If you play mobile games, you’ve probably heard of Clash Royale, a mash-up of genres and styles that currently reigns as one of the most popular games on iOS and Android. Targeting all ages, it provides a challenge while still maintaining an unmatched ease-of-entry. That’s part of why Clash Royale made it on to Paste’s Best Mobile Games of 2016 list.
Despite being a title that heavily features micro transactions, you’ll rarely feel like you lost a game because someone else spent more money on the game than you did. It’s highly skill-intensive, but there’s a wide enough range of arenas and groups within the game that you’ll never feel like you’re completely outmatched.
It also has a strong social hook to keep you motivated. While you’re never asked to explicitly communicate with other players, the game provides you with heaps of rewards for doing so. It’s tough to find mobile games with such a vibrant, healthy online space.
Clash Royale features a massive host of cards to utilize in your battles, but which ones are the best? While the best cards will change as you progress through the game’s many arenas, here’s a quick but definitive guide to the most all-around effective units in the game.
Jacob Saylor is a writer, video editor and presenter whose work has been seen around the games industry since 2010. He even runs a humble YouTube channel by the name of Chosen Totem. Find him on Twitter @Skulldrey.
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25. Baby Dragon: Frankly, the Baby Dragon sees little play these days. As a defensive card in an offensive meta-game, this little guy packs too little a punch to compete at the upper echelons of Clash Royale combat. Still, he makes it on our list because he can slice through waves of low-hitpoint enemies like they're made of butter.
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24. Minions: The Minions are cheap, fast and effective. They can tear down larger units with ease and unless met with quick opposition, even deal some damage to the enemy towers. They can be a multi-faceted unit that fits nicely into any defensive or offensive game plan, but rarely do much to win the game outright.
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23. Witch: The Witch has lost some favor with players recently due to the decline of spawner decks, which focus on swarming the enemy with smaller minions. However, she's still an exceptional card, capable of dealing inordinate amounts of damage to both larger and smaller units. Simply placing her behind a tank of some sort can win the game.
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22. Knight: The Knight's inclusion on our list might seem uninformed, but he's an all-around good card. He can act as a pseudo-tank, taking damage from multiple sources without blinking. At the same time, he can deal respectable damage to his opponents. An uncontested knight can take out almost 25 percent of a tower's health bar before dying.
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21. Wizard: The Wizard is an extremely powerful card, capable of evaporating enemy minions with one fireball. He's not so durable, but place him behind a tank and he immediately becomes a pest like no other. He's another card that's fallen from grace with Clash Royale players, but a recent improvement to his toolkit has made him a staple once again.
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20. Ice Wizard: The Ice Wizard is slow and lacks in the damage department, but makes up for his failings when it comes to crowd control. Placing one of these guys in a group of heavy-hitters can devastate your enemies' squadrons. He can also take quite a bit of damage when compared to other long-ranged classes, so he's a fair choice with which to lead a minion wave.
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19. Skeleton Army: Skeleton Army is one of the swingiest cards in Clash Royale—it can win you the game or lose it in quick order. The card is almost always played on defense, and if your opponent is running some form of removal, you'll find yourself down one or two elixir in a flash. That said, a well-timed Skeleton Army when your opponent can't fight back is almost always the recipe for a big win.
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18. Goblin Barrel: Goblin Barrel is one of the premiere "chip-away" cards. At 4 elixir, it can be a bit expensive to play. Most of the time, you have to build your deck around the card, pushing your elixir advantage far and above your opponent's. The card is extremely consistent, though, and can do some serious damage over a long game of Clash Royale.
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17. Minion Horde: The Minions' bigger, badder sibling, the Minion Horde is the premiere damage-dealer in Clash Royale. In essence, they're the piranhas of the game, shredding whatever crosses their path into dust. If they weren't so flimsy, they'd be even more devastating; area-of-effect units and spells can send the Minion Horde crashing to the ground.
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16. Freeze: Freeze is basically Ice Wizard but better. It's a spell that can be placed anywhere on the map at any given time… as long as you have the elixir to play it, of course. It stops anything within its radius from moving or attacking, which means death for any defenseless towers that might get captured in its grasp. Accompany this spell with a couple other units and you're set for victory in no time.