Guide · Fundamentals
All 12 Clans, Explained
Every run starts with the same decision: a primary clan (which supplies your champion) and an allied clan behind it. This page tells you what each of the twelve actually does, who pilots it well, and where to dig deeper — card counts and keywords come straight from the game data.
Two ways to use this page: reading top to bottom gives you the whole roster in five minutes; or jump to a clan you just unlocked, skim its identity and signature keywords, then open its hub for the full card list. For how the clans stack up against each other right now, the tier list is the living ranking — this guide is about what each clan is, which changes far less often than where it ranks.
Awoken
Rooted resilience: heal, Regen and Spikes turn drawn-out fights into wins.
A wall that refuses to die. Healing, Regen and Spikes turn every floor into a war of attrition the enemy is losing slowly. Its weakness is the clock: pure stall can struggle to close out high-Covenant fights, so it usually wants an ally that supplies the killing blow.
42 cards · champions The Sentient and Wyldenten · signature keywords Rejuvenate, Spikes, Regen · open the Awoken hub →
Banished
Fallen angels: earn Valor as units Shift and ascend between floors.
The comeback clan of the sequel: units earn Valor as they Shift between floors, converting movement into permanent stats. It is straightforward to pilot, fast to come online, and reliable from Covenant 0 all the way to 10 — arguably the best "second clan to learn" in the game.
42 cards · champions Fel and Talos · signature keywords Valor, Shift, Melee Weakness · open the Banished hub →
Hellhorned
Demonic aggression: stack Rage and Armor on cheap units and multiply value with imps.
The most direct clan in the game: cheap demons hit hard, Rage makes them hit harder, and imps multiply the value of every summon. It teaches the core rhythm of Monster Train faster than any other clan, and it stays dependable at every Covenant — the knock is only that newer engines eventually out-scale it.
42 cards · champions Hornbreaker Prince and Shardtail Queen · signature keywords Rage, Summon, Armor · open the Hellhorned hub →
Lazarus League
Mad science: Unstable experiments, grafted equipment and Reanimate keep the lab running.
Mad science with a body count: Unstable stacks build toward explosive payoffs, grafted equipment turns test subjects into monsters, and Reanimate recycles the failures. Scaling is brutal, especially paired with an aggressive front-line clan.
47 cards · champions Baron Grael and Orechi · signature keywords Reanimate, Lifesteal, Unstable · open the Lazarus League hub →
Luna Coven
Moon magic: the Mooncycle swings between Moonlit and Moonshade, powering Mageblade and Conduit.
Moon magic on a timer: the Mooncycle swings between Moonlit and Moonshade phases, and Luna Coven cards care exactly when you play them. It is the most execution-heavy clan in the game — and community consensus agrees the ceiling is among the highest when piloted well.
42 cards · champions Arduhn and Ekka · signature keywords Conduit, Mageblade, Mooncycle · open the Luna Coven hub →
Melting Remnant
Burn twice: Burnout units die and return, cashing in on Extinguish and Reform value.
Melting Remnant's units are designed to die. Burnout kills them on a timer; Extinguish triggers cash in the death; Reform brings them back for another lap. It is the premier cycling engine in Monster Train 2 and currently sits at the top of the meta with Underlegion.
42 cards · champions Little Fade and Rector Flicker · signature keywords Burnout, Extinguish, Harvest · open the Melting Remnant hub →
Pyreborne
Draconic greed: hoard gold with Dragon's Hoard and Avarice, then spend it as power.
Dragons that eat gold. Dragon's Hoard and Avarice convert your treasury into raw stats, so every shop visit is a build decision. The payoff is real but slower to come online than the top engines — mid-tier as a primary, dangerous with a tempo ally in front.
42 cards · champions Lady Gilda and Lord Fenix · signature keywords Pyregel, Avarice, Cooldown · open the Pyreborne hub →
Railforged
Living machines: Forge resources into crafted equipment and Refined automatons.
The DLC clan: living machines that Forge resources into crafted equipment and Refined automatons. It snowballs harder than almost anything once the workshop is running — several community rankings argue it belongs in S tier rather than A.
44 cards · champions Heph and Herzal · signature keywords Burst, Immobile, Armor · open the Railforged hub →
Stygian Guard
Spell-slinging: Incant triggers, Frostbite stacks and weakness debuffs melt bosses from range.
The spellcaster clan. Its units feed on Incant — every spell you cast on their floor triggers something — while Frostbite and debuffs wear bosses down from range. Community consensus rates it low as a primary because chip damage lacks a decisive punch, but as a support half it makes strong decks stronger.
42 cards · champions Solgard the Martyr and Tethys Titansbane · signature keywords Incant, Frostbite, Sap · open the Stygian Guard hub →
Umbra
Feed the darkness: Morsels are eaten by Gorge units that grow out of control.
A feeder economy: cheap Morsels exist to be eaten, and Gorge units grow with every meal. When the engine assembles, its units reach absurd stats — but it demands more setup and floor discipline than anything else in the game, which is why post-DLC polls rank it last. A project clan for players who like moving parts.
48 cards · champions Penumbra and Primordium · signature keywords Gorge, Eaten, Emberdrain · open the Umbra hub →
Underlegion
Overwhelm with numbers: endless Fun Guy and Shroom swarms that Propagate.
Overwhelm with numbers. Fun Guy tokens and Shrooms flood every floor, Propagate keeps the swarm rebuilding itself, and no single removal ever answers the whole board. Currently the most consistent army plan in the game and a fixture of S tier.
42 cards · champions Bolete the Guillotine and Madame Lionsmane · signature keywords Decay, Troop, Rally · open the Underlegion hub →
Wurmkin
Patient growth: nurture Eggs until they Hatch into monsters far above their cost.
Patient growth, literally: Wurmkin nurtures Eggs that Hatch into monsters far above their cost, keeping the upgrades the egg carried. Middling alone, but it spikes hard in the right ally pairing — a clan whose tier depends on who it brings along.
44 cards · champions Echowright and Spine Chief · signature keywords Hatch, Reap, Inspire · open the Wurmkin hub →
Picking your pair
A good pairing covers the primary clan's weakness: stall clans want a finisher, engine clans want early-floor survival, and swarm clans want spells that keep the lanes clear. Test any combination before you commit a run — the deck builder shows the combined card pool, cost curve and keyword overlap for any two clans, and the clan unlock guide covers how to get all 12 clans plus exactly what levelling each one adds to its pool.