Empires & Puzzles raids: Ustad Anand and Salome got nerfed, so what do you bring now?

Ustad Anand and Salome led Top 1000 tournament lists before the spring update tuned them, and the lists since show a game with no single best raid team any more. So stop hunting for one. Build a roster that can answer whatever the rule card says.

Salome, one of the two spring leaders the update tuned.

Six hero tournaments, and one repeat leader

Here are the three most used attackers from each hero Raid Tournament, in podium order:

• 9 to 14 March (Bloody Battle, 5-star, all elements): Ustad Anand, Shareef, Duval
• 30 March to 4 April (Rush Attack, 5-star, no Fire): Ustad Anand, Bonga, Freawaru
• 13 to 18 April (Buff Booster, 5-star, no Holy): Salome, Lane, Freawaru
• 1 to 6 June (Rush Attack, 5-star, all elements): Bearnadette, Aramis Costume, Song Jiang
• 29 June to 4 July (Bloody Battle, 3-star, no Fire): Caleb, Ali, Kvasir (3rd costume)
• 17 to 22 August (Bloody Battle, 5-star, no Ice): Regin Costume, Elsbeth, Bartholomew

Ustad Anand and Freawaru are the only names to appear twice, and both did it before the spring update. The three Bloody Battle lists share no hero at all. There was also a dragon tournament from 11 to 17 May under Air Support rules, where Stargazer, Leafheart and Noctur were the favourite Assist Dragons.

I wouldn't copy any line wholesale. These are rosters the best players happened to own. Use them to see which roles rise under which rule, then look through your own bench, with the hero pages and our tier list as a second opinion.

Build for the rule card first

Raid Tournaments open at player level 14, and the restriction shapes your team before anything else.

Read the rule name, then ask what it rewards. Rush is about speed, and Buff Booster is about buffs. Pick from there, not from a leaderboard.

The spring leaders got tuned

The spring raid update landed on Monday 27 April. Ustad Anand's direct damage was trimmed to the range of recent releases, and Salome moved towards fiend countering and primary healing.

The follow-up survey found that, of over 15,000 responses, 69% said they frequently reroll when facing Ustad Anand, Haradea or Salome. Anyone who'd leaned on limit broken copies of the changed heroes got a gift pack.

My rule since: if a hero is on every leaderboard and in every complaint thread, spread your investment.

Stack on attack, go rainbow on defence

A strong hit deals double, a weak one half. Fire beats Nature, Nature beats Ice, Ice beats Fire, and Holy and Dark punish each other. The enemy centre hero usually tells you which colour to bring.

When you can see the target, mono works on attack in Raids and Alliance War. It's board-dependent, though, and the extra Raid strong-damage bonus shrinks slightly with every same-colour hero you add. I'd rather run a lean split than force five of a colour from a thin bench.

Defence runs the other way. One strong colour hard-counters a mono line-up, so build rainbow.

Placement matters too. Between 24 August and 21 September, He Gui, Hua Pi Gui and Lane led flank use on top 1% defence teams. Raid Formations come with the Hero Academy at Stronghold level 25, while Raids themselves open with the Watchtower at Stronghold level 2.

Renewal 2026 muddies every podium above

These lists all predate Renewal 2026, announced on 6 October. It's a limited-time event whose changes apply in all modes, and Raids, Alliance Wars and Raid Tournament battles all count toward its rewards.

The event notes matter most for raiders:

• Defence team boost is temporarily higher and base critical chance is lower
• Special Skill critical hits reduce Growth by 50% and remove 1 positive Stack
• Ghost forms are Stubborn instead of undispellable, and Ghost form dispels 1 buff, not all

Test your teams in friendly battles with alliance mates before you risk trophies, which was also the developers' suggestion in the spring update post. Check the events page for what's running, then read the next tournament's rules and set your defence first.

Images: © Small Giant Games Oy / Zynga Inc.