Anime Crusaders’ current meta is ruthless, fast, and unapologetically efficiency-driven. Whether you’re pushing Infinite Mode, speed-clearing Raids, or farming Story for gems, the game heavily rewards players who understand scaling, unit roles, and how mechanics overlap rather than raw rarity flexing. The gap between a “cool-looking” unit and a meta-defining one has never been wider, and that’s exactly why team-building knowledge matters more than luck.
DPS Is King, But Only If It Scales
Raw damage numbers mean nothing if a unit falls off after Wave 30. The meta prioritizes units with strong late-game scaling, either through exponential stat growth, attack speed ramping, or passives that trigger harder the longer a stage lasts. Units that dominate early waves but cap out quickly are now relegated to niche farming or speedrun setups, not serious progression.
This is why high-tier DPS units tend to be ones with stacking buffs, execute mechanics, or percentage-based damage. They don’t just hit hard; they hit harder as the game goes on, which is mandatory for Infinite Mode and high-level Raids.
Utility Units Define Team Value
Pure DPS squads crumble without proper utility backing them up. The meta strongly favors units that provide slows, stuns, defense shredding, burn amplification, or global buffs. Even a mid-tier damage unit becomes top-tier when it enables your carry to attack more often or bypass enemy scaling.
Time control abilities are especially valuable right now. Crowd control that interrupts boss animations or freezes elite mobs buys critical seconds, letting your DPS units fully unload without taking pressure. Utility units don’t top damage charts, but they decide whether your run dies at Wave 40 or pushes to Wave 80.
Single-Target vs AoE Is a Mode-Based Choice
Not all content rewards the same damage profile. Story and early Infinite favor wide AoE clearing to keep wave pacing fast, while Raids and late Infinite heavily reward high single-target burst for boss melting. The meta revolves around flexible team cores that can swap one or two slots depending on the mode without rebuilding everything from scratch.
Top players don’t ask if a unit is good or bad. They ask where it peaks. A unit that dominates Raids can be dead weight in Story, and vice versa, which is why understanding role specialization is critical when investing resources.
Survivability and I-Frames Are Silent MVPs
As enemy damage ramps up, survivability mechanics quietly become meta-defining. Units with built-in I-frames, damage reduction, lifesteal, or aggro manipulation drastically increase run consistency. Losing a key unit late-game due to unavoidable damage is often the difference between a leaderboard run and a wasted hour.
This has pushed the meta toward units that can self-sustain or protect others, even if their DPS isn’t chart-topping. Consistency beats theoretical max damage every time.
Investment Efficiency Shapes the Meta
The final layer of the meta isn’t damage; it’s cost. Units that require extreme upgrades, rare evolutions, or perfect traits must justify that investment with long-term dominance. The strongest meta units aren’t just powerful; they’re worth the grind.
Players chasing optimal progress focus on units that remain viable across multiple game modes and patches. Flexibility, scalability, and synergy are what separate a temporary powerhouse from a true meta staple in Anime Crusaders.
Tier List Criteria Explained (Damage, Utility, Scaling, Game Modes)
To make the tier list actually useful instead of just opinionated, every unit is evaluated through the same competitive lens. These criteria reflect how high-level players judge value when deciding where to spend gems, traits, and evolution materials. A unit’s rank isn’t about raw hype; it’s about performance under pressure.
Damage: DPS, Burst, and Hitbox Consistency
Damage is the most visible metric, but it’s also the most misunderstood. We look at real DPS, not just tooltip numbers, factoring in attack speed, animation lock, hitbox reliability, and uptime during chaotic waves. A unit that misses half its attacks or overkills trash mobs loses effective damage fast.
Burst damage matters heavily in Raids and late Infinite where boss phases punish slow clears. Units that can dump massive damage during vulnerability windows or ultimate activations score higher than steady but low-ceiling DPS dealers. Consistency is king; predictable damage always beats theoretical peak damage that rarely lands.
Utility: Crowd Control, Debuffs, and Team Synergy
Utility is what separates good units from meta-defining ones. Stuns, freezes, slows, armor shred, vulnerability debuffs, and aggro manipulation all multiply team damage rather than competing with it. These effects scale harder as enemy stats inflate, which is why utility-heavy units age better across patches.
We also factor in how a unit enables others. Some units exist purely to amplify hyper-carries, extend I-frame windows, or lock bosses in place long enough for ult rotations. Even low-DPS units can rank high if they meaningfully increase overall team output and survivability.
Scaling: Late-Game Power and Investment Return
Scaling determines whether a unit is a short-term carry or a long-term cornerstone. We evaluate how well units perform with max upgrades, evolutions, traits, and late-game enemy scaling. Units that fall off after Wave 40 or struggle in high-difficulty Raids are penalized heavily.
Investment efficiency is baked into this score. If a unit needs perfect traits, rare evolutions, and heavy resource sinks to feel “good,” it must completely dominate its role to justify that cost. The highest-tier units scale smoothly and reward every resource invested without hitting diminishing returns.
Game Mode Performance: Story, Infinite, Raids, and Events
No single unit dominates every mode, so rankings account for versatility and peak performance. Story mode favors fast AoE clear and low setup time, Infinite demands endurance and scaling, while Raids punish anything without focused single-target damage and survivability. Event modes often add modifiers that further stress these differences.
Units that excel in multiple modes rank higher than specialists, but specialists can still reach top tiers if they completely own their niche. The key question is always where the unit peaks and how easily it slots into existing team cores. A unit that seamlessly transitions between modes saves resources and keeps your roster flexible.
Team Fit: Role Compression and Slot Value
Finally, we judge how much value a unit provides per team slot. Units that combine damage, utility, and survivability compress roles and free up space for flex picks. This is critical in modes with limited deployment slots where every choice has opportunity cost.
Meta teams aren’t built from six damage dealers; they’re built from units that cover weaknesses while amplifying strengths. A high-tier unit should make the entire team better, not just inflate personal stats. That philosophy drives every placement in the tier list that follows.
S-Tier Units: Meta-Defining Carries & Universal Picks
These units represent the absolute ceiling of Anime Crusaders’ current meta. They aren’t just strong in a vacuum; they define team cores, dictate summon priorities, and remain relevant across Story, Infinite, Raids, and limited-time Events. If you own even one of these units, your account’s power curve accelerates dramatically.
What separates S-tier from A-tier is consistency under pressure. These units scale cleanly into late waves, retain value against high-HP bosses, and compress multiple roles into a single deployment slot, making them optimal investments even with imperfect traits.
Gojo (Limitless)
Gojo remains the gold standard for universal value thanks to his unmatched combination of AoE damage, crowd control, and survivability. His Infinity mechanics effectively nullify pressure from dense enemy waves, giving your team breathing room in Infinite and high-difficulty Events. The wide hitboxes on his abilities make him forgiving to place, even on cramped or awkward maps.
Investment-wise, Gojo scales brutally well with upgrades and traits, but he doesn’t require perfection to dominate. Even mid-roll traits still deliver top-tier DPS and control, making him one of the safest long-term units to build. He fits seamlessly into almost any composition, acting as both primary carry and defensive anchor.
Goku (Ultra Instinct)
Ultra Instinct Goku is the definition of a scaling monster. Early waves may feel manageable rather than explosive, but once fully upgraded, his sustained DPS outpaces nearly every other unit in the game. His dodge-based survivability gives him pseudo I-frames, allowing him to stay active deep into Infinite where other carries collapse.
He truly shines in modes that test endurance, particularly Infinite and extended Raids. While he benefits heavily from strong traits, the payoff is enormous if you commit. Pair him with a crowd-control unit and a debuffer, and he becomes the backbone of a leaderboard-viable team.
Sukuna (King of Curses)
Sukuna dominates the single-target damage conversation, making him a premier Raid and boss-killer unit. His abilities melt high-HP enemies with frightening efficiency, and his damage profile doesn’t fall off as enemy scaling ramps up. When a mode punishes AoE spam and demands precision DPS, Sukuna thrives.
He’s more specialized than some S-tier peers, but his niche is so valuable that it justifies the slot. Sukuna works best alongside strong wave-clear units, letting him focus entirely on priority targets. If Raids are your main grind, he’s one of the smartest investments you can make.
Rimuru (Demon Lord)
Rimuru earns S-tier status through pure role compression. He delivers reliable AoE damage, meaningful debuffs, and team-enhancing utility that scales into late game. His kit smooths out difficulty spikes, especially in Event modes with modifiers that punish glass-cannon builds.
What makes Rimuru special is flexibility. He can act as a secondary carry, a control unit, or a utility backbone depending on team needs. That adaptability makes him ideal for players who want one unit that stays relevant regardless of mode rotations or balance shifts.
Madara (Six Paths)
Six Paths Madara is raw power incarnate, excelling at map-wide pressure and wave deletion. His abilities cover massive areas, trivializing Story progression and accelerating Infinite runs through early and mid-game waves. Few units clear faster with less setup.
While his survivability isn’t as forgiving as Gojo’s, proper positioning and support mitigate that weakness. Madara is best paired with defensive or control units that keep enemies grouped and distracted. In return, he offers some of the highest AoE DPS in the game and unmatched tempo control.
These S-tier units aren’t just strong picks; they’re foundational pieces that shape optimal team compositions. Whether you’re chasing Infinite milestones, optimizing Raid clears, or future-proofing your roster, these are the units worth building around from day one.
A-Tier Units: High-Value Specialists & Mode-Specific Powerhouses
After locking in your S-tier anchors, A-tier is where smart optimization really begins. These units don’t universally dominate every mode, but in the right context, they rival or even outperform top-tier picks. If you understand when and where to deploy them, A-tier units deliver absurd value for their cost.
Ichigo (Final Getsuga)
Final Getsuga Ichigo is a burst-DPS monster designed for short, high-impact fights. His damage spikes are perfectly tuned for Raids, boss phases, and time-gated encounters where deleting priority targets matters more than wave control. When his abilities land, HP bars evaporate.
The tradeoff is uptime. Outside of his burst windows, Ichigo offers limited utility and minimal AoE presence. Pair him with strong crowd control or sustained wave-clear units to cover his downtime, and he becomes a lethal finisher rather than a liability.
Ace (Flame Emperor)
Ace sits comfortably in A-tier thanks to his consistent AoE damage and burn-based scaling. He excels in Infinite and Story modes where enemies funnel into predictable lanes, allowing his abilities to stack damage over time. His hitboxes are forgiving, making him reliable even with imperfect placement.
Where Ace falls short is endgame boss pressure. Burn damage loses impact against high-HP single targets, especially in Raid environments. He shines as a tempo unit early and mid-run, setting the pace while heavier hitters handle late-game threats.
Killua (Godspeed)
Godspeed Killua is all about speed and control. His fast attack cadence and stun potential make him excellent for Infinite runs and high-difficulty Story chapters where crowd suppression matters. He buys your team time, which is often more valuable than raw DPS.
His damage ceiling is lower than top-tier carries, so he shouldn’t be your primary win condition. Instead, Killua thrives as a control specialist paired with AoE nukers or boss killers. If your team struggles with leaks or being overrun, he’s an instant upgrade.
Rengoku (Flame Hashira)
Rengoku delivers one of the cleanest hybrid kits in Anime Crusaders. He combines solid AoE damage with respectable single-target output, making him adaptable across most modes. His abilities are intuitive, with strong visual clarity and consistent hit confirmation.
He doesn’t break the meta, but that’s not the point. Rengoku is a plug-and-play unit that performs without demanding perfect team synergy. For semi-casual players or newer grinders, he’s one of the safest long-term investments in A-tier.
Doflamingo (Awakened)
Awakened Doflamingo is a control-heavy specialist with deceptive damage output. His string-based abilities excel at grouping enemies, setting them up for massive AoE follow-ups from teammates. In coordinated teams, his value skyrockets.
Solo, he feels underwhelming. His personal DPS doesn’t carry runs on its own, and poor team synergy exposes his weaknesses quickly. But in Infinite or Event modes that reward crowd manipulation, Doflamingo becomes a strategic powerhouse rather than a raw damage dealer.
Goku (Super Saiyan Blue)
SSB Goku is the definition of scalable consistency. His kit performs well from early waves through late-game scaling, offering balanced AoE and single-target damage. He’s especially effective in longer modes where sustained DPS matters more than burst.
He lacks the overwhelming ceiling of S-tier units, which keeps him out of the top bracket. Still, his reliability makes him ideal as a secondary carry. Slot him behind a stronger AoE clearer or Raid DPS, and he fills gaps without demanding heavy micromanagement.
A-tier units reward players who think beyond raw tier lists. These are the specialists, the stabilizers, and the problem-solvers that turn good teams into efficient ones. If S-tier units define the meta, A-tier units are how you exploit it.
B-Tier Units: Solid Picks for Progression, Farming, and Niche Setups
After the flexibility and power spikes of A-tier, B-tier is where practicality takes over. These units won’t hard-carry endgame content on their own, but they consistently pull their weight when used correctly. For progression, farming, and specific team roles, B-tier picks often offer better value than their tier label suggests.
Tanjiro (Water Breathing)
Water Breathing Tanjiro is a progression-focused unit that shines in early to mid-game content. His attacks have clean hitboxes and reliable AoE coverage, making him effective for story clears and standard farming routes. He’s easy to place, easy to understand, and forgiving for players still learning enemy paths.
The downside is scaling. Once enemy health ramps up in Infinite or late-game Events, his DPS falls behind quickly. Still, as a starter-friendly AoE unit, Tanjiro earns his slot during early progression before being phased out.
Ichigo (Bankai)
Bankai Ichigo sits firmly in B-tier due to his strong burst windows paired with inconsistent uptime. When his abilities connect, he chunks bosses and elites harder than most units in this tier. He’s especially useful in Story Boss stages where timing matters more than wave control.
However, his limited AoE and reliance on cooldowns make him awkward in swarm-heavy modes. He works best as a secondary damage dealer behind a primary AoE clearer. Invest in him if you need boss damage early, but don’t expect late-game dominance.
Luffy (Gear Second)
Gear Second Luffy is a tempo-based unit built around attack speed and pressure. He performs well in early Infinite waves where enemy density is manageable and fast DPS clears lanes efficiently. His cost-to-damage ratio makes him appealing for budget or low-RNG accounts.
His issues show up once enemies gain bulk. Without strong AoE scaling or utility, he struggles to keep pace past mid-game. Luffy is best used as an early-game accelerator rather than a long-term anchor.
Gojo (Base)
Base Gojo offers utility over raw damage, which keeps him relevant despite lower DPS numbers. His crowd control and ability-driven disruption help stabilize chaotic waves, especially when your main carry is still ramping. He’s a solid safety net in mixed comps.
The problem is opportunity cost. When stronger CC units or higher-damage versions become available, Base Gojo gets replaced quickly. Use him as a bridge unit, not a final investment.
Zoro (Pre-Timeskip)
Pre-Timeskip Zoro is a straightforward melee DPS unit with respectable single-target damage. He’s effective in early boss encounters and pairs well with AoE-heavy teams that just need something to clean up tanky stragglers. His placement is simple, and his damage is consistent.
He lacks range, utility, and late-game scaling, which caps his usefulness. Zoro fits niche setups where lane coverage is tight and bosses are frequent, but he’s not built for Infinite endurance runs.
B-tier units are about efficiency, not dominance. They smooth out progression, stabilize weak rosters, and fill gaps when RNG doesn’t cooperate. Used intentionally, they can carry you much farther than their tier ranking implies.
Underrated & Overperforming Units You Shouldn’t Ignore
If B-tier units are about efficiency, these picks are about perception gaps. They’re units the community often overlooks because they aren’t flashy, limited, or meta-defining on paper, yet they consistently punch above their weight in real runs. In the right compositions, they outperform higher-rarity summons and quietly carry progression across multiple modes.
Killua (Assassin)
Assassin Killua thrives in modes where priority targets matter more than raw wave clear. His burst damage, combined with fast attack cycles, lets him delete mini-bosses and elites before they overwhelm your frontline. In Infinite and Raid content, that single-target pressure adds up faster than most players expect.
Where Killua really overperforms is placement flexibility. He doesn’t need perfect lane alignment or heavy support to function, making him ideal for tight maps or awkward spawn paths. Invest in him if your roster lacks consistent boss shredding without relying on long cooldown nukes.
Rengoku (Base)
Base Rengoku sits in an awkward spot rarity-wise, but his AoE coverage is deceptively strong. His attacks hit wide lanes with consistent uptime, making him excellent for mid-game stabilization when enemy density spikes. Unlike burst-reliant clears, his damage doesn’t fall off between cooldown windows.
He shines most in Story and early Infinite waves, where reliability beats ceiling. While he won’t carry late-game Infinite alone, pairing him with a scaling carry gives your team breathing room to ramp. For players with limited summons, Rengoku is a surprisingly safe long-term investment.
Ichigo (Shikai)
Shikai Ichigo is often dismissed because his higher forms overshadow him, but that’s a mistake. His DPS-to-cost ratio is one of the most efficient in the game during early and mid progression. He ramps quickly and holds lanes without demanding heavy support.
The real value comes from timing. Ichigo bridges the gap between early clears and late-game carries better than most units in his tier. If you’re struggling with inconsistent runs due to slow starts, he’s one of the best tempo stabilizers available.
Nobara
Nobara doesn’t top DPS charts, but her utility-heavy kit makes her quietly oppressive in longer runs. Her ability interactions slow enemy pushes and soften clustered waves, which indirectly boosts your main carry’s damage efficiency. In swarm-heavy modes, that control matters more than raw numbers.
She’s especially strong in comps that already have damage but lack wave stability. Nobara buys time, reduces pressure, and keeps lanes from spiraling out of control. If your runs fail due to overwhelm rather than DPS checks, she’s a smart pickup.
Erwin
Erwin is the definition of an overperformer in coordinated team builds. His buffs scale with your roster, not his own damage, which means his value increases as your account improves. In optimized comps, he can effectively multiply total team DPS far beyond what an extra carry would provide.
The catch is commitment. Erwin demands intentional placement and synergy-focused team building to shine. For competitive grinders and leaderboard chasers, though, he’s one of the most impactful support units you can run outside of top-tier mythics.
Best Team Compositions: Synergies, Buff Stacking, and Role Coverage
Strong units win stages. Strong team compositions win entire runs. In Anime Crusaders, the difference between a clean Infinite climb and a wave 70 wipe often comes down to how well your roster layers buffs, controls pacing, and covers every role without wasting slots.
This is where players separate raw power from real optimization. A balanced team doesn’t just deal damage; it creates windows for that damage to scale, survive, and snowball.
The Core Roles Every Team Needs
Every optimized comp revolves around four roles: early-game stabilizer, main DPS carry, support buffer, and control or utility. Skipping any one of these creates pressure somewhere else, usually in the form of rushed upgrades or unstable lanes.
Early stabilizers like Rengoku or Shikai Ichigo prevent tempo loss while your economy ramps. Main carries handle late-game DPS checks, while support units like Erwin amplify everyone else. Control units such as Nobara smooth out wave spikes that would otherwise overwhelm your carry during cooldown gaps.
Buff Stacking and Why Erwin Is Non-Negotiable
Buff stacking is the backbone of high-end team building, and Erwin sits at the center of it. His buffs don’t just add damage; they multiply the effectiveness of scaling carries and turn good units into run-defining threats. This is why Erwin outperforms “extra DPS” slots in optimized teams.
The key is uptime and positioning. Place Erwin where his buffs consistently overlap your main carry and secondary DPS without exposing him to unnecessary aggro. When layered correctly, one Erwin can outperform an entire additional damage unit by wave 80.
Early-to-Late Game Scaling Compositions
The safest meta comp follows a clean progression curve. Start with a low-cost stabilizer like Ichigo or Rengoku, transition into a mid-game DPS, then fully commit resources into a late-game scaling carry. This approach minimizes RNG variance and prevents dead waves where nothing is fully online.
What makes this composition strong is flexibility. If your carry ramps slower than expected, your early unit keeps lanes alive. If RNG blesses you with fast upgrades, you can pivot sooner and snowball harder without risking collapse.
Control-Based Comps for Swarm and Infinite Modes
In Infinite and high-density modes, control becomes just as important as damage. Units like Nobara don’t need to top charts; they exist to manipulate enemy movement, clump waves, and reduce pressure during cooldown windows. This indirectly boosts your carry’s effective DPS by maximizing hit efficiency.
Control-heavy comps shine when enemies scale faster than your upgrades. By slowing pushes and stabilizing lanes, they buy critical seconds for buffs to cycle and abilities to reset. This is often the difference between barely surviving and comfortably clearing another 20 waves.
Role Coverage Over Raw Power
One of the biggest mistakes players make is stacking too many carries and calling it a team. Without buffs, control, or early coverage, those carries compete for resources and leave your run fragile. Role coverage ensures every unit has a purpose at every stage of the game.
An optimal team doesn’t feel flashy at wave 10. It feels inevitable at wave 90. When each unit feeds into the next through synergy rather than redundancy, Anime Crusaders becomes less about luck and more about execution.
Investment Guide: Which Units Are Worth Summoning, Awakening, or Replacing
Once you understand role coverage and scaling, the next real skill check in Anime Crusaders is investment discipline. Gems, awakening materials, and reroll currency are limited, and bad spending decisions will bottleneck your progress harder than bad mechanics. This section breaks down which units justify long-term commitment, which ones are safe early crutches, and when it’s time to move on.
Must-Summon Carries That Define the Meta
Units like Aizen, Gojo, and Luffy are not just strong; they define how late-game content is played. These carries scale absurdly well with upgrades, maintain consistent DPS through wide hitboxes or multi-tick abilities, and remain relevant deep into Infinite and leaderboard runs. If you pull one early, your entire comp should pivot around feeding it resources.
Awakening these units is almost always worth it because their awakenings enhance what already makes them dominant. Aizen’s awakening improves uptime and pressure, Gojo gains stronger control windows and survivability, and Luffy’s damage scaling spikes hard enough to justify the cost. These are units you build teams around, not units you slot in casually.
High-Value Supports and Buff Units Worth Chasing
Erwin is the gold standard for investment efficiency. He doesn’t care about enemy scaling, wave count, or mode type, and his buffs directly multiply your carry’s output rather than competing for resources. Awakening Erwin is one of the safest long-term investments in the game, especially for Infinite and high-wave content.
Other support units like Speedwagon or niche buffers become valuable depending on your roster, but none offer Erwin’s universal payoff. If your summon session doesn’t land a top-tier carry, pulling a premium support still puts you ahead of the curve. Buff units age better than DPS units because power creep affects raw damage far faster than utility.
Early-Game Units That Are Worth Using, Not Over-Investing
Ichigo, Rengoku, and similar early DPS units are excellent stabilizers but terrible long-term sinks. They exist to carry you through story, early Infinite waves, and awkward transition phases before your main carry comes online. Their value is front-loaded, which makes them deceptively expensive if you keep upgrading them past their purpose.
The rule of thumb is simple: upgrade them enough to survive, not enough to dominate. Once your late-game carry starts pulling aggro and clearing waves on its own, these units should stop receiving resources. Keeping them around as backup DPS is fine, but awakening them is almost always a trap.
Control Units: Low Damage, High Impact Investments
Units like Nobara thrive in Infinite and swarm-heavy modes where enemy density punishes greedy DPS comps. They won’t top damage charts, but their ability to clump, stall, or disrupt waves massively increases your carry’s effective DPS. In practice, this can add more value than upgrading your main damage dealer another tier.
These units are worth summoning if you already own a strong carry but struggle with lane pressure or cooldown downtime. Awakening control units is situational, but in Infinite-focused builds, it often pays off more than chasing marginal DPS gains. Think of control as insurance against bad wave RNG.
Units You Should Replace the Moment You Can
Not every high-rarity pull is a good investment. Some units look powerful early but fall off hard due to poor scaling, narrow hitboxes, or long cooldowns that don’t keep up with enemy health curves. These units should be treated as placeholders, not cornerstones.
If a unit stops contributing meaningfully after wave 40 to 50 without heavy babysitting, it’s a replacement candidate. Holding onto them out of sunk-cost bias is one of the fastest ways to stall progression. The meta rewards flexibility, not loyalty.
Summoning Strategy: When to Save and When to Roll
Summon aggressively when banners feature top-tier carries or universal supports. Rolling randomly outside of these windows increases RNG variance and often leaves you with redundant units that don’t fit your comp. Saving gems is a skill, not a passive activity.
If your current team clears content consistently, stop summoning and start upgrading. Power in Anime Crusaders comes from synergy and awakenings, not from hoarding half-built units. A focused roster will always outperform a bloated one.
Final Investment Tip
Every unit should justify its slot by solving a problem your team actually has. Damage, control, buffs, or early stability all matter, but only when they serve a purpose within your composition. The best players aren’t the luckiest summoners; they’re the ones who know exactly when to commit and when to cut their losses.
Anime Crusaders rewards long-term thinking more than any flashy pull ever will. Build with intent, invest with patience, and your runs will start ending because you chose to stop, not because the game forced you to.