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.

Royal Recruits 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 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:
  • 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. 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+2), then when MK jumps icespirit at 8-4 [4]
  • skeletons at 4-4 (when MK is at 1+2), 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.
  • firecracker:
  • cannon at 4-2 (at least when she comes from the middle). To confirm.

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+4 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+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 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+4 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+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 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+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: hogrider at 0+4 when MK it reaches 3rd row.
Usually play musketeer first at 9-3 when MK reaches bridge, then the hog, 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: 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+5.
  • 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).
  • x-bow (border, +1 river) then tesla at bridge: icegolem at 4-4 asap, then musketeer at 3+5 asap.
  • against tornado: icegolem + hogrider at 1+3 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+3.
  • ramrider: cannon at 4-2 (perfect, both towers shoot).
  • lava + loon: 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 tower played at 3-sq river: hogrider at 0+4, then musketeer at 0-3.
  • royaleghost: skeletons at 3+2 when ghost 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 (perfect).
  • 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 hog 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, then icespirit 8-4 when bandit entering 2+5 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.
  • Then maybe better make a dual lane push, musketeer on one side and hogrider on the other, to avoid value from MK if opp plays it (oftentimes). However, better have cannon / golem in the hand to defend if hog 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 + hog, put cannon at 3-3 to attract hog in the middle, so that it is killed by both towers.
  • Playing hogrider in the pocket may help in end game, especially against MK. Opp often replies with MK at bridge when our musketeer reaches it, so hog in the pocket may help distract, avoid giving value to MK and score damages.

Lavaloon deck (Carl the Legend)

General tips (from Carl's gameplay)

  • hog: play tombstone in lane.
  • play lava opp. lane.
  • play mega to defend lava.
  • after fb on lava, balloon + guards opp lane.
  • on exec in the back: balloon spam opp lane. If ewiz / tornado: guards. On Ex, megaminion.
  • Against lumberloon spam: skeldrag 5+3
  • On ex middle, fireball sideways (on him + tower) to push him further.
  • Mostly play tombstone at 4-2 or 4-3.
  • against MK, tombstone at 7-2
  • Against elixir golem, 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 loon 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 inferno tower (middle field)
  • Skellidrags at bridge, then zap when 1st drag is about to die.
  • Against lumberloon:
  • Skullydrags at 3+4 asap, then zap at 1+2 when lumber is crossing the bridge. Then Fireball 4+3 asap.
  • With minions: minions 4+2 then fireball 2+3 asap. Minions should kill rapidly the lumber, and then the balloon.
  • Good lavaloon 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 loon 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 idrag (aim square right above idrag shadow) to bring it closer to lava, and be shot by mega.
  • Against itower, 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 idrag).
  • Don't play lavaloon 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 lavaloon + infernodragon, opp usually plays musketeer middle, and distract the dragon with small troop. Use fireball knock back effet to bring the musk immediately in dragon spot and kill her asap. [9]
  • 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 + edrag (and/or idrag) [10]
  • Against ebarbs:
  • 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 [11]
  • When sending lavaloon push (+megaminion) on the tower (at least when tower in lane), zap the P tower + itower AFTER the lava pops so that the balloon is actually killing the tower. [12]
  • 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 lava + loon, 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.

Things I learned

  • When P tower is down, avoid attacking K castle 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 castle 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 goblin barrel, 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 ewiz full hp left, defend him first before next lava (coz' ewiz slows down defense greatly)
  • Against night witch + 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 ebarbs).
  • Another golem player, but without night witch (golem, lumber, dark knight, tornado, edrag, bdrag), won lava opposite lane. Don't defend the golem, only the support troop if any.
  • Against lavaloon-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 goblin hut 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 gob to pops, then zap them all, and don't send skullies.
  • Witch alone to defend lavaloon is not enough to prevent loon 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 goblin gang naked?
  • Don't put skullies on gobarrel, then lava at front (over extend, very weak).
  • When opp has tesla, make sure that the tower + tesla aggro the lava before playing the loon!
 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?)

2x elixir tournament tips

Against MK:

  • 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 InfernoD:

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

Against witch + infernoD:

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

Against hog rider:

  • 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 lavaloon:

  • 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 + lumber (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 + elixir golem, 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):

  • Lavaloon 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.

Videos summary

Midladder:

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

Against goblin hut / 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, skeldrag 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 nado.
  • Always play the Skelli Drags out of the circle.
  • Tombstone placement: if Egiant from left or right, we play tombstone at 4-3. But if Egiant 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 Egiant first play, go opp lane with loon + 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!
  • Mega minion 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 gob 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 X-Bow
  • Tower trade! if X-bow 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 LavaLoon when the X-Bow is played in the middle (ie. not on the external border). Otherwise opp can play Tesla to lure loon to it then X-bow.
Instead go with the megaminion, fireball the tesla, etc.
  • Go for lavaloon 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 X-Bow. Usually opp will play X-Bow 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) X-Bow with Tombstone, when opp has one tower down. Put Tombstone close to Tesla, so that X-Bow 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 idrag in hand.
  • Lavaloon 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: lavaloon, zap + fireball + tombstone, megamion, skully drags, valkyrie
  • Valkyrie: ebarbs, witch.
  • Against MK + 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 MK... 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 Lava + loon 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 idrag, we play balloon behind lava as usual. Opp plays edrag, we zap. He's tornadoing. Then we activate K tower with megaminion at 11+4, and distract idrags with valk 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 night witch, 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 lava + loon.
  • 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 flying machine (ideally it must be in tower range)
  • 3rd golem:
  • Before that, we skully drags the night witch, 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 ebarbs + night witch 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 lavaloon: opp defends with idrag, then ewiz. We fireball!
  • Against MK: when MK middle bridge, Valkyrie 2+1, that's flawless.

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

  • Deck (from WELCOME, top 10): lavaloon - fireball + arrows + tombstone - guards / minions / idrag.
  • Deck for tournaments, or top ladder.
  • Here: Fireball + arrow to kill the queen, which is one of worst counter against lavaloon. 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 lava + loon.
  • Opp plays egiant corner... so we play idrags 4+4, and tombstone 3-3 !!! (not 4-3).
  • Against archer queen: lavaloon 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 idrag on musky at bridge, then balloon on mortar asap.
  • Tombstone behind the tower (so that it cannot be targetted), then lava same lane, and loon.
  • ... then send idrag on the musky middle, which then also predicts a mortar at river that was distracting the loon!
  • 3rd game:
  • Princess k tower: we play lava for sure.
... later we send an idrag to kill the princess.
  • Prince other lane: we defend only with minions.
  • Skarmy other lane: guards at 0-5 !!!, so that guards still go other lane after defending.
  • ... afraid of megaminion + skarmy in the pocket: defend proactively with tombstone 6-0
  • Mistake: played the idrag out of hand against princess, which allowed played RG + MK.
  • 4th game:
  • Against bats, never naked balloon at the bridge.
  • ... predictive arrows on last push (to predict bats or skeletons...)
  • 5th game:
  • Golden knight + babydrag: minions, then fireball on both.
  • ... we know 1st air counter = baby, any 2nd counter?
  • ... we could play guards at bridge, but that's MK value.
  • ... instead we play lava, and keep tombstone in case opp punishes... but he put golem.
  • When one tower down, tombstone 6-0.
  • Against ebarbs in the pocket: tombstone 7-1.

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

  • Deck: lavaloon, 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): lavaloon - fireball + arrows + tombstone - guards / minions / idrag.
  • 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 golden knight 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 idrag, position it to go the lane we want next.

Video: LAVA HOUND TIPS FOR MID LADDER - PART 2

  • DECK: lavaloon - fireball + arrows + tombstone - guards / minions / idrag.
  • Start: fireball on archers.
  • Against ebarbs: 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 idrag behind to finish off hog, this gives huge elixir advantage (play idrag 7+5 when lava on that square).
  • Push = lava + idrag + balloon ( he defend with baby, fireball, then tombstone again ), then guards.
  • When bad starting hand (idrag, guards, minions, arrows):
notes
  • What do we go against 2.6?
  • What do we go against elixir golem / nightwitch / ...

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

  • Deck: lavaloon - fireball + arrows + tombstone - guards / minions / idrag
  • 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 idrag on knight.
  • Against elixir golem / healer / idrag:
  • Send idrag on golem, and fireball+arrows the edrag/idrag/healer, and minions the idrag to finish it.
  • After push send balloon in front of guard (because air counter out of cycle?)
  • Against graveyard - skelking - dart - tombstone - idrag - bats
  • defend, and when push with idrag + some minions, opp defend with idrag, 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 idrag on golem.

How to beat GOLEM w/ Lavaloon!

  • 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. ebarbs 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 + ebarbs. 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 edrag
  • Possibly bait the edrag 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.

LAVA HOUND 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)
  • idrag on skel giant, arrows + fireball on wizard + archers.
  • opp plays tombstone... we play naked balloon on the other tower...

LAVA HOUND TIPS FOR MID LADDER - PART 4

  • Same deck as usual.
  • TBC
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