Clash of Critters Horde Invasion Season 1 changed how players build their teams. With stronger enemies, tougher bosses, balance changes, and the new chip system, bringing only high-DPS Tataris is no longer enough. Survival, healing, shields, debuffs, and crowd control are now very important. A good Tatari should either deal strong damage or provide something useful to keep the whole team alive. Here are 10 of the best Tataris to use in Horde Invasion Season 1 and why they are worth using.
Best Roles to Have in Your Formation
Picking 10 strong Tataris is not enough to guarantee a good Horde Invasion run. Your team needs to cover several different jobs.
A balanced formation should include:
- Frontline: Crab, Mantis, or Godzilla.
- Main DPS: Fire Lizard or Unicorn.
- Secondary DPS: Seal or Toad.
- Weak debuff: Seal, Fire Cat Tank, or Must Fry.
- Healing: Cheer Spring.
- Fragile: Mantis or another suitable support.
- Crowd control: Toad, Seal, or Must Fry.
- Shields: Godzilla or other defensive Tataris.
The exact lineup should also depend on your teammate. Some support abilities do not need to be duplicated, so two players should coordinate instead of bringing exactly the same units. (Clash of Critters Wiki)
1. Crab
Crab is one of the best frontline Tataris for Season 1. Its biggest advantage is survivability. Crab can heal itself and turn that healing into a shield, allowing it to stay in front for a long time.
Crab is also more than just a tank. It can deal strong area damage and help clear enemies while holding the frontline. Its positioning is important, so you should place it where its attacks can reach multiple enemies.
Why Crab is good:
- Excellent survivability.
- Has self-healing.
- Can gain shields.
- Deals strong AoE damage.
- Works well as a frontline tank.
- Can help deal with difficult waves.
2. Mantis
Mantis is one of the best tank and DPS combinations in Horde Invasion. It can stay on the frontline while still dealing a surprising amount of damage.
Mantis has self-healing and can apply Fragile, which helps the rest of your team deal more damage. Its larger AoE attacks also make it useful when multiple enemies are coming through the same area.
This makes Mantis especially useful when you need a frontline unit that does not completely sacrifice damage for defense.
Why Mantis is good:
- Strong frontline unit.
- Has self-healing.
- Deals good AoE damage.
- Applies Fragile.
- Can handle multiple enemies.
- Works as both tank and DPS.
3. Toad
Toad is a very useful damage and control Tatari in Season 1. Its large AoE attacks make it good for clearing groups, while its other abilities provide additional effects that help the team.
Toad can apply Burn and Slow, giving it both damage and crowd-control value. It can also provide Stun, which is especially useful against dangerous enemies and bosses.
Because of this combination, Toad is not simply a damage dealer. It can help control the battlefield while continuing to deal damage.
Why Toad is good:
- Large AoE attacks.
- Burn damage.
- Slow effect.
- Stun.
- Strong overall damage.
- Useful against bosses and groups.
4. Godzilla
Godzilla is another strong tank for difficult Horde Invasion runs. Its damage was improved through balance changes, making it more useful than a traditional defensive unit that only absorbs attacks.
Godzilla can deal damage across multiple lanes and has a shield mechanic that helps it survive. It also gets a powerful beam attack and Stun at higher levels.
This makes Godzilla a good option when you want a tank that can contribute meaningful damage and crowd control.
Why Godzilla is good:
- Strong tank.
- Good multi-lane damage.
- Has shields.
- Powerful AoE attack.
- Can stun enemies.
- Good choice for difficult waves.
5. Fire Lizard
Fire Lizard is one of the biggest DPS winners from the Season 1 balance changes. Its improved Fire Orb mechanics allow it to keep adding extra damage after applying Burn.
The main strength of Fire Lizard is its ability to spread damage across multiple lanes. When positioned correctly, it can trigger additional Fire Orb attacks and deal a lot of damage over the course of a run.
It is a particularly good choice if your team already has enough tanks and support units.
Why Fire Lizard is good:
- Received a major damage improvement.
- Strong Burn effects.
- Can deal damage across multiple lanes.
- Extra Fire Orb attacks.
- Excellent boss damage.
- One of the strongest DPS choices.
6. Unicorn
Unicorn remains one of the strongest DPS options in Season 1. Its automatic targeting is one of its biggest advantages because it can consistently attack enemies without requiring as much manual positioning.
Unicorn also benefits from the fact that some competing DPS options were weakened by balance changes. This gives Unicorn more value when building a damage-focused formation.
If you need a reliable DPS unit that can keep attacking important targets, Unicorn is a safe choice.
Why Unicorn is good:
- High DPS.
- Automatic targeting.
- Easy to use.
- Reliable damage throughout the run.
- Strong against priority targets.
7. Seal
Seal is extremely valuable because of its Weak debuff. In Season 1, enemies and bosses can deal much more damage, making Weak an important defensive tool.
Seal also has strong damage and knockback. Its large wave attack can push enemies away and give your team more time to deal damage.
Because it provides both DPS and utility, Seal can fill an important slot in a Season 1 formation.
Why Seal is good:
- Applies Weak.
- Strong damage.
- Has knockback.
- Useful crowd control.
- Helps reduce pressure from bosses.
- Good for difficult waves.
8. Must Fry
Must Fry is one of the most unique Tataris in the current Horde meta. Rather than focusing on one role, it can provide several different types of utility.
It can pull enemies toward your team, apply Weak, use shields, heal itself, stun enemies, and apply Fragile. This makes it useful as a tank, support, controller, and secondary DPS.
The important thing is that Must Fry works best when the entire formation is built around its abilities. It is not necessarily a unit you simply place anywhere.
Why Must Fry is good:
- Pulls enemies.
- Applies Weak.
- Can stun.
- Has a shield.
- Can recover HP.
- Applies Fragile.
- Works in several different roles.
9. Fire Cat Tank
Fire Cat Tank is another valuable support-focused choice for Season 1. Its team-wide attack boost can make a noticeable difference because it improves the damage output of your entire formation.
Weak is also very important in the current season because bosses can hit extremely hard. Fire Cat Tank can help your team survive while also improving its overall damage.
You generally do not need to invest heavily into it unless your formation specifically benefits from the extra levels.
Why Fire Cat Tank is good:
- Provides an attack boost.
- Can apply Weak.
- Helps the entire team.
- Useful against strong bosses.
- Combines offensive and defensive utility.
10. Cheer Spring
Cheer Spring remains one of the most important support Tataris for Horde Invasion. Even after balance changes, healing and defensive buffs are still extremely valuable because of how much damage enemies can deal in later waves.
Its higher-level abilities can provide powerful survivability tools, including Invincibility. This can help your team survive dangerous moments where a normal heal would not be enough.
You should not ignore Cheer Spring just because it has received changes. Healing and survival remain major parts of successful Horde formations. (Roonby)
Why Cheer Spring is good:
- Strong healing.
- Provides defensive buffs.
- Can provide attack boosts.
- Higher levels offer powerful survival effects.
- Very useful in late waves.
- Excellent support for difficult runs.
Why Tanks Matter More in Season 1
One of the biggest changes in Season 1 is the importance of survivability. In older formations, players could often focus heavily on DPS and use only a small amount of defensive support.
That strategy becomes much harder to use when enemies and bosses can deal huge amounts of damage. A strong tank that can also deal damage is therefore much more valuable.
This is why units such as Crab and Mantis are so useful. They can stay in front while still contributing damage instead of simply standing there and absorbing hits.
The best Tataris for Clash of Critters Horde Invasion Season 1 are not necessarily the units with the highest raw DPS. The current meta rewards teams that can survive, control enemies, apply debuffs, and still deal enough damage to finish the later waves.
Your final formation should still depend on your Tatari levels, available chips, teammate, and preferred strategy. A supposedly weaker unit can perform better when its abilities fit your formation, while simply filling every slot with meta units may not work if their roles overlap.