Clash of Critters Horde Invasion Season 1 Meta Tier List, Best One to Use!

The Horde Invasion Season 1 meta in Clash of Critters has changed a lot after the latest balance updates. The new chip system, stronger enemies, new bosses, and higher difficulty levels mean that simply stacking damage is no longer the best strategy.

Survival is now just as important as DPS. Strong tanks, healing, shields, debuffs, and crowd control can make a huge difference, especially in higher difficulties. Here is a simple breakdown of the strongest units to use in Season 1.

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Clash of Critters Horde Invasion Tier List

Meta Tier Units

These are some of the best units to invest in for the current Season 1 meta.

• Crab — One of the best tanks. It has self-healing, shields, knockback, and strong area damage. It works especially well when placed on the far left.
• Mantis — A strong mix of tank and DPS. It has self-healing, Fragile, ranged attacks, and large AoE damage.
• Lion — Useful for damage boosts and knockback while also giving your team a solid front-line unit.
• Godzilla — A strong tank with AoE damage, a shield mechanic, a powerful beam, and stun.
• Fire Puppy — Mainly useful because of its Weak debuff. Its damage is also decent.
• Toad — One of the strongest current picks. It has large AoE damage, burn, slow, and stun.
• Electric Wolf — Has good damage and survivability thanks to its invincibility and paralysis effects.
• Unicorn — One of the best DPS choices because it can automatically target enemies and deal strong damage.
• Seal — Useful for its Weak debuff, knockback, and strong damage multiplier.
• Fire Lizard — Received a major buff and is now one of the best DPS units. Its burn effects can trigger extra Fire Orb attacks across multiple lanes.

Best Support Units

Support units are very important in Season 1 because enemies deal much more damage than before.

• Sunflower — Still a strong support option for healing, attack boosts, defense, and shields. Usually, level 1–3 is enough because Candy is limited.
• Mushroom — Useful for Fragile, attack speed, and damage reduction.
• Ash Lava — Provides healing, attack boosts, and Fragile. It remains useful even after its nerf.
• Tide Guardian — Good for Slow and Fragile effects.
• Butterfly — Mainly used for its Sleep effect. It can remain at a low level and still provide useful utility.
• Bat — Still useful for Fragile and team damage boosts, although one Bat is usually enough instead of running two.

Best Flex Picks

Flex units are useful because they can fill different roles depending on your formation.

Owl

Owl is one of the most flexible units in Season 1. It can work as a healer, support, tank, or DPS.

You can use Owl at different levels depending on what your team needs:

• Level 3 for support and healing.
• Level 7 for more DPS.
• Front line when you need another tank.
• Slow and stun make it useful for controlling enemies.

Babu

Babu can also switch between DPS and tank roles. You can place it in the front or back depending on your formation.

Its higher-level attack can deal strong damage to bosses, making it a useful choice when you need extra damage without giving up too much survivability.

Shumper

Shumper offers good DPS, survivability, and debuffs. Its poison effect can also help your team deal more damage to bosses.

Big Toe

Big Toe is another useful flex option. It provides Slow, strong damage, and a powerful vortex at higher levels.

The vortex can keep bosses under control and stop them from moving freely, making Big Toe especially useful for boss fights.

Special Meta Picks

Some units do not fit perfectly into the normal tank, DPS, or support categories but are still very strong.

Must Fry

Must Fry is one of the most unique units in Season 1.

It can:

• Pull enemies toward your team.
• Apply a stacking Weak debuff.
• Stun enemies.
• Give itself a shield.
• Heal after the shield disappears.
• Apply Fragile.
• Deal additional damage.

This makes Must Fry useful as a tank, support, controller, and secondary DPS.

Its abilities are so different that it cannot easily be replaced by another tank.

Fire Cat Tank

Fire Cat Tank is another important pick because it can provide an attack boost to the entire team.

It is also useful for applying Weak, which has become extremely important in Season 1 because bosses can deal huge amounts of damage.

Most players can stop around level 3 unless they have a good chip that helps them reach higher levels.

Strong Tanks

These units are good, but they are not quite as important as the top meta tanks.

• Turtle — Provides shields and piercing damage. Its shield can bounce between allies, giving your team extra protection.
• Monkey — Its clones can absorb attacks and block projectiles. It is still useful in lower difficulties but struggles more in Difficulty 4.
• Kangaroo — Improved after its buffs and now has good damage and survivability.
• Bear — Has decent damage and team buffs, but its survivability can be a problem against stronger enemies.

For higher difficulties, units with self-healing, shields, or other survival mechanics are generally more valuable.

Strong DPS

There are several units with good damage that can still work well, but the problem is having enough DPS slots in your formation.

Strong DPS options include:

• Lobster
• Deer
• Ice Cat
• Sheep
• Fire Fox
• KB Zep

These units can deal good damage, but they compete with stronger options such as Unicorn, Seal, and Fire Lizard.

Since Season 1 formations need more tanks and support units, there are fewer spaces available for pure DPS.

Strong Support

These support units are still useful even after balance changes.

• Panda — Can provide Slow and attack or attack speed boosts, but reaching its higher levels can be difficult because Candy is limited.
• Firefly — Provides shields, healing, paralysis, and knockback. It becomes more useful at higher levels.
• Pig — Still a solid support option depending on your team.
• Token — Remains useful despite the balance changes.

Firefly is especially interesting because it can provide several useful effects at once. However, more testing is needed before calling it a top meta support.

Decent Units

These units are usable, but they are usually replaced by stronger choices when available.

• Mole
• Snake
• Penguin
• Electric Cat

They can still perform well, especially with the right formation, but they currently do not offer enough compared with the stronger meta options.

Untested Units

Some units have not been tested enough to place them accurately.

One unit worth watching is Octopus. Early results suggest that it could become much stronger than expected.

Octopus has:

• Damage reduction.
• Strong boss damage.
• Water typing.
• Useful utility.

The lack of strong Water DPS options also makes Octopus interesting. However, more testing is needed before placing it in the main meta tier.

Best Season 1 Formation Strategy

The biggest lesson from Season 1 is that DPS alone is not enough anymore.

A strong formation should normally include:

• At least one reliable tank.
• A unit that can apply Weak.
• Healing or shields.
• Fragile or other damage-increasing debuffs.
• One or two strong DPS units.
• Crowd control such as Slow, Stun, or Sleep.
• Support that matches your team’s needs.

For example, Crab + Mantis + Unicorn + Seal + support units can give you a good mix of damage and survivability.

The exact formation will still depend on your teammates and the units you have available. A meta unit is not automatically the best choice if your formation cannot properly support it.

The Clash of Critters Horde Invasion Season 1 meta is very different from the previous season. Higher enemy damage means tanks and defensive abilities are now much more important.

Some of the strongest units to consider are Crab, Mantis, Godzilla, Toad, Unicorn, Seal, Fire Lizard, and Must Fry. Support units such as Sunflower, Mushroom, Ash Lava, Butterfly, and Bat can also make a big difference.

Keep in mind that the meta can change again after future balance updates. A unit that looks average today could become much stronger after a buff, while a top-tier unit could fall after a nerf. Your formation and teamwork are also just as important as the individual units you choose.