Axie Infinity PVP Guide: How to Win More in Arena (Builds, Strategy, Tips)

Arena now seems to be the main source of Smooth Love Potion (SLP) in Axie Infinity.

This is after the recent Season 18 update last August 10, 2021 that reduced SLP earnings in Adventure mode by half, and increased SLP rewards in Arena the higher you climb in the leaderboards.

With PVP now becoming more competitive and more rewarding than ever, let’s take a look at some tips and strategies on how to win more games in Arena.

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Tips to Win More in Arena (PVP)

Here are some tips to help you win more PVP matches in the Axie Infinity Arena.

1. Understand Axie type strengths and weaknesses

Axie Infinity has a type advantage/disadvantage system similar to Pokemon, or rock-paper-scissors.

Here is the complete weaknesses chart for each Axie type:

Reptile, Plant, Dusk deal 15% more damage vs. Aqua, Bird, Dawn
Aqua, Bird, Dawn deal 15% more damage vs. Beast, Bug, Mech
Beast, Bug, Mech deal 15% more damage vs. Reptile, Plant, Dusk

While attacking a weakness isn’t as significant as dealing double the damage like in Pokemon, dealing 15% more damage will definitely give you a huge advantage.

Familiarize yourself with these strengths and weaknesses and always use them to your advantage. For beginners, we recommend always having this chart open as soon as you enter a PVP battle!

2. Position your Axies properly

Regardless of your Axie team composition and their individual abilities, positioning is very important in Arena.

Normally, Axies will always attack the enemy Axie nearest to them.

The most obvious positioning rule is putting a tank Axie such as Plants on the front. Midlaners are usually a mix of damage dealer Axies and some decent amount of HP.

Backliners, or sometimes called glass cannons, are your main damage dealers but they also tend to have very low HP. Your DD (damage dealers) are usually the ones who close out and win matches.

Note that once you enter a battle, you can no longer change your Axie’s positions so make sure to plan them ahead carefully.

Always check your Axie’s move set and stats to determine where they should be placed in your team’s lineup.

3. Take advantage of combos

In Axie Infinity, a set of combo abilities may be more effective than when they are casted individually.

For example, one of the most common combo is the Nut Throw & Nut Crack combo. Both cards deal 105 Attack damage, but if they are casted together in one turn, both attacks will deal 120% more damage.

There are endless possibilities for combos in the game, and we have created a list of some of the best ones in our guide here.

Take these into consideration when choosing Axies for your team.

(Related Guide: Best Starter Teams in Axie Infinity)

Great combos can only be unleashed with proper Energy management. This leads us to our next tip…

4. Don’t be afraid to pass a turn

Players get 3 Energy at the start of a match, and gain 2 Energy on every succeeding rounds.

Sometimes, especially during the first turn, consider not casting any cards and just pass the turn. This will save up your current Energy and carry it over to the next round.

When you pass on the first turn, you can gain a max of 5 Energy for the next round, which allows you to cast more cards and perform a powerful combo.

This way, you’ll have more chances of killing an enemy Axie in just a single turn by unleashing a series of high-attack damage moves, giving the opponent no chance to recover.

Additionally, passing also gives you an opportunity to wait and gather more cards required for that perfect combo.

Don’t hesitate to pass a turn, you don’t have to always cast cards every round!

5. Beware of Energy steal cards

Actually, there are some rounds where you should avoid passing and spend your Energy right away.

And that is if the enemy team has some card abilities that lets them steal your Energy.

To counter this, it’s better to always use up your Energy right away, especially on Turn 1, since most Energy steal moves are usually casted from the start.

So, how do you know if your enemy has Energy steal? Simple—read the next tip!

6. Check your opponent’s parts/cards at the start of the match

Once a PVP match starts, the first thing that you should always do is check the cards of your opponent’s team.

You can do this by clicking on the enemy’s Axies.

Having an idea on what combos and tricks your enemy may have up their sleeves will always put you at an advantage.

That way, you can anticipate their moves and you can counter them with the appropriate cards.

(Related Guide: Best Cards for Each Class in Axie Infinity)

For example, did the opponent pass on the first round in preparation for a deadly Dark Swoop combo? Then counter it with some defensive cards first before going in for the attack.

Over time as you gain more experience with the game, you should be able to familiarize the corresponding card moves for an Axie just by looking at its body parts.

7. Learn all Buffs and Debuffs and what they do

Here is the list of all buff and debuff effects that can be inflicted to your Axie or the enemy Axie:

Buffs:

Attack Up — Increases the next Attack by 20% (Stackable)
Morale Up — Increases Morale by 20% for the next round (Stackable)
Speed Up — Increases Speed by 20% for the next round (Stackable)

Debuffs:

Aroma — Target priority changes to affected Axie for the next round.
Attack Down — Decreases the next Attack by 20%. (Stackable)
Chill — Affected Axie can’t enter last stand.
Fear — Affected Axie can’t attack
Fragile — Shield takes double the damage for the next incoming attack.
Jinx — Affected Axie can’t land critcal hits for the next round.
Lethal — Next hit against affected Axie is critical.
Morale Down — Decreases Morale by 20% for the next round. (Stackable)
Poison — Until removal, affected Axie loses 2 HP for every action. (Stackable)
Sleep — Next incoming attack ignores shields.
Speed Down — Decreases speed by 20% for the next round. (Stackable)
Stench — Affected Axie loses target priority for the next round.
Stun — Next attack misses / Next incoming attack ignores shields.

(Full Guide: Complete List of Buffs/Debuffs and their Icons & Effects)

8. Learn attack formulas, calculations, and mechanics

This is what separates the high MMR players at the top of the leaderboards vs. an average Arena player.

While you don’t have to memorize each damage formula or perform calculations in real-time during a game, it’s important to have at least some idea of how battle mechanics work in the game.

Having this knowledge will help you in making decisions during combat.

For example, if you understand how the Last Stand mechanic works, you will know how to prevent enemies from entering Last Stand which can potentially turn an unfavorable match around.

Best Axie Builds for Arena PVP

Here are some of the meta PVP Axie builds for Axie Infinity Arena.

1. Terminator

Body: Bug or Reptile
Cards/Parts: Sticky Goo (Snail Shell), Chomp (Tiny Turtle), Mystic Rush (Lagging), Allergic Reaction (Thorny Caterpillar) or Tiny Swing (Tiny Dino)
Position: Backline

The Terminator build revolves around applying a debuff to the enemy using either if the three cards, and then combo them up with Allergic Reaction (Thorny Caterpillar) which deals 130% damage to a debuffed target.

This Axie build is not pack a deadly offensive, it also is very hard to kill due to its array of stuns and speed reduction debuffs.

2. Shrimpinator

Body: Beast
Cards/Parts: Single Combat (Ronin), Ivory Stab (Imp), Chitin Jump (Shrimp)
Position: Middle or Backline

This Beast build is a 1-turn backline killer machine, thanks to its Shrimp body part which lets the Axie prioritize the furthest target.

When Chitin Jump (Shrimp) is paired with powerful attack combos such as the RIMP (Ronin + Imp) combo or Nut Crack combo, the Shrimpinator can easily take down enemy glass cannons positioned at the back.

Killing the enemy damage dealer at the start will give you a huge advantage throughout the game as it denies your opponent from dealing deadly attacks against you.

3. Sniper Aqua / Idle Killer

Body: Aqua
Cards/Parts: Spinal Tap (Perch), Shell Jab (Babylonia)
Position: Middle or Backline

The Sniper Aqua, a.k.a. The Idle Killer, is exactly what its name suggests. Its aim is to target weak, shieldless targets and catch them off-guard—quite literally.

Spinal Tap (Perch) prioritizes idle Axies when comboed with 2 additional cards, while Shell Jab (Babylonia) deals 130% more damage to idle targets.

The downside with this build is you have to learn the proper timing on when to perform the anti-idle combo.

4. Double Anemone Aqua

Body: Aqua
Cards/Parts: Aqua Vitality (Anemone), Aquaponics (Anemone), Swallow (Catfish), All-out Shot (Post Fight)
Position: Middle or Backline

This Aqua Axie revolves around abusing its healing abilities which makes it very hard to kill, as long as it doesn’t die in 1 turn.

Both Anemone cards (Aqua Vitality and Aquaponics) restore 50 HP for each Anemone card the Axie possesses. This means each attack gives 100 HP, making this Aqua Axie very hard to kill.

Another great card that goes well with this build is Swallow (Catfish) which gives another heal based on the damage inflicted with the card.

Lastly, the zero-Energy card All-out Shot (Post Fight) deals a whopping 120 damage at the cost of 30% max HP. But, with this Axie’s virtually unlimited heal abilities that can quickly recover the lost HP, this card is basically free to cast.

This build is weak against anti-heal effects and 1-turn kill moves.

5. Backdoor Killer Bird

Body: Bird
Cards/Parts: Dark Swoop (Little Owl) + high-attack cards such as Eggbomb (Egg Shell), or Risky Feather (The Last One)
Position: Middle or Backline

The Backdoor Killer Axie is very annoying to deal with.

This Bird Axie is another build that prioritizes the enemy team’s backline, depriving them of DPS throughout the match.

This Axie uses Dark Swoop (Little Owl) as an opener attack to target the fastest enemy—that is, the one with the highest Speed.

Combo this with high-attack damage cards such as Eggbomb (Egg Shell), Headshot (Kestrel), or Risky Feather (The Last One) and you’ll easily eliminate enemy backliners!