This month, the partnership between Chess.com and Supercell has resulted in an exciting and enjoyable crossover between the strategic worlds of chess and Clash Royale. My name is Joseph Wan, and I hold the titles of FIDE candidate master and U.S. national master. Additionally, I am a passionate Clash Royale player, having achieved the Ultimate Champion League three times in recent months. I am here to present a chess player’s perspective on Clash Royale.

A Goblin master, a ruler of shadows, and endless timelines… refine your tactics with our Chess Clash #animation ✨ ✨ #ClashRaidsChess pic.twitter.com/0hy1txPGtW

— Clash Royale (@ClashRoyale) September 7, 2023

Contents:

  • What exactly is Clash Royale?
  • 1. Create a Balanced Deck
  • 2. Pursue Beneficial Elixir Transactions!
  • 3. Place Cycle Cards at the BACK, Not at the FRONT!
  • 4. Avoid Triggering Your Opponent’s King Tower!
  • 5. Effectively Handle Your Elixir
  • 6. Tallying Cycles and Elixir
  • 7. Understand How to Identify Deck Archetypes
  • 8. Have fun!

What exactly is Clash Royale?

Before we dive into the action, let’s take a moment to introduce Clash Royale: a mobile strategy game that revolves around tower defense, typically played between two participants. Each player controls three towers, consisting of two Princess Towers and a single King Tower. Players deploy troops and cast spells to battle against each other, aiming to destroy the most towers within a three-minute timeframe. If the match ends in a tie after three minutes, a two-minute overtime period ensues, and the player who destroys the next tower claims victory.

In an arena, competitors engage in battle using decks composed of eight cards. Each card can represent a troop, a spell, or a building. At present, Clash Royale features a total of 109 different troop and spell types, offering a vast opportunity for imaginative strategies!

In order to play a card, you must utilize the battle resource known as elixir. Each player begins with five elixir and gains an additional elixir every few seconds, with a cap of 10. Each card comes with its own elixir cost, requiring you to strategize wisely when managing your resources.

Similar to chess, conflicts take place on a “grid” consisting of various squares. It’s essential to recognize that this grid features two pathways, and units will consistently navigate through one of these pathways.

Engaging in critical thinking while playing can enhance your skills in Clash Royale and improve your chess abilities too! Here are five essential tips for novice Clash Royale players!

1. Create a Balanced Deck

Creativity is welcomed in Clash Royale, but adhering to specific guidelines is essential for constructing a deck that will thrive over time. Similar to chess, where unconventional moves like 1. e4 a6!? are typically avoided unless you’re a top player like GM Magnus Carlsen or GM Hikaru Nakamura, the deck you select influences your gameplay in the arena. Here are some strategies for creating an effective deck in Clash Royale.

Select a victory condition: A victory condition refers to a card that focuses on attacking towers or structures. Three fundamental examples include the Giant, Royal Giant, and Hog Rider.

Powerful ground units with significant damage output include the Prince, Mini PEKKA, and similar troops.

Splash damage: The Baby Dragon is an excellent card.

Aerial Assistance: It’s essential to allocate one or two cards specifically for engaging airborne units!

A single structure: Structures primarily serve as defensive assets that can divert the opponent’s path to victory; my personal favorite is the Goblin Cage.

For newcomers, I generally suggest using one powerful spell costing 4 or more elixir and one smaller spell costing 3 elixir or less. A great starting combo is the Fireball (4 elixir) paired with Zap (2 elixir).

Here’s a deck I put together based on those principles, which would be suitable for beginners.

Understanding the aforementioned “beginner” deck is similar to a chess player initially exploring the Italian Game—it’s a fundamental arrangement that adheres to the essential opening strategies and helps you grasp the crucial elements of the game. As you progress and expand your card collection, here are two of my preferred decks that you might want to experiment with later on!

2. Pursue Beneficial Elixir Transactions!

The term “positive elixir trade,” introduced by well-known Clash YouTuber OJ, who recently participated in the Chess Clash event, describes the strategy of using a smaller elixir investment to eliminate a larger elixir investment from the opponent. This concept is similar to achieving a favorable trade in chess, like capturing a rook in exchange for a bishop. Unlike chess, where captured pieces are permanently removed from the game, elixir in Clash continues to regenerate. However, consistently achieving positive elixir trades against your opponent can lead to incremental advantages that accumulate over the course of the match.

Here’s an illustration of a substantial trade involving a beneficial elixir:

In this situation, the adversary has committed a substantial 10 elixir to their offensive move, allocating five for the barbarians and another five for the minion horde. However, we have a fireball ready, which only requires four elixir. By using this spell, we can eliminate both the barbarians and the minions, achieving a positive elixir trade of six.

3. Place Cycle Cards at the BACK, Not at the FRONT!

In every game, there comes a moment when we feel uncertain about our next move. When the action slows down, consider cycling a card from the back, near your king tower! This strategy is particularly effective for support cards. For instance, if you deploy a support card such as the musketeer near the bridge, your opponent can quickly eliminate it with their towers and any troops they deploy, resulting in a favorable elixir exchange for them.

One more reason why it’s often advantageous to cycle a card at the back is that your elixir will accumulate while that unit advances toward the opponent’s side, enabling you to create a stronger push instead of deploying a single troop.

4. Avoid Triggering Your Opponent’s King Tower!

Many newcomers to Clash Royale often make this error! In the early stages of the game, the only towers that can engage in combat are the Princess Towers, unless the King Tower has taken damage. While it might be tempting to use a fireball to damage both the Princess and King Towers, this is a mistake! Doing so activates the enemy King Tower, providing your opponent with an additional defensive unit.

In a chess match, when an adversary’s piece is confined, would you choose to allow it to escape? FM Rayan Taghizadeh executed this brilliantly against me during the 2017 SuperNationals. Starting from move 23, my light-squared bishop is permanently ensnared!

5. Effectively Handle Your Elixir

Similar to how you handle your time in a game of chess, effectively managing your elixir is crucial. You should avoid depleting your elixir to zero by deploying troops the moment you have enough, as this will leave you vulnerable to your opponent’s attacks. Conversely, holding onto 10 elixir is not advisable, as you cannot accumulate excess elixir, leading to a waste of resources, a phenomenon referred to as “leaking elixir.” By managing your elixir wisely, you will be better equipped to determine the optimal moments to defend and when to launch your attacks (more details on this will follow)!

If you’re already familiar with many (or all) of these concepts, here are a few advanced suggestions:

6. Tallying Cycles and Elixir

Mastering this aspect can be challenging, yet it is crucial for improving your gameplay. Once you play a card, you must play four additional cards before that initial card returns to your hand. This rule applies to all cards throughout the match, including your opponent’s. Consequently, you can consistently monitor the cards your opponent holds.

It’s advisable to monitor your opponent’s responses to your victory strategy, along with their own win conditions or particularly troublesome cards. For instance, if your opponent plays their win condition, the Giant, you can be certain they won’t be able to summon Giant again until they have played four additional cards.

Monitoring your elixir is crucial, and this builds upon the initial advice of effectively managing your elixir. With the elixir bar capped at 10, you can easily determine when your opponent has depleted their elixir. If you find yourself with a significant amount of elixir at that moment, it indicates a substantial elixir advantage, presenting a perfect chance for you to launch an attack!

Check out this excellent video that explains how to tally elixirs and cards.

7. Understand How to Identify Deck Archetypes

Identifying your adversary’s deck by observing a handful of cards can enable you to take a proactive approach and adjust your strategy to effectively counter them. As you explore the realm of playing and viewing Clash Royale, you will likely encounter several popular combinations, such as Golem paired with Night Witch, Giant or Goblin Giant alongside Sparky, and Lava Hound with Balloon.

Several archetypes that seasoned Clash Royale players will recognize are: Splashyard, which features a mix of area damage units like Baby Dragon, Ice Wizard, Poison, and Tornado, paired with the Graveyard; Spell Bait, a strategy that utilizes cards like Goblin Gang, Goblin Barrel, and Princess to lure out the opponent’s log spell; and Beatdown, which encompasses any deck that relies on a high elixir win condition, such as those centered around Golem, Giant, or Electro Giant.

Certainly, there are numerous additional examples, but becoming adept at identifying these pairs and archetypes within the arena will significantly enhance your gameplay and keep you alert. This is akin to understanding your opponent’s strategies in chess, being aware of their objectives, and adjusting your approach accordingly.

8. Have fun!

Similar to Chess, receiving endless coaching won’t lead to improvement if you don’t actively participate in the game! Through my own experiences, I’ve gained valuable insights by playing, identifying my errors, and implementing strategies more effectively in subsequent matches. Additionally, I’ve found that watching videos during my free time has been incredibly beneficial. Below, I’ve included links to some of my favorite Clash Royale content creators:

  • MOLT
  • SK Morten
  • B-rad
  • Surgical Goblin, the champion of the 2019 World Clash Royale tournament.
  • Mugi, the reigning champion of the 2021 World CR competition.
  • Mohamed Light, the reigning champion of the 2022 World CR competition.

I trust that this guide has been useful as you embark on your adventure in Clash Royale (or perhaps just as an enjoyable and easy read!). Although Chess has always been my primary focus in terms of serious gaming, I’ve discovered that my skills in Chess have contributed to my success in Clash Royale. To wrap things up, I want to share an incredible match—the most remarkable Clash Royale game to date, which took place during the 2019 Clash Royale League World Finals, featuring the eventual World Champion, Surgical Goblin, and one of the game’s top players, Morten. Isn’t that thrilling?