Memory of Chaos does not reward your best team. It rewards your best two teams, and it puts a stopwatch on both. Every rotation splits into a left half and a right half, each needs its own full squad, and three stars a stage means clearing inside the cycle limit, currently four cycles. So the account that 36-stars is not the one with a single monster carry. It is the one with two burst-capable cores and the discipline to point each at the side it actually beats.
That is the frame for this tier list. It ranks comps for how they perform in MoC specifically, which is a single-target and elite-heavy mode, and that changes the order from a general power list. A team that farms waves in Pure Fiction can sit a full tier lower here, because MoC bosses do not care how well you clear chaff. For where the three endgame modes diverge in the first place, the MoC / PF / AS breakdown is the companion piece; this page is the MoC-only overlay for 4.5.
Read the rotation before you read the tiers
Two things decide your team order every cycle, and both change when the rotation resets:
- The Memory Turbulence buff. Each MoC cycle carries a global modifier that favors an element, a mechanic, or a playstyle. When it buffs Break or a specific element, the comps that use it jump a tier for that rotation. Check it on the mode screen before you lock anything in.
- Enemy weaknesses and count. MoC leans single-target and elite. A side with one boss and a couple of adds wants concentrated single-target burst; a side with two elites plus a summoner wants blast or a fast-cycling hypercarry. Match the shape, do not brute-force it.
Everything below assumes you read those two first. The tiers are the durable ranking; the rotation tells you which S-tier team goes left and which goes right this cycle.
S tier: the sides these teams simply delete
These are the cores that 3-star the hardest MoC fights across the widest rotations. If you own one, build it first.
Firefly + Ruan Mei + Nihility enabler + Lingsha (or Gallagher). Still the single most reliable MoC clear in the game. Firefly converts Break Effect into sustained damage that does not stall on skill points, which means she keeps hitting cycle after cycle without the tempo hiccups that sink other carries against a boss. Ruan Mei is non-negotiable glue: Break, speed, and a damage window all in one seat. The Break-feeding healer keeps her ceiling up. This team's only weakness is a side that resists its Break, and that is exactly what your second team is for. Full mechanics in the Super Break guide.
Acheron + two Nihility debuffers + Aventurine. The definitive elite-and-boss killer. Acheron's Ultimate scales with stacked debuffs, so two Nihility feeders (Pela, Jiaoqiu, Silver Wolf, Cipher) turn a boss side into a highlight reel. Aventurine shields and adds his own follow-up damage while he does it. On the single-target halves MoC loves, this is one of the highest ceilings in the mode.
Boothill + Ruan Mei + Robin (or Bronya) + healer. The specialist. Boothill duels one enemy for amplified Break damage, which makes him the answer to the pure single-target boss side that other teams grind through slowly. He wants a turn-advancer and a sustain that does not eat his tempo. When the left half is one big health bar, this is your fastest star.
A tier: 36-star engines with a condition
Strong enough to clear anything MoC asks, just slightly more rotation- or investment-dependent than S.
Kafka + Black Swan + Ruan Mei + Huohuo. The DoT core is nearly unkillable and ignores enemy positioning, which is why it clears MoC comfortably. It drops a tier below the burst kings only because damage-over-time ramps, and MoC's cycle clock occasionally out-paces the ramp on a low-health-bar side that a burst team would simply one-shot. On boss halves with real health, it shines.
Jingliu + Sparkle + Ruan Mei (or Pela) + healer. A self-sufficient Ice hypercarry with a brutal enhanced state. Sparkle feeds skill points and crit damage; the whole team funnels into Jingliu's enhanced skill. She handles single-target and small-add sides equally well, which makes her one of the most flexible A-tier picks for whichever half your S team did not take.
Aglaea / Castorice memosprite cores + Remembrance support + sustain. The newer Remembrance carries hit hard and bring their own board presence. They rate A rather than S mostly on investment: they want their signature and specific supports to hit the S-tier ceiling, but a built one absolutely 3-stars.
B tier: gets it done, wants the right side
These clear MoC, but you point them carefully and you accept a cycle or two more.
Seele + Sparkle + Tingyun + Fu Xuan. The classic Quantum assassin snowballs on kills, so she is elite on add-heavy sides where she chains extra turns, and merely fine on a lone boss where there is nothing to snowball through. A rotation-dependent pick, but a devastating one when the side suits her.
Follow-up core: FUA carry + Robin + Aventurine + Fu Xuan. A strong shell that gets a real upgrade once the Elation path fills out. For now it clears, and it is the team to bank toward if you are pulling on the 4.5 Phase 2 banner. Watch this seat: the archetype is trending up.
F2P Break: Xueyi or a four-star carry + Harmony + Break support + Gallagher. Not glamorous, but a well-tuned four-star Break team genuinely 3-stars current MoC. If you are stretched, the free four-star options are the reason you do not need to pull to clear.
The two-team plan that actually 36-stars
Ranking teams is the easy half. The clears come from the resource plan:
- Build one S-tier core to completion first. A finished Firefly or Acheron team that reliably clears one side is worth more than two half-built teams that clear neither. Depth before breadth.
- Make your second team a different damage type. If your left team is Break, your right team should not be, or a single Break-resistant side wrecks your whole run. Pair a Break core with a DoT or Nihility core so no rotation can lock you out.
- Do not double up your sustain or your Ruan Mei. You cannot use one unit on both sides. The most common 30-star wall is two great teams that both want the same healer or the same Harmony support. Plan the shared pieces last and fill the gaps with the best four-star supports.
- Tune speed before you blame the comp. A dropped star is usually a buffer moving after the carry, not a weak team. Get the speed breakpoints right and check your relic substats before you rebuild anything.
For the pull decisions behind every unit here, the 4.5 banner schedule carries the "should you pull" verdicts, and the full character tier list ranks the individual pieces. Grab the current redeem codes for free Jade before your next attempt, and if a specific archetype is new to you, the team-building archetypes guide explains why each of these cores is shaped the way it is.
MoC is a two-team mode wearing a one-carry disguise. Build the pair, match each to its side, and 36 stars stops being a stretch and starts being routine.
