Hi Clash Royal fans, today we have wrxwrx here to share his amazing Giant Poison deck which helps him reach 3K. Though the deck is close to a meta deck currently, it’s all a coincidence.
Firstly, here's the deck.
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-----Replacement Cards-----
I'd be a fool if I think this deck is perfect. However, without legendaries in my hand as options, this will have to suffice. If all cards were available to me, I would probably make a few changes depending on play style.
Princess/Ice Wizard/Elixir Collecotr - Minions
Guards - Skeletons.
-----About the Deck-----
To win with such decks, you have to figure out how to overcome the opponent's Elixir Collector, and how to trade positively. Knowing when to take tower damage, and when to counter push. In this guide, hopefully you'll learn something new by the end if you even make it that far...
-----Deck Win Conditions-----
In order of priority:
Giant + Minions - This is a great combo to start especially if your opponent drops an early Elixir Collector. This requires a bridge drop of Giant, and Minions soon after. If you drop Giant to the left of bridge, and Minions to the right of bridge, often times your opponents will have to drop at least two things to contain this combo. Being land and air, they will have to best figure how to use the five Elixir they have left to counter your cards. If they don't have enough air, you can expect some good damage for eight elixir, and possibly kill any counter attacks.
Weakness to this push is Ice Wizard. His attack will buy enough time for Elixir Collector to kick in to assist in the defense. If your opponent has Ice Wizard, it's best to switch to one of the other win conditions.
Giant + Mini P - This combo is pretty deadly if you know your opponent has mid tanks as defense. This push will usually require more firepower than just these two cards, as you can expect HEAVY defense will be played when they see this combo. There is one obvious glare in the defense and that's air units. Namely Minion Horde. With that said, you cannot afford to bridge drop Giant + Mini P. You will not have enough elixir to defend against a Minion Horde drop on defense. You must start this with Giant near your crown tower, or farther back. Thus allowing you to drop Mini P after the Giant crosses the bridge. Depending on the mid tank they use, you can then choose the follow up card.
If they choose to run Mini P or Valk as defense against your Giant, Mini P + Zap can be a great tool depending on when your Mini P meets their unit. That crucial Zap can not only save a hit on your Giant, but if their unit is on chase mode, once your Mini P is in range, their unit will switch targets and start to focus on your Mini P. The Giant in this push is purely a tank to give Mini P a sliver of hope to make it to the tower with no counter. Your Mini P must live, and zapping against another Mini P is almost sure to give you the 2nd hit assuming they don't counter Zap.
If their counter is Ice Wizard, it's not as good of an idea to drop Mini P early. Since Ice Wizard will take a really long time to kill Giant. It's probably better to just let the fight play out and plan your defense. Mini P is still the best to kill opposing defending Ice Wizards, but she'll usually lose a lot of HP getting around the slow moving Giant, and pathing behind Giant to get to the Ice Wizard is not always the smoothest. By end game, the best counter to the Ice Wizard would be a Poison that just happens to catch him it the radius. A slowed Ice Wizard is manageable, and the reduced health from Poison allows Mini P to one shot the Ice Wizard which is a huge boost in tower damage potential.
Giant + Musketeer - This push isn't really ideal, and usually reserved for late game if you can. Only exception would be the start of a game, (your first card recycles REALLY early) after a counter, or late game after double elixir. (More on the value of Musketeer later in the defense section) This push usually starts from a slow push, or from a Musketeer drop from behind the king tower. The Musketeer drop at king tower serves an advantage as it switches up your rotation in your opponent's eyes. After Musketeer makes her way near bridge, you can then bridge drop Giant to shield, and that usually blocks any defenses the opponent usually plays against Musketeer instead of defense they would have played against Giant. This small change can sometimes lead to wins purely because their plan on killing Musketeer was derailed by Giant tanking, and Musketeer countering her defense. This is what Sparky players like doing, it also works well with Musketeer. Especially after eating a same level fireball. So long as she does not get touched again, the Giant can increase the overall push DPS a lot if Musketeer can continue shooting. Even if you don't get tower damage, this will usually lead to over extending the opponent's defense to gain you elixir advantage.
Mini P + Mustket - These pushes are reserved for when your opponent is dead set on a rotation that beats your Giant. This push will most likely fail, and lose you elixir. So why do it? Because your Giant is so well defended, or your rotation is so out of whack that you're better off wasting elixir to shake up your pushes. Typically, this push starts after a counter with Musketeer. Because she's slower. This allows you to not drop so much elixir immediately and have a little something left for defense. If you drop Mini P first, not only will she walk closer to her target, after defense, she'll probably have taken some damage. Thus reducing her tankiness. With her walk speed, she'll push Musketeer out sooner than you would like, and you'll be left dry with no defense options after the drop. If Mini P defended,and you can't do anything else, it's sometimes best to just hover Zap and see if you can cheat a hit in to their tower by zapping small unit distractions. The alternate is to just let Mini P die against their small unit, and typically they won't follow up, and your tower would have gotten a small refund on the exchange. Musketeer and Mini P are the two cards that is most prone to bad trades. Using them together is a very bad idea and I can't say this enough.
There will be times when the opponent either has no good answer, or they play something you can zap away that this push will hit paydirt. A player playing RG, Inferno, and some other expensive card like Elixir Collector will have a very bad hand even if they're up on elixir. That's where this combo will shine. You can hover a Zap in case they drop Inferno, and you can usually break through with this combo and still do damage to the tower. Even if Mini P can't make it, Musketeer will.
Mini P + Minion - This push is another good one, but Mini P and Minion push is usually done as a bridge drop for seven elixir. This needs to happen because both units are fast. You are counting on your opponent not reacting in time getting used to your slow Giant pushes. If you drop these guys in the back, they're both too fast to conserve defensive elixir. So make sure you aren't going to get countered heavily if you plan on using this combo.
Issue with this push is that it's very easy to counter. Ice Wizard alone will totally melt this for massive elixir loss. Fire Spirits also do a number on this combo leaving more elixir on the table for your opponent. You must understand the type of defense you're going to face if you dare use this win condition. Mini P naked / dropped at the bridge at nuetral elixir advantage is one of the fastest ways to get negative elixir trade. Naked Minions sometimes get better value. As some players find their one or two hits not worth defending. However, that means it's a negative three trade if they don't defend at all for negligible tower damage.
-----Pushing the Advantage - After Taking the First Tower-----
Giant decks like most decks grow a bit stronger after taking the first tower. Maybe not as much as Royal Giant decks, but Giants are no slouch. Most buildings become completely irrelevant once the first tower is down. Here's a few things you can do to help your chances after the first tower is down.
Change tempo - You can now start your pushes with your DPS dropped at the very back. You can pile on the DPS and before they cross the bridge, quick drop Giant at the center top square to tank both king tower and crown tower. Drop this way if you want to drop squishies after your Giant drop. Because both towers will be occupied. What this does is split the defense angles. Troops like Wizard will be less effective as they will only fight one threat instead of both. If you continue to drop Giants in front of your support at the bridge, Wizards will AoE everything in a clump. This way, a simple Zap can allow your faster supports like Mini P to go DIRECTLY to their Wizards and take them out without pathing issues behind the Giant. You still net the benefit of the tower tanking, but none of the downsides prior to being up a tower. If you don't want to tank the king tower, drop Giant one step down from the top middle spot in the corner and he'll take a few steps before being targeted. Do this if you don't plan on dropping squishies next to the Giant since he will take less hits obviously.
You can slow push with Giant behind king tower, then drop Musketeer at the square before the top middle corner as explained earlier. Do this AFTER Giant takes tower aggro. This is the same spot Royal Giant thrives in. This will avoid king tower damage, and your Musketeer will lock on to their tower in one step.
Be careful if you want to drop Mini P at the center. I would only drop Mini P at center against a building I know they'll play, or if there is a near by ranged unit by their tower towards the center. Reason being is because Mini P is so fast, she'll start to aggro king tower before the Giant makes it to the tower to aggrow king tower. Unlike Musketeer who is stationary, she will lose a lot of value tanking for nothing. If you have other units you can lock her on to, you want to drop her closer, still in the middle near the river so her angle of attack stays out of king tower range as long as possible. Mini P will head off to the opposite side if there's no target but the tower. This is why I prefer to drop her bridge side, and tank with Giant center. Musketeer really shines after a tower falls, and the win condition shifts to her a LOT if the game is tied one to one.
-----Specific Counters to Giant-----
You'll see in your travels that you'll end up with some very common Giant counters. These counters are the typical play most players will use to stop a Giant push. Below are some of the common ones, and how to prepare for them.
Barbs - These guys are notoriously over leveled for most players as they provide a lot of defense for the elixir cost. They have glaring weaknesses if they get hit by AoEs like Fireball. However, we run the next best thing, so Poison drops against this defense is ideal. However, you cannot drop Giant + Poison against a naked Barb Defense. Because that's nine elixir for five. Also, their Barbs will most likely still live to counter attack behind their own tank. Not to mention your AoE clear is already used.
If you know your opponent likes to use Barbs are a counter to your Giant. This is where the Skeletons come to shine. Backed by either a Mini P or a Musketeer, you can drop Skels before your support, and after the Barbs have dropped on your Giant. What usually happens is that the Barbs will surround your Giant, then start to leak out to the side, and finally behind the Giant. When your support reaches the Barbs (usually after a couple hits) the last two Barbs will switch target on your Skeletons. This one hit it takes to kill them gives your Mini P or Musketeer a free strike on them. Usually a Mini P hit + Skeleton can kill a single Barb in one swing. Thus making the next Mini P swing target the next Barb. To add to this, you can also Zap the Barb group while they target the Skeletons, and typically you can save one of them after two Barbs die to this distraction. The key here is that the DPS on your Giant is halved once the Barbs re-target, and usually the Giant will do good chip damage, while forcing your opponent to play sub-optimal defense on the rest of your push. This is how you gain elixir advantage, as your Mini P / Musketeer can now roam free to kill any lingering defenses they have started with. They either kill your supports and take over 200 damage / swing, or they kill your Giant allowing the support to clear their counter push. Also possibly messing up their rotation.
Inferno Tower - The dreaded Inferno pre nerf was probably the biggest issue with all tank decks. It lives too long, does too much damage, and there's no such thing as a neutral counter to it. Meaning that if you didn't have an elixir lead, you won't get past it. Now however, you have ways around this tower because of Zap. Zap resetting the damage of the tower is a huge boost to the Giant pushes. However, you cannot naked push Giant with Zap. Inferno will still win. Typically, you only Zap inferno if your Giant is already on their side, and can reach the tower before the Inferno starts up again. If the Inferno re-targets before you can punch it, it's going to kill your Giant.
You typically want to pair your Giant up with other troops to get past Inferno. This makes it so the Giant still remains a threat, and you've just killed their main Giant counter card. Here's a few combos that allow you to do this.
Giant + Skeletons - Skeletons need to be dropped AFTER the Giant. Not in front. Giant should also be dropped on the right side of the bridge, while the Skeletons on the left. If Skeletons are dropped in front, the tower will kill them before the Inferno. Skeletons are FASTER than your Giant. They WILL overtake him. You need the Giant to lock the tower up, allow the Skeletons to shoot past him, then Zap Inferno once the first Skeleton is closer to the Inferno than your Giant. This will usually warrant the opposing player to Zap your Skeletons. This is a net one elixir gain for you.
You can also do this with Minions, and you usually do this across the river favoring one side so you don't get hit by both towers. You can drop them at about the time the Giant crosses the bridge before tower aggro. This make it so the Minions are the primary target for Inferno, and your Giant will make it there to kill it before the Minion pack dies off. Usually your Giant will make it out of this fight, and maybe with the help of a Zap if need be. This once again forces your opponent to play additional defense. Usually sub optimal.
A third way is to place your Musketeer at the river on your side predicting a near river Inferno drop. This is the riskiest of the three methods, but it's also the hardest to counter. If they place the Inferno past four tiles from the river, you've just slowed your Musketeer's support speed having to walk to the bridge from the center. If it is in range say three or less tiles, your Musketeer will take damage, however you want to let her soak SOME damage before zapping the tower. This damage will be on a unit that will kill a LOT of defense that will trail the Giant if they don't address her on YOUR side of the river. Every second she soaks damage, it's extra HP for your main push. Just Zap to change the target before she gets killed off.
Giant + Mini P. This combo is just raw power. If they have no answer to this combo, a Zap can wipe the Inferno out in about two swings from Mini P after a Zap. Both the Giant and Mini P will have a LOT of health left, and is going to take a tower outright most times because of the combined damage both can do in a hurry. If you can let Mini P make it to the Inferno, this is the best counter. This is also the second best win condition from earlier.
Mini P - This was explained earlier, but you can usually counter Mini P defense like you do Barbs. Follow up your Giant with Mini P or Musket, and Skeletons. This will allow two hits on your Giant before re-targeting happens, and your Mini P will destroy theirs with usually netting no damage, or half health left. Musketeer will be the same. This however is obviously a bad choice against Valk, because she can hit everything around her. Mini P is a very easy counter once you mastered this support.
You can also use Minions as your Mini P counter. Though they will usually not kill fast enough and they would have gotten good value out of their defense. I would only do this if I had additional troops on hand like a Musketeer following. I wouldn't often suggest Minion + Skeleton because most players will react to your Minions with any AoE they have. Typically Zap / Arrows. Thus making your Skeleton drop a straight waste of elixir. Fireball can also be used, but it's rare that a player will choose to fireball Minions. If they do, you've just gained elixir advantage. Poison can be problematic if you drop too much support behind the Giant. So always keep that in mind if you play against another Poison user.
Cannon - Another popular choice. I would use much the same strategies as the Inferno here. However, you usually won't have to Zap this defense making it much weaker. However, they also cost two elixir less, so you better make sure you don't overreact.
One more thing you can do with Cannon is to poison it with tower. Typically this will form a protective bubble around your Giant due to the Cannon's placement. I would only do this if there are multiple things you can hit with Poison, ideally Elixir Collectors, or Ice Wizards. If you get lucky, you can hit two buildings, a tower, AND a unit with this push. It's nine elixir, but you done damage from poison alone, hurt their counter push, and took their Elixir Collector advantage away. They would have usually spent six plus on defense. Good trade.
Goblins - These guys might seem like a threat, but if they're going to use naked Goblins to kill your Giant, the obvious choice is to Zap. Though I wouldn't suggest it. Because your Zap is a gateway card to counter a lot of their counters. People over think Zap to be a card used to trade even with Goblins. Goblins aren't that strong especially with Poison in your deck. People who run Goblins usually will have swarm type decks which all require a massive clump which is weak to Poison. You either choose to let it fight out, get your chip damage, and Poison their counter if it's big enough. If not, let them get two hits in and their three elixir advantage. If they drop Goblins behind your Giant, you can lure them with the Skeleton at the bridge trick. If you plan on seeing Goblins, a preemptive Poison is the way to go. Reactive Poisons are slow and you can lose some health before the damage kicks in. Usually six stabs between the three Goblins. By double elixir, you'll usually have enough elixir to push with Giant AND Poison before Giant crosses the bridge. This defense will cease to be useful.
Minions / Horde - This is another popular defense. I would say you either Zap Horde, or Poison them Immediately. Poison is preferred if you can hit the tower and kill the Horde before they counter attack. Zap is ideal if you can't Poison them. If they proceed to make it across the bridge to counter, use your Skeletons to draw them towards the center away from any tanks they might throw in front, and add a Musketeer on defense. Musketeer should focus down the tank before the Horde since the Skeletons would draw two for the other tower to kill, and the DPS would be insignificant compared to the tank of their choice. Also freeing up the tower means they can finish the Horde too.
Minions aren't as big of a threat, and you can choose to ignore. Depending on the game flow, you can allow them to hit your tower without too much worry. Horde on the other hand can't be treated as such.
Pekka - Typically if you play someone with a Pekka, this might be the biggest counter to your deck. If they always play Pekka AFTER you drop Giant on the same side, you might as well abandon that push and form the Musketeer + Mini P push on the other side when time warrants. You can easily kill Pekka once it reaches your side, but you'll never kill it for positive gains on their side. Your Giant won't work if they ONLY play defensive Pekka.
If they play OFFENSIVE Pekka, then lick your chops. Because you can use your GIANT as defense against an offensive Pekka. Not in the traditional way, but this is by dropping your Giant one tile off of center towards the opposite bridge. Pekka's range will draw her to follow Giant all the way back to their other tower. Whatever support they have on the other side is easy pickings once Pekka is lured. One thing about this though, you do NOT want to place ANY units near Pekka until it is past the half way point horizontally on the map. You do NOT want Pekka to change target off Giant until it's lured away. Exception to the rule would be Minions. This is usually dropped behind Pekka once it reaches past the half way mark. They are the best DPS along with your towers on the Pekka to kill it before it reaches your Giant. Worst come the worst, you can distract with Skeletons in tower range and the Pekka would be history. Defending the support behind Pekka should be done by Musketeer on the edges of the map near your crown tower. This will put it out of aggro of Pekka without taking max damage on tower. Most players choose to run Wizard or Witch. Both of which dies to Musketeer pretty badly for positive trade. Horde will die to a Zap.
Sparky - Sparky defense is well documented, but I usually charge head first with Mini P and Zap before they can get a shot off. This typically nets you massive damage until Sparky is on your side. Sparky is mostly a bad trade on their side unless they drop too early and she peeks past the tower. If your Mini P can get to it on their side, it's almost always a good thing to kill it on their side preserving your push.
If your Mini P can't make it in time, you can always allow the Giant to take ONE shot for free, and Zap the second shot. The Zap should be used to protect Mini P. If Mini P isn't near the Giant, the Giant can take the hit and shrug it off. If they plant a Giant to distract your Mini P, don't Zap Sparky unless you can kill her on their side. Because they'll just get you on the next shot.
Usually, if they use Giant to defend their Sparky, their Giant would be so far ahead since their Sparky is stationary from aiming at your Giant or Mini P that you can kill him with just a Cannon in the middle. By time Sparky makes it to the bridge, you would have all the tools like Zap, Skeletons again to kill Sparky with. You also still have Minions you haven't played. Mini P and Musket will be cycled in a couple of cards as well. Sparky is a pretty weak defense against you if they aren't too far ahead in elixir and you have at least one of the two hard counters ready.
-----Defensive Strategies----- Importance of Musketeer - Musketeer is a very strong attacker by herself, and usually demands attention when she crosses the bridge. However, she's also one of the easiest push supports to counter in the deck. Since she can't fight cheap swarms, she is one of the best ways to lose elixir advantage. There's so many ways to counter her, and she's so vital to countering air troops in this deck that she's best used in very specific situations. I would advise saving her to counter things before pushing. She can choose to shoot units on either side of the towers from the other pushing lane. Which means she can be placed one tile to the left or the right off center, so after she kills, she will walk towards the side you want. i.e. If you have an enemy Hog on the right side, Musketeer will be dropped at the same tile as Hog vertically. She'll be dropped one tile left of the center line horizontally. This allows her six range to hit the Hog on the right, but break left after the Hog dies. This is essential to players who split push, as you can still focus all your elixir on a push on their weak side without splitting your support. It's totally viable to kill an entire Hog + Goblin push by herself in this method on a full health tower. It is a four for six trade by which she won't be wasted on the off lane. Once she's done killing (and the additional targets will allow you more time to build up elixir) she'll walk to the attack side, which you'll be up a Musketeer and two elixir. That tower damage you just given up has earned you a massive push typically in double elixir. Once you figure out your opponent's win condition, you will soon know how expendable Musketeer is. This means who you save her for. Musketeer is the best card to use for most tanky win conditions. Her range makes her stationary to build elixir on defense, and she has the highest probability to defend without getting hurt. Thus providing the highest elixir trade potential on defense.
Royal Giant - Mini P is a prime defensive card against RG, Giant, Hog, and Sparky. RG defense is well documented, you usually drop Mini P when you have elixir advantage. Don't to it so recklessly if disadvantaged. A good RG player will follow with Horde / Minions to counter your Mini P. It's best to use Skeletons if they bridge drop, or use Musketeer near center to wait for their support. Once it's safe, you can drop Mini P for the last hit or so. If you are under elixir, the Musketeer defense + tower damage trade will gain you two elixir back with a full health Musketeer. You can trade one elixir for Skeletons if you're desperate. Don't drop Cannon AND a four drop to stop RG because that's a two elixir loss. Only do it if the support warrants. Always positive trade with RG. If you overspend on defense against RG. Drop your Giant at the bridge before RG dies to start a counter push. This is a good way to not let your over extended defense go to waste. Because using two four drops against RG means they'll usually counter your Giant-less push for better rotations, or you'll feed them Elixir Collectors. Once again your two four drops are the easiest ways to lose elixir advantage.
Giant - I almost always kill Giants with Cannon. Not because of how well it works, but you need to separate him from the support. Mini P can be used near tower with Cannon because Giants will almost never come alone, unlike RG. In double elixir, it wouldn't surprise me if a second Giant shows up. Mini P staying near tower will travel as little as possible between all targets. Typically, you want to drop poison at the bridge against a huge Giant push as well. A double Giant push in double elixir usually relies on the first group of supports not dying. If you can't kill them, they will win. Usually a Zap plus poison kills many troops of the same level. So take them out early, and use Cannon to distract the Giant with Mini P to mop up.
Hog Rider - Hog can be countered by Mini P, but I vary it depending on Hog Support. If Hog is naked, a Cannon draw is best as it's a single elixir advantage. If supported by Goblins or Fire Spirits of either type, it's safe to use Mini P mid way up the road from tower. The damage from the supports will damage Mini P, but it's a four vs. six elixir trade, and you would have killed the biggest threat even if Mini P dies. You might give up a hit or two, but remember, you're not running Elixir Collector. It's more important for you to play the long game than it is for them. Once you gain the advantage, there's little a cycle deck like Hog can stop your Poison pushes.
If Hog is joined by a Mini P, you want to drop Cannon + Skeleton + Musketeer. This eight for eight, but you'll have a full health Musketeer left on the field. You can let Musketeer go naked and force them to defend, and you'll gain whatever elixir you kill on their counter. Typically people like to use small troops to counter a naked Musketeer which dies to tower. If they use a big troop, even better. If they drop a Musketeer, they'll both fight each other, and you'll probably take one hit from their Musketeer for a four elixir advantage.
Sparky - We've covered Sparky a bit earlier, so I'd simply say the best way to kill Sparky is with Zap Mini P on your side with tower. If you must, Poison Sparky near the bridge, and by time you can Zap Sparky, you want to try to aim to kill her in one hit from Mini P. Minions usually won't work as Sparky players usually follow up with Wizards. Be careful dropping Skeleton against Sparky if you don't have Zap in rotation, and if you do, don't drop Skeleton, always have one in hand against a Spary player. When dropping Skeletons, place them in the direction Sparky is facing, but away from tower, and farther away from Wizard. You want Sparky to take the shot, not Wizard. Sparky needs to rotate before firing, so don't make Sparky do a 180° before shooting, or else their Wizard will take the kill leaving Sparky fully charged. If you must, use Giant to tank the first hit and kill with Mini P. Musketeer with Poison is also viable if you can lock on. Zap Cannon can also work if it does not die too fast.
Princess - I've recently started using river Cannons to stop attacking Pricnesses (obligatory Princessi?). Most decks that run Princess won't place units in front after a successful march towards the river. They'll take whatever chip damage they can and be content. If you trade with Cannon, there's a hidden added bonus. They're a three for three trade, the Cannon goes nowhere, and this now allows you to bridge drop a Giant. If you do it on the side with Cannon, Barbs or the likes that counter Giant will be taking Cannon DPS. This coupled with any support can make quick work of Barbs. Just be careful you don't stretch yourself too thin and not have Cannon for their tanks when need be.
Miner - Skeletons, Mini P, Minions are all viable choice against Miner. However, the best defense is Musketeer if Miner is paired with Goblins of any type. There is a sweet spot where you can place Musketeer to hit all Goblins first before Miner. This means one unit stops the entire push, and the real DPS is gotten rid of first for a positive elixir trade. If they run Mini P + Miner, you want to stop Mini P with Pull Skeletons towards the middle, and Musketeer to support the Skeletons before dealing with Miner. Miner damage is usually not a threat compared to the support.
Lava Hound - This one is tricky, but I typically push Giant bridge drop with one of the win condition combos if I see this. You normally don't have to pay attention to Hounds until they blow up. So save the Musketeer, save your own Minions, Zap or Poison. There are a few types of Hound players.
Ground support - These guys run Barbs, and or many small DPS units. Always deal with the small DPS ASAP focusing on taking minimal damage, while retaining the tools to deal with Pups after the Hound dies.
There is a very big subset of this type, and that's Miner support. Make sure you are ready for the Miner with a Mini P and don't let Miner kill your Musketeer while tanking for the Pups. This is the most dangerous of the Lava Hound decks.
Air support - These guys run almost entirely full of air. Horde and Minion, Balloon, Baby D, etc. Musket is a complete must here. You will have to save everything from Zap, Poison, and Musketeer here to stand a chance. You will at times have to tank with pull Skeletons to avoid excessive damage. Giant can win the day and form a counter push against Pups. Drop Giant in front of the tower before the Hound dies. Then tower plus Musketeer mops up to form the perfect follow distance for support. Poison once Giant makes it to the bridge, and ignore tower damage with Poison. Because most players will drop Horde as close to bridge as possible to avoid Poison. Once in poison, Musketeer one shots equal level Minion / Horde. Follow up with your own Minions to retain air dominance. Mini P if possible last.
Spell support - These players typically run Arrows, Fireball, or Freeze. They typically bait out your air defenses, and or your Musketeer and plan on nuking them before the explosion. You have to play smart here. As in you know what's coming, so drop your weaker counters FIRST, then drop the REAL counters after they waste their spell. The other surefire way to combat this is with Poison. Poison can't be stopped by spells, so you can just drop it when you kill the Hound and Pups all in one go. A skilled spell support player will usually bait out your AoE with Minions or other high pressure fast squishies. You're going to have to plan ahead to figure which unit you'll use to fight the bait. This is very situational.
Three Musketeers - Really deadly card as you don't have much quick options to deal with them, especially on their end of the map behind towers. At equal level, Poison and Zap can kill them after the full ten seconds have elapsed, but that can be very deadly to your push and your health. If they make it on your side, and you have neither spell, it can be very hard to counter at all. In the most dire situations, a Zap + Skeleton + Min P quick drop might have to suffice. Hopefully the Musketeers will waste a couple shots on the Skeletons, and hopefully your Mini P can kill two. Still, be very careful when dealing with this card, because they've basically locked up your Poison spell for the duration of the game pretty much. Not only that, but you have to hit them early.
-----Aggressiveness Level-----
This deck has all the potential to three crown someone. However, most decks you play around 3K will also have the same effect. When you are playing an opponent, I would heavily suggest taking both crown towers before taking the king. Reason being is because Giants takes a lot longer to get to king tower than crown tower. Not only that, but pushing on the empty lane provides no pressure if they can defend. Pushing on tower lanes puts pressure on the defender with less defend-able real estate to work with. Often times you can over extend on the three crown and totally get a pincer pulled on you on the weak side. Or you set yourself up for split lane pushes.
If you are down a tower, you better make sure you know your opponent's rotation, and be aware what can drop from the middle. I've gotten pretty good at protecting against RG as I rotate Cannon, Musketeer, and Mini P to always drop within range of the center spot. I don't plan on attacking anymore if I'm up, and I just rotate my cards to always have a preferred defense the center spot. I will always march my Giant to clear cycle him out of my hand after an advantageous trade on the side they'll attack from to delay their push. Then drop Poison if they clump up.
Make sure you understand if you are up, and you drop a Giant, you have literally given them five elixir to go all in with. After being up one nothing, you want to drop Giant no farther back than equal to crown tower. You need to make sure if they show up in that lane, he's at least tanking right away for your tower. Not only that, but usually in double elixir, a full king tower drop is too slow and far. You only play Giant after if you quickly killed their win condition while protecting a tower for the win. A non-fighting five elixir advantage should only be used if you can secure a tower after losing yours. Otherwise play it safe. There are better double elixir decks out there than this one.
-----In Closing-----
I'm not sure if I covered everything I wanted, but I know I've gotten a lot covered enough to hopefully help some of you out there improve your Giant decks. I can probably go more in depth with each card still believe it or not, but honestly, you slowly learn that by feel / mistakes. The trickiest thing again is learning how to play without Elixir Collector which most meta Giant decks or meta decks in general are running. Do I think it's better without Elixir Collector? No, not really. So why do I play without it? Because it gives people less opportunity to Fireball your support and collector. If you have a collector out, and you drop your Musketeer, you can bet your ass you'll get Fireballed. The opponent can get much better trades on their AoE spells when you have to defend tower and Collector. It's a different style of play, but ultimately, if you have a Collector and you can defend it well, I think it'll be a better choice to run with it. It's just too powerful.
Well below you'll see the games I promised. Note there are a LOT of spot-able mistakes in each of these games. Again I'm not the best player, and I'm still learning. Thing is though, it's not always about playing the perfect game, but being able to spot the mistakes and slowly correct them. Again, I'm not showing the losses I have because they're mainly really bad mistakes which does not show how to play this deck correctly. To someone who does not understand the proper way to play this deck, they won't learn from bad plays.
Anywho, hope you all enjoyed this guide! The following videos will be listed in trophy order from my recent games. Games also have no sound because Android lacks a good option that isn't mic audio.
Thanks
wrxwrx for sharing such an informative guide with us. This guide first appeared on
Reddit, check more replays there.
