Poles vs Japanese

Playing Poles against Japanese? Here's the best Poles unit to counter every unit Japanese can field — only the units your tech tree can actually build. Every figure is drawn from the game's attack bonuses and armor classes, so it stays accurate to the live balance.

47.9%Poles win rate vs Japanese

Roughly even matchup95% CI 44.5–51.3% · 814 ranked 1v1 gamesFull win-rate breakdown →

Poles hard-counters 15 of 16 units Japanese can field. Each of their units is on the left; the best unit you can build to counter it is on the right.

Japanese

Counter as Poles

Infantry

• SamuraiUniqueScorpion+1–2 vs Infantry
• MilitiaScorpion+1–2 vs Infantry
• SpearmanCavalry Archer+2–4 vs Spearmen

Archers

• ArcherSkirmisher+3–5 vs Archers
• Cavalry ArcherSpearman+15–32 vs Cavalry
• Skirmisherno hard counter you can build

Cavalry

• KnightSpearman+15–32 vs Cavalry
• Scout CavalrySpearman+15–32 vs Cavalry

Siege

• Battering RamCannon Galleon+25 vs Siege Weapons
• MangonelBattering Ram+40–50 vs Siege Weapons
• ScorpionBattering Ram+40–50 vs Siege Weapons

Naval

• Cannon GalleonBombard Cannon+40–50 vs Ships
• Demolition ShipBombard Cannon+40–50 vs Ships
• Fire ShipBombard Cannon+40–50 vs Ships
• HulkBombard Cannon+40–50 vs Ships
• War GalleyBombard Cannon+40–50 vs Ships

Matchups in AoE2 also come down to strategy, economy and the map — this ranks the unit-counter tools Poles brings against Japanese, not a guaranteed win. The counters are computed from the game's own data, so there's no table to fall out of date when the game is patched.