SupercellWith a roster of over 120 cards in Clash Royale, creating optimal deck setups can seem daunting at first, but staying up to date about which cards are best in the meta can give you a major advantage in those competitive matches.
To help you stay ahead of the curve, we’ve got a rundown of the cards you’ll want to be using right now, split up from best to worst in our Clash Royale tier list.
Best cards in Clash Royale
Tier | Cards |
|---|---|
Arrows, Baby Dragon, Fireball, Ice Spirit, The Log, Zap | |
Spirit Empress, Archer Queen, Balloon, Bandit, Barbarian Launcher, Barbarians, Bats, Bomber, Dagger Duchess, Dark Prince, Earthquake, Electro Wizard, Executioner, Freeze, Giant, Giant Snowball, Goblins, Golem, Guards, Hog Rider, Ice Wizard, Inferno Dragon, Knight, Lava Hound, Lumberjack, Magic Archer, Might Miner, Miner, Minion Horde, Monk, Mortar, Musketer, Night Witch, Party Hat, Party Hut, Party Rocket, Phoenix, Poison, Little Prince, Royal Delivery, Royal Hogs, Skeleton Army, Skeletons, Sparky, Super Ice Golem, Super Lava Hound, Tornado, Valkyrie, Vines, Witch |
Our tiers explained
- S Tier: These cards are simply the best of the best due to how powerful they are.
- A Tier: Cards in this tier are undoubtedly useful to use in Clash Fest.
- B Tier: Although not the most robust character cards, they can still be devastating in multiple scenarios to help change the course of a match.
- C Tier: While these cards can be overlooked in most situations, they can still do a decent job in specific scenarios.
- D Tier: These cards should be avoided as much as you can. On top of being reasonably impactless cards, they also waste a notable amount of Elixir during battles.
The way these cards are ranked in the list is based on how impactful they are when deployed, as well as the cost of the Elixir needed for them.
Meta analysis
Clash Royale’s 78th season, Heroic Holidays, is finally live, and with it comes a fresh round of balance changes to shake things up.
The biggest winner this time is Freeze. After getting a massive +29% damage buff, it jumps from B-tier all the way to A-tier. That’s huge. If you love running Balloon, Graveyard, or Hog decks, this patch is basically a holiday present.
Magic Archer also got a damage bump, and while the buff is nice, it’s not game-breaking, so it comfortably stays in A-tier.
Meanwhile, Void and Goblin Demolisher both received improvements. Void’s buff was enough to nudge it up into C-tier, but Goblin Demolisher still didn’t get anything strong enough to lift it out of the lower ranks.
On the nerf side, Barbarian Barrel and Royal Giant take the biggest hits. Barb Barrel’s longer deploy time makes it noticeably less reliable for clutch defense, pushing it down to C-tier.
Related
Royal Giant also slips down to B-tier, mostly because its favorite partner, Electro Spirit, had its chain speed slowed. E-Spirit is still usable, though, just not as sharp.
Overall, this patch pushes the meta toward more varied spell choices, slows down RG-heavy strategies, and gives Freeze a surprising moment in the spotlight.
S Tier
SupercellA lot of cards in the S Tier have low Elixir Cost, yet they provide a lot of value. Zap, for example, is a really versatile one since it stuns enemies, making it a great option to use for defense. It also works well with a plethora of different decks. Up until now, it has still been a popular and solid choice due to how versatile it is.
Name | Rarity | Elixir Cost |
|---|---|---|
Arrows | Common | 3 |
Baby Dragon | Epic | 3 |
A Tier
Dexerto / SupercellA-tier cards may not be as powerful or impactful as the ones in S-tier, but they’re still above average and can perform well if you play them right and use decks that complement them.
Name | Rarity | Elixir Cost |
|---|---|---|
Archer Queen | Champion | 5 |
Balloon | Epic | 5 |
B Tier
supercellName | Rarity | Elixir Cost |
|---|---|---|
Boss Bandit | Champion | 6 |
Bowler | Epic | 5 |
C Tier
Dexerto / SupercellName | Rarity | Elixir Cost |
|---|---|---|
Archers | Common | 2 |
Barbarian Barrel | Epic | 2 |
D Tier
Name | Rarity | Elixir Cost |
|---|---|---|
Battle Healer | Rare | 4 |
Electro Dragon | Epic | 5 |
Overall, regardless of the cards you choose, having a good balance between offense and defense in your decks is crucial. After all, you can never know your opponent’s equipped character cards before the match begins. Therefore, here are a few of the best decks in Clash Royale that you can try out for your subsequent battles:
- Va-Ho-Witch: Fireball, Furnace, Hog Rider, Ice Spirit, Inferno Dragon, Valkyrie, Witch, and Zap.
- Royal Giant Ghost deck: Electro Spirit, Fisherman, Hunter, Lightning Spell, Royal Ghost, Royal Giant, Skeletons, The Log.
- Hog Cycle: Canon, Fireball, Ice Golem, Ice Spirit, Musketeer, Skeletons, The Log, Hog Rider.
For more deck recommendations split up by Arena, check out the best decks for Arena 2, Arena 3, Arena 4, Arena 5, Arena 6, and Arena 7.
Make sure to check out our chest cycle guide, how to add friends, and a rundown of what Star Levels and Star Points are in Clash Royale.