Summoners War Tier List (October 2026): Best Monsters Ranked for Season 38

Summoners War: Sky Arena is a decade-old turn-based RPG with thousands of monsters. Crafting the best teams can be tricky if you don’t know which monsters are currently in the meta. This Summoners War tier list ranks the monsters winning games in Season 38 of the World Arena. Most players simply call that mode RTA. Every monster ranking is based on top-rank picks, ban and win rates rather than simple gut feeling. You will also find the best picks for each element.

How We Built this Summoners War tier list for RTA Season 38

A tier list is only useful if you know what sits behind it. This one starts with Season 38 RTA data from Guardian 3 (G3) matches, the top end of the ladder. To build our SW tier list, we took into account these 3 core factors:

• Pick rate tells you how often players draft a monster. A high number means players trust it in almost any lineup.
• Ban rate shows how often opponents remove a monster before the fight starts. Each player drafts five monsters and bans one enemy pick, so bans go to real threats.
• Win rate tracks how often a team with that monster wins. At G3, even a few points above 50% is impressive, since both players know the matchups well.

We also checked each placement against recent community rankings and Arena and guild performance. Dungeon farming is a different job, so PvE picks for newer accounts get their own section.

Tier	What It Means
SS	Shapes every draft. Players pick it early or ban it on sight.
S	Excellent in most teams and worth your best runes.
A	Strong, but needs the right partners or matchup.
B	Situational. Still wins games in a team built around it.

Summoners War Sky Arena Tier List: All Top Monsters Ranked

Below is the full Summoners War Sky Arena tier list for Season 38. Watch the element column, because collab monsters come in five versions with completely different skills.

Monster	Element	Tier	Main Job
Haegang	Water	SS	Strips buffs and boosts team Attack Bar
Layla	Wind	SS	Blocks enemy cleanses and slows
Fern	Light	SS	Team protection and AoE damage
Oliver	Wind	SS	Cooldown and Attack Bar control
Shi Hou	Water	SS	AoE stuns and buff removal
Vanessa	Fire	S	Instant revives and an Arena speed lead
Laima	Light	S	Team cleanse, Invincible and Immunity
Stark	Wind	S	AoE provoke and HP-based damage
Seara	Wind	S	Bomb damage and a speed lead for every mode
Giana	Dark	S	AoE buff strip and stun
Josephine	Water	S	Team shields that punish crowd control
Megumi Fushiguro	Fire	S	Single-target stun and buff steal
Okeanos	Fire	S	Cooldown resets and multi-hit stuns
Leo	Wind	A	Caps the speed of every monster
Tian Lang	Light	A	Halves Attack Bar boosts for both sides
Jeogun	Fire	A	AoE strip plus team Attack and Speed buffs
Daimon	Fire	A	Blocks buffs and scales off debuffs
Nephthys	Dark	A	Harmful effects that can't be resisted
Lora	Light	A	HP-based AoE damage with team buffs
Yeonhong	Light	A	Attack Bar refill and healing
Fern	Wind	A	Saves allies from fatal hits
Frieren	Water	A	Team Immunity and shields
Smicer	Wind	B	Silences the next enemy to move
Camilla	Water	B	Cuts critical damage and heals
Euldong	Light	B	Boosts ally Critical Damage
Zeratu	Dark	B	Self-buffing damage dealer

SS Tier Monsters

Check out all the Summoners War monsters in this tier:

Haegang (Water)

Haegang is a Water support built to punish teams that rely on buffs. His second skill hits all enemies and strips their beneficial effects with a 75% chance. His passive is the real reason he sits in SS. Whenever anyone removes a harmful effect, all of his allies gain 20% Attack Bar. If enemies strip an ally's buffs, his passive also cleanses that ally and pushes it forward. At G3, he appears in about 28% of games and ranks near the top for bans.

Layla (Wind)

Layla makes cleansers look useless. If she hits a debuffed enemy, her passive blocks cleansing for a turn with an 80% chance. Enemies without debuffs risk a 30% Silence instead. Her second skill hits all enemies twice, stripping a buff and slowing them. Among the ten most-played G3 monsters, none draws more bans.

Fern (Light)

Light Fern arrived with the Frieren collab and is the scariest pick in RTA right now. At the start of each of her turns, every ally gains Reflect Harmful Effect for a turn. Her other allies also take 20% less damage while she stays alive. She wins about 55% of her G3 games and draws a ban in nearly four of ten drafts. Access is the problem, which the collab section below explains.

Oliver (Wind)

Oliver is a Wind attacker who wins by locking down enemy skills. His second and third skills push the target's cooldowns back and drain its Attack Bar. Each success also cuts his own cooldowns, so he repeats the trick quickly. His leader skill adds 33% Attack Speed in the Arena. That explains why he leads over 90% of the G3 teams he joins.

Shi Hou (Water)

Shi Hou is the most-played monster at G3 this season, appearing in nearly 38% of games. His second skill hits all enemies with a 75% chance to stun each one. He then gains 25% Attack Bar for every enemy he stunned. His third skill hits one target six times, stripping a buff with each hit. It also grants him Invincibility and Immunity for two turns. A base speed of 115, well above most monsters, helps him strike first.

S Tier Monsters

Check out all the Summoners War monsters in this tier:

Vanessa (Fire)

Vanessa remains the safety net of the meta. Her third skill revives a fallen ally at 30% HP. If the skill is ready, it fires instantly when an ally takes a killing blow. Each revive adds two turns to its cooldown, up to twice. Her 33% Arena Attack Speed lead also makes her one of the most common leaders at G3.

Laima (Light)

Laima is a Light support whose third skill can rescue a losing fight. It removes every harmful effect on her team and grants Invincible for one turn. Immunity follows for three turns, along with healing over time. Her second skill strips enemy buffs and can slow every enemy. No monster in the G3 top ten by play rate posts a better win rate.

Stark (Wind)

Stark is the Frieren collab's Wind tank and the most-picked monster across all ranks this season. His second skill provokes all enemies with an 80% chance, forcing them to attack him. His damage scales with his max HP and climbs as his team loses health. Each fallen ally adds 100% damage, capped at 200%. He sits in S because his G3 win rate hovers just under 50%.

Seara (Wind)

Seara is the Wind Oracle that bomb teams revolve around. Her second skill plants a bomb with Continuous Damage, then grants her another turn. Her third skill hits all enemies, absorbs Attack Bar, and sets the bombs off early. Her 24% Attack Speed lead works in every mode, not just the Arena.

Giana (Dark)

Giana is the Dark answer to buff-heavy teams. Her third skill hits all enemies and strips every beneficial effect. She then stuns every enemy that lost a buff this way for one turn. She keeps a winning record at G3 while showing up in nearly one game in five.

Josephine (Water)

Josephine is a Water HP monster who punishes crowd control. When an ally suffers an inability effect such as Stun, she shields the whole team for two turns. She then cleanses herself, counterattacks, and takes an instant turn. She also ranks among the ten most-picked monsters across all ranks.

Megumi Fushiguro (Fire)

Fire Megumi Fushiguro, from the Jujutsu Kaisen collab, is a speed lead with real bite. His second skill stuns with an 80% chance. It also cuts 50% of the target's Attack Bar if the target already has a debuff. His passive steals a buff every time he attacks. He leads about 81% of the G3 teams he joins. His non-collab twin, Fire Tetsuya, fills a similar role.

Okeanos (Fire)

Okeanos is a Fire attacker who resets enemy cooldowns. His second skill hits twice, and each hit strips a buff and sends skills back to max cooldown. His third skill rains three to five meteors that can stun and drain Attack Bar. His low ban rate means he reaches the actual fight more often than most S tier picks.

A Tier Monsters

Check out all the summoners war monsters in this tier:

• Leo (Wind) Caps the speed of every monster on the field on his own. That wrecks teams built on raw speed, though bosses and monsters with the same passive ignore it.
• Tian Lang (Light) takes a similar angle. His passive halves every Attack Bar boost for both teams.
• Jeogun (Fire) Strips all enemy buffs with his third skill, then raises his team's Attack and Speed for two turns.
• Daimon (Fire) stops his target from receiving buffs and hits harder for each debuff it carries.
• Nephthys (Dark) lands harmful effects that enemies cannot resist.
• Lora (Light) buffs her team's Defense and Speed, then hits all enemies three times.
• Yeonhong (Light) Fills the Attack Bar of one ally and herself, with a big heal on top.

Wind Fern and Water Frieren are the other collaboration versions worth building. Wind Fern blocks a fatal hit on an ally and grants Invincibility. Water Frieren gives the whole team Immunity and a shield. Opponents ban both in more than a quarter of the G3 drafts they join.

B Tier Monsters

Check out all the Summoners War monsters in this tier:

Smicer (Wind)

Smicer does most of his work through his passive. At the start of his turn, he targets the enemy closest to moving. He has a 70% chance to strip one of its buffs. He also cuts its Attack Bar by 30% and Silences it for two turns. The catch is reach. Haegang and Giana strip the whole enemy team, while Smicer only touches one target.

Camilla (Water)

Camilla is a defensive support built to blunt critical hits. When an enemy lands a critical hit on her, she halves that damage and removes her harmful effects. She also heals herself and her allies by 10% at the start of each turn. Her weak spot is that the passive hinges on crits. Teams that lean on Continuous Damage or bombs, like Seara's, sidestep it.

Euldong (Light)

Euldong is a Light HP monster who turns his whole team into bigger hitters. His passive adds 100% Critical Damage whenever an ally attacks. Allies also take 10% less damage for each buff they carry. The limit is stacking. Neither bonus combines with other Critical Damage or damage reduction effects. Light Fern's damage cut, for example, won't stack with his.

Zeratu (Dark)

Zeratu is a Dark attacker who powers himself up. His Unleashed Fury skill boosts his Attack and grants Immunity for three turns. It also gives him an instant extra turn, so he can swing again right away. The problem is this meta. Haegang, Giana and Laima all strip buffs, which can wipe his setup before it pays off. His 50% HP leader skill also only helps Dark allies.

Best Summoners War Monsters by Element

Light and Dark monsters are much rarer to summon, so most accounts build around Fire, Water, and Wind first. These are the best Summoners War monsters in each element right now.

Element	Best Picks	Why They Stand Out
Fire	Vanessa, Megumi Fushiguro, Okeanos	Revives, stuns and cooldown control
Water	Haegang, Shi Hou, Josephine	Buff removal, AoE stuns and anti-control shields
Wind	Oliver, Layla, Seara, Stark	The deepest element in the current meta
Light	Fern, Laima, Lora	Team protection and reliable cleanses
Dark	Giana, Nephthys	AoE strips and debuffs that can't be resisted

Wind is the standout element this season. Four of the ten most-played G3 monsters are Wind, so a strong Wind core pays off quickly.

Summon More Monsters With Google Play Gift Cards from StanShop

Free scrolls only go so far, and LD monsters like Laima or Giana usually take a lot of summons. In the Android app, crystal purchases run through Google Play billing. A Google Play gift card adds balance to your account without a bank card saved on it.

Buy one on StanShop and the code reaches your email and Orders page, usually within 30 seconds. The India card only redeems on a Google account whose Play country is India, so check that first.

Playing the PC version on Steam instead? A Steam Wallet gift card tops up your wallet the same way. You can browse more top-ups in the gaming gift cards section too.

Frequently Asked Questions

1. Who is the best monster in Summoners War right now?

Light Fern has the strongest Season 38 numbers, with a high win rate and a huge ban rate at G3. Among monsters still in the regular summon pool, Haegang, Layla, Oliver and Shi Hou lead the meta.

2. Is this Summoners War tier list for RTA or PvE?

It ranks monsters mainly for RTA, and those picks also hold up well in Arena and guild content. Dungeon farming needs different monsters, which is why Veromos and Sigmarus get a separate section.

3. Can I still get Fern and Stark in Summoners War?

Not from the collab banner, which closed on 1 September 2026. Build around Haegang, Layla, Oliver or Shi Hou instead, and watch official notices for any rerun.

4. Are Light and Dark monsters better than other elements?

Not always. Light and Dark monsters are rarer, but Wind dominates this season. Wind holds four of the ten busiest G3 picks, while Water's Shi Hou sees the most play of all.

5. Which free monster should beginners build first?

Veromos is still the best first fusion target. His passive cleanses and heals your team every turn, which helps in early dungeons and the Tower of Ascension.

6. How often does the Summoners War meta change?

Rankings shift after balance patches and new collabs, and each RTA season can reshuffle the top picks. We update this list as fresh data comes in.