Japanese vs Malay

Playing Japanese against Malay? Here's the best Japanese unit to counter every unit Malay 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.

49.6%Japanese win rate vs Malay

Roughly even matchup95% CI 45.9–53.3% · 702 ranked 1v1 gamesFull win-rate breakdown →

Japanese hard-counters 17 of 18 units Malay can field. Each of their units is on the left; the best unit you can build to counter it is on the right.

Malay

Counter as Japanese

Infantry

• Karambit WarriorUniqueSamurai+10–12 vs Unique Units
• 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

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

Siege

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

Naval

• Cannon GalleonSpearman+9–17 vs Ships
• Demolition ShipSpearman+9–17 vs Ships
• Fire ShipSpearman+9–17 vs Ships
• HulkSpearman+9–17 vs Ships
• War GalleySpearman+9–17 vs Ships

Matchups in AoE2 also come down to strategy, economy and the map — this ranks the unit-counter tools Japanese brings against Malay, 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 The counters are computed from the game's own data, so there's no table to fall out of date when the game is patched.