Clash Royale Tips and Tricks to Crush Your Opponents in Style

Clash Royale is a popular tower defence strategy game that is available on Android and iOS for quite some time now. The game is made by Supercell, the same game development company that gave us Clash of Clans. While the characters used for Clash Royale are similar to the previous game, the gameplay is completely different. Clash Royale combines card games, tower defence, and multiplayer online battles, to offer a unique experience.

The Basics
For those who haven't heard about Clash Royale here is quick roundup. Clash Royale is a tower defence strategy game where you need to destroy at least one opponent's tower to win the game. To do this, you need cards which are unlocked in treasure chests that you win along the way. Cards have different strengths and weaknesses, but they are mainly distinguished as Common, Rare, Epic, and Legendary. Common cards are well, common, and are easy to unlock; other cards, as their names suggest, are harder to come by. Some of these cards are used to attack, others are used for defence.

You need a deck to battle which comprises any eight cards you choose. Using these cards requires a resource called elixir. The core loop is quite simple - you get elixirs at a set interval during the game, which you can use to play your cards. You can choose to attack or defend based on your deck of cards. Now that we've gotten the basics out of the way, here are six things you should know, whether you're a seasoned player or a noob who's picking up the game for the first time.

Choose your Clash Royale cards wisely
Your deck is all you have to defend your towers when in battle, so choose your cards wisely. You should also upgrade your cards to improve your chances. Save the deck you are most comfortable playing with. Remember, if you have a heavy deck with an average elixir count of 4.5 or above, then it’ll be helpful to attack in the last 60 secs as the faster elixir production will help. On the other hand, if you have a lighter elixir deck, placement is crucial for your deck to survive.

Know your troops
There are 74 cards in Clash Royale and you cannot just pick anyone to defend or attack. Each card has its strengths and weaknesses and you’ll need to be aware of them as you play. Putting up a skeleton army to stop a Valkyrie is a sure shot way to waste elixir for nothing. Cards have levels which make them stronger against attacks. So pick the right troop for your deck and update it to improve your chances of winning.

Elixir advantage
Cards cost elixir, and it takes time for elixir to generate. It takes 2.8 seconds for elixir to generate during normal play time, and 1.4 seconds during the last 60 seconds. So when your opponent places a card, try to use a low-elixir card to counter it. For example, if your opponent plays the Giant card, it costs them 5 elixirs. If you counter using a Skeleton Army, you end up spending only three elixirs, giving you a two elixir advantage over your opponent. Play your cards wisely and this will help you have a significant advantage over your opponent, making it easier to win the game.

Placement is crucial
In Clash Royale, placement of your cards is crucial. Most might think that placing a troop right in front of the tower is a good idea, but no! You can use the pull strategy by pulling the opponent's troop to the centre so that both your towers can engage. This is great as it helps to eliminate the opponent troop faster without causing much damage to any of your towers. You can also place multiple troops away from the line of action to engage with the enemy troops without suffering damage. The other advantage of placing the troops away from each other is that they will be unaffected by freeze and poison spells.

Distraction is a valid strategy
In Clash Royale, Troops are designed to go for the enemy towers and that’s what they will do. You can either drop your troops right in front of enemies to defend your tower, or drop them a little out of line. This strategy forces the opponent's troop to fight with the newly placed troop, thereby going out of its way to engage. This allows the tower to take a few extra shots at the enemy troop, helping to eliminate it faster. You can also use your remaining troops to launch an effective counter attack right after.

Retargeting powerful enemies
Similar to distraction is retargeting. High elixir troops like Giant, Lava Hound, Ice Golem, and Royal Giant engage only with structures. To distract them, use building cards like a Bomber Tower, Canon, or even a low elixir card like the Tombstone. By placing a structure you’ll pull them towards it saving your tower from a few crucial hits. You can use the same technique for the annoying Hog Rider that is quick to make its way to your tower. So try this technique to stop your opponent and counter them effectively. If an opponent troop has already engaged with your arena tower, you can use Zap or the Electro Wizard to force them to retarget.

These were some tips that help us to play Clash Royale better. If you have a tip, share it with us and the other readers via the comments.