Deck Building

In Clash Royale, a player's deck is a crucial aspect of the game. A well-built deck can be the difference between winning and losing, so it's important to understand how to build a strong deck. Here are some key factors to keep in mind when building your deck:

Understanding Card Rarity and Type

In Clash Royale, cards are categorized by their rarity, which is indicated by the color of the card's border. The five categories of rarity are Common (gray), Rare (orange), Epic (purple), Legendary (rainbow), and Champion (gold); with the latest addition of a new mechanic called Card Evolution (glowing indigo).

There are also three types of cards in Clash Royale: Troops, Spells, and Buildings. Tower Troops (castle visual) have also been added which significantly changes how interactions work. Each card type has its own strengths and weaknesses, so it's important to have a good mix of card types in your deck.

The cards on the image above represent the troop (tank/meatshield) card type from all the game's rarities (and an Evolution). As much as possible, it is important to avoid being repetitive with your rarities and card typing when building a deck.

Understanding Deck Archetypes

Cards have always become categorized in a way where those who are the most impactful and versatile dominate the rest. While some can fit in all kinds of decks, other cards can only be good when paired with certain types of cards which is what deck archetypes are all about. The original three archetypes that has existed throughout the game are Beatdown, Control, and Siege.

However, as cards get added in every update, deck archetypes continue to evolve and multiply branching off from the original three. Knowing what archetype your deck is will also allow you to be more aware on what cards you should focus on upgrading.

The cards on the image above form a well-known, classic, and formidable deck from the Siege archetype called "3.0 X-Bow Cycle". With X-Bow being the primary win condition; complemented with its low elixir cards, it is considered a Siege and Cycle deck.

Evaluating Card Strengths and Weaknesses

Each card in Clash Royale has its own unique stats and abilities. When building a deck, it's important to consider the strengths and weaknesses of each card you include.

For example, some cards may have high hitpoints but low damage, while others may have high damage but low hitpoints. Some cards may be better suited for offense, while others may be better for defense. Building a deck with cards of certain pros and cons will affect how you play your deck. Bringing an all-swarm deck against a Splash-dominated meta for instance is an automatic death sentence, since splash cards dominate against low HP swarms. Bringing a deck full of tanks will serve as liabilities in the long run when facing against high-damaging, long-range cards. Always keep in mind what weaknesses your deck may have, and what strengths it can utilize against your future opponents' decks.

The cards on the image above are all swarm cards (non-win condition) that are easily neutralized by splash cards such as Wizard, Poison, and Arrows. Having cards of the same strengths and weaknesses will create a deck that is extremely redundant and won't be effective against most well-built decks.

Balancing Offensive and Defensive Cards

When building a deck, it's important to have a good mix of offensive and defensive cards. Offensive cards are used to attack your opponent's towers, while defensive cards are used to protect your own towers.

If your deck is too focused on offense, you may struggle to defend against your opponent's attacks. If your deck is too focused on defense, you may struggle to mount a strong enough offense to take down your opponent's towers. Being able to balance out your deck composition in order to keep up with other decks is also an excellent way to understand how to utilize your cards.

The cards on the image above represents a deck with half of it comprised of offensive cards, while half of it being mainly for defense. Most win conditions are extremely offensive and are complemented with cards that are mainly used for defense. Some offensive cards are more passive and are better played alongside defensive cards that can be used in offense (counterpush cards).

Building Around Win Conditions

Every deck should have a win condition that defines a specific strategy you can use to win the game. This could be a particular card or combination of cards that you use to attack your opponent's towers.

When building a deck, it's important to consider your win condition and build your deck around it. This may involve including specific cards that are key to your strategy, or avoiding cards that don't fit with your win condition. For instance, you never mix Firecracker and Graveyard since Graveyard relies on the Crown Tower's lack of swarm countermeasures. However if you put Firecracker on the same deck, once she activates the opponent's King Tower, the Graveyard is now rendered useless since those two towers can counter Graveyard even without any allied support.

The cards on the image above are win conditions of varying kinds. There are a few decks that have multiple win conditions; some being spells which are considered as secondary win conditions. It is important to analyze carefully what card you will have to use to damage your opponent's towers. A deck that does not have any win conditions or synergies to play around with will not work in the long run, while a deck with too much win conditions will struggle to defend or counterpush against your opponent's cards.

Building Around Synergies

Some cards work particularly well when used in combination with other cards. When building a deck, it's important to consider card synergies and build your deck around them.

For example, you may include a card that is hard to kill without swarm killers like Rascals, and then include another card that punishes an out of rotation swarm killer like Goblin Barrel. Another example can be a splash card like Executioner, with a spell that clumps troops together like Tornado which makes up for a devastating combo. Once you experiment with all the cards, you can also find synergies that make up a solid deck.

The cards on the image above all form pairs that are well-known to synergize with one another. During the earlier years or even presently, the synergies included were a formidable bunch alongside with other cards that also complement them. When choosing your synergies, it is important to consider whether they are still viable, and in which deck they could still shine.

Managing Elixir Costs

Each card in Clash Royale has an elixir cost, which is the amount of elixir you need to spend to play that card. When building a deck, it's important to consider the elixir cost of each card and try to balance your deck so that you have a good mix of low-cost and high-cost cards.

If your deck is too heavy on high-cost cards, you may struggle to play cards quickly enough to respond or defend against your opponent's attacks. On the other hand, if your deck has too much low-cost cards, you may struggle to mount a strong enough offense to take down your opponent's towers, or a solid enough defense to eliminate an opponent's push.

The cards on the image above are all cheap (2 elixir and below). It is important to recognize the power scale of cards as they increase in elixir. Being able to balance your cards' elixir cost by practicing variety will allow those same cards to be efficiently cycled to in all situations.

Testing and Tweaking Your Deck

Once you've built a deck, it's important to test it out and see how it performs. You may find that certain cards aren't as effective as you thought they would be, or that your elixir costs are too high or too low.

If you're not having success with your deck, don't be afraid to tweak it and try out different combinations of cards. It may take some trial and error, but eventually, you should be able to build a strong deck that can synergize very well while also being able to keep up against prominent decks.

The cards on the image above form a classic and outdated Golem Double Prince deck that used to dominate the meta. As cards were added; some being balanced, the meta changed significantly until the deck no longer had the power it used to have towards other cards. Always remember that the meta will always change, and adjusting your deck towards it by removing and replacing cards is the way to go.

Keeping Your Deck Updated

As you play more games and unlock new cards, it's important to keep your deck updated. New cards may provide better options for certain strategies, or they may help you counter popular decks that you're struggling against.

Make sure to regularly evaluate your deck and consider new cards that may be worth including. You may also want to consider adjusting your deck based on the current meta - the most popular and effective decks being used by other players. An excellent way to be updated with the game is by researching popular decks on external sources.

The cards on the image above form a different variant of the Golem NW Lightning deck, which dominated the arena when the Skeleton King was first buffed after being added. When adjusting towards a certain change, some win conditions benefit from it also, giving some supporting cards a chance to be part of the meta.

Master Your Deck

When picking a deck, make sure you're comfortable with the cards you are using. As you play more often, you get used to your cards' micro-interactions, what it's good against, what it's bad against and other tactical advantages you can use during later matches. Once you have mastered your deck, you can branch out slowly to other cards and archetypes you are not familiar with in order to broaden your knowledge.

The cards on the image above is a unique variant of an Evolution-less Elixir Golem deck. Elixir Golem beatdown decks are typically treated as a "no skill" deck due to its low skill floor and low skill ceiling. Before the addition of certain cards, decks like these were the easiest to master; only requiring a basic grasp of the game's mechanics to win. When mastering a deck, it is important to know its in's and out's while also considering how easy it is to dominate with on the current meta.

F2P Friendly

Clash Royale tends to not be a beginner friendly game in progression especially when you're stuck in terms on how to improve your account. Most players get sidetracked in progression when the resources are not attained quickly or properly, which in turn results in a cycle of gatekeeping by players unable to push their ranks further. It is why choosing a deck, mainly focusing on its upgrades, while mastering it is the most optimal way to progress faster in the game. Once you think of a deck, you must make sure that the deck can be upgraded easily. There are tons of free-to-play (F2P) decks out there that may require a bit more skill compared to decks that have better rarities, just make sure to determine whether these decks are playable and viable from the lower leagues to the higher ones.

The cards on the image above form a previously meta deck called "Hog EQ Firecracker Cycle". This deck is a perfect example of a viable free-to-play (F2P) composition with the rarity of its cards varying towards three (3) Commons, three (3) Rares, one (1) Legendary, and one (1) Champion. The deck in turn was easily attainable while also being able to dominate during a certain time period. Hog Rider decks like any other Cycle deck usually contain cards that are dominant in the meta, easily upgradeable, and have the capability of being switched or improved repeatedly; making them the perfect kind of deck to play with as a free-to-play (F2P) player.

Kashman's video also tackles some of the golden rules of building a viable deck. Some of which include balancing card roles, and utilizing card synergies which are also covered in a different blog chapter.

FullTiltGaming's video also addresses the mistakes most players make when building a deck. It was also added that it is important to identify which archetype and win condition to base your deck around in order to excel with a viable deck.

This Chapter's Subchapters

#002.1 - Building The Right Deck: Understanding Card Rarity and Type

#002.2 - Building The Right Deck: Understanding Deck Archetypes

#002.3 - Building The Right Deck: Evaluating Card Strengths and Weaknesses

#002.4 - Building The Right Deck: Balancing Offensive and Defensive Cards

#002.5 - Building The Right Deck: Building Around Win Conditions

#002.6 - Building The Right Deck: Building Around Synergies

#002.7 - Building The Right Deck: Managing Elixir Costs

#002.8 - Building The Right Deck: Experimenting and Iterating

#002.9 - Building The Right Deck: Adapting to the Meta

#002.10 - Building The Right Deck: Mastering The Deck

#002.11 - Building The Right Deck: Building a F2P Deck

Building a strong deck in Clash Royale takes time and effort, but by considering these key factors and putting in some practice, you can build a deck that is capable of taking on any opponent as long as your reflexes and knowledge can keep up.