Clash Royale meta decks

This page describes the strategies, hints and tips of meta decks in Clash Royale.

Meta decks are those decks played by many top 200 players, and that show consistent win rates against several deck archetypes.

Royal Recruits Hogs Fireball bait

Meta deck - royal recruits hogs fireball bait	Three variants using the same base (see Deckshop.pro)

Base strategy

• Deck containing many fireball bait cards. Always play them to AVOID giving opp fireball value.

• Play machine in the middle (so that P tower can't be hit).
• Split hogs.

• Usually play hogs after recruits, so that they tank for the hogs.

• All fireball bait. Goal is to never give any value to opp fireball, like always play flyingmachine in the middle (to avoid damage on towers). Then also always split troops on both lanes (eg. when recruits are tanking for the hogs).

2.6 hog cycle deck

Meta deck - 2.6 hog cycle deck

Most stable archetype in the whole game. Started playing with this deck during 2nd Clan War season. Very difficult to play but would help better understand / master the game. Guides: new 2.6 Hog Cycle - Most Informative and In-Depth Guide to the Most Popular Hog Cycle Deck (Electro Wizard 2016 - reddit.com) new Clash Royale-2.6 Hog log Deck In-Depth Guide to the Most Popular Hog Cycle Deck (Kpid 2017 - gamestroops.com) new IN DEPTH 2.6 Hog Cycle Guide (Klerx69 2020 - Hypixel.net) Youtube: YersonCz YouTube channel 2.6 HOG CYCLE GOD vs WORLD'S TOP PROS! (Strategy Guide, Clash With Ash - youtube.com) , gameplay from YersonCz BEST 2.6 HOG CYCLE GAMEPLAY EVER! 7,100+ TROPHIES (Clash With Ash 2019 - youtube.com), gameplay from LucasXGamer, more explanations here. 50 tips for 2.6 hog cycle you NEED to know - Clash Royale - TheWizCR - youtube.com — a MUST-KNOW

Base strategy

• General goals:

• distract all units,
• avoid taking any damage on the towers, and
• space out key defensive units (to avoid giving spell value).
• never be too low in elixir (to defend rapidly with many units at once).
• cycle with purpose (eg. if playing defense, play musketeer BEFORE hogrider, so that to get back to musketeer first to get better defense).

• General tips [1]

• Tip 1: Push smarter but not harder (eg. hog + golem)
• Tip 2: Cycle with purpose (eg. cycle for chiping with spells, or cycle to prepare push...)
• Tip 3: Protect your musketeer (use skeletons, ice spirit, cannon).

• Learn to get most value from 1-elixir units (skeletons, icespirit).
• Know spell cycle magic number:

• 6 cards needed to play 3 spells (fireball (4)-log (2)-icegolem (2)-icespirit (1)-skeletons (1)-fireball (4)) and score 663 (lvl 14) / 501 (lvl 11) damage on tower.

Early stage gameplan (<2 min):

• Wait a 5 or 10 seconds to watch for opp aggressive move. If none, play icespirit or hogrider at the bridge.
• DO NOT play musketeer or cannon until you know ennemy's deck.
• Against golem beat down, apply lot of early pressure

Late stage gameplan:

• Focus on defense if opp has one tower down.
• Otherwise, if difficult to go through, start cycling spells, while pressuring with hog when possible (eg. by kiting opp troops).

Card guide

How to use them:

• hogrider main win condition. Play it when opp plays his own win condition to apply pressure.

• Can push the icegolem. Do this when cycling fast, to still keep value of golem.
• kite away attacking troops, very useful to split / separate an attack.
• In end game, use prediction spell to get more value.

• ice spirit: to slow down balloon or hog rider, avoid them to have a hit against tower or cannon. Reset attacks (but not sparky), so icespirit + icegolem are very interesting to re-aggro an attacking opponent. ALWAYS play spirit first! (to freeze opponent and reduce damage)
• log: also defensively, to push forward units, to protect eg. musk against pekka/prince or cannon against hog. Reset attacks (charge).
• icegolem: will also kill some units (skeletons) and slow them down on death.

Where to place them:

• skeletons:

• 1-3 (eg. very effective against ebarbs).

• cannon:

• 3-3 or 3-2 (Ouahleouff [2]) for cannon.
• 4-3 against golem
• 4-2 or 3-2 against hogrider (3-3 or even 2-3 will NOT aggro!).

• musketeer:

• 7-3, then icespirit at 3-3 to attract troops from bridge (and get defense from both towers).

Tower activation methods

• Against MK, activation:

• hogrider at 2-4 when MK crosses the bridge, then after MK jumps icespirit at 8-3 [3]
• skeletons at 4-3 (when MK is at 1+-), then when MK jumps icespirit at 8-4 [4]
• skeletons at 4-4 (when MK is at 1+-), then when MK jumps icespirit at 7-4 [5] (here MK was coming from middle).
• cannon at 4-2, then icespirit at 9-4 [6]
• Cannon at 4-3, and icegolem at 1-4 (other lane), then skeletons at 9-4 when cannon is down [7].
• More activation by YersonCz here.

• Against 2.6:

• On hog rider alone, cannon at 4-2.
• Against musketeer, cannon at 5-2, so that it is not sniped by musk. Try to protect cannon with skel, ice or golem.
• Log the icegolem.

Match-up guide

• against lavaloon:

• On lava: hog opposite lane always (if needed, cycle aggressively, like with spirit or golem at bridge).
• Against 1st balloon: cannoon at 4-1, then cycle (log on tower, golem 7+0 to be under lava when he pops, spirit under loon to slow it down a bit) and then 2nd cannon at 7-3 to activate king tower.
• Against balloon at 0-0: cannon'' at 0-2, then fireball to push back balloon, trying to hit puppies as well.
• Against ground troops: skeletons at 0-4.

• against lavaminer:

• Against minipekka: icegolem at 4-3, or skeletons at 0-4!!!
• Against miner: cannon at 4+1!!!, and icespirit.
• Against babydragon: cannon to distract, then icespirit.
• On lavahound: icegolem at 0++, then hogrider at 0++ also, then skeletonsat 0+- opposite lane (skeletons are for minipekka distraction)

• On single tower: when opp tower is around 600, time to cycle fireball and/or musketeer.
• Against hog-earthquake:

• when minipekka is out of hand: hogrider at bridge.
• we can force minipekka play when our musketeer is full health, we protect her with icegolem. This will allow later to play hogrider.

• King activation against Marcher:

• icespirit at 7-2 when Marcher is finishing crossing bridge, then immediately log at 1+0 to push Marcher a bit [8].

• Against mortar-hog:

• K tower activation on mortar: when mortar at 0-2, play skeletons at 9-3 (right in front, against k tower edge).
• Against mortar: icespirit 5-4 (ie. opposite lane), then icegolem 5-4 again.
• Against mortar at border: musketeer at 3-x can shoot mortar.
• Against naked horde: only icegolem or kite with hogrider. icespirit also good to weaken them.

• Against sparky:

• Cannon played middle to defend the tank, then icespirit, skeletons and log to distract the sparky, and also defend the musketeer.
• On sparky play, match with icegolem same lane.

• Against elixirgolem-healer-nightwitch:

• icegolem behind K tower, then when it reaches P tower upper edge, musketeer at corner. then Cannoon at 0-3 to distract golem. Then fireball when all troop together (on golem, electrodrag...). Then log to push night witch, and finally icegolem again opposite lane to kite witch away, and finally hogrider to pull ennemy further back.
• icespirit at bridge regularly to chip more damage.

• General advice: NEVER play cannon or musketeer first because opponent may react. Only play these cards in reaction to opponent's play.
• Against golem:

• Play aggressive first 2 minutes (go with icegolem, pushed by hog, covered by musketeer). This takes tower if undefended.
• Then defend when one tower down.
• cannon at 3-3 as defense.

• Against hog: cannon at 1-2, no damage taken; at 3-2, no damage taken either. at 2-2, also good.
• Against miner: cannon at 5-0 or even 6-0, to deal with the miner. Alternatively, icespirit on the miner, then icegolem or even (better?) skeletons to aggro the miner!

reddit guide notes (to be merged)

Deck overview

• hogrider: best win condition.
• musketeer: only defense card. card of placement. save it for defense only, but can be turned into offense in counterpush. Can snipe at building 3 tiles from river!
• icegolem: tank, distract, kite units.
• skeletons: 1st cycle card. high DPS, kite, distract, pull enemy units.
• ice spirit: 2nd cycle card. offense / defense. don't let your spirit die!
• cannon: main defense against tanks.
• fireball: instant damage, offense and defense, allow prediction.
• log: small swarm units.

Strengthes / Weaknesses

• fireball + log to remove some hog counter (barbarians, cannon, tombstone, skeleton army).
• pig push to bypass buildings at 4-3 placement
• Weak against bowler / infernotower.
• Weak against deck with 2 hard counters for the hog.
• Weak to beatdown decks with big push, to graveyard decks, to lavahound decks.

General gameplan

• Play frequent hog pushes, and use chep cycling cards to out cycle opp's defense.
• Best start is hogrider + icegolem (golem can kill nearby skeletons on death). hogrider + icespirit or hogrider + skeletons also good. If hog not in cycle nor next, play musketeer to bank your elixir (useful if eg. hog is last).
• Before 2x elixir: cycle hogrider + X pushes (the three above), and use musketeer and cannon to defend. Use fast cycle card to out cycle opponent, and keep in mind opp's hog counters (eg. if skarmy, have log in rotation before hog push).
• 2x elixir: can be more aggressive. Here really try to outcycle opponent with cheap cards. If cannot push, then cycle spells instead.

Basic Offense

• The three pushes: hogrider + icegolem (most effective in general), hogrider + icespirit and hogrider + skeletons (here hog is the tank, and skeletons can shieldthe back of the rider).
• In counterpush, musketeer comboed with hogrider (I guess idea is to send rider early so that to tank for musk).

Advanced Offense - Outcycling

• Ideal rotation is musketeer, skeletons, icespirit, icegolem. Best done in 2x elixir.
• Don't overcommit. Don't try to outcycle two hog counters before 2x elixir.
• Keep in mind what hog counters the opponent has in rotation, to cycle appropriately.

Advanced Offense - Pig pushing

• Useful to bypass a building at 4-3 plant.
• icespirit: icespirit at 0+0, then immediately HOGRIDER same square.
• skeletons: HOGRIDER at 0+0, then immediately skeletons at 0++.
• icegolem: icegolem at 0+0, then immediately HOGRIDER same square (NOT ideal because golem loses value here).
• musketeer: musketeer at 0+0, then immediately HOGRIDER same square.
• Don't hesitate to switch lane for pig push if say opponent has no hog counter in hand!

Countering their counters

• Inferno Tower
• Cannon
• Tombstone
• Barbarians
• Elite Barbarians
• Bowler

MORE...

Tips

Tips from 50 tips for 2.6 hog cycle you NEED to know - TheWizCR - youtube

• wallbreakers: skeletons at 3+-. asap (perfect).
• balloon: fireball at 6+- when balloon shadow touches blast circle (only explosion hits).
• hogrider (0+0 or 1+1): cannon at 4-2 (perfect, both tower shoots).
• bandit: skeletons at 2-5 when she crosses our river border (perfect, both tower shoot).
• minipekka: skeletons at 3-4 when it crosses our river border (perfect).
• megaknight: activation with skeletons at 4-3 when it reaches 2nd row, then icespirit at 7-4 in the middle of the jump (note: K tower takes quite some dmg)
• balloon with lavahound: activation 1st cannon at 4-1, then 2nd cannon at 7-3 (close to K). Then musketeer at 11-1 to finish off.

As a result always put cannon after lava connected on tower to allow this activation.

• megaknight: hogrider at 0+0 when MK it reaches 3rd row.
• minions (dropped at bridge): skeletons at 0-4 asap (perfect, both towers shoot)
• furnace: icespirit at 5-1 when first firespirit crosses our river border.
• electrospirit: place any troop at 11-0.

... or maybe also at 8-1?

• balloon at bridge: cannon at 4-2 asap (only explosion hits, both tower shoots).
• cannoncart: log then fireball when cart closes to opp tower (immobilizes).
• hunter: icespirit at 1-4 when he crosses our river border (perfect)
• golem at bridge: cannon at 4-3 asap, then musketeer at 5+1.
• minipekka: icegolem at 3-4 asap, ie. when it crosses opp's river border. (perfect)
• musketeer: skeletons at 0+- when she is middle bridge.
• speargoblins: skeletons at 2+- when they crosses our river border, allowing one goblin to connect (only one spear hit).
• x-bow (border, +1 river) then tesla at bridge: icegolem at 4-4 asap, then musketeer at 3+1 asap.
• against tornado: icegolem + hogrider at 1++ to avoid tornado.
• Against any tank: cannon at 4-3.
• electrowizard: icespirit at 1-4 when wiz middle bridge.
• elitebarbarians: icegolem at 3-4 when they crosses opp's river border, then skeletons at 6-3 when they killed the golem (perfect).
• firecracker: activation with icespirit at 6-2 when she crosses opp's river border.
• magicarcher: activation with icespirit at 5-4 when archer middle/third bridge, then skeletons at 7-2, when archer shoots 2nd shot and moves.
• Catch opp. off guard with musketeer + hogrider at 0++.
• ramrider: cannon at 4-2 (perfect, both towers shoot).
• lava + loon: cannon at 0+0 to have balloon come in front, then musketeer at 5-2.
• Against ramrider in opp.'s hand: Add skeletons after hogrider jumped.
• Against tower played at 3-sq river: hogrider at 0+0, then musketeer at 0-3.
• royaleghost: skeletons at 3+- when ghost on 2nd row (to surround him) (one hit).
• fisherman: skeletons at 7+0 when fisherman middle bridge (perfect).
• dartgoblin: skeletons at 0+- when goblin at opp's border (perfect).
• fisherman: icespirit at 5-4 when fisherman middle bridge (perfect).
• bowler: activation with cannon at 6+0 when bowler at our river border, then thelog at 2+0 when bowler on 3rd row (perfect).
• magicarcher: activation with icespirit at 5-4 when archer middle/third bridge (perfect).
• miner: icespirit (typ. 10+0, best predict) then immediately skeletons on him.
• sparky: skeletons at 1+- when sparky front is entering 2nd row (perfect, 2 skullies survive!)
• cannoncart: icespirit at 0+2 when cart front is touching our river border, then asap skeletons at 0+- (perfect).
• electrodragon: activation with any card at 11+0 when dragon's shadow fully on 3rd row / touching 4th row.
• wallbreakers + miner: cannon at 4+0 to still defend the miner.
• golem: cannon at 4-3 then skeletons at 1+- when golem crossing our river border (one or two hits).
• darkprince: skeletons at 0+4 when princes crossing our river border, then icespirit when skullies are dead (perfect, both tower shoots).
• Juke goblinbarrel (played at 11+-): activation with skeletons at 13+2 (right beneath k tower).
• giant + graveyard: cannon at 5+0 to target skeletons, then musketeer at 13--, then thelog when many skullies (lose 1000hp at lvl11).
• hogrider + earthquake: cannon at 4-2, then icespirit on hog asap when earthquake.
• royalgiant + earthquake: cannon at 0-3 when RG is middle bridge (avoid earthquake), then asap musketeer at 4+1 (one hit).
• bowler: activation with icegolem at 2+4 when bowler crossing our river border, then skeletons 4-3 when bowler right above, then icespirit 6-3 when bowler again right above (perfect).
• bandit: activation with hogrider at 1-4 when bandit third/middle bridge, then icespirit 8-4 when bandit entering 2+1 square (ie. crossing the median vertical between spirit and P tower).
• sparky in 2x elixir: fireball, thelog, then cycle icespirit+golem+skeletons, then fireball, on tower for extra damage.

Things I learned

• Before 2x: WHen playing a passive musketeer, sending hogrider + golem at bridge is over-extend usually. I guess we should only do golem, icespirit, skeletons (after musketeer is tanking).
• When opp plays goblinbarrel and skeletonarmy, use log for barrel, and fireball for skarmy (in particular in 2x).
• log + fireball on witch looks over-extend...
• Usually dangerous to start with hog first play. Seems better to start with icespirit at bridge, or deep golem.
• Against Giant, better not go same lane. If possible, punish with hogrider on the other lane, and split opp. troops.
• (ouah) In push with eg. PEKKA + hog, put cannon at 3-3 to attract hog in the middle, so that it is killed by both towers.