with great cards/ parts. Floor axies are acceptable before since you can still use them to earn SLP in Adventure (PvE mode). However, since the last major update in the game, the only source of SLP will come from Arena (PvP) so the floor axies will be at a major disadvantage in most Arena matches.

Roles are important in combat in Axie Infinity. Roles are defined by the axie’s class, overall stats, and available cards/parts. All axies will have their own strengths and weaknesses so forming a party while balancing these out and complementing each other’s abilities is a huge part in forming an ideal or effective team.

In this page, we will discuss some important considerations for a good team of axies so you don’t go in blind in buying axies here and there. Let’s take a look at some considerations or factors you should look for in your starter axies.

Tank/Defender

Tank axies are placed in the frontline with high survivability, thanks to their high HP and cards that provide high shield value and self-heal. Their role is to shield their squisher allies in the backline and draw the opponents’ attacks as you set up your combos for your DPS axie or other card effects by your utility axie.

Generally speaking, Plant axies are the best class for this role, thanks to their high HP and decent Morale. They have high survivability thanks to their abilities that provide high shield values and even ability to heal themselves. On top of that, they can still deal decent damage with the right parts equipped. Reptiles and Aquatic axies are good alternatives for this role.

Utility

Utility axies are like support units in the game which can be used to disrupt the enemy while setting up your own. Usually, utility axies are placed in the midlane to fulfill their role effectively. Their cards include gaining, destroying, or stealing energy. Alternatively, some midlane axies can act as secondary tanks or attackers, depending on their ability set.

Attacker/DPS

These are glass cannon axies with the highest damage output at the expense of very low HP, making them quite vulnerable to enemy attacks. This is the reason why the preferred DPS axies are placed in the backline. Ideally, DPS axies should have several attack cards with over 100 damage. The most common tactic is saving up at least 4 energy and unleashing a full combo that is usually enough to take out an unshielded, full HP axie. Bird and Beast clases for this role.

Beginner Team Compositions

There are several possible team compositions in the game but only a few are effective. Here are some of the balanced, novice-friendly team comps:

* Plant, Aqua, Reptile

* Plant, Beast, Aqua

* Plant, Beast, Bird

* Plant, Aqua, Aqua

* Plant, Bird, Bird

Depending on your late-game goal, you may need to get new axies and change your team comp to play more competitively. This is not cheap of course, as the game’s PvP meta changes almost every season.

Conclusion

Aside from the topics mentioned above, there are two important aspects that you should also pay attention to: individual composition and team synergy. Your axies’ individual composition matters. For example, if you’re using a Plant-class axie as a tank but it doesn’t have plant-parts or abilities that play around its strength (shield or self-heal), then it’s useless. On the other hand, an Aquatic axie with the necessary parts/cards that increase its survivability will play the role even better.

Lastly, team synergy. As much as possible, you’ll want at least two different axie types that will cover each other’s strengths and weaknesses. Don’t be mistaken however, since there are meta mono-class teams out there. It’s just that on the regular basis, you’ll want axies that fill the defender and attacker roles to have a consistently, reliable and balanced team.

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This concludes our guide for choosing your first Axie team in Axie Infinity. For more Axie Infinity content, please check out our other pages within this guide.