Aquas and Birds are typically encountered by players in Axie Infinity’s arena mode. Most times they’re scary, sometimes they’re not.

But once you move past facing common Axies in the arena, you’ll face a greater and more sinister enemy…the Terminator.

If you’re having a hard time with these predators, then this guide is for you. I’ll be talking about Terminator Axies and how to effectively counter them.

What Are Terminators?

Terminators are meta Axies found around 1600+ MMR (Matchmaking Rating). It is best known for being the dominant Axie in 1v1 duels.

Terminators are usually Reptile-class Axies because they counter the abundant Aquas and Birds.

An Axie cannot be considered as a Terminator if it doesn’t have these 4 body parts:

• Lagging – Mystic Rush (horn)
• Snail Shell – Sticky Goo (back)
• Tiny Turtle – Chomp (mouth)
• Thorny Caterpillar – Allergic Reaction (tail)

What Makes Terminators Strong?

Stun Abilities

Sticky Goo and Chomp can Stun you in very annoying ways.

They both completely nullify the damage of the card that you play while you’re stunned. It can also let enemy attacks ignore shields (e.g. hitting a stunned Axie will damage the hp, not the shield).

You can read more about the Stun debuff here: Axie Infinity Stun Debuff

Sticky Goo is a defensive Bug ability that applies Stun on the attacker that breaks the Axie’s shield. It’s also the Terminator’s primary defensive ability.

Terminators are able to last longer in duels because of this card. Stuns can purposely make an Axie miss its attack, making it harder to execute full combos against a Terminator.

Chomp is an offensive Reptile ability that applies Stun to the enemy if it’s comboed with 2 other cards.

Terminators can use this card to leave you stunned for the next round. If they use Sticky Goo, A stunned Axie’s full combo will barely graze a Terminator.

Sometimes, they effectively use Chomp by placing it before Allergic Reaction. Because stuns can let attacks ignore shields, Allergic Reaction is guaranteed to directly hit your HP.

Because all Terminator cards are melee, Numbing Lecretion can disable them repeatedly. This leaves the Terminator defenseless with no cards to play.

Shrimp (Chitin Jump)

Chitin Jump is an Aquatic backdoor ability. This allows the user to unleash a combo on the backline Axie.

Terminators are commonly placed in the back because they’re reserved for duels. Chitin Jump combos can kill Terminators even before a duel occurs.

Reptiles are ideal classes for Terminator builds, so Aquatic abilities don’t have any additional damage against them. Some Shrimp Aquas have Beast body parts to guarantee a kill with 1 combo. 

Doubletalk (Soothing Song)

Soothing Song is a Bird ability that applies Sleep to a target. Sleep ignores enemy shields, allowing the next card to deal damage to the HP and not the shield.

Soothing Song can be paired with any kind of card (Reptile, Aqua, etc.). But since we’re talking about Terminator Reptiles, a Beast is ideal because it holds the class advantage.

This ability counters Terminators because it can be used to avoid shield stuns like Sticky Goo. You’re free to directly attack a Terminator’s HP without getting stunned nor negated by its shield.

Indian Star (Bulkwark)

Bulwark reflects 40% of melee damages back at the attacker. Aside from its tremendous shield, it can reflect damage from every melee attack the user receives.

As I’ve said, all of a Terminator’s abilities are melee. Pair that against Bulkwark and it’s gonna be taking a whole lot of damage from its own abilities.

Using Filler Cards/ Zero Energy Cost Cards

Sometimes, you don’t really need to go looking for specific Axies just to counter a Terminator. Sift through your Axies and see if you might’ve missed a zero energy card in there because sometimes, that’s all you need.

Zero energy cards can be used as what we call “filler cards.”

Filler cards are cards that are used to remove a stun. While any kind of card can be used to remove stun, zero energy cards are ideal fillers.

Although your overall combo damage is decreased, using zero energy cards as fillers saves you some energy. All that’s left is ordering your cards correctly so that you remove the stun from a Terminator’s Sticky Goo or Chomp.

You can read more about 0 energy-cost cards here: Are Zero-Cost Cards Good?

Other Terminators

“If you can’t beat them, join them”