Power ranking of the AoA units, in the contemporary format which is the AoA only format.
This ranking assuming the games are played on tournament maps (low elevation changes, quite low sized) and with tournament sized armies ( =350 to 600 points)
A+ (Top dogs of the meta, you either want to have them or counter them)
Exiles of the Sundered Sea: Cheap 4 men squad, good vs range due to stealthy and honestly almost as good vs melee cause they usually get first shot and use the very simple but very effective "I kill you before you kill me" strat. Range 5 once per round and disengage basically allows them to target whoever they want, which is very big deal in a meta where you want to diminish activations and delete oms.
Frostclaws Paladins: Very sturdy squad, putting oms on them feels so safe and comfortable compared to most AoA units that are either fragile either have low amount of attacks per turn, they are very fast and once they close in ,if opponnent didn't manage to diminish their numbers beforhand, he's in for a bad time.
Knight Primus Adelbern: Quite Beefy and very high DPS for a bonding hero, even in machups he can't use Crushing Blow his attack of 5 is very good.
A (Challengers, the best army possible in the format also often includes those guys)
Crimson Widow: Expensive for the stats, but Pirate Commander in addition to Midnight Raid, makes it so you squads will have high firepower and will have first strike for the very simple but very effective "I kills you before you kill me" strat. You always want Dreadnoughts with her, but then lots of possibilities: Knaves, Frostclaws, Exiles.
Dreadnoughts of Caraway Cavern: Very strong with Crimson Widow, Mortal Blow working on 2 life squads makes them great vs Bears (45% to kill a bear in one attack). Being 2 life each also make them a bit better vs Adelbern, their good machup vs Bears and Adelbern and their ability to strike key heroes really earns them a meta spot.
Fiestering Honor guards: Bonding, extremly cheap per figure good mobility, good defense for the cost, small but nice om insurance. Even not accounting for the Parasite thing which I think will have minimal impact in most games, the Guards+Maladrix combo is a very solid core for 220points.
Queen Maladrix: Bonding, quite beefy, decent mobility, double attack, just a solid juggernaut. See Fiestering Honor Guards.
Raelin the Kyrie Warrior (vengeful edition): Dealing damage, and being an annoying threat while requiring basically no order markers, this Raelin might become a must include in most of builds especially in high point games.
A- (Strong units, sometimes the top choice depending on tournament format and meta)
Fia Bonny: Great survavibility vs squads and ability to attack basically whoever she wants makes Fia the best choice for knaves and imo a good filler choice even tho she only has 1 attack per turn.
Gelryies Vanguards: Cheap common squad of choice now, pseudo battle rush at every round is extremly good. Sure 2 defense isn't ideal but due to Tidal advance and 4 activations per turn and their cheapness, you gonna have a lot of guys to cover the losses whenever you want.
Greatbow Archers: Contrary at what people would believe I think those guys will be much better massed like 4 to 6 squads, each Greatbow Archers kinda has the passive value of denying every hex at exactly 7 range of him. Yes they expensive but they gonna be real good in the "I touch you , you don't touch me" game. Bears,Eisenek and Pirates will prob have the staying power to charge them, and Gelryie may drown them in number and activations, but I still see them as relevant in the meta.
Halushia: Ride-In special attack with 7 move is something, Exiles or Knaves are not gonna like that at all. VS Bears the "go in go out" strategy to prevent Bears from getting 3 attack dice can be very annoying. Also decent beefiness for the cost.
Iron Lich Viscerot: Kinda low DPS but the backbone of a very dangerous Eisenek build, his ability to to attack basically whoever he wants is also interesting.
Knaves of the Silver Scimitar: 4 men bonding squad for cheap cost and VERY high DPS, they basically have 4 attack and the 3 defense vs ranged help them to get at least one good turn of attacks.
Krakenling: I'm not as big as some others on this guy, he's definitely much weaker than the Fen Hydra, I think he's too slow to get going outside of a Gelryies Vanguard build, but definitely has a great spot in this build, helps deal with high defense unit or to snipe some heroes. You wanna run 2 or even 3.
Onshu: Very high mobility and decent DPS for cheap cost, allows for some cool activations/oms delete plays. I expect the duo with Halushia to be very good.
Scavorith, Lord of Ruin: Quite expensive in an army that is already expensive but was the missing piece of the Eisenek faction for them to have a very cohesive and consistent army. Iron Lich + double Scavorith turn with the X order marker will be an extremly strong order marker than can straight up destroy the core of the opposing army.
Scions of Icaria: Bad stats are bad, but bonding is good. I could see running 2x of those with Sonlen for 320 and have another sidecore to work with. I could also see those with Maladrix to provide more attacks per turn after the Guards are dead, and even a Xenithrax army seems good now, 4 attacks at 4 range seems good enough for contemporary meta.
Sonlen: Fly move 6, attack 4 (often 5 due to fly) from range 6 very good kiting potential, strong melee double attack to snipe a hero or 2 squads figures. I love this kit. But still expensive and fragile.
Tuck Harrigan: Great lategame clean'up figure, range and fly is extremly good in the lategame in Heroscape and long range is very rare in AoA. This guy has both for cheap cost. The order markers switch ability is very good to ensure you always get a good turn especially if you time your "roll for glide" turns correctly.
B+ (Very rarely the top choice but still very good units)
Knight Irene: Very fast and beefy she'a good "in yo face" kinda character, she may have trouble vs ranged squads if she's left alone without the bears but overall just a strong Juggernaut.
Major Q11: As opposed to his previous versions this Major kinda wants to go in the fight. His triple attack is decent DPS and 4 lives 6 defense make it so you'll be able to use it a decent amount of times in a AoA only game. In case he gets tied up by a hero that 6 dice attack could do some work, overall very good versatile guy.
Necrotech Wraithriders: Good sharks, they will probably die soon after getting their target but will rarely fail to. The combo with Iron lich is costly but not bad even if I prefer Claws+Irene for less cost.
Oathbound Legionnaires: Alliexpress version of Honor guards and Queen Maladrix combo. Much weaker but cheaper, for 130 it's solid. I like that having guys spreaded out out together has pros and cons there's no obvious better form.
Oathbound Phallanx: Alliexpress version of Honor guards and Queen Maladrix combo. Much weaker but cheaper, for 130 it's solid. I like that having guys spreaded out out together has pros and cons there's no obvious better form.
Revnan Acolytes: Don't try use them in mass and as fighting units, they will be very bad, but turns out 1 or 2 of them is an excellent filler to an Eisenek build as it turns out you just kill one or 2 in first turn and they will spawn directly next to your heroes at each beginning of round, providing value for no order markers which is always very good in Heroscape.
Tanuki Tricksters: As the only ranged common squad, their ability to have the "consistent ranged multiple attacks" that I often look for, is interesting, but double attack of 3 is just a very weak offensive turn, and at 4 defense and 22.5 pts per figure they aren't super beefy/sturdy aswell. Also I think both of their powers are fun situational powers but don't make a significant difference.
Xenithrax the Wineweaver: Both of her powers are very easy to play around and not super useful in the AoA meta. Very high cost for few qualities, 5 move fly and 5 range is good mobility but her sculpt kinda cancel that on most maps. Scions of Icaria bonding with her is a super good buff for her, providing a nice mid range core, expensive in points but providing reliable multiples attack per turn from 4 range.
B (Decent units, usually less reliable than top tiers ones but can still be very strong in the right situation)
Admiral EJ-1M: Turns out you don't need that much Pirates nearby to have a good raiding party turn, 2 pirates is enough, making raiding party a nice alternative if you run low on squaddies. Admiral orders synergize well with the high DPS low survavibility pirate squads, allows you to not gamble on init roll. That's said EJ1M is still very expensive and with the squaddies being so fragile, it's hard to make a full pirate army work.
Decker the Burrow Breaker: Interesting single space filler for 65pts, good stats for the cost like good attack good survavibility, but nothing crazy either.
Dorim the Bulkhead Brawler: Him and knaves is a decent "hit squad" for 165 but I usually prefer Fia, cheaper and more pratical to use once you're keft with just the hero or like 1 knave.
Glinerva the Kyrie Warrior: Glinerva could be very interesting in the right setup and there isn't many true support figures in AoA, but for now there's just not enough range in the meta to really justify taking her.
Mielki the Kyrie Warrior: Double attack of 4 is nothing to scoff at esp esp with fly you can often threat double 5, if you get the heal off on a key figure that's a very good turn, but the setup is complicated, also the "long range tower" kinda hero where Mileki would be good with are very few in the format and not that great.
Ordo Borealis: A good player will be able to play around them and mitigate their strengh but they still a solid squad. Having the longest range in the format makes them relevant.
B- (Playable units, not good but does their job somewhat okay)
Air Marshal Zed Nesbitt: Skyhook has not a lot of use right now with the current avalaible figures, only interesting beneficier would be Decker but 205pts for this combo, no I'm not paying that. Over than that very similar as Sonlen with 6 range and fly and a strong melee attack, but I like Sonlen much better.
Deflecatron: I expect this guy to have very low impact on board, like he can protect some of your guys from range, but like in a melee heavy meta that's not super useful and even vs range he'll prob not be able to protect all your guys, and range can just go for those instead. He can also be use to deny opposing auras like Raelin's, which I think will be his better use, and force opponnent to move the aura figure or kill him, but like still very low impact. BUT still a small impact while requiring no activation, makes him the filler of choice if you have 25 pts to spare. I don't see a buildii massing them ever working.
Ewashia: While Ewashia + Onshu provides you with somewhat stable multiples ranged attack per turns, something very rare in AoA. the fact that Ewashia is basically an immobile tower is a big problem, create water being at the end of the turn is a every big con to her playability often feels like you have to kinda pass your turn to move her. Also 4 lives is hard to play with to build an army around her I would prefer if she was more beefy even if that would mean costing more. Also losing "longest range in the format medal" really place her into "irrelevant" state.
Girushia, Grove Keeper: Gift of the Forest is amazing, Reach will also make it more easy to have next to trees spots. Reach also forces opposing melee units to move towards Girushiaand trigger wicked thorns, which is great, unfortunately, a single attack of 4 is quite low firepower of a turn. Opponent will just focus the beasts and then Girushia will be quite easy to ignore or to force into awkward positions. Very hard to delocate guy once he's in a good spot, but not enough damage nor board control to be the core of an army.
Hellforge Mandukor: Slow and difficult to get going, but an interesting "niche" choice for an Eisenek build.
Imperator Kayne: This stomp power is very strong and much better than Tor-Kul-Na's one for multiple reasons I'll not elaborate here, Kayne can really wreck havoch in some situations, the range is nice too, but the lack of synergy and 130 points for a standalone single attack figure that isn't extremly beefy aswell is a bit high.
Molten Crustaceans: I am not a huge fan of "neutral" powers like terrain modification, especially as the lava drop is at death you have low control over it. Also 5/1/3/3 are weak stats. That's said at only 45 points so 15 points per figure, Crabs are a good way to add "meat" to any army and they tendency to have height a lot vs melee makes them good vs them.
Raelin the Kyrie Warrior (Utgar Edition): Will do her job just fine, but to me the new Jandar Raelin is just better in every way.
Sgt. Drake Alexander: If a ranged+support based army becomes popular I could see Drake going up, and use him as a can opener but for now he's just a filler lategame combat guy in which he isn't super bad but not super good aswell.
Shiori: Not the worst unit by herself, with multi attacks and good survivability with Kieru 14, synergy with Tanuki is very interesting to advance her for "free" and have them ready to unless a 3 dice Ninjustu Mastery, but still 110pts is a lot and there is very few spots where Shiori will fit, even in a Tanuki army.
C+ (Half-playable units, underwhelming most of the time, but can pull their weight on a good game)
Bor-Buk-Na: Can definitely pull his weight in some games with knaves if he gets lucky enough. But Fia and Dorim are more solid choice to me.
Chana the Zenithwing: Better than Kita as secondary Beast bonder, but she still not amazing, having to forfeit the attack for a chance at the heal is quite underwhelming.
Cornelius Breech: For now I don't see any useful use of mutinery as 98% of time knaves will die before the hero, so this guy is just a filler stat ball. Dorim is better as melee bonder for knaves imo.
Haluchott, Corruptor of Beasts: Not that bad by design, pseudo double attack and double bonding is very good, also great survavibility but the beasts are too weak for now to make this build work.
Marachott, Mind Whisperer: His attack is quite equivalent to 5 dice attack, which is good but nothing crazy aswell. I think a double wizard+beasts build will be very clunky to use, like you wanna put OMs on Marachott to try for double heroes turn, but if you don't get the D20 your turn is pretty weak and the best offensive Wizard like Halushia will end up slacking behind. A better use might be with a standalone and mobile Hero like Sonlen but I'm still not high on it.
Raakchot Steward of Death: Not super bad because beefy and you can consistently get attacks of 4 or 5 but yeah nothing crazy for sure...
Vorid Glide Strikers: A decent amount of AoA only games finishing in a lategame scramble and few range in the format makes them playable, but they are still a very risky choice, the probability of them doing absolutely nothing is quite high.
C (Bad units, they bad but they no megashit)
Grave Grimm: I don't see the "guide of the dead" development being valuable in an Eisenek build, and as I said above, Revnan Acolytes don't need development, so I don't see any use for this dog. Also 40pts for 4 defense 2 lives is not good survivability at all, he might be sniped and result in a stupid loss of an OM.
Killina Vane III: Very Low range, low survavibility and the shotgun hitting allies is also annoying when playing with Knaves.
Kita the Springrunner: A single melee 2 dice attack is very bad and 2 lifes 4 defense isn't good survavibility for a melee unit. But you can still pick her in addition to Onshu in a beast build as Onshu may die fast, she can still being some kind of annoyance for small cost.
Loviatak the kyrie warrior: 4 lifes 3 defense on a melee hero is just super fragile, her aura is very hard to setup without bonding and the payoff of the move bonus isn't high enough for now, maybe with Utgar commons she could get better in the future.
Misaerx the kyrie Warrior: She's bad, but she only cost 50 making her a half decent filler option.
Queen Qhyrion: 4 move for what is basically an assassin unit... rough. 4 lifes 4 defense... rough. 55% chance of a normal single attack of 4 with nothing else as a turn, rough. She desperately needs some kind of move boost synergy.
Vrono: Terrible stats, and terrible power for a single power card. Vrono would very like to have reach like Girushia to force sharp thorns triggers, or more attack to force to deal with him, but has he is, he is very easily ignored by opponnent and can't get much done. Very disappointing card.
D (Megashit units, will be very hard to extract consistent value out of them)
Kilkorax the Kyrie Warrior: If you want to grab multiples guys, use Necrotechs, you can even kill them both afterwards, wow! More seriously I don't think grabbing figures is THAT useful in AoA meta that you have to pay so much points juste for that, lots of squads have disengage or 2 lifes so can get away from Kilkorax if they really want to. Also it's on a 17+ on a hero making her basically unable to grab heroes is very bad. Necrotechs are just a much more versatile and safer choice if you want to grab guys and are cheaper...
Thyraxis Dragoon: Experience has shown that battle frenzy isn't a good power, espcially for big guys like that. 195pts for a no synergy single attacking melee unit and a power that have only a 35% chance of triggering each round, no thanks.
Xiamara the Kyrie Warrior: While the combo with Mielki looks appealing, it's super difficult to setup as Mielki isn't a ranged unit, if Mielki could heal herself it would be strong, but she can't, so the opponennt does not need to target Xiamara and can just put wounds on Mileki slowly but surely.And even then 80pts for single targetted support like that, not worth. Attack does no wounds to Mielki? Useless. Attack does 1 wound? 75% chance of useless. Attack does 2 wounds? 35% chance of useless, that's way too much useless right there.
This ranking assuming the games are played on tournament maps (low elevation changes, quite low sized) and with tournament sized armies ( =350 to 600 points)
A+ (Top dogs of the meta, you either want to have them or counter them)
Exiles of the Sundered Sea: Cheap 4 men squad, good vs range due to stealthy and honestly almost as good vs melee cause they usually get first shot and use the very simple but very effective "I kill you before you kill me" strat. Range 5 once per round and disengage basically allows them to target whoever they want, which is very big deal in a meta where you want to diminish activations and delete oms.
Frostclaws Paladins: Very sturdy squad, putting oms on them feels so safe and comfortable compared to most AoA units that are either fragile either have low amount of attacks per turn, they are very fast and once they close in ,if opponnent didn't manage to diminish their numbers beforhand, he's in for a bad time.
Knight Primus Adelbern: Quite Beefy and very high DPS for a bonding hero, even in machups he can't use Crushing Blow his attack of 5 is very good.
A (Challengers, the best army possible in the format also often includes those guys)
Crimson Widow: Expensive for the stats, but Pirate Commander in addition to Midnight Raid, makes it so you squads will have high firepower and will have first strike for the very simple but very effective "I kills you before you kill me" strat. You always want Dreadnoughts with her, but then lots of possibilities: Knaves, Frostclaws, Exiles.
Dreadnoughts of Caraway Cavern: Very strong with Crimson Widow, Mortal Blow working on 2 life squads makes them great vs Bears (45% to kill a bear in one attack). Being 2 life each also make them a bit better vs Adelbern, their good machup vs Bears and Adelbern and their ability to strike key heroes really earns them a meta spot.
Fiestering Honor guards: Bonding, extremly cheap per figure good mobility, good defense for the cost, small but nice om insurance. Even not accounting for the Parasite thing which I think will have minimal impact in most games, the Guards+Maladrix combo is a very solid core for 220points.
Queen Maladrix: Bonding, quite beefy, decent mobility, double attack, just a solid juggernaut. See Fiestering Honor Guards.
Raelin the Kyrie Warrior (vengeful edition): Dealing damage, and being an annoying threat while requiring basically no order markers, this Raelin might become a must include in most of builds especially in high point games.
A- (Strong units, sometimes the top choice depending on tournament format and meta)
Fia Bonny: Great survavibility vs squads and ability to attack basically whoever she wants makes Fia the best choice for knaves and imo a good filler choice even tho she only has 1 attack per turn.
Gelryies Vanguards: Cheap common squad of choice now, pseudo battle rush at every round is extremly good. Sure 2 defense isn't ideal but due to Tidal advance and 4 activations per turn and their cheapness, you gonna have a lot of guys to cover the losses whenever you want.
Greatbow Archers: Contrary at what people would believe I think those guys will be much better massed like 4 to 6 squads, each Greatbow Archers kinda has the passive value of denying every hex at exactly 7 range of him. Yes they expensive but they gonna be real good in the "I touch you , you don't touch me" game. Bears,Eisenek and Pirates will prob have the staying power to charge them, and Gelryie may drown them in number and activations, but I still see them as relevant in the meta.
Halushia: Ride-In special attack with 7 move is something, Exiles or Knaves are not gonna like that at all. VS Bears the "go in go out" strategy to prevent Bears from getting 3 attack dice can be very annoying. Also decent beefiness for the cost.
Iron Lich Viscerot: Kinda low DPS but the backbone of a very dangerous Eisenek build, his ability to to attack basically whoever he wants is also interesting.
Knaves of the Silver Scimitar: 4 men bonding squad for cheap cost and VERY high DPS, they basically have 4 attack and the 3 defense vs ranged help them to get at least one good turn of attacks.
Krakenling: I'm not as big as some others on this guy, he's definitely much weaker than the Fen Hydra, I think he's too slow to get going outside of a Gelryies Vanguard build, but definitely has a great spot in this build, helps deal with high defense unit or to snipe some heroes. You wanna run 2 or even 3.
Onshu: Very high mobility and decent DPS for cheap cost, allows for some cool activations/oms delete plays. I expect the duo with Halushia to be very good.
Scavorith, Lord of Ruin: Quite expensive in an army that is already expensive but was the missing piece of the Eisenek faction for them to have a very cohesive and consistent army. Iron Lich + double Scavorith turn with the X order marker will be an extremly strong order marker than can straight up destroy the core of the opposing army.
Scions of Icaria: Bad stats are bad, but bonding is good. I could see running 2x of those with Sonlen for 320 and have another sidecore to work with. I could also see those with Maladrix to provide more attacks per turn after the Guards are dead, and even a Xenithrax army seems good now, 4 attacks at 4 range seems good enough for contemporary meta.
Sonlen: Fly move 6, attack 4 (often 5 due to fly) from range 6 very good kiting potential, strong melee double attack to snipe a hero or 2 squads figures. I love this kit. But still expensive and fragile.
Tuck Harrigan: Great lategame clean'up figure, range and fly is extremly good in the lategame in Heroscape and long range is very rare in AoA. This guy has both for cheap cost. The order markers switch ability is very good to ensure you always get a good turn especially if you time your "roll for glide" turns correctly.
B+ (Very rarely the top choice but still very good units)
Knight Irene: Very fast and beefy she'a good "in yo face" kinda character, she may have trouble vs ranged squads if she's left alone without the bears but overall just a strong Juggernaut.
Major Q11: As opposed to his previous versions this Major kinda wants to go in the fight. His triple attack is decent DPS and 4 lives 6 defense make it so you'll be able to use it a decent amount of times in a AoA only game. In case he gets tied up by a hero that 6 dice attack could do some work, overall very good versatile guy.
Necrotech Wraithriders: Good sharks, they will probably die soon after getting their target but will rarely fail to. The combo with Iron lich is costly but not bad even if I prefer Claws+Irene for less cost.
Oathbound Legionnaires: Alliexpress version of Honor guards and Queen Maladrix combo. Much weaker but cheaper, for 130 it's solid. I like that having guys spreaded out out together has pros and cons there's no obvious better form.
Oathbound Phallanx: Alliexpress version of Honor guards and Queen Maladrix combo. Much weaker but cheaper, for 130 it's solid. I like that having guys spreaded out out together has pros and cons there's no obvious better form.
Revnan Acolytes: Don't try use them in mass and as fighting units, they will be very bad, but turns out 1 or 2 of them is an excellent filler to an Eisenek build as it turns out you just kill one or 2 in first turn and they will spawn directly next to your heroes at each beginning of round, providing value for no order markers which is always very good in Heroscape.
Tanuki Tricksters: As the only ranged common squad, their ability to have the "consistent ranged multiple attacks" that I often look for, is interesting, but double attack of 3 is just a very weak offensive turn, and at 4 defense and 22.5 pts per figure they aren't super beefy/sturdy aswell. Also I think both of their powers are fun situational powers but don't make a significant difference.
Xenithrax the Wineweaver: Both of her powers are very easy to play around and not super useful in the AoA meta. Very high cost for few qualities, 5 move fly and 5 range is good mobility but her sculpt kinda cancel that on most maps. Scions of Icaria bonding with her is a super good buff for her, providing a nice mid range core, expensive in points but providing reliable multiples attack per turn from 4 range.
B (Decent units, usually less reliable than top tiers ones but can still be very strong in the right situation)
Admiral EJ-1M: Turns out you don't need that much Pirates nearby to have a good raiding party turn, 2 pirates is enough, making raiding party a nice alternative if you run low on squaddies. Admiral orders synergize well with the high DPS low survavibility pirate squads, allows you to not gamble on init roll. That's said EJ1M is still very expensive and with the squaddies being so fragile, it's hard to make a full pirate army work.
Decker the Burrow Breaker: Interesting single space filler for 65pts, good stats for the cost like good attack good survavibility, but nothing crazy either.
Dorim the Bulkhead Brawler: Him and knaves is a decent "hit squad" for 165 but I usually prefer Fia, cheaper and more pratical to use once you're keft with just the hero or like 1 knave.
Glinerva the Kyrie Warrior: Glinerva could be very interesting in the right setup and there isn't many true support figures in AoA, but for now there's just not enough range in the meta to really justify taking her.
Mielki the Kyrie Warrior: Double attack of 4 is nothing to scoff at esp esp with fly you can often threat double 5, if you get the heal off on a key figure that's a very good turn, but the setup is complicated, also the "long range tower" kinda hero where Mileki would be good with are very few in the format and not that great.
Ordo Borealis: A good player will be able to play around them and mitigate their strengh but they still a solid squad. Having the longest range in the format makes them relevant.
B- (Playable units, not good but does their job somewhat okay)
Air Marshal Zed Nesbitt: Skyhook has not a lot of use right now with the current avalaible figures, only interesting beneficier would be Decker but 205pts for this combo, no I'm not paying that. Over than that very similar as Sonlen with 6 range and fly and a strong melee attack, but I like Sonlen much better.
Deflecatron: I expect this guy to have very low impact on board, like he can protect some of your guys from range, but like in a melee heavy meta that's not super useful and even vs range he'll prob not be able to protect all your guys, and range can just go for those instead. He can also be use to deny opposing auras like Raelin's, which I think will be his better use, and force opponnent to move the aura figure or kill him, but like still very low impact. BUT still a small impact while requiring no activation, makes him the filler of choice if you have 25 pts to spare. I don't see a buildii massing them ever working.
Ewashia: While Ewashia + Onshu provides you with somewhat stable multiples ranged attack per turns, something very rare in AoA. the fact that Ewashia is basically an immobile tower is a big problem, create water being at the end of the turn is a every big con to her playability often feels like you have to kinda pass your turn to move her. Also 4 lives is hard to play with to build an army around her I would prefer if she was more beefy even if that would mean costing more. Also losing "longest range in the format medal" really place her into "irrelevant" state.
Girushia, Grove Keeper: Gift of the Forest is amazing, Reach will also make it more easy to have next to trees spots. Reach also forces opposing melee units to move towards Girushiaand trigger wicked thorns, which is great, unfortunately, a single attack of 4 is quite low firepower of a turn. Opponent will just focus the beasts and then Girushia will be quite easy to ignore or to force into awkward positions. Very hard to delocate guy once he's in a good spot, but not enough damage nor board control to be the core of an army.
Hellforge Mandukor: Slow and difficult to get going, but an interesting "niche" choice for an Eisenek build.
Imperator Kayne: This stomp power is very strong and much better than Tor-Kul-Na's one for multiple reasons I'll not elaborate here, Kayne can really wreck havoch in some situations, the range is nice too, but the lack of synergy and 130 points for a standalone single attack figure that isn't extremly beefy aswell is a bit high.
Molten Crustaceans: I am not a huge fan of "neutral" powers like terrain modification, especially as the lava drop is at death you have low control over it. Also 5/1/3/3 are weak stats. That's said at only 45 points so 15 points per figure, Crabs are a good way to add "meat" to any army and they tendency to have height a lot vs melee makes them good vs them.
Raelin the Kyrie Warrior (Utgar Edition): Will do her job just fine, but to me the new Jandar Raelin is just better in every way.
Sgt. Drake Alexander: If a ranged+support based army becomes popular I could see Drake going up, and use him as a can opener but for now he's just a filler lategame combat guy in which he isn't super bad but not super good aswell.
Shiori: Not the worst unit by herself, with multi attacks and good survivability with Kieru 14, synergy with Tanuki is very interesting to advance her for "free" and have them ready to unless a 3 dice Ninjustu Mastery, but still 110pts is a lot and there is very few spots where Shiori will fit, even in a Tanuki army.
C+ (Half-playable units, underwhelming most of the time, but can pull their weight on a good game)
Bor-Buk-Na: Can definitely pull his weight in some games with knaves if he gets lucky enough. But Fia and Dorim are more solid choice to me.
Chana the Zenithwing: Better than Kita as secondary Beast bonder, but she still not amazing, having to forfeit the attack for a chance at the heal is quite underwhelming.
Cornelius Breech: For now I don't see any useful use of mutinery as 98% of time knaves will die before the hero, so this guy is just a filler stat ball. Dorim is better as melee bonder for knaves imo.
Haluchott, Corruptor of Beasts: Not that bad by design, pseudo double attack and double bonding is very good, also great survavibility but the beasts are too weak for now to make this build work.
Marachott, Mind Whisperer: His attack is quite equivalent to 5 dice attack, which is good but nothing crazy aswell. I think a double wizard+beasts build will be very clunky to use, like you wanna put OMs on Marachott to try for double heroes turn, but if you don't get the D20 your turn is pretty weak and the best offensive Wizard like Halushia will end up slacking behind. A better use might be with a standalone and mobile Hero like Sonlen but I'm still not high on it.
Raakchot Steward of Death: Not super bad because beefy and you can consistently get attacks of 4 or 5 but yeah nothing crazy for sure...
Vorid Glide Strikers: A decent amount of AoA only games finishing in a lategame scramble and few range in the format makes them playable, but they are still a very risky choice, the probability of them doing absolutely nothing is quite high.
C (Bad units, they bad but they no megashit)
Grave Grimm: I don't see the "guide of the dead" development being valuable in an Eisenek build, and as I said above, Revnan Acolytes don't need development, so I don't see any use for this dog. Also 40pts for 4 defense 2 lives is not good survivability at all, he might be sniped and result in a stupid loss of an OM.
Killina Vane III: Very Low range, low survavibility and the shotgun hitting allies is also annoying when playing with Knaves.
Kita the Springrunner: A single melee 2 dice attack is very bad and 2 lifes 4 defense isn't good survavibility for a melee unit. But you can still pick her in addition to Onshu in a beast build as Onshu may die fast, she can still being some kind of annoyance for small cost.
Loviatak the kyrie warrior: 4 lifes 3 defense on a melee hero is just super fragile, her aura is very hard to setup without bonding and the payoff of the move bonus isn't high enough for now, maybe with Utgar commons she could get better in the future.
Misaerx the kyrie Warrior: She's bad, but she only cost 50 making her a half decent filler option.
Queen Qhyrion: 4 move for what is basically an assassin unit... rough. 4 lifes 4 defense... rough. 55% chance of a normal single attack of 4 with nothing else as a turn, rough. She desperately needs some kind of move boost synergy.
Vrono: Terrible stats, and terrible power for a single power card. Vrono would very like to have reach like Girushia to force sharp thorns triggers, or more attack to force to deal with him, but has he is, he is very easily ignored by opponnent and can't get much done. Very disappointing card.
D (Megashit units, will be very hard to extract consistent value out of them)
Kilkorax the Kyrie Warrior: If you want to grab multiples guys, use Necrotechs, you can even kill them both afterwards, wow! More seriously I don't think grabbing figures is THAT useful in AoA meta that you have to pay so much points juste for that, lots of squads have disengage or 2 lifes so can get away from Kilkorax if they really want to. Also it's on a 17+ on a hero making her basically unable to grab heroes is very bad. Necrotechs are just a much more versatile and safer choice if you want to grab guys and are cheaper...
Thyraxis Dragoon: Experience has shown that battle frenzy isn't a good power, espcially for big guys like that. 195pts for a no synergy single attacking melee unit and a power that have only a 35% chance of triggering each round, no thanks.
Xiamara the Kyrie Warrior: While the combo with Mielki looks appealing, it's super difficult to setup as Mielki isn't a ranged unit, if Mielki could heal herself it would be strong, but she can't, so the opponennt does not need to target Xiamara and can just put wounds on Mileki slowly but surely.And even then 80pts for single targetted support like that, not worth. Attack does no wounds to Mielki? Useless. Attack does 1 wound? 75% chance of useless. Attack does 2 wounds? 35% chance of useless, that's way too much useless right there.
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I love love love the Tricksters.