Advance Wars CO Tier List – Best Commanding Officers Ranked

Advance Wars is a handheld classic, recently remastered for modern consoles. It’s a surprisingly deep game that uses a simple formula to craft some of the most tense tactical gameplay available on any platform. Central to the game are the COs—super-powered commanders of various armies (Orange Star, Green Earth, Blue Moon, Yellow Comet, and the nefarious Black Hole). But who are the best COs? Check out our Advance Wars CO Tier List.

Best Advanced Wars COs Tier List

D Tier

Sonja

With just an Enhanced Vision as a CO power and some mediocre counter attack damage bonus, Sonja is the worst CO in the game.

C Tier

Andy

Series protagonist Andy is incredibly underwhelming as a CO; his abilities are essentially training wheels. Switch out for other COs as soon as you’re able.

Olaf

Making it snow is nice, but honestly, almost every other CO power in the game is more useful. 

Drake

Navel units are a tiny drop in the ocean (pun intended) in Advance Wars, and Tsunami’s damage ability is quickly mitigated by most players. We’d suggest anyone else.

B Tier

Grit

Alone in B tier, Grit is here because he requires a very specific plan, and isn’t very adaptable. With his entire play-style built around indirect fire and artillery, he can dominate with those units, but he’ll struggle if your plan doesn’t work.

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A Tier

Sami

Sami has a CO power that will catch a lot of beginner and veteran players off guard. Double Time increases the movement range and firepower of Infantry and Mech units and her CO power has the shortest charge in the game. As a result, you can quickly sweep in and capture objectives and even HQs in quick time.

Nell

Luck is a secretly broken stat in Advance Wars and Lucky Star gives them a 60% bonus to Luck, on top of a flat defense buff. While Luck seems like a coin flip, you’ll win more times than you won’t with her busted stats.

Eagle

Eagle’s ability to move all non-infantry units again at the cost of dealing 80% of their damage is excellent.

Kanbei

Kanbei’s CO power Morale Boost increases his Universal attack to 140% and Universal defense to 130%; this makes him incredible at orchestrating last second pushes or vital defenses of his territory.

S Tier

Sturm

Sturm’s Meteor Strike is absolutely incredible. Dealing 8 damage to all enemies, it kills any units with slight damage, has a massive hit box, and boosts his unit's damage. Even though you can’t choose the location for Meteor Strike, a good Strike will end the game.

Max

It’s wild that Max is one of the first COs you unlock, because being able to buff all firepower that isn’t from infantry is superb. Additionally, all non-infantry Direct Combat units get a movement increase of one. There’s almost no circumstance where this isn’t a perfect move. 

For more Advanced Wars news, guides, and more, check out What is the release date for Advance Wars 1 + 2 Re-Boot Camp? on Pro Game Guides.