10 Best Manhwa Where MCs Use Strategy Instead of Power, Ranked

The manhwa medium is undoubtedly very popular because of its typical superpowered tropes, with superhuman powers and epic battles often taking the spotlight. However, it’s no exaggeration to say that there’s something undeniably captivating about protagonists who rely on strategy and wit rather than brute force to achieve their goals.

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These characters rely more on their intellectual abilities, wit, and careful planning to defeat their opponents, proving that their brains are actually stronger than their brawn. In this article, we will highlight the best manhwa titles that fall into this category and examine how the main character highlights their intellect and skills as well as their detailed plot twists. Therefore, below you will find the best manhwa with protagonists who prefer brains over brawn.

10 The King’s Avatar

Alternative titles: Full-time expert

• Creator: Butterfly Blue, Chang Pan Yongzhe, D. Ian Cang Lan
• Genre: Action, comedy, fantasy, sports
• Number of chapters: 169 (ongoing)

E-sports are the focus the king’s avatar Series that follows the protagonist Ye Xiu, the unbeatable expert of the multiplayer online game Glory. Ye Xiu’s series examines professional gaming from a more exaggerated perspective, detailing what professional gaming actually looks like.

After being violently excluded from his professional team, Ye Xiu finds a job as a manager in an internet café. However, as an experienced player with ten years of experience in Glory, you can’t resist the urge to jump back into the game after the tenth server is released. With memories of the past and the goal of getting back to the top, Ye Xiu begins his journey back into professional gaming.

9 The academy’s undercover professor

Alternate titles: N/A

• Creator: Tana, Sayren, Wag
• Genre: Action, Adventure, Comedy, Fantasy, Drama, Mystery, Supernatural
• Number of chapters: 93 (ongoing)

The academy’s undercover professor presents the many lives of the main character. This young man reincarnates into a magical world after suddenly dying because he doesn’t believe in his mother’s religious teachings. He is now Professor Ludger Chelysie in this new life, or is that really him? Or is he the dreaded Machiavelli or the infamous Gerrard?

Professor Ludger Chelysie assumes many identities to continue his quest, and is just one of many identities he needs to achieve his goal. After the real Ludger dies on a train, he assumes the identity of the Professor, unaware that the owner of his new identity is involved in a deep and dark secret. Now, as Professor Ludger, he has to ensure that his cover is exposed.

8 Overstaffed

Alternate titles: N/A

• Creator: Saenal, monohumbug
• Genre: Action, adventure, fantasy
• Number of chapters: 255 (ongoing)

The Overstaffed The series takes VR gaming to a new level and follows the life of Shin Youngwoo, the protagonist. For people like Youngwoo, there is no in-between in the online game Satisfy. They are either at the top or at the bottom.

Youngwoo finds himself in an unfortunate situation until he accidentally discovers a legendary class item called “Pagma’s Successor” that transforms him into the most skilled blacksmith in the game. Now able to craft the best gear and gear in the game, Youngwoo is on his way to legendary fame and fortune, all through crafting and selling gear.

7 Queen’s Kingdom

Alternate titles: N/A

• Creator: Bitoru, Chira
• Genre: Drama, Fantasy, Historical
• Number of chapters: 124

The Queen’s Kingdom is exactly as the title sounds: a kingdom ruled and dominated by a queen. The series begins in the Kingdom of Blenheim, where the national ruler is a woman but the nation is built for men.

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However, it is only a matter of time before a female ambition captures the hearts of the people, as the nation’s highest authority belongs to a woman and the nation is a nation in which women are also limited in their ability to act and act. The series follows four girls from the Kingdom of Blenheim who have set the crown as their ultimate goal and are determined to revolutionize the kingdom.

6 The legendary moonlight sculptor

Alternate titles: N/A

• Creator: Lee Do Gyeong, Nam Heesung. Kim Tae Hyung
• Genre: Romance, Science Fiction, Action, Adventure, Comedy, Drama, Fantasy
• Number of chapters: 169 (ongoing)

The legendary moonlight sculptor describes a detailed story about the essence of the ability to work with means, albeit compulsively, through the lens of a virtual reality game. The main character of the story, Hyun Lee, lives in poverty with his grandmother and works part-time.

To make money, Hyun Lee is no stranger to strange tasks until he enters the virtual reality game Royal Road. By taking on a side quest to become a sculptor, Hyun Lee realizes he can make money from the game. However, since the sculpting fees are very low, Hyun decides to create a figure skilled enough to save his family from poverty.

5 How to use a returner

Alternate Title: Regressor Instruction Manual

• Creator: Domi, wooden spoon, Midnight Studio
• Genre: Fantasy, adventure, romance
• Number of chapters: 116 (ongoing)

Suddenly being summoned to a separate world teeming with monsters and having nothing but the ability to see other people’s abilities sounds like a truly terrifying experience, and Giyoung Lee couldn’t agree more How to use a returner Series. Giyoung finds his life changed forever on a random night after he is suddenly summoned to another world where survival is a game of life and death.

Giyoung is summoned alongside other players and only has a single ability, which allows him to see the abilities of others. He quickly realizes that the monsters are the least of his worries. Giyoung is presented with an opportunity when he meets another character, Hyunsung, who he discovers is a throwback in this new world. With his clever wit, Giyoung finds that Hyunsung is the perfect shield to ensure his survival and eventual return to his old life.

Alternate titles: N/A

• Creator: Jee Gab Song, Carrotoon
• Genre: Drama, fantasy, action, adventure
• Number of chapters: 105 (ongoing)

The extra of the novel brings to life the reality of the protagonist’s creation and follows the main character, Kim Hajin, who suddenly wakes up in the world of his self-written web novel. As if things couldn’t get any worse, Kim was reincarnated as just an extra in the book, and that was nothing short of a nightmare for him.

Kim Hajin has no choice but to finish the story and is lucky because he knows everything in this world, including everything that will happen. However, Kim Hajin begins to be unsure of what he knows when the story diverges from his original plans.

3 The largest real estate developer

Alternate titles: N/A

• Creator: BK_Moon, Lee Hyun-Min
• Genre: Action, Adventure, Comedy, Fantasy
• Number of chapters: 167 (ongoing)

The largest real estate developer refutes the overpowered MC trope that usually follows a reincarnation series through its protagonist Suho Kim. The story begins with the main character Suho Kim after he falls asleep while reading a web novel. He mysteriously awakens to find that in the novel he was reading, he has been reincarnated as Lloyd Frontera of the declining noble House of Frontera.

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Worse, his family is on the verge of drowning in debt. With a new life and no way to return to his old life, Suho, Lloyd decides to prevent his family’s impending bankruptcy. Drawing on his engineering knowledge from his previous life, Lloyd begins designing inventions in the hopes of raising enough money to change his family’s fortunes.

2 Trash from the Count’s family

Alternative title: Lout of The Count’s Family

• Creator: Elegant Yoo Ryeo Han
• Genre: Action, fantasy, comedy, adventure
• Number of chapters: 134 (ongoing)

Rubbish from the count’s family presents a strange story alongside a special main character in this exciting reincarnation series. The story begins with the main character Kim Roksu, an ordinary young man who is reincarnated in his favorite novel. Not only was he reincarnated, but he was also reincarnated as Cale Henituse, the eldest son of Count Henituse and a minor villain in the novel’s original story.

Worse, Cale is the first villain to die at the hands of Choi Han, the story’s original protagonist. Kim Roksu, now Cale Henituse, knows his fate and is determined to avert that very future and is willing to do whatever it takes. However, Cale’s actions unintentionally impact the story’s original timeline.

1 The magic of a returnee should be special

Alternate title: Returner’s Special Magic

• Creator: Sun Wook Jeon, So Nan Yoo
• Genre: Action, Comedy, Adventure, Drama, Romance, Supernatural, Slice of Life
• Number of chapters: 269 ​​(ongoing)

The magic of a returnee should be special is a spectacular mix of regression and fantasy based on the destruction or perceived destruction of all humanity. The series revolves around the main character Desir Hermann, humanity’s last hope, along with five other heroes against the shadow world.

In a final attempt to defeat their enemies, the six heroes are on the brink of destruction until Desir mysteriously awakens thirteen years ago, just before the entrance exams for the Hebrion Magic Academy. With a golden second chance to prevent the destruction of the world, Desir is determined to risk his life once again.

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