Clash Royale Strategy: 5 Tips to Win Battles

Supercell’s popular game Clash Royale has been available for a few months, and received lots of game-changing updates. With millions of people playing the hit title, beginners are looking for an edge. This guide will go over some early Clash Royale strategies and tips to help you win more battles.

Clash Royale is a spin-off of one of the most successful games of all times. Taking the Clash of Clans universe and injecting it into a very fast paced and competitive online card collecting real-time strategy game. It’s an instant success, and we’re here to help you win.

Read: Clash Royale: 10 Tips for Beginners

Clash Royale deep down is a strategy game. It’s all about outmaneuvering and outsmarting the opponent. Even those with overpowered troops or better cards can often underestimate lower players and lose to a well designed attack. I’ve been playing since it was released, and here are some helpful tips that have helped me win more battles.

The beginners link above is extremely helpful for those just starting, who don’t know what to upgrade, how to fight, or what works. Once you’ve played for a few days and understand the game and are looking for that extra edge to win more battles, you’ll need to do a few things we’ve outlined below.

Unlike Clash of Clans where players build a base or village and hope you don’t take it down, in Clash Royale the battle is in real-time, and they fight back. Countering each move with powerful troops, wizards, archers, barbarians, or tank troops like a Giant to walk past everything and take down your towers. It’s crucial to know what you’re doing, have a well-balanced deck, and be prepared to take some damage in order to deploy a good defensive attack. Yes, a pile of troops that will defend, then go on offense and take down the enemy. Lets get started.

Manage Your Battle Deck

The most important thing in Royale is setting up your battle deck. There are three different decks you can assemble and have on-hand, ready to fight with. Each troop has a number of Elixir cost. Don’t have too many Epic or rare troops, or high numbers, as they cost more elixir, and you’ll be stuck waiting while the enemy takes you down. Without a good variety and a well managed deck, players will quickly get outmatched and overrun.

Mix up your deck with both high and low Elixir troops, as well as both ground and air. Giving you a wide array of options, at different times. Mixing it up with a good variety gives you the best chance to win. Below we share a few proven decks to push to Arena 6.

Read: Clash Royale Decks to Reach Arena 6 And Beyond

If the enemy has ground troops, drop a Dragon or Minion Hoard in and kill them, then go take down a Tower. It’s all about timing, and strategy. In order to win any battle players will need to well managed deck with a lot of variety. If you have too many small troops, you’ll get wiped out. Too many big troops or high in elixir cost, you won’t have enough to fight back. Managing your deck is crucial, and here’s more details to build the perfect Clash Royale deck. Playing smart and to the Elixir advantage is also an idea to keep in mind. I use low-cost 1 Elixir skeletons often, to take down an expensive Hog. Instant advantage.

Average Elixir Cost

The photo above has a very important number at the bottom, which is your “average elixir cost” with any particular battle deck. A good deck should be between 3.8-4.4. That deck is under-powered, and will likely lose to good players. Anything higher or lower doesn’t have enough power, or is too slow and overpowered to compete with a balanced attacker. Your either getting beat by splash damage and arrows, or are waiting too long to deploy all those 4,5,6 Elixir cost troops. It’s all about managing Elixir, spending it wisely, and using your deck detailed above to perfection. You don’t want to wait 10 seconds to drop two cards, right? Mix it up, and have a good variety.

Don’t Attack First

The first thing everyone needs to know is when a battle starts, is don’t rush. Wait for the Elixir bar to fill up, see what card is coming next then decide which troops to use, and fight. While some may want to rush and immediately attack the opponent, waiting to see what they deploy, then countering with better cards, is your best bet. Occasionally I can catch the enemy off guard and rush in early, but typically they’ll play defense and wipe out any first wave. As a result, I’d recommend waiting, going on defense, and taking down their troops and then attacking.

Not to mention waiting will let you know which side they’ll attack from, which allows you to drop a Barbarian Hut or structure to help defend. Which brings us to our next point.

Go on the Defense

It’s worth waiting, even if you’re getting attacked and taking heavy damage. Rather than waste two archers to slow the opponent down, wait for something better. Don’t be afraid to take a little damage, if that means being able to counter with an extremely strong attack. Even if you lose a tower, taking down the main middle “King Tower” means you instantly win. Waiting long enough to push back hard, could be exactly what you need to win, instead of lose or get a draw. No one likes to tie.

Above, watching to see what happens rather than instantly dropping a troop would be the best bet. Go on defense, take out the Witch, and then launch that big Giant to go in for the second Tower, and get the victory.

I’ve been using Giants, skeletons (for a distraction as the Giant deals damage) and splash damage troops like the Baby Dragon or Valkyrie Girl. The Dragon and Valk do splash damage, and hurt multiple troops and buildings with each hit. This is crucial. Valkries take on incoming Giants, while my other troops head for the enemy Towers.

Watch Where You Deploy Troops or Buildings

Another very crucial tip for players looking for a little help when it comes to winning battles, is to watch where you deploy troops. Be strategic. This is a strategy game, so play like its Chess. Think about what you do, your next move, how long it will take for Elixir to regenerate, and more. Drop air troops against their ground units, think about what you do, don’t just use what’s available first. Drop defense troops in the middle in front of the King Tower to distract incoming enemies away from the other towers.

Drop troops behind Towers, so by the time they get to the middle and are “engaged” your Elixir has already regenerated enough to have another card ready to play. Watching high level players, they all do this. Don’t just drop troops on the edge closest to the enemy every time, you’ll eventually get behind, and lose.

While we’re on the topic, don’t drop troops right in front of the enemy. They’ll get the first shot off, and inflict more damage first. Deploy units off to the side so the enemy has to turn. This gives you an edge, while also turning the opponent away from your Towers, which of course, is what we’re all trying to protect. Often times I’ll drop Minions in the middle and as they fly around the sides troops will chase them and slowly die, preventing my towers from taking damage. There are a lot of ways to approach things, so try them all.

In the end those who want to win battles in Clash Royale need to be balanced. From having a balanced deck, to being balanced and poised during battle. It’s a very fast-paced game, but being able to wait just long enough to deploy a powerful and well managed army will lead you to victory.