Clash Royale meta decks

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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.

royalrecruits Hogs fireball bait

Meta deck - royal recruits hogs fireball bait

Cr-electrospirit.png Cr-royalrecruits.png Cr-royalhogs.png Cr-flyingmachine.png Cr-zappies.png Cr-goblincage.png Cr-fireball.png Cr-barbarianbarrel.png
Cr-goldenknight.png Cr-royalrecruits.png Cr-royalhogs.png Cr-flyingmachine.png Cr-zappies.png Cr-goblincage.png Cr-fireball.png Cr-barbarianbarrel.png
Cr-motherwitch.png Cr-royalrecruits.png Cr-royalhogs.png Cr-flyingmachine.png Cr-zappies.png Cr-goblincage.png Cr-fireball.png Cr-barbarianbarrel.png

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 hogrider 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:
  • Youtube:

Cr-hogrider.png Cr-musketeer.png Cr-icegolem.png Cr-icespirit.png Cr-skeletons.png Cr-cannon.png Cr-fireball.png Cr-thelog.png

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. hogrider + golem)
  • Tip 2: Cycle with purpose (eg. cycle for chiping with spells, or cycle to prepare push...)
  • Tip 3: Protect your musketeer (use skeletons, icespirit, 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 hogrider 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.
  • icespirit: to slow down balloon or hogrider, 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)
  • thelog: also defensively, to push forward units, to protect eg. musketeer against pekka/prince or cannon against hogrider. 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 elitebarbarians).
  • 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 megaknight, activation:
  • hogrider at 2-4 when megaknight crosses the bridge, then after megaknight jumps icespirit at 8-3 [3]
  • skeletons at 4-3 (when megaknight is at 1+2), then when megaknight jumps icespirit at 8-4 [4]
  • skeletons at 4-4 (when megaknight is at 1+2), then when megaknight jumps icespirit at 7-4 [5] (here megaknight 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 hogrider alone, cannon at 4-2.
  • Against musketeer, cannon at 5-2, so that it is not sniped by musketeer. Try to protect cannon with skel, ice or golem.
  • Log the icegolem.
  • firecracker:
  • cannon at 4-2 (at least when she comes from the middle). To confirm.
  • mortar at river: skeletons right in from of K tower and aligned with mortar, or the left/right neighbour square, when mortar timer is at 3/4.

Match-up guide

  • against lavahound+balloon:
  • On lava: hogrider opposite lane always (if needed, cycle aggressively, like with spirit or golem at bridge).
  • Against 1st balloon: cannon at 4-1, then cycle (log on tower, golem 7+4 to be under lava when he pops, spirit under balloon to slow it down a bit) and then 2nd cannon at 7-3 to activate K tower.
  • Against balloon at 0+4: 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+5!!!, and icespirit.
  • Against babydragon: cannon to distract, then icespirit.
  • On lavahound: icegolem at 0+3, then hogrider at 0+3 also, then skeletonsat 0+2 opposite lane (skeletons are for minipekka distraction)
  • On single tower: when opp tower is around 600, time to cycle fireball and/or musketeer.
  • Against hogrider-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 thelog at 1+4 to push Marcher a bit [8].
  • Against mortar-hogrider:
  • 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 thelog 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 cannon at 0-3 to distract golem. Then fireball when all troop together (on golem, electrodrag...). Then thelog to push nightwitch, 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 hogrider, covered by musketeer). This takes tower if undefended.
  • Then defend when one tower down.
  • cannon at 3-3 as defense.
  • Against hogrider: 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!
Against logbait
  • Don't always keep thelog for the goblinbarrel. Can also eg. thelog the princess, or to support hogrider push.
  • Make sure however to have either fireball, or musketeer (and elixir) available to defend.

hogrider 2.6

From my gameplay
  • Play cannon at 2-2 (to avoid fireball value on both tower and cannon), or any other location w/o value for fireball. Ideally also defend with skeletons but be careful if OPP has the log in hand.
  • Play fireball on the musketeer AND tower, and also log (to kill her).
  • Better play skeletons and icespirit, than icegolem, in order to cycle faster, and have icespirit chip damage. icegolem is ok to tank damage from the spirit.
From Boss CR [9]
  • fireball the musketeer if played next to tower.
  • Don't play own musketeer near tower if opp has fireball in cycle (otherwise ok to play deep as elixir investment).
  • Keep cannon against hogrider (never play it high, but 4-2 to avoid sniping)
  • If opp has cannon in hand, always play hogrider with icegolem in the front, and play musketeer at river to snipe the cannon.
  • Focus on micro interaction to save elixir.
  • When getting good lead, play chill and avoid making huge mistake.

mortar

  • If mortar at river, cannon 1-sq distance from river.

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.
  • icespirit: 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 hogrider counter (barbarians, cannon, tombstone, skeletonarmy).
  • pig push to bypass buildings at 4-3 placement
  • Weak against bowler / infernotower.
  • Weak against deck with 2 hard counters for the hogrider.
  • Weak to beatdown decks with big push, to graveyard decks, to lavahound decks.
General gameplan
  • Play frequent hogrider 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 hogrider not in cycle nor next, play musketeer to bank your elixir (useful if eg. hogrider 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 hogrider counters (eg. if skeletonarmy, have log in rotation before hogrider 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 hogrider 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 musketeer).
Advanced Offense - Outcycling
  • Ideal rotation is musketeer, skeletons, icespirit, icegolem. Best done in 2x elixir.
  • Don't overcommit. Don't try to outcycle two hogrider counters before 2x elixir.
  • Keep in mind what hogrider 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+4, then immediately hogrider same square.
  • skeletons: hogrider at 0+4, then immediately skeletons at 0+3.
  • icegolem: icegolem at 0+4, then immediately hogrider same square (NOT ideal because golem loses value here).
  • musketeer: musketeer at 0+4, then immediately hogrider same square.
  • Don't hesitate to switch lane for pig push if say opponent has no hogrider counter in hand!
Countering their counters
  • infernotower
  • cannon
  • tombstone
  • barbarians
  • elitebarbarians
  • bowler

MORE...


Tips

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

  • wallbreakers: skeletons at 3+2. asap (perfect).
  • balloon: fireball at 6+2 when balloon shadow touches blast circle (only explosion hits).
  • hogrider (0+4 or 1+5): 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 [10]: hogrider at 0+4 when megaknight it reaches 3rd row.
Usually play musketeer first at 9-3 when megaknight reaches bridge, then the hogrider, then icespirit + icegolem (perfect)
  • 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: thelog 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+5 (centered on cannon). This is to avoid lightning value.
  • minipekka: icegolem at 3-4 asap, ie. when it crosses opp's river border. (perfect)
  • musketeer: skeletons at 0+2 when she is middle bridge.
  • speargoblins: skeletons at 2+2 when they crosses our river border, allowing one goblin to connect (only one spear hit).
  • xbow (border, +1 river) then tesla at bridge: icegolem at 4-4 asap, then musketeer at 3+5 asap.
  • against tornado: icegolem at 0+3, then shortly after hogrider same spot to avoid tornado.
  • Against any tank: cannon at 4-3.
  • electrowizard: icespirit at 1-4 when wizard 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+3.
  • ramrider: cannon at 4-2 (perfect, both towers shoot).
  • lavahound+balloon: cannon at 0+4 to have balloon come in front, then musketeer at 5-2.
  • Against ramrider in opp.'s hand: Add skeletons after hogrider jumped.
  • Against building played at 3-sq river: hogrider at 0+4, then musketeer at 0-3.
  • royaleghost: skeletons at 3+2 when royalghost on 2nd row (to surround him) (one hit).
  • fisherman: skeletons at 7+4 when fisherman middle bridge (perfect).
  • dartgoblin: skeletons at 0+2 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+4 when bowler on 3rd row and his outer foot up in the air and going to touch 4th row (perfect), ie. when (top of) his health bar is crossing mid bridge (better indication).
  • magicarcher: icespirit at 5-4 when archer middle/third bridge (perfect).
  • miner: icespirit (typ. 10+4, best predict) then immediately skeletons on him.
  • sparky: skeletons at 1+2 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+2 (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+4 to still defend the miner.
  • golem: cannon at 4-3 then skeletons at 1+2 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+2): activation with skeletons at 13-2 (right beneath k tower).
  • giant + graveyard: cannon at 5-0 to target skeletons, then musketeer at 13+1, then thelog when many skullies (lose 1000hp at lvl11).
  • hogrider + earthquake: cannon at 4-2, then icespirit on hogrider asap when earthquake.
  • royalgiant + earthquake: cannon at 0-3 when RG is middle bridge (avoid earthquake), then asap musketeer at 4+5 (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 (or entering the bridge), then icespirit 8-4 when bandit hits the hogrider (ie. befor she enters 2-1 square, 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.

WizCR

Graveyard [11]
  • Against graveyard + valkyrie: stop the valkyrie at the BRIDGE with icegolem at 0+2, then cannon at 4-0 for perfect defense.
  • Against tornado: play icegolem at 0+3, then shortly after hogrider at 0+3. This will prevent to activate the king tower.
  • When building + tornado is out of hand: play naked hogrider.

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 thelog for barrel, and fireball for skeletonarmy (in particular in 2x).
  • log + fireball on witch looks over-extend...
  • Usually dangerous to start with hogrider first play. Seems better to start with icespirit at bridge, or deep golem.
  • Then maybe better make a dual lane push, musketeer on one side and hogrider on the other, to avoid value from megaknight if opp plays it (oftentimes). However, better have cannon / golem in the hand to defend if hogrider is countered badly.
  • 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 + hogrider, put cannon at 3-3 to attract hogrider in the middle, so that it is killed by both towers.
  • Playing hogrider in the pocket may help in end game, especially against megaknight. Opp often replies with megaknight at bridge when our musketeer reaches it, so hogrider in the pocket may help distract, avoid giving value to megaknight and score damages.

YersonCz gameplay

Continue: [12]

  • Start:
  • icespirit at the bridge.
  • thelog at the bridge (but what if opp has goblinbarrel?).
  • musketeer behind K tower.
  • hogrider at the bridge (0+4).
  • Placement:
  • icegolem: 7+4 against goblins. 7-0 against electrowizard.
  • musketeer: 7-3.
  • cannon: 4-2 or 3-3 (better if opp plays poison)
  • General:
  • Protect musketeer and cannon with other troops.
  • When cannon and musketeer are firing, icespirit is even better defense thanks to freeze.
  • hogrider can also be used as a defense (eg. against megaknight or bandit).
  • Counter:
  • Against miner: cannon 10+3. Also skeletons in addition.
  • Against wallbreakers:
  • icespirit 4+2 asap, then musketeer 5+3 asap.
  • Best response is thelog if fast enough to also hit tower.
  • Against bombtower: wait it to be out of cycle, then send hogrider + icegolem, then thelog behind. If opp plays tower again in the lane, hogrider should still put one hit.
  • Against sparky (played on our deep musketeer): icegolem 0+3 opposite lane, then hogrider 0+3. When our musketeer is 2-sq from bridge, icespirit 0+3 (ie. outer side of the bridge, and at that moment sparky should be reaching front of P tower). When sparky shoots on them, thelog at bridge.
  • Against minipekka on our icegolem+hogrider push: play skeletons beind K tower asap (but 14-2 so that all skeletons go the same lane). Then add a icegolem (eg. 0+3 when minipekka is on way to our tower).
  • Later, send hogrider 0+4 and skeletons 0+2 shortly asap [13]. They will distract the minipekka if it is played 3+3.
  • Against sparky + electrogiant push: build a skeletons (behind K tower) icegolem + icespirit (at bridge), then asap hogrider push opposite lane. Then (or before) defensive musketeer in the corner, skeletons 1+5 to distract sparky, and asap cannon 0-3 (earthquake safe), to kite the giant. Play 2nd musketeer 7-4 (also to help dealing with minipekka coming from other lane). Next icegolem 0-4 to distract minipekka and sparky. Opp. plays a good tornado cleaning everything, we respond with cannon 4-2, and asap icespirit 2+5 to distract sparky, and it is out.
  • Against sparky in 2x elixir: we fireball and thelog it on the tower. Since opp plays also electrogiant, we log both, then play musketeer in the corner for defense, and fireball both at bridge. Since opp plays tornado bringing musketeer in giant area, we play cannon 0-3 on defense (we also thelog the healspirit).
  • Against electrogiant: musketeer from a distance, icespirit freeze, a bit of cannon (which was earthquake-d) and thelog is enough.
  • Against ramrider': cannon 4-2, and thelog at bridge to stop her charge (when she reaches the bridge). Maybe playing cannon 3-2 would be better since she would not charge into it.
  • Against electrowizard: skeletons 6-0 when he crosses our river border, then thelog asap.
  • Against bandit:
  • skeletons in front of our musketeer best response.
  • If tower activated, skeletons 7-2 is perfect defense.
  • Against ramrider
  • Against megaknight: thelog it on opp tower (because under fire of our dying musketeer), then cannon 4-2, and icegolem in midway, then also icespirit.

lavahound+balloon deck (Carl the Legend)

General tips (from Carl's gameplay)

  • Note: tower trade means give in tower with less HP, and take an opp tower in exchange.
  • General strategy in mid-ladder is to KEEP TRACK OF AIR COUNTERS, and send balloon (or balloon+X) pushes at the bridge.
  • hogrider: play tombstone in lane.
  • play lava opp. lane.
  • play mega to defend lava.
  • after fb oxn lava, balloon + guards opp lane.
  • On executioner in the back: balloon spam opp lane. If electrowizard / tornado: guards. On Ex, megaminion.
  • Against lumberjack+balloon spam: skeletondragons 5+3
  • On executioner middle, fireball sideways (on him + tower) to push him further.
  • Mostly play tombstone at 4-2 or 4-3.
  • against megaknight, tombstone at 6-2
  • Against elixirgolem, tombstone 4-4 still attracts it!
  • Against witch: balloon on opp lane. Then on witch, megaminion on her.
  • Tips:
  • balloon + guard bridge spam.
  • tombstone 1st play ok. Not too high (4-3 placement) to avoid sniping from the bridge.
  • SKelly drags first ok, but not too deep, or opp will get fireball value.
  • Build push:
  • In x2, When lava first and balloon not in cycle, can play skelli drags in the corner when elixir up, then balloon behind lava when in hand. Drags will reach the group on time.
  • Against infernotower (middle field)
  • Skellidrags at bridge, then zap when 1st drag is about to die.
  • Against lumberjack+balloon:
  • skeletondragons at 3+4 asap, then zap at 1+2 when lumberjack is crossing the bridge. Then fireball 4+3 asap.
  • With minions: minions 4+2 then fireball 2+3 asap. minions should kill rapidly the lumberjack, and then the balloon.
  • [14] With balloon at 0+3: First skeletondragons at 4+2, then tombstone at 0-1 when (top of) balloon shadow is crossing 2nd row (at roughly 3-sq distance from balloon).
  • If lumberjack and balloon in the pocket: First tombstone at 7-3 (this will attract both troops), then megaminion at 7-2 to kill first the lumberjack.
  • (if our tower already down, eg only 1500HP left at lvl 11) then only megaminion at 3+2 is ok.
  • Play tombstone at 3-2 in advance may help.
  • [15] lumberjack at 0+4 and balloon at 1+4: play valkyrie at 4+3 asap, then tombstone at 3-2 (when balloon shadow half river), then skeletondragons at 7-5 (so other lane). Only got death bomb, but there was also a hit from our megaminion.
  • [16] lumberjack at 0+3 and balloon at 1+5 (+ a electrodragon at 1+3): play valkyrie at 5-3 (far from electrodragon), then tombstone at 3-2, and finally fireball at 3+1 to push back balloon and kill the electrodragon, and finally had to play a megaminion at 2+1 because our tombstone was dead.
  • [17] Naked balloon with rage already and a megaminion already there, play tombstone at 0-2 or 0-1 (at 3-sq distance from balloon) when shadow top is crossing 2nd row.
  • [18] lumberjack at 0+2 and balloon at 0+4: play tombstone at 4-2 (!) but let lumberjack connects to tower, then fireball at 3-0 to push back the balloon and kill the lumberjack, and finally skeletondragons at 5-5 (other lane then). This costs 1500 HP.
  • [19] lumberjack at 0+2 and balloon at 1+5: play valkyrie at 4+3 asap, then tombstone at 3-2 when top balloon shadow is crossing our river border, and finally skeletondragons at 2-0 when balloon crossing that column.
  • IF ONE OPP TOWER DOWN: play valkyrie or guards in the river corner. This will distract the lumberjack, then play asap megaminion / skeletondragons / tombstone do deal with naked balloon.
  • Against balloon + valkyrie in the pocket:
  • Play instantly tombstone at diagonal opposite, 0-6 placement (ie. 0+1 compared to tower this is down), then play air troop (eg. minions) on the valkyrie.
  • Good lavahound+balloon placement:
  • Lava in bottom corner
  • When lava shadow covers 3rd and 4th row, play balloon 1+5!
  • Against opp tombstone at 4-2, lava will still go on tower, and balloon as well! twitch, 00:28:00
  • To defend single tower against balloon in the pocket, put tombstone in the river pocket on opp side.
  • Against xbow-infernotower:
  • can guards+balloon at bridge on xbow if nothing.
  • ... or valkyrie 5-4 (ie. other lane to tank damage)
  • play tombstone 5-2 (deep, to protect her?), then lava other lane. If xbow same lane as lava, dragons to push lava, so it stay in front. If tower, zap on tower to refocus tower on skullies. Before the zap, play balloon 1+5.
  • Against infernodragon coming straight on lava:
  • Play meganion behind the lava at bridge, then fireball the infernodragon (aim square right above infernodragon shadow) to bring it closer to lava, and be shot by mega.
  • Against infernotower, if opp plays it at bridge, one option is to send balloon before lava, and zap. Then tower would be destroyed by lava, and we can send another support troop (skullies, or infernodragon).
  • Don't play lavahound+balloon first, but wait for opp move:
  • If needed, start with zap, megaminion, or tombstone.
  • If opp plays an "innofensive" card (miner, etc), then lava is ok (because it means our lava cost less).
  • Against spawners: tombstone 6-2 is good.
  • Against musketeer (in particular 2.6):
  • If doing a push lavahound+balloon + infernodragon, opp usually plays musketeer middle, and distract the dragon with small troop. Use fireball knock back effet to bring the musketeer immediately in dragon spot and kill her asap. [20]
  • Send lavahound + megaminion instead of balloon, so that we can fireball + zap the musketeer.
  • Against hogrider (in particular 2.6):
  • Ideally, keep minions (or infernodragon but that's 4 elixir) or guards against hogrider. Otherwise, if not in the hand, play tombstone 3-3 (but opp can then log it).
  • When we have one tower advantage, keep pressure:
  • Sometimes best way to defend is to go with a balloon + minions/skeletondragons on the lane with our strongest tower, so that opp has to spend elixir on defense.
  • Against elixirgolem:
  • Best answer seems to be guards on golem at the bridge, then fireball the battlehealer + electrodragon (and/or infernodragon) [21]
  • Against elitebarbarians:
  • Deep tombstone at 6-2 (or also 5-2 in some videos). Always positive trade, except if zap or rage.
  • Against infernotower + dartgoblin:
  • When tower + goblin is right out of cycle, send naked balloon at the bridge [22]
  • When sending lavahound+balloon push (+megaminion) on the tower (at least when tower in lane), zap the P tower + infernotower AFTER the lava pops so that the balloon is actually killing the tower. [23]
  • Against bandit:
  • Don't put tombstone in the pocket, but rather behind the P tower when one tower is down (or bandit will destroy it easily).
  • Against witch and spammer decks: deep tombstones!
  • Elixir advantage:
At game start, focus on and keep track of elixir advantage. If opp plays random card, and we can play lava for 2, 3 or even 4 less elixir, then it is a big push possibility. Play lavahound+balloon, and keep pressure, to go for a tower trade. If opp over commits on one lane, it is often possible to punish with naked balloon on the other lane. Keep track of balloon counters!
  • Against small swarm troop (eg. bats) behind tank: play minions / skeletondragons at 6-3, so that 2nd tower is giving support, and our defense survive!
  • Against musketeer: don't walk in against musketeer, because it's bad value. Instead, let her connect, then play skeletondragons on her.
  • Against graveyard: tombstone in the back. If so, playing lavahound is also ok.
  • Against mortar or xbow: go for tower trade on the other lane.
  • Against hogrider cycle 2.6:
  • Don't send the balloon, because bad value. Instead go for chip damage with the lava, and defend with all the rest (in particular 3-3 tombstone placement, and if so, make sure to kill the musketeer at the river if she snipes).
  • Can also kill the musketeer with fireball + zap.
  • Comba lava + skeletondragons, then guards on fireball also seem to work. If so, think of fireballing the cannon to get most value.
  • Things to DEFEND:
  • Balloon, dark prince.
  • Things that are not worth to DEFEND (in general):
  • Goblin gang, zappies, mother witch
  • Against infernotower:
  • Some tip from YT (TODO find back): play balloon in the front, and zap tower so that the lavahound survives.
  • Play a regular balloon+lavahound, then zap + fireball the tower (from Twitch, this looks expensive, TODO find back)
  • In 2X elixir time, usually play the lavahound at 7+5.
  • Punish with balloon:
  • When opp is low on elixir, send naked balloon on the other lane.
  • Against darkprince:
  • tombstone 7-2. The stream of skeletons should be enough to stop charge of the prince, hence reducing damage. If opp plays earthquake, Carl doesn't defend more and keep 4-elixir advantage for tower trade.
  • tombstone 5-2 is perfect defense, but the tombstone is destroyed.
  • Otherwise valkyrie at 6+5 (1-sq distance to avoid splash damage)
  • Against royalghost:
  • valkyrie at 6+5 (1-sq distance to avoid splash damage)
  • When lavahound attacked by minions, must TIME correctly the zap when lavahound is popping into puppies, so that the puppies have the first hit against the minions (and kill them)!
  • When early tower trade, with no damage whatsoever on 2nd tower, playing tombstone behind the P tower is usually good move (eg. against bandit).
  • Against fireball: DO NOT go with lavahound + minions (or infernodragons) in the offensive push because it is fireball value! Instead go with lavahound + balloon or lavahound + infernodragon.
  • Against queen: best strategy usually is to go lavahound same lane.
  • Kite royalghost opposite lane: valkyrie at 3-4 spot. I guess it can work with other troops as well (like guards at 3-5 spot then?).
  • In x2 elixir, can build lavaloon push by first playing lavahound at 7+5, then balloon at 1+5 as usual.
  • Against giant in the POCKET: tombstone 0-7 (ie. in front of lost P tower). In particular when OPP plays graveyard.
  • Against hogrider: valkyrie is quite bad (2 hits, but 3 if we are slow), minions much better (1 hit), or megaminion (2 hits, or 3, but only 3 elixir). So in matchup, identify which card you must keep, and spend valkyrie when necessary in order to keep eg. minions.
  • When electrowizard is out, balloon at 3+1 (4-sq distance from pocket) can take 1 hit on king tower even if opponent plays executioner.
  • When one tower down, apply pressure with valkyrie + balloon in THE POCKET!

Things I learned

  • When P tower is down, avoid attacking K K tower if opp has a building (because lava will be distracted, and under double fire)
  • If one P tower is HP low, attack the other tower first! This way K K tower cannot defend!
  • If Opp plays wizard, seems better to put tombstone at 5-2, so that W cannot shot on tombstone from bridge (is that true?)
  • Don't forget to use zap to force retarget -> very important to get extra or first hit for balloon. Like wait balloon is out of reach, then zap. Must anticipate best time for zap (soon but not too soon).
  • Don't forget tombstone behind tower if against goblinbarrel, in particular if opp has log.
  • In push with tank front, always kill support troop first.
  • Never send balloon first when building a push, always start with lava (except punishing push at bridge). Otherwise it gives no option for reaction, whereas lava can still chip damage if things go wrong.
  • Don't put guard in the pocket if ennemy has good counter in hand (like wizard) against balloon + lava puppies.
  • Against icewizard behind K tower, wait for him to be next to P tower (9-0 square) before playing lava same lane (if playing same lane). This way, he will be in tower range.
  • Play guards in the middle, so that both towers shoot and distance increase! Very important eg. against pekka + knight push against tombstone, follow with guards in the middle!
  • I got a tower, but opp has electrowizard full hp left, defend him first before next lava (coz' electrowizard slows down defense greatly)
  • Against nightwitch + golem, won with lava same lane, followed by skullies on golem (witch was so close it got killed too). But player was not really good (bridge spam with elitebarbarians).
  • Another golem player, but without nightwitch (golem, lumberjack, darkprince, tornado, electrodragon, babydragon), won lava opposite lane. Don't defend the golem, only the support troop if any.
  • Against lavahound+balloon-tomb, don't put tombstone to defend lava. Put it after the lava connects, in order to distract puppies after. Attack lava with mega. If our lava attacked, kill attacking troop with mega if possible, if it can then have it attack opp lava. fireball attacking troops on lava.
  • Against goblinhut middle, send lava on tower. Then ballon on hut (0-2, not too middle), same lane, and then skullies to cover balloon when the goblin pops. In between zap the goblins targetting the balloon. But maybe better would be to wait for all goblinbarrel to pops, then zap them all, and don't send skullies.
  • witch alone to defend lavahound+balloon is not enough to prevent balloon to connect. But witch + tornado is very DANGEROUS combination. witch must be shot down, either with fireball+zap, or pushed with fireball to our offensive troops.

Some rule of thumbs:

  • Don't defend goblingang naked?
  • Don't put skullies on goblinbarrel, then lava at front (over extend, very weak).
  • When opp has tesla, make sure that the tower + tesla aggro the lava before playing the balloon!
 Otherwise opp may play tesla to attract balloon, which will then be aggro'ed by the tower!!!
  • When opp. play a distract troop or counter-push troop (eg. elite barbarian in our field when one tower is down) to counter our own
 push, play guards to distract that troop and bring it close to our aerian support troop, to better kill that counter-push. Usually better than say putting guards
 between both towers.
  • Against battleram, fireball sucks. Because the barbarians remain, and we spent 4 elixir already. Best is tombstone, or skullies, or megaminion (and zap?)

Midladder tips (from Carl's gameplay)

  • Playing with the lavahound + infernodragon is very important when underlevel [24].


Things to try

  • Try other decks in the meta (lavaclone, lava flying machine).
  • Try to play with poison or lightning to get rid of wizard, electrowizard, witch that are so annoying.

2x elixir tournament tips

Against megaknight:

  • tombstone 6-2 (possibly to activate K tower then)?

Against pekka:

  • tombstone 5-2?
  • Protect tombstone with guards to get more value from tombstone.

Against infernodragon:

  • FB the drag, so that it is pushed towards the megaminion or skullies that support the lava.

Against witch + infernoD:

  • Send lavahound+balloon, FB and zap the witch. Idea is to make sure the balloon connects to the tower.

Against hogrider:

  • tombstone at 4-2, then skullies at 2+2.
  • Or guards at 5+3

In single tower, against witch played middle behind k tower, when sending lavahound+balloon:

  • Skullies in river pocket, then fireball on witch to bring witch closer to skullies.

Against lumberjack + firecracker balloon:

  • tombstone 4-2, then lava corner same lane, then FB on balloon + lumberjack (before they connect to tombstone), then skullies 2+4 to finish balloon and be immediately in support against firecracker.

Against pekka (in same lane as lava):

  • Deep tombstone same lane, 6-2

Against Healer + elixirgolem, when lava is opp lane already:

  • skullies in the corner, then tombstone 4-3.
  • On lava, opp played baby and electroD. We send megaminion on baby, then FB the baby to bring it closer to mega.
  • On golem, we send guards before tombstone pops.

Against queen + (baby D):

  • lavahound+balloon same lane.
  • fireball and zap the queen (and baby D).
  • On the graveyard, guards

Tips from videos

  • Opp tower down: lavahound at 0+4, then balloon at 3+2 (opp's field) when lava shadow is touching 4th row. balloon will push lava a bit.
  • Against princess: better go lavahound same lane.

Match-up guides

xbow + archerqueen

General tips
  • Go for TOWER TRADE as soon as possible (on opposite lane, to have a full tower and opp has to play his x-bow while being exposed).
  • Note: going for tower trade in 2x elixir is impossible because opponent will always have some elixir to defend.
BEATING HARD COUNTERS IN TOP LADDER w/ LAVA LOON!
  • Tower king activation if possible (eg. he plays with electrospirit) is nice (to avoid opposite lane pressure).
  • lavahound first play is not too bad if we have skeletondragons in the hand. On xbow, play them so that to boost the lavahound towards and have it aggro'ed by tower.
  • Opp. plays archer queen on the outer border, then tesla middle. We play the balloon right in front, away from the queen, who died under our pups on skeletondragons.
  • 2nd lavahound played a bit higher (at 6+5).
  • If opp has fireball in the hand, DO NOT PLAY skeletondragons.
  • In 2x elixir, DO NOT PLAY lavahound in the back, because opp would play xbow fast, and we would lose the tower.
#1 in the world - 2022/03/13
  • Classic lavaloon deck with valkyrie, against: xbow, tesla, archerqueen, valkyrie, electrospirit, rocket, tornado, thelog.
  • Note: rocket is better for us than fireball because the latter is perfect counter against our skeletondragons.
  • Play tombstone 4-2 same lane as x-bow, and when opp plays x-bow, play immediately skeletondragons at 0+3.
  • Pressure with balloon, to at least get the death bomb damage.

log bait - goblinbarrel + princess / dartgoblin + infernotower + rocket

General tips
  • Play tombstone behind our tower to avoid giving log or princess value, and protect against goblinbarrel.
  • Don't play the balloon if air counter (rascals, dartgoblin) in the hand
  • BEATING HARD COUNTERS IN TOP LADDER w/ LAVA LOON!
  • Here also: dartgoblin (harder)
  • TIP: always go in with the balloon (when he doesn't have the infernodragon, dartgoblin or the princess), because it needs to play rocket, which is then +1 elixir trade.
  • TIP: play the tombstone behind the tower, to avoid value from the log.
  • TIP: if opp plays with electrospirit, try to activate the K tower.
  • If opp has rocket in the hand, DO NOT GO with lavahound + balloon. Instead go in with megaminion and/or skeletondragons, otherwise it is too much value for him. Then only go with balloon when the rocket is out.
  • If opp plays without the rocket, may send balloon naked at bridge (or combo with eg. valkyrie) to force him playing infernotower. This will then free the way for the lavahound to chip damage.
TOP 1 IN THE WORLD
  • TODO: write up other match up in that video.
  • In the deck: goblinbarrel, valkyrie, dartgoblin, skeletons electrospirit, infernotower, rocket, thelog.
  • In general, play deep tombstone behind P tower.
  • Against goblinbarrel: skeletondragons (8+4) or valkyrie (10+2, instant), or zap.
  • Against goblinbarrel + electrospirit: if zap, make sure to kill the spirit and the two top goblins.
  • If lavahound killed by infernotower, balloon at bridge and then fireball on dartgoblin may give some damage.
  • Push in single tower: lavahound in the corner of that tower, then at max elixir, megaminion at 10+2 (this would deal with a valkyrie played next), then play balloon IN FRONT OF LAVA at 0+4, and then zap the infernotower + P-tower (tower shoots only for 2 sec on balloon, which lost 25%; tower was at 4+5), and fireball the dartgoblin + P-tower so that balloon kills the tower. Opp plays a 2nd infernotower, we play a 2nd lavahound (but behind our megaminion, that killed the valkyrie), and add skeletondragons behind the lavahound.
  • While push is running, play megaminion in pocket to prevent play like dartgoblin in the pocket.
  • Keep pressure by adding a lavahound at the pocket, and then a balloon on the other P tower, but at the bridge, and when both infernotower and dartgoblin are out of cycle to force a rocket, with +1 elixir trade.
GT - 1st match - 20220312
  • deck: princess - infernotower - goblinbarrel
  • lavahound corner first play, opp replies with infernotower 3-2, then princess at 11+5 same lane. So Carl plays balloon 0+4 opposite lane. Opp plays goblinbarrel on lava lane, we defend with infernodragons at 8+4. As a result, balloon has two hits, princess is killed by puppies, infernotower dies under skeletondragons and puppies and did 2000hp damage to tower. We only took 500 hp.
GT - 2nd match - 20220312
  • Deck: princess, infernotower, goblinbarrel, rocket, valkyrie, guards, electrospirit, thelog.
  • Push with lavahound+infernodragon. When infernotower starts shooting, zap it, then fireball it. Then lavahound should finishes it off rapidly. Infernodragons are likely distracted, but should be ready for attack on tower.
  • If air counter out of hand, naked balloon.
IM #1 IN THE WORLD - 20220408
  • Deck: princess, infernotower, goblinbarrel, rocket, knight, guards, icespirit, thelog
  • Main idea: lavahound + skeletondragons push. Then zap on the whole thing before lava reaches half life. Add megaminion against distracting knight.
  • When OPP plays rocket, play balloon opposite or same lane.
  • Fireball the princess when on tower, or to support a push.
HOW TO GET PAST MID LADDER IN CLASH ROYALE - 2022
  • Deck: princess, rocket, goblinbarrel, dartgoblin, rascals, guards, prince
  • We play with valkyrie, megaminion and minions.
  • Valkyrie can reset the prince if he is on our tower.
  • Don't go with balloon if air counter in the hand.
  • Defend princess or rascals with megaminion.

royalhogs + earthquake

General tips
  • Against royalhogs at bridge, skeletondragons at 4+3 (aligned with hogs, here 0+3), then tombstone at 0-1.
  • Must we shift it to keep 1-square distance with closest hog?
BEATING HARD COUNTERS IN TOP LADDER w/ LAVA LOON!
  • TIP: Keep fireball against the royalhogs (best response). valkyrie is usually less good if opp has thelog and skeletons in the hand, because she will then give less pressure.
  • TIP: Play tombstone only after he played earthquake
  • TIP: Make sure to play balloon on the side of the lavahound so that balloon is pushed a bit on the outer side, making it harder for opp to play the cannon correctly.

megaknight

  • BEATING HARD COUNTERS IN TOP LADDER w/ LAVA LOON!
  • Also in the deck: ramrider, royalghost, bandit, archerqueen, snowball, electrospirit, lightning
  • Against ghost: valkyrie in the corner.
  • TIP: Play tombstone at 6-2 against megaknight.
  • TIP: When opp has lightning in the hand, DO NOT PLAY classic lavahound + balloon push. Play instead megaminion or skeletondragons.
  • TIP: zap the ramrider so that she doesn't charge on the tower. Ideally zap her when she next to our defensive troops.

Three musketeers

GT - 1st match - 20220312
  • deck: royalhogs, threemusketeers, hunter
  • Two musketeers (roughly at 3+1) on our lavahound, we send megaminion, then valkyrie. Opp adds hunter, we zap the whole, killing 1st musketeer. Opp sends log, but our valkyrie and puppies kills the hunter and 2nd musketeer.

Executioner

#1 in the world - 2022/03/13
  • deck: balloon, executioner, electrowizard, infernodragon, valkyrie, miner, tornado, zap.
  • Tip: NEVER go for tower trade, but instead go for CHIPPING more DAMAGE than your opponent, because in this deck your opponent will always have some air counters to prevent the tower trade.
  • Tip: Push executioner into our troop with fireball.
  • If infernodragon on lavahound, ok to zap if we have a megaminion on support to kill the infernodragon, so that our lavahound can chip lot of damage on the tower.
  • Against a push with valkyrie' (almost full hp) + balloon (at 0+4), and executioner coming (1/4 hp):
  • tombstone at 4-2, then skeletondragons at 7-1, PERFECT defense (only death bomb!).
  • When executioner and electrowizard are out (on one lane), go balloon + skeletondragons behind at the bridge opposite lane, so that opp cannot tornado everything.
  • This also forces opp to play something more (valkyrie) to defend the dragons.
  • Against a push electrowizard, balloon (at 1+5), and executioner behind:
  • zap the electrowizard and balloon, then tombstone at 3-2, then megaminion at 6-1. PERFECT defense again.
I GOT TOP 30 IN THE WORLD - 2022-04-08
  • Viiper deck: hogrider, executioner, valkyrie, goblins, icespirit rocket, tornado, log.
  • Key tips: tombstone at 3-3 against hogrider. Also guards at 3+3 (one hit).
  • fireball the executioner into lava pups. Possibly zap him also on pop.
  • Don't play lavaloon. Rather, play NAKED balloon to bait the rocket.
  • If OPP plays valkyrie opposite lane, split the skeletondragons so that both lanes are defended (against hogrider).
  • Must AVOID absolutely to have a tower in rocket range! So DEFEND is a must. Strategy is to chip damage with lavahound.

hogrider 2.6

  • In general, DO NOT play the balloon, because opp can defend easily with value.
  • Defend hogrider with tombstone.
  • Focus fireball on the musketeer, but use the push back to bring her closer to our support troop (megaminion, or skeletondragons), or if necessary, zap her.
  • Ideally fireball should land when puppies appears so that they get the first hit?
  • Opp will likely focus her/his fireball on our skeletondragons, so avoid stacking troops on them.
  • valkyrie can also help, but better play when cannon is no longer there.

mortar

IM #1 IN THE WORLD 2022-04-08
  • Deck: mortar, miner, cannoncart, minionhorde, guards, speargoblins, fireball, log.
  • Looks hard, but in fact we have hard counters: fireball against minionhorde, zap against speargoblins.
  • Idea: DO NOT GO for the FIRST big lavaloon push. Otherwise, OPP will punish us opposite lane with cannoncart, guards.
  • Instead wait for playing tombstone behind a tower (against miner), then play lavahound opposite lane.
  • Strategy: chipping him more and more. Tank mortar with valkyrie.
  • If cannoncart connects, balloon on it asap.
  • If OPP's fireball is no longer in the hand, play skeletondragons against minionhorde instead of expensive fireball, to support our push.

graveyard

I GOT TOP 30 IN THE WORLD - 2022-04-06 - game 1
  • Deck: graveyard, bowler, babydragon, infernodragon, valkyrie, icewizard, freeze, tornado
  • Key card here is skeletondragon because OPP has no big spell!
  • fireball on icewizard.
  • Key play: lavahound + skeletondragons push, countered by icewizard and babydragon. Play fireball on the icewizard, then zap the babydragon when the lava pops so that babydragon does NOT COUNTER our push!!!
  • tombstone behind the tower, put foresee SPACE for a SECOND one (to always defend the graveyard).
  • On graveyard:
play skeletondragons on the side (7-2), then zap when lot of skeletons.
can also play valkyrie (but mind the freeze).
I GOT TOP 30 IN THE WORLD - 2022-04-06 - game 2
  • Deck: graveyard, valkyrie, babydragon, icewizard, tombstone, poison, tornado, barbarianbarrel.
  • Bad start. OPP play valkyrie and graveyard: we defend with skeletondragons in the corner (13+5) then tombstone 5-0 to defend the valkyrie, and later zap.
  • When OPP has poison in the hand, avoid playing skeletondragons.
  • Strategy: only chip damage by lavahound and fireball on the tower (e.g. to get rid of tombstone), because very difficult to connect with balloon because of tombstone + babydragon.
  • Still, NAKED balloon is good if OPP doesn't have babydragon or icewizard in the hand. Because it gives us some positive elixir trade and death bomb damage.
  • Against graveyard, make sure to play skeletondragons out of poison (eg. at 4+1), especially if we have a tombstone behind the tower (because OPP cannot target both with poison).

giant + sparky

I GOT TOP 30 IN THE WORLD - 2022-04-08
  • Deck: giant, sparky, archerqueen, minipekka, healspirit, lightning, tornado, zap.
  • Against giant, deeptombstone 5-2.
  • Better keep megaminion for defense (less value for lightning).
  • Don't play tombstone first play, because otherwise sparky would stay in OPP side.
  • On sparky, better spam on other lane if having an active push so that OPP cannot support his sparky.

Furnace

  • Tip: always go lavahound OPPOSITE lane, and tombstone SAME lane. [26]

Golem

[How to BEAT Mid Ladder in Clash Royale ] (9:41, 19:00)
  • Deck with megaminion and nightwitch: play naked balloon at the bridge, when these two cards are not in the hand! Be careful though not to be too low on elixir (but Carl played it when having only 6 elixir ^^).
  • On golem, play tombstone 5-2, so that skeletons stack up. Add megaminion as extra defense, and try to get a very good fireball on both megaminion (or babydragon) + nightwitch. Add skeletondragons on top after fireball to finish off the troops.
  • Usually must defend two golem pushes, and then can pressure with valkyrie then asap balloon in the pocket.j
  • When playing megaminion first play, and golem in defense, we can lavahound in front of the megaminion, then tombstone 5-2, so that skeletons stack up.
  • Strategy: makes as much pressure as possible, so that he can't support the golem push, and play a deep tombstone.

Videos summary

Midladder:

  • Try the valkyrie (iso guards), and possible fireball + arrows!

Against goblinhut / furnace:

  • Play tombstone 6-2 same lane as goblin.
  • Play Lava very high (5+5), then balloon (1+5) right behind. Finish furnace with FB.
  • If hut played close to river, skeletondragons on them ok.
  • When hut explodes, if they target laval, zap them all.

Video: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=t7cmmwqTIM8

  • guards: excellent value, can do lot of damage, naked behind balloon or lava. valkyrie is another alternative (esp against skel king).
  • TBC

Video: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=hyuw29x7oBM

  • How to beat E-giant:
  • Never play tombstone out of the cycle when you know opp has e-giant in cycle (because opp will play bomber or alike to defeat tombstone), then probably react to any defense with tornado.
  • Always play the Skelli Drags out of the circle.
  • tombstone placement: if electrogiant from left or right, we play tombstone at 4-3. But if electrogiant is coming from center (hence he will be closer to center on the bridge as well), then play tombstone at 4-4! Of course tombstone must be defended.
Exception: if tombstone would be snipped by opp from opp lane, play tombstone at 5-2 instead (aka deep tombstone).
  • If electrogiant first play, go opp lane with balloon + skelli drags(or guards), then defend with tombstone at 4-4 and mega on any other troop.
  • Kill backup first! eg. kill the bomber, princess, etc with eg. megaminion.

Video: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=f5vJGEKNiBI

  • How to beat log bait
  • Always kill the princess (eg. with megaminion same lane same depth). Don't go balloon opp lane, try to keep the field clean!
  • megaminion vs troops.
  • If princess close to bridge, place mega at bridge, it tank one hit from princess and can get one hit on tower.
  • tombstone behind 2nd tower. This prevents value from log, and also tank damage from goblinbarrel barrel.
  • Go same lane as princess.
  • best way to kill the barrel. Don't use the fireball (keep it for eg princess). Play guards 9+4 (if left tower), or 9-0 (right tower)

Video: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=CWwXYJ6Xcvw

  • How to beat xbow
  • Tower trade! if xbow one lane, go lava opp lane, then balloon. Opp plays tesla. If also fireball, play skelli drags (12+5, ie. one above corner), then fireball the archers. Try to go into an early tower trade.
  • Don't go with lavahound+balloon when the xbow is played in the middle (ie. not on the external border). Otherwise opp can play tesla to lure balloon to it then xbow.
Instead go with the megaminion, fireball the tesla, etc.
  • Go for lavahound+balloon push only if fireball in cycle. This is necessay to kill the archers, otherwise they get too much values against lava.
  • Boost your lavahound with Dragons in the xbow. Usually opp will play xbow same lane against Lava. This prevents playing balloon or megaminion because they have shorter range (hence they'll be targeted by P tower). Instead, play Skelli Drags behind the Lava (ie. 1+5) so that the Lava is pushed (boosted) by them.
  • Predict (counter) xbow with tombstone, when opp has one tower down. Put tombstone close to tesla, so that xbow would be pushed back, and won't hit tower.

Video: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=gkbU1AZb3tc

  • Pushed to #9
  • TODO: Watch this again
  • Don't balloon naked at the bridge if opp has infernodragon in hand.
  • lavahound+balloon ok, but we support in hand (megaminion and zap)
  • After a push that we can defend, guards spam on other lane is good.

Video: New META deck (arrows)

  • FB + arrows, strong against queen (now that )
  • FM, instead of skully drags (because arrows has splash enough)

Video: How to Escape from MIDLADDER - 2022-01-02

  • Midladder = 6600.
  • Deck: lavahound+balloon, zap + fireball + tombstone, megamion, skully drags, valkyrie
  • valkyrie: elitebarbarians, witch.
  • Against megaknight + princess, let it take the tower (was 500 hp), so put Mega behind k tower, and when opp plays bats, play skully drags to kill bats, then princess, then megaknight... and enough time to put lavahound in front of skully drags!
  • Playing Lava on the opposite side of firecracker.
  • When opp one tower down, in 1x elixir:
  • Lava 1+5.
  • If opp plays hogrider + earthquake (+firecracker), so fine to go with balloon (in top border corner), and zap the tesla if needed.
  • Opp plays 7 elix, so fine to go with lavahound+balloon on K tower, then zap the tesla.
  • Never play lava first, because not safe (eg. walking in an executioner). Better play tombstone, zap or megaminion.
  • If opp plays valkyrie, play lava same lane. Then opp plays infernodragon, we play balloon behind lava as usual. Opp plays electrodragon, we zap. He's tornadoing. Then we activate K tower with megaminion at 11+4, and distract idrags with valkyrie at bridge.
  • We are playing splashyard... We send lava opp lane, and megamion behind it (no balloon!), then fireball on idrags, so that mega can kill it.
  • Against graveyard, tombstone behind tower, and skully drag 4+5 to avoid the freeze!
  • Against golem in the back:
  • Immediately balloon + skully same lane (balloon 5th card, so we play skullies at 5+3, then balloon 0+3). If nightwitch, zap when bat connects to balloon. This takes the tower
  • Not to be worry if K tower low, because can defend easily golem with tombstone 0-1 for instance, when golem coming from middle. This kites the golem to 2nd tower.
  • 2nd golem + witch push:
  • we play lavahound+balloon.
  • Wait for 3rd wave of bats, and zap them.
  • tombstone 4-3, and skully drags behind witch.
  • Then megaminion on golemites, and finally valkyrie to distract flyingmachine (ideally it must be in tower range)
  • 3rd golem:
  • Before that, we skully drags the nightwitch, and send balloon on k tower from other side to keep pressure.
  • He play golem pocket, so tombstone 5+3 from k tower (ie. 2 sq above original tower).
  • We fireball + zap to kill megaminion, then skully drags.
  • Opp plays elitebarbarians + nightwitch at bridge: we play high valkyrie + megaminion at 3-3 (within range of skully drags in fact), and finally fireball.
  • Execution: very hard counter.
  • TIP against executioner: use fireball knock-back to push him into our skully drags or megaminion to have it killed.
  • Against ramrider middle: tombstone 4-4! (one hit only, sometimes none). Otherwise tombstone 4-3.
  • We send lavahound+balloon: opp defends with infernodragon, then electrowizard. We fireball!
  • Against megaknight: when megaknight middle bridge, valkyrie 2+1, that's flawless.

Video: Best lavahound Deck for 2022! - 2022-01-07

  • Deck (from WELCOME, top 10): lavahound+balloon - fireball + arrows + tombstone - guards / minions / infernodragon.
  • Deck for tournaments, or top ladder.
  • Here: fireball + arrow to kill the queen, which is one of worst counter against lavahound+balloon. Otherwise, not that good ;-)
  • 1st game:
  • Don't lava 1st play. We play tombstone (otherwise, megaminion, arrows, or guards at the bridge, ok).
  • prince: we play guards 6+5, they meet at 1+2.
  • Opp plays earthquake -> huge elixir advantage, so lavahound+balloon.
  • Opp plays electrogiant corner... so we play idrags 4+4, and tombstone 3-3 !!! (not 4-3).
  • Against archerqueen: lavahound+balloon 7+5 when queen entering bridge.
  • minions: to add pressure on lava push, or in the pocket to tank for balloon and allow it to connect on K tower.
  • 2nd game:
  • Skullies + miner: minions on miner.
  • Musky + mortar: we fireball (push musky towards the bridge), then guards.
  • Musky + morter: we infernodragon on musky at bridge, then balloon on mortar asap.
  • tombstone behind the tower (so that it cannot be targetted), then lava same lane, and balloon.
  • ... then send infernodragon on the musky middle, which then also predicts a mortar at river that was distracting the balloon!
  • 3rd game:
  • princess k tower: we play lava for sure.
... later we send an infernodragon to kill the princess.
  • prince other lane: we defend only with minions.
  • skeletonarmy other lane: guards at 0-5 !!!, so that guards still go other lane after defending.
  • ... afraid of megaminion + skeletonarmy in the pocket: defend proactively with tombstone 6-0
  • Mistake: played the infernodragon out of hand against princess, which allowed played RG + megaknight.
  • 4th game:
  • Against bats, never naked balloon at the bridge.
  • ... predictive arrows on last push (to predict bats or skeletons...)
  • 5th game:
  • goldenknight + babydrag: minions, then fireball on both.
  • ... we know 1st air counter = baby, any 2nd counter?
  • ... we could play guards at bridge, but that's megaknight value.
  • ... instead we play lava, and keep tombstone in case opp punishes... but he put golem.
  • When one tower down, tombstone 6-0.
  • Against elitebarbarians in the pocket: tombstone 7-1.

Video: How to get past mid ladder - 2022-01-09 TODO: To watch

  • Deck: lavahound+balloon, zap + fireball + tombstone, megamion, skully drags, valkyrie
  • For 6600 trophies (midladder = anything up to top 1000).

Video: Best F2P lavahound Deck in Clash Royale - 2022-01-11

  • Best F2P Deck (from WELCOME, top 10): lavahound+balloon - fireball + arrows + tombstone - guards / minions / infernodragon.
  • 2 leg, best to use jokers, etc.
  • Variant (from comment): arrows iso zap (for queen, log baits...). zap goes better with skully drags, and possibly goldenknight iso guards.
  • TIP: If K tower low hp and opp plays on lane w/o tower: play tombstone 0-4 or 0-5, this will kite troops to 2nd tower.
  • When defend with infernodragon, position it to go the lane we want next.

Video: lavahound TIPS FOR MID LADDER - PART 2

  • DECK: lavahound+balloon - fireball + arrows + tombstone - guards / minions / infernodragon.
  • Start: fireball on archers.
  • Against elitebarbarians: guards 5-3. If rage, minions 4+2.
  • Start: Against witch: fireball
  • Against musketeer: deep tombstone, 6-2.
  • Against balloon + rage: minions 5+2 ! (perfect, only death bomb)
  • Against hogrider: play lava same lane, then infernodragon behind to finish off hogrider, this gives huge elixir advantage (play infernodragon 7+5 when lava on that square).
  • Push = lava + infernodragon + balloon ( he defend with baby, fireball, then tombstone again ), then guards.
  • When bad starting hand (infernodragon, guards, minions, arrows):
notes
  • What do we go against 2.6?
  • What do we go against elixirgolem / nightwitch / ...

Video: INSTANT PLATZ 1 DER WELT PUSHEN IM NEUEN GLOBAL TOURNAMENT! DANACH LVL 11 ACC MAXEN!

  • Deck: lavahound+balloon - fireball + arrows + tombstone - guards / minions / infernodragon
  • TODO: 0-35min
  • What do we go against xbow?
  • When one tower down, tombstone 6-0, then lava 7+5, then fireball tesla+xbow+archers, then balloon asap (but make sure lava is front), then arrows on archers, then infernodragon on knight.
  • Against elixirgolem / healer / infernodragon:
  • Send infernodragon on golem, and fireball+arrows the electrodragon/infernodragon/healer, and minions the infernodragon to finish it.
  • After push send balloon in front of guard (because air counter out of cycle?)
  • Against graveyard - skelking - dart - tombstone - infernodragon - bats
  • defend, and when push with infernodragon + some minions, opp defend with infernodragon, we play lava 6+5! other lane, then balloon. Defend lava push with arrows, and counter graveyard with guards.
  • Against golem: lava same lane, then infernodragon on golem.

How to beat golem w/ lavahound+balloon!

  • Even elixir, against golem first play:
  • First tombstone at 4-3, then lavahound same lane (to tank eg against nightwitch while we defend).
  • What if no tombstone in hand:
  • Ideally ballon + skeletondragons (0+4 and 0+3 asap) OPPOSITE lane. If opp's react (eg. fireball our push), play guards at 3+2. Then if babydragon,play megaminion on it. Then if nightwitch, play zap (so that megaminion still kills her). We have elixir lead, no need to fireball, also, keep tombstone for next big push.
  • tombstone against backup cards (eg. elitebarbarians bridge, or lumberjack bridge):
  • Play tombstone at 5-2 if we are low elixir, perfect defense, big elixir trade.
  • But best would be to play guards at 4-4 (same aggro as eg. icegolem 3-4), so that we can keep our tombstone for big big pushes.
  • How to defend BIG golem pushes (in particular 2x / 3x elixir)
  • golem first play, we do tombstone 4-3, then lavahound, then balloon (very soon, eg. 9+5, on lava's rear). Opp plays nightwitch + baby + elitebarbarians. We do fireball on with + baby (and barbs if possible), then skeletondragons 2+3 ON THE BACKUP. Then again a tombstone.
  • Activate King Tomer when opp plays electrodragon
  • Possibly bait the electrodragon with guards at bridge.
  • Play a SINGLE troop (ideally megaminion, but tombstone also ok) at 11-0 or 9-1. Best to wait THIRD shot so that megaminion is still max life.

BEST LAVA LOON DECK in CLASH ROYALE RIGHT NOW - Boss CR

Excellent video on Grand Challenge from Boss CR

  • Deck: lavahound, balloon, infernodragon, minions, valkyrie, tombstone, fireball, zap.
  • Accept to take damage, to be able to build lava pushes (usually requires 12 elixir).
  • Be patient with lava push. Don't always put balloon, but instead watch for opponent's reaction first.

lavahound TIPS FOR MID LADDER - PART 3

  • First game:
  • tombstone, 3-2, then lava same lane (because troop on opp lane would go to that building anyway)
  • infernodragon on skel giant, arrows + fireball on wizard + archers.
  • opp plays tombstone... we play naked balloon on the other tower...

lavahound TIPS FOR MID LADDER - PART 4

  • Same deck as usual.
  • TBC

Lavahound + Balloon (Rakan)

  • Best lava deck last season played by EA Rakan Lava (#9, L9P08G82U, YouTube). Played this season by FRANK ALICIA (#13, 8U00VQRLC), <c3>Kou<c4>bele (#106, YQJL8PPG)
Ladder deck - Lava

Cr-lavahound.png Cr-infernodragon.png Cr-miner.png Cr-balloon.png Cr-barbarians.png Cr-skeletondragons.png Cr-arrows.png Cr-zap.png
Cr-lavahound.png Cr-minionhorde.png Cr-miner.png Cr-balloon.png Cr-barbarians.png Cr-minions.png Cr-arrows.png Cr-zap.png

  • balloon: Played in front of Skdrag, it is pushed forward faster! balloon can also be used as mini-tank, eg. to protect the puppies, or to protect minions / horde behind.
  • miner: When playing for tank, don't play on tower but play at 5-2 inside placement (front of K) to tank damage of troop first (eg. if opp plays a defending troop low enough in front of K tower)
  • Alternative: infernodragon <-> Horde, SkDrag <-> minions.
  • Deck with horde is super aggressive: usually go for trade.
  • 1st game, opening with lavahound, ignore miner, defend knight with barbarians. Use skeletondragonsAgainst darkprince at 3-0 placement and if possible miner at same spot to tank damage. Otherwise miner to tank damage for Lava Pups. arrows to weaken electrowizard. Against tank (like giant), infernodragon bottom when giant leaving tower behind, and if giant defended by megaminion, use balloon at river to distract it.
  • 2nd game, 2 spells, infernodragon/barbs in hand, so zap on tower. Against elitebarbarians + spirit, barbarians dropped on them then ignore if surviver. On giant + sparky, infernodragon on giant, then skeletondragons on sparky, but was countered by electrowizard + tornado. Later barbarians on sparky to remove it. miner on King's tower to tank damage for puppies and also protect barbarians coming up. Later opp still very aggressive, balloon on King's and zap to reset the sparky.
  • 3rd game: lavahound, balloon, zap, miner in hand, play lavahound as 1st card. Opp with sparky and goblingiant, countered with skeletondragons bottom (when giant on last tile before bridge), then zap and barbarians on sparky to reset/kill it. Add a balloon on group, and later miner between K and P tower to tank damage. 2nd round of elitebarbarians + healspirit, defended with skeletondragons. Opp defend with electrowizard + rage, Rakan plays barbarians very high center, then arrows to weaken electrowizard.
  • 1st game (Horde): both spells, miner, minion in hand, play zap on opp's goblins. Now Barbs in hand. Wait. At 1'20, miner on tower, countered with valkyrie, which is then defended with minions at bridge. Opp. plays MArcher and Breakers and miner, Breakers killed with arrows (I guess here the logic is to counter V with M for +1 trade, and -1 trade against Breakers to avoid too much damage). lavahound opposite lane, while on other lane wait for miner + (new) goblins, Marcher killed by tower, to play Horde against a new valkyrie. On lava lane, balloon right behind at bridge, then minions and zap to kill Spear goblins. Then miner and Horde on same lane. Finally a 2nd lavahound, and balloon, because in fact opp cannot make deadly attack anyway.
  • 2nd game (Horde): Lava, Barbs, minions, arrows in hand, play lavahound. Opp plays miner and guards opposite lane, countered at 5+2 with Barbs. Opp plays a dartgoblin center, weakened by Barbs, and finished with zap. On Lava lane, send Horde at bridge, against bats and cannoncart, and a miner in time to tank damage. Keep pushing lavahound on the same lane, while defending with minions, Horde, miner on the other lane to avoid massive damage, and when possible send a balloon on the opposite lane so that opp has no option to defend Lava, which takes tower.
  • 3rd game (Horde): arrows, Horde, Lava, miner in hand, play Horde at tower against a hogrider. lavahound played same lane, opp defend with musketeer and cannon. Play miner against musketeer, and arrows to finish it. Then play balloon to tank damage, opp. kills everything with musketeer and fireball, now low on elixir. Wait for 2nd round of hogrider, countered with Barbs (note, musketeer was Zapped), then play lavahound low. Note opp cycle is: hogrider, then Skeleton mid river, and Log on bridge. When Lava crosses, minions and balloon behind (not in hand), and miner in the back of P tower. Opp defends with skel, cannon, icegolem, all nice, and manage to activate it's K tower. Opp sends hogrider and Ice golem, defended with Barbs, which are fireballed, which is immediat ely countered with minions. On last attempt, solitary hogrider countered with miner at tower, and arrows.
  • 4th game (Horde): arrows, Lava, balloon, Horde in hand, opp plays bandit, play lavahound opposite lane. bandit and then Breakers not countered, but miner and Spear goblins on lava lane countered with arrows. bats on Lava, defended with minions. Opp plays musketeer and zap in that lane. Play Horde at 4+5, and immediately balloon at 1 +0 on opposite lane. In general, bandit never defended unless troop available (I guess she dies too quickly after she connects). lavahound played low, then minions played very low when Lava shadow is touching 3rd row from river (I guess for opportunity of defense?), and a balloon right behind lavahound on river, then miner and arrows as support. Last push with balloon, had zap in hand to defend against bats.
  • 5th game (Horde): Lava, arrows, balloon, Barbs in hand, play lavahound low. Opp. plays knight opposite lane, then firecracker low on Lava's lane, and finally hogrider on knights lane. hogrider and knight not defended, but arrows on firecracker, and balloon behind Lava. This trades tower. Opp plays bombtower, Snow Ball on balloon, and firecracker low. Play miner on firecracker, countered immediately by knight (predicted, good play). Play lavahound opposite lane, while knight + firecracker and a new hogrider countered by Barbs, dropped on knight. firecracker countered with arrows, and balloon center high right on bombtower. Finish with Horde center high, and miner on K tower, zap and arrows on new firecracker.
  • 6th game (Horde): Lava, zap, Horde and miner in hand. Opp plays miner, play lavahound same lane (miner ignored). Opp plays MArcher low, play Minion (but next to Lava, but why not more on the side? To avoid being distracted?), and balloon then asap miner. Opp plays valkyrie and Breaker, countered with arrows. Opp plays Marcher then miner to tank damage, countered by Barbs dropped on Marcher. Next lavahound low on P tower lane, defending Marcher countered with miner, then balloon, Horde (in meantime, Breakers + valkyrie had to be ignored opp lane). At each opp reaction, add a troop.
  • 7th game (Horde): Barbs, Lava, miner, arrows in hand. Opp plays bandit low, play miner low same lane. Then lavahound opp lane, opp plays electrowizard low same lane. Play Barbs at bridge to take electrowizard, while opp plays ramrider low same lane, and later babydragon against Barbs. Play balloon at bridge, opp counters with electrowizard, so play Horde at bridge as well (outside, to avoid distraction), this kills a bandit at bridge! Opp plays ramrider, immediately countered with Barbs played very high. Opp plays babydragon and pekka. This is countered with Minion low, and miner in the back of baby, then Horde on pekka. Finally ramrider countered with Barbs while Baby is shot down by tower. lavahound played center low, but same side as Baby to distract, while playing Horde against Baby.
  • 8th game (Horde): both spells, miner, balloon in hand. Opp plays bandit low, play miner low same lane. Opp plays goblindrill opp lane, countered with Barbs. lavahound played low, while on opp lane bandit and MArcher not defended. Opp plays infernodragon on Lava, at same time drop balloon at bridge, and miner in the back (-+ column), while zap infernodragon to keep Lava tank while balloon connects. Opp plays is ignored, while Pups take down the infernodragon, miner tanks damage for balloon, and play Horde center high to take P tower as well. arrows on last opp attack to get rid of swarm.
  • 1st game (Horde): both minions, barbs and miner, miner on tower to harass. Opp plays electrogiant high, opposite lane, so minions (5-0 placement), then balloon such that it is pushed by minions. Drop barbarians on electrogiant, then Horde on darkprince, on the left to avoid electrogiant attack. When Horde push back, miner at 5-2 placement to tank damage in prediction of icewizard! 2nd lavahound on same lane, although other tower had lower HP (prob. to allow counter attack on that weaker tower, or because opp will play electrogiant on same lane again). Opp. builds a mega push, with darkknight, babydragon, tornado, only defended with barbarians on knight. Then miner on 2nd tower, minions played high center, and finally balloon on K tower.
  • 2nd game (infernodragon deck): Lava, infernodragon, zap, barbarians, play lavahound. Opp. plays elitebarbarians, countered with Barbs dropped on 5+2 timed correctly. speargoblins on Lava, countered with zap. bomber on opposite lane, opp. sends also miner to tank... countered by Skel drag to kill bomber (but strangely they miss the miner). balloon on the other side, opp. plays elitebarbarians, countered with miner to reduce damage. arrows to clean last elitebarbarians, royaldelivery and speargoblins. Opp. makes several pushes with elitebarbarians + spirit or Ebars + bomber, always drop Barbs on the splash first to cancel it!
  • 3rd game (infernodragon deck): miner, arrows, skeletondragons, Barbs in hand, miner to harass tower. Opp plays royalghost, defended with skeletondragons. Lot of defensive play against royalghost, RG, Fisher using Skel Drag, Barbs. First offensive with balloon alone, countered by tesla (in 4-2), then another balloon behind a miner (used as defense), against countered with tesla. Finally 1st lavahound when opp plays Fisher at bridge opposite lane, defended with Barbs on tower, then opp plays royalghost same lane as Lava, countered with infernodragon. tesla countered with miner on it, to let balloon connect. When offensive goes on, Barbs played center high, a balloon on tower center high, then arrows to weaken tesla.
  • zap often played on a tower if in starting hand. (I guess to cycle in another card?)
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