This guide covers everything you need to know about the Crystal Clash event in AFK Journey, including the best offensive and defensive team compositions for free-to-play and pay-to-win players, along with essential tips and strategies.

A Quick Note on Defense Placement: A common early mistake is not placing your strongest defensive teams on the outer ring of your crystal layout. If you're the stronger player in your partnership, putting your best defenses on the outside is crucial to protect more of your crystals from being plundered after the first line is broken.

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Catalogue

  • Top F2P Defense Teams (All Unique Heroes)
  • Powerful Pay-to-Win (P2W) Advanced Teams
  • Map Interface & Performance Tips
  • Smart Target Selection Strategy
  • The Importance of Team Collaboration
  • Live Testing & Team Demonstrations
  • Team Alternative Options
  • Event Mechanics & Reward Analysis
  • Conclusion

Top F2P Defense Teams (All Unique Heroes)

Here are four powerful teams that use completely different heroes, perfect for defending your main crystal and the outer nodes.

Sobern Team: Bonnie + Cyran + Ludovic

Guardian Spell

Bonnie

Cyran

Ludovic

Artifact: Guardian Spell (The strongest artifact for most teams. That initial protection shield is incredibly valuable in a 3v3 format, giving you a significant advantage right from the start.)

How it works: This is a strong Community-Tested team, Cyran controls the Core. Ludovic provides consistent healing, keeping everyone healthy. Cyran's opening move disables the enemy's artifact. The team then builds up energy until Cyran can unleash his ultimate, crowd-controlling the enemies while also spreading Bonnie's debuffs across them. Bonnie herself deals very solid damage. This is a fantastic team because it uses heroes many players have already prioritized and likely have charms for, making it relatively easy to set up with strong Paragon upgrades.

Shemira-Fam Team: Niru + Daimon + Shemira

Coreforge Spell

Niru

Daimon

Shemira

How it works: The strategy is all about buffing Shemira to extremes. Daimon boosts her, and Niru provides further buffs through his charm quality bonus. Equipped with Butcher charms, Shemira will simply hit like a truck. This is a great option because these are popular heroes many players have already upgraded.

Positioning Tip: Place this team as far forward as possible. This means Shemira will be in range to attack immediately, won't waste time walking, and will benefit from the full duration of the Coreforge artifact activation.

Charm Note: These are the recommended charms, a classic damage dealers, but Niru can also work very well with Reaper charms.

Tasi Team: Pandora + Tasi + Hugin

Dragonroar Spell

Pandora

Tasi

Hugin

Lily May

Core Strategy: This powerful combo focuses on Pandora placing Tasi into her box. Tasi emerges empowered and ready to unleash her ultimate, which is the key to this team's success. Hugin provides crucial support, using his charms to buff Tasi even further. The Dragonroar Artifact is chosen because it activates around the 6-second mark, perfectly timing with Tasi's emergence to significantly boost her damage.

The Hard Counter: This team's major weakness is a specific opponent strategy: an enemy Pandora who has placed Lily May in her box. Their Lily May will appear at the exact same moment as your Tasi and will immediately interrupt her, completely neutralizing your main threat and shutting down the entire composition.

The Flexible Solution: Because of this hard counter, a very strong alternative is to replace Tasi with Lily May in your own team. Pandora also works exceptionally well with Lily May. When you use Lily May, she becomes the one interrupting the enemy's key heroes, turning the tables on the opposing strategy. This makes your team less predictable and more adaptable.

A Final Note on Hugin: There is a theoretical scenario where if Hugin charges his ultimate extremely quickly and uses it right before Tasi emerges, it might disrupt an enemy's counter. However, this timing is incredibly difficult to achieve and is not a reliable tactic to plan for.

Charm Availability: These heroes are excellent choices for this team as they are common investment priorities—Tasi for AFK Stages and the others for Dream Realm—so you likely already have good charms for them.

Lily Team: Lily May + Faramor + Elijah and Lailah

Malison Spell

Elijah and Lailah

Lily May

Faramor

How it works: This team is a strong leftover Hero Team, it focuses on making Lily May a powerhouse. The Malison artifact reduces the health and defense of the frontmost enemy, who Lily will be targeting with her long-range ballet. She also debuffs the backline enemy, reducing their attack speed and damage output. Faramor and the Twins are there to massively buff Lily May's own damage. The Twins also provide healing and energy, potentially helping Faramor get his ultimate off. While the Guardian Spell might be slightly better here, but this is still a very solid team. If you want to use Lily May elsewhere, you can substitute Tasi into this team instead.

Powerful Pay-to-Win (P2W) Advanced Teams

Baelran-P2W Team: Dunlingr + Ludovic + Baelran

Guardian Spell

Dunlingr

Ludovic

Baelran

When it comes to offensive strategy, the Guardian Spell artifact is an absolute game-changer—it’s practically the ultimate cheat code. Equipping it in every match gives you a significant early advantage, making it an almost essential pick.

This team is considered a premium, P2W option largely due to the inclusion of Dunlinger and is a really solid, tried-and-tested composition. The core strategy revolves around creating an impregnable defense for Baelran. Ludovic provides essential healing to keep him healthy with his Everbloom Field, while Dunlinger plays a critical role by using his Spellbind ability—which has a dual function: it prevents opponents from casting their ultimate abilities while simultaneously allowing only your Baelran to use his ultimate. This creates a massive advantage.

Combined with the protection from the Guardian Spell artifact, Baelran becomes extremely well-protected. With his ultimate unlocked and the enemy's key abilities shut down, your fortified "Baelran line" will ramp up and proceed to eliminate the entire enemy team. This composition is notoriously difficult to counter and is best deployed on your most critical defensive point—protecting your main crystal, often referred to as your final node.

Athalia-Stall Team: Igor + Satrana + Athalia

Lightcall Spell

Athalia

Satrana

Igor

How it works: This is a flexible team where the third slot can be various heroes you have left over. Athalia is the best option because Igor's jumping around the battlefield allows her to keep dealing damage and using her ultimate. Satrana is there to add more debuffs onto the enemy, making them easier to kill. The goal is to stall out and disrupt the opponent.

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Map Interface & Performance Tips

Many players report experiencing game lag when entering the Crystal Clash map interface, likely due to the game loading numerous crystal models simultaneously. The number "1230" displayed on the map indicates the maximum possible plunder value, though the actual amount requires checking individual crystal markers.

Smart Target Selection Strategy

Identifying Easy Targets:

Look for players tagged as "Master Crystal Hunter" or "Veteran Crystal Hunter" on the map, these are typically system-generated bots with significantly weaker defensive teams. For example, a target showing a "1150" plunder value represents an excellent opportunity.

Prioritize Isolated Targets:

Choose crystals defended by only one player (such as a player named "Iron Almus" with 25.3 billion power), as these targets often lack complete defensive setups and are much easier to break through.

The Importance of Team Collaboration

  • -Before launching an attack, always invite friends, guild members, or your partner to assist:
  • -Two players attacking crystal towers together is more efficient
  • -Reduces the number of team combinations needed
  • -Makes it easier to meet the 16 unique hero deployment requirement (3-star reward condition)

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Live Testing & Team Demonstrations

Lily Team Test:

Despite having a Paragon advantage (making the test unfair), we can still observe team mechanics: Lily May hits hard and interrupts enemies right from the start.

Shemira-Fam Team Analysis:

When Niru absorbs the enemy Lily May's interruption, the battle outcome hinges on how quickly Shemira can accumulate energy and release her ultimate ability.

Tasi Team Showcase:

Tasi emerges from Pandora's box and proceeds to eliminate all enemies, demonstrating the team's explosive potential.

Team Alternative Options

Baelran Team without Dunlingr:

a combination of Elijah and Lailah + Rowan + Lightcall Artifact:

Lightcall Spell

Elijah and Lailah

Rowan

Baelran

  • -Twins provide consistent healing
  • -Rowan's healing potion offers burst recovery
  • -Lightcall Artifact enhances survivability

Baelran can quickly ascend and end the battle when properly protected.

Thador Combination Teams:

Thador performs exceptionally well in this mode and can pair with various heroes:

Thador + Shakir + Daimon: An entertaining "flying wolf" combo; adding Damon provides attack buffs.

Shadowblast Spell

Shakir

Daimon

Thador

Thador + Lily May + Faramor: A powerful burst combination.

Shadowblast Spell

Lily May

Faramor

Thador

Event Mechanics & Reward Analysis

Daily Requirements:

  • -Only 2 successful plunders per day are needed for main rewards
  • -More time-friendly compared to previous events
  • -3v3 format matches are faster-paced and easier to complete

Reward System:

  • -Earn Arcane Cores through team plundering (max 48 throughout the entire event).
  • -Crystal shop rewards: Stellar crystals obtained through attacks can be used to clear the store's stock.
  • -Ample event duration (8 days including today) ensures plenty of time to collect all rewards.

Conclusion

Mastering Crystal Clash relies on strategic team composition, smart target selection, and coordinated attacks. Whether using accessible F2P teams or investing in premium P2W options, the key lies in leveraging hero synergies and artifact advantages. With only two efficient plunders required daily and abundant rewards available, this event offers a rewarding experience for all players. Apply these tips, experiment with the recommended formations, and dominate the Crystal Clash arena to claim your stellar rewards.

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Savannah Reed Experienced Game Editor

Savannah Reed is a senior game editor at LDShop.gg, specializing in in-depth coverage of RPG and strategy games. With a strong focus on titles like Wuthering Waves, Honkai: Star Rail and Whiteout Survival, she combines industry insight with firsthand player experience to deliver clear, informative, and actionable content. Her work is dedicated to helping gamers make smarter decisions—whether it’s understanding new updates or optimizing their in-game strategy.