Category: Clash Royale

Rocket (6 Elixir Cost) 

• The highest damage spell in the game, the Rocket is the cornerstone of a Defensive siege deck. Most decks that run Rocket will aim to establish an unstoppable defense on their side of the arena, then start throwing out Rockets on your crown tower. The best way to counter this is to play very aggressively and keep these decks from setting up that infrastructure. Commit to taking down their defenses so they cannot use the 6 elixir Rocket without putting themselves at a huge elixir disadvantage. Also, do not give them efficient trades by placing troops near your towers, as the Rocket will kill those and do significant tower damage making that 6 elixir price tag more worth it.

Rage (3 Elixir Cost) 

• Rage is pretty bad and rarely ever gets played. Best way to counter play it is to Fireball or Arrows whatever is being Raged and attacking your tower. Not much else to say here.

Zap (2 Elixir Cost) 

• Zap is a very cheap spell that deals small amounts of damage to a small area and stuns for one second. If you know your opponent has Zap, try to take advantage of its small range and keep your squishy troops spread out. Otherwise, try and push with tankier troops.
  

Goblin Barrel (4 Elixir Cost)

• Another card that often stumps newer players, an unchecked Goblin Barrel can do a ton of damage to your tower. Players will most often throw it right on top of your tower, and a preemptive Arrows on top of your tower right after the Barrel has crossed the river should take care of the Goblins before they can get a stab in. Zap also works well against Goblin Barrel but the timing is different as Zap casts quicker. You also have to be more accurate using Zap as the radius of the spell is smaller. Fireball works in a pinch for a zero net elixir advantage and timing is similar to Arrows. If you don’t have one of those 3 spells at your disposal, drop some cheap troops on top of your tower to draw the Goblins’ attention away from the tower.

Freeze (3 Elixir Cost)

• With the ability to keep troops and buildings from attacking for a few seconds, Freeze is an incredibly powerful spell when used correctly. When combined with troops that focus buildings like Hog Rider or Balloon, Freeze is a very deadly offensive tool. It can even be used in a pinch on defense, however, you should make sure you have a high DPS troop like Minion Horde or Wizard to take the frozen troops out. Like X-Bow, Freeze can be scouted out (but is a bit more difficult to do so). If your opponent is playing a naked Hog Rider or Balloon and hasn’t invested in a big push recently, then they most likely have Freeze in their hand. Once you know your opponent is playing Freeze, you need to take very specific precautions to minimize its effectiveness. First off, never drop your troops around/behind your tower. The best place to drop your troops when your opponent is running Freeze is actually near the river, well in front of your tower. This forces your opponent to choose between Freezing your tower or your troops. If you’re down one tower and your King Tower is activated (cannon is out), NEVER put your troops in the area between your King Tower and your remaining tower. In fact, always put it towards the edge of the arena. This forces your opponent to choose between Freezing your King Tower and your remaining tower or freezing your troops. Second, use cheap troops to defend (such as Goblins, Spear Goblins, Archers) and NEVER drop them all at once. Drop one troop to bait out the Freeze, then once the Freeze is used, immediately drop the others. Lastly, Freeze leaves your opponent open for a big counter play if they don’t take out your defensive troops (which they won’t with Hog + Freeze or Balloon + Freeze), as they’ve invested 4 elixir into a spell that doesn’t damage troops, so gear up for a big counter push and punish them.

Fireball (4 Elixir Cost)

• Similar to Arrows but does quite a bit more damage in a smaller radius, instantly killing every troop Arrows can, one-shotting Bombers (and sometimes Wizards and Musketeers), and being able to bring Barbarians, Wizards, Witches, and Musketeers to a sliver of health left. You can bait out the Fireball in the same way you bait out Arrows, then play your swarm troops/Barbarians/Wizards without fear.

Arrows(3 Elixir Cost) 

• Arrows is a huge deterrent card, as it can one shot warm troops – Goblins, Spear Goblins, Goblin Barrel, Minions, Minion Hordes, Skeletons (from Tombstone, Skeleton Army, Witch, and Skeletons), Princess – and in most cases, put the Arrows caster at an elixir advantage. To effectively counter arrows, try to bait it out before plopping down your cheap swarm swarm. My personal favorite is to throw a preemptive Goblin Barrel which usually forces out the arrows before playing my Minion Swarm/Spear Gob/Gobs.

Poison: Damage increased by 5%

• Poison has fairly low use rates. A bit of damage over time will make it a more interesting choice next to Fireball and the other damage spells.