Barbarians (5 Elixir Cost)
- A well-rounded card that is a staple in many decks, the Barbarian spawns 4 relatively tanky, relatively high-damage melee troops. Left unchecked, they will quickly take out your tower. The trick to taking out Barbarians efficiently is splash damage. I almost always Fireball a group of Barbarians marching down the lane – one fireball will allow your tower to take them out in one or two shots. Bonus points if you can hit the tower with the Fireball too. If you don’t have a Fireball at your disposal, a Wizard or Bomber behind the tower works really well too. Just be wary of your opponent’s counter-Fireball that could kill your Wizard or Bomber and damage your tower as well. Baby Dragons can also be used to take out Barbarians, but seeing they take 5-6 hits to take out a group of Barbs, it is best to drop it near the bridge to give it more time to hit the Barbs as they move down your lane. If you do not have splash damage at your disposal, your best bet is to use cheap swarm troops to lure the Barbs into the middle of your side of the Arena, buying your towers more time to hit them and potentially getting both towers to attack them.