Hey guys, it's Q again, and today I'm back with yet another awesome deck. Within the course of the last 90 days, I was fortunate enough to go from having 0 Legendaries to all of them except for the Princess. Thus, I've had the chance to experiment a lot more with different decks in Clash Royale. And today, I bring you one of the most powerful decks I have ever set my eyes upon: Air-Fecta.
The Deck
NOTE: I just upgraded my Lava Hound to level 2 this morning; a level 1 Hound will do just fine in this deck.
9-10/7/3-4/1 Cards are enough to comfortably sit in Arena 9.
NOTE: This deck requires at least 3 Legendaries: Lava Hound, Inferno Dragon, and Miner. However, I will give you multiple card options for those looking to fit more Legendaries in the deck. The most you can viably put in this deck is 5 Legendaries. Any more and the deck starts to lose a lot of synergy.
Card Breakdown
The Main Push
The main push is hard to achieve before Double Elixir, especially if you’re playing against a Miner/Hog cycle deck that will throw down a push in the other lane as soon as you spawn your Lava Hound, but it is by far the most devastating push in this deck. Think of this deck as an air-based P.E.K.K.A Double Prince deck: chances are, you won’t be able to make the full 16 Elixir push before Double Elixir, let alone the extra 6 Elixir required for Poison and Zap (22 Elixir total). This deck’s full push actually costs as much as 27 Elixir, though considering the fact that the Miner and Poison don’t have to be sent in till very late in the push, the initial investment is only 20 Elixir.
Start with a Lava Hound in one of the very back corners of the map. You may have to do a small defense if your opponent gets cocky… no big deal. After a little while—just about when the Lava Hound crosses in front of your own Arena Tower—spawn the Inferno Dragon. It is important that the Inferno Dragon is in between the Lava Hound and Baby Dragon, because then he can’t be targeted from the front, nor distracted from behind. Wait as long as possible before spawning the Baby Dragon; as he has a faster movement speed, he has the ability to speed past both the Inferno Dragon and Lava Hound. To give him as little chance as possible to do that, spawn him only just before the Lava Hound crosses the bridge, behind the Inferno Dragon. If you have the Elixir for it, Mega Minion functions amazingly as an additional support troop, able to take out a Musketeer or Wizard long before the Baby Dragon or Inferno Dragon can.
Respond to swarm troops with Poison and/or Zap. If your opponent doesn’t spawn something like a Minion Horde before the Hound and both Dragons get to the Tower, now would be a good time to throw down Poison. This limits your opponent’s ability to throw down something like a Minion Horde for another 10 seconds. To minimize damage done, I would recommend you Zap any Minions, even if they are being Poisoned, as they are able to kill both Dragons and the Mega Minion before they die.
Finally, when your Lava Hound is almost done for (assuming your Inferno Dragon hasn’t melted he Tower to the ground yet), place your Miner along the outward-facing side of the Tower. If your opponent’s Tower is already down, then feel free to place the Miner on the King Tower to further the devastation of your push.
The Miner Mini-Pushes
I won’t spend too much time talking about these. I usually only use these if (1) I have a bad starting hand, and need to cycle to my Lava Hound, or (2) want to take down a tower that has <500 Hitpoints left on it.
The following cards work well with a Miner Mini-Push:
Defense
Tank + Musketeer / Wizard / Sparky / Witch / Bowler / etc. (Giant Beatdown Deck, Golem Deck)
Start by placing down the Inferno Dragon just behind your Arena Tower. As soon as the Musketeer / Wizard lock on to the tower, have your Mega Minion take them out (sometimes you can get away with having the Musketeer / Wizard target your Mega Minion instead. It’s a bit more risky, but saves some Hitpoints on your tower). If it’s a Witch, use one of your spells or the Baby Dragon to take out her Skeletons and have the Witch itself target your Mega Minion right away, as her damage is pretty weak. If it’s Sparky, you may have to Zap her if you don’t spawn your Mega Minion quickly enough. If it’s the Bowler, just throw down your Mega Minion, as the Bowler doesn’t target air. If your Inferno Dragon somehow dies, be ready with the Mini P.E.K.K.A.
Tank + Three Musketeers
This one’s a bit trickier, as Three Musketeers is any air deck’s worst nightmare. In a pinch, you can always use the Lava Hound to tank their shots for quite a bit (hopefully while you whittle them down), but that’s less than ideal. Usually you wan’t to Zap + Poison them for a +3 Elixir trade, then take out the tank as usual. If your Inferno Dragon somehow dies, be ready with the Mini P.E.K.K.A.
Hog Rider / Miner + Support
The Mini P.E.K.K.A and Mega Minion are both great ways to deal with Hog Riders / Miners. As for the support, either let your Mini P.E.K.K.A / Mega Minion take them out too, or use the Baby Dragon if they are Swarm troops. On some occasions, you may need to use either Zap or Poison as well (most notably: Miner + Minion Horde when your Baby Dragon isn’t in rotation).
P.E.K.K.A Double Prince
Definitely one of the trickier match-ups, as this deck doesn’t really have any distraction troops and neither the P.E.K.K.A nor the Princes target air troops. Start with the Inferno Dragon, as always, and make sure it targets the P.E.K.K.A, NOT the Princes. In the meantime, have a Mega Minion whittle away at one of the Princes. Once the P.E.K.K.A is gone, spawn a Mini P.E.K.K.A to take out the surviving Prince. If the Dark Prince is left, then the Mini P.E.K.K.A will survive with a decent amount of health left. If the Prince is left, then the Mini P.E.K.k.A won’t fare to well.
Lava Hound + Miner
This can be countered for as little as 7 Elixir (+3 trade). Spawn a Mega Minion to attack the Lava Hound. As soon as your opponent’s Miner gets sent across the way and the Lava Hound dies, either spawn a Poison or Baby Dragon to kill off the Pups. The Miner by itself does a pathetic amount of damage, and the leftover Mega Minion and/or Baby Dragon will further shorten its lifespan.
GiLoon or LavaLoon
This push costs as little as 13 Elixir, but it can be countered easily for 7 (+6 trade), or riskily for 4 (+9 trade).
Safe way: Start by placing your Inferno Dragon, being sure to have it target the Giant / Lava Hound. Next, place your Mega Minion to destroy the Balloon. This isn’t as easy as it sounds, and I highly recommend you check out this excerpt of Orange Juice’s Intro to Mega Minion, which teaches you when and where to place the Mega Minion to make sure it takes out the Balloon before the Balloon reaches the Tower.
Risky way: Place your Inferno Dragon, making sure it targets the Balloon. As the Mega Minion and Inferno Dragon have the same movement speed, I highly recommend you use the same placement as in OJ’s Mega Minion video above. This is more risky, as a well-timed Zap spell from your opponent will allow the Balloon to reach the tower and get a hit off, however this strategy is when you’re in a pinch.
Want more of these?
Just ask! These are some of the more popular strategies, and I trust that most of you have some ability to figure out how to defend against other types of decks. However, if you find a deck that you just can’t figure out how to counter, just make a comment below! I will respond to it, and possibly put it here as well for everyone else to see.
The Counter-Pushes
Most Elixir trades with an air-based deck end in your favor, believe it or not. The Inferno Dragon costs one less than its building-based counterpart, the Baby Dragon almost always ends up with nearly full health, and the Mega Minion can make insane trades against 4+ Elixir cards (Giant, Bowler, Mini P.E.K.K.A, Sparky, etc.). If you have the Elixir for it, dropping a Lava Hound in front of any leftover air troops is going to be your best bet. Even if your opponent manages to kill all of the leftovers, you still have a ripe opportunity to do a full Lava + Miner push. If you don’t have the Elixir to spawn a Lava Hound in time, the Miner is always a great option as well. Any troops in this deck, with the exception of a lone Inferno Dragon, have an uncanny ability to make a great counter-push, and you better be using that to your advantage. That’s all I really have to say about this!
Gameplay
It’s been sped up and sliced to fit all 9 battles into an 11 minute period. I didn’t have time to make a voice-over, so it may be a tad boring to watch. Sorry about that!
You may notice that I am using this deck, not the one being described in the post. That’s because all footage in the video was recordedbefore I decided to swap out my Ice Wizard for Mini P.E.K.K.A. The basic strategy is still very much the same; the only real difference is some defensive plays.
Conclusion
What do you think of the deck? Like it? Dislike it? Strong? Weak? Tough? Easy? Don't forget to leave a comment down below! As always, this is Q, and see you in the Arena.
Thanks QuaternionsRock for sharing such an informative deck guide with us, this deck first appeared on Reddit.
More Related
Clash Royale Guides for Arena 7-8
Clash Royale Guides for Legendary Arena
>>> Like Our Clash Royale Facebook Page for latest guides and updates.
The Deck
NOTE: I just upgraded my Lava Hound to level 2 this morning; a level 1 Hound will do just fine in this deck.
9-10/7/3-4/1 Cards are enough to comfortably sit in Arena 9.
NOTE: This deck requires at least 3 Legendaries: Lava Hound, Inferno Dragon, and Miner. However, I will give you multiple card options for those looking to fit more Legendaries in the deck. The most you can viably put in this deck is 5 Legendaries. Any more and the deck starts to lose a lot of synergy.
Card Breakdown
- (7) Lava Hound: This is one of your main tanks, as well as one of your main damage dealers. Throw any air troop behind a Lava Hound and you have a fairly decent push. Once the Hound dies, the Lava Pups become one of your main damage dealers, and your Miner subs in as your main tank. The Hound is truly a scary-powerful card, regardless of how innocent its 37 Damage per second looks.
- (4) Inferno Dragon: The new kid on the block. Can really tear Arena Towers to shreds with adequate support. With a Lava Hound in front of it and a Baby Dragon and/or Mega Minion behind it, it stands an astoundingly high chance of reaching the tower with a good amount of Hitpoints left. But really, the Inferno Dragon is a defensive weapon. It has the uncanny ability to melt nearly all tanks to the ground before they get a chance to lock on the tower. Since no tanks target air, you then have a ripe counter-push opportunity with a full health Inferno Dragon.
- (4) Baby Dragon: This card is truly fun to play. With its modest Hitpoints, it doesn't look like much, but its fun to watch as it chips away at Minions, Guards, Goblins, Fire Spirits, Barbarians... pretty much any horde troop. Fantastic defensive card. Can also be thrown down with a Miner on the tower for a nice mini-push. Substantially better with Miner than the Mega Minion because of its faster speed, giving it more of a chance to lob fireballs at the Tower before the Miner dies.
- (3) Miner: Probably one of the most universally hated cards there is. "Oh look, a weaker Knight that can be deployed anywhere." You'd best be using that to your advantage. The Miner can turn the scraps of pretty much any defense into a brilliant counter-push. As you may have noticed, this deck is a heavily modified version of the classic Lava-Miner strategy. That basic strategy is still very useful in this deck—the only difference is that the Lava Pups aren't your only win condition in this deck. The Miner also functions as a cheap distraction when you're in a pinch.
- (3) Mega Minion: Another new kid on the block. The Mega Minion is honestly way better than individual Minions will ever be, and it especially shows in this deck. Not only is it a great defensive troop—able to take out a Musketeer while the Inferno Dragon is melting a hole in the Giant right in front of her—but he functions very well behind the Lava Hound too. His slower Speed is actually an advantage: while there is a good chance that some Minions will fly past the Lava Hound and get shot to death, the Mega Minion is pretty much unable to do so.
- (4) Mini P.E.K.K.A: When your air troops fail you and you really need a strong troop that can be targeted ground troops (i.e. the Prince) , you put down this bad boy. Also, if your Inferno Dragon ever gets shot down by a Musketeer or gets Zapped incessantly, The Mini P.E.K.K.A is an awesome plan B.
OR
(4) Lumberjack: I honestly haven't experimented much with this guy, but as he is usually a good Mini P.E.K.K.A replacement, I don't see what could go wrong. He's also usually a better candidate than Mini P.E.K.K.A to go on mini-pushes than Miner, as he is a lot better against swarm troops. Raged Lava Pups, raged Mega Minion, raged Miner, and raged Inferno Dragon are all very scary things—even on their own—so the Lumberjack could have a good use in this deck. It IS, however, significantly less useful than Mini P.E.K.K.A against tanks as a plan B.
OR
(3) Ice Wizard: My original rendition of this deck actually used Ice Wizard instead of Mini P.E.K.K.A. It goes really well with any Miner-based mini-push, furthering the devastation by slowing their defense significantly. It's also pretty okay at killing Minions and Gobs, although slower than ideal. I made the switch to Mini P.E.K.K.A after realizing that I was usually just using Ice Wizard as a pathetic meat shield or using him to mitigate the damage done by Hog Rider pushes when my Mega Minion wasn’t in rotation. Plus, I was leaving the entire fate of my Tower on my Inferno Dragon's ability to take out the Giant before the Inferno Dragon got taken out itself... a bet that was lost more times than I would have hoped. So, a Mini P.E.K.K.A—taking a more direct stance against any oncoming push—had a lot more success. - (2) Zap: This card is so crucial nowadays that I'm not even going to bother explaining why its necessary.
- (4) Poison: This card is stupid powerful right now. Destroys the Minion Horde for a +1 Elixir trade, slows down any opposing troop it touches, and makes a really eerie sound effect. This card + Miner does a stupid amount of damage to the Tower while limiting your opponent's ability to kill the Miner with the usual suspects (Guards, Goblins, Minions, etc.). Lava Hound and Miner + Poison towards the end of the Lava Hound's life is absolutely devastating, and that isn't even this deck's main push.
OR
(3) Princess: If I had the Princess, I would probably end up using her here. She is just as powerful against swarm troops like the Minion Horde and Goblins, but she's also great at passively doing damage and getting troops off the Inferno Dragon's back. I don't have much else to say about her here because I've never personally tried it, but I struggle to see how or why she wouldn't work here.
OR
(2) Rage: Not really sure why you would use a Rage spell here (especially if you have the Lumberjack in here as well), but it's a somewhat valid option nonetheless. While Poison's and Princess's uncanny ability to wreck swarm troops is immeasurably useful, the Rage spell is a pretty cheap way to add 500+ damage to pretty much any push. I wouldn't recommend using it, but if you one of the few that play better with Rage than with Poison, all the power to you.
The Main Push
The main push is hard to achieve before Double Elixir, especially if you’re playing against a Miner/Hog cycle deck that will throw down a push in the other lane as soon as you spawn your Lava Hound, but it is by far the most devastating push in this deck. Think of this deck as an air-based P.E.K.K.A Double Prince deck: chances are, you won’t be able to make the full 16 Elixir push before Double Elixir, let alone the extra 6 Elixir required for Poison and Zap (22 Elixir total). This deck’s full push actually costs as much as 27 Elixir, though considering the fact that the Miner and Poison don’t have to be sent in till very late in the push, the initial investment is only 20 Elixir.
Start with a Lava Hound in one of the very back corners of the map. You may have to do a small defense if your opponent gets cocky… no big deal. After a little while—just about when the Lava Hound crosses in front of your own Arena Tower—spawn the Inferno Dragon. It is important that the Inferno Dragon is in between the Lava Hound and Baby Dragon, because then he can’t be targeted from the front, nor distracted from behind. Wait as long as possible before spawning the Baby Dragon; as he has a faster movement speed, he has the ability to speed past both the Inferno Dragon and Lava Hound. To give him as little chance as possible to do that, spawn him only just before the Lava Hound crosses the bridge, behind the Inferno Dragon. If you have the Elixir for it, Mega Minion functions amazingly as an additional support troop, able to take out a Musketeer or Wizard long before the Baby Dragon or Inferno Dragon can.
Respond to swarm troops with Poison and/or Zap. If your opponent doesn’t spawn something like a Minion Horde before the Hound and both Dragons get to the Tower, now would be a good time to throw down Poison. This limits your opponent’s ability to throw down something like a Minion Horde for another 10 seconds. To minimize damage done, I would recommend you Zap any Minions, even if they are being Poisoned, as they are able to kill both Dragons and the Mega Minion before they die.
Finally, when your Lava Hound is almost done for (assuming your Inferno Dragon hasn’t melted he Tower to the ground yet), place your Miner along the outward-facing side of the Tower. If your opponent’s Tower is already down, then feel free to place the Miner on the King Tower to further the devastation of your push.
The Miner Mini-Pushes
I won’t spend too much time talking about these. I usually only use these if (1) I have a bad starting hand, and need to cycle to my Lava Hound, or (2) want to take down a tower that has <500 Hitpoints left on it.
The following cards work well with a Miner Mini-Push:
- Poison
- Mini P.E.K.K.A / Lumberjack / Ice Wizard
- Poison / Princess / Rage(?)
- Mega Minion
- Baby Dragon
- Zap
Defense
Tank + Musketeer / Wizard / Sparky / Witch / Bowler / etc. (Giant Beatdown Deck, Golem Deck)
Start by placing down the Inferno Dragon just behind your Arena Tower. As soon as the Musketeer / Wizard lock on to the tower, have your Mega Minion take them out (sometimes you can get away with having the Musketeer / Wizard target your Mega Minion instead. It’s a bit more risky, but saves some Hitpoints on your tower). If it’s a Witch, use one of your spells or the Baby Dragon to take out her Skeletons and have the Witch itself target your Mega Minion right away, as her damage is pretty weak. If it’s Sparky, you may have to Zap her if you don’t spawn your Mega Minion quickly enough. If it’s the Bowler, just throw down your Mega Minion, as the Bowler doesn’t target air. If your Inferno Dragon somehow dies, be ready with the Mini P.E.K.K.A.
Tank + Three Musketeers
This one’s a bit trickier, as Three Musketeers is any air deck’s worst nightmare. In a pinch, you can always use the Lava Hound to tank their shots for quite a bit (hopefully while you whittle them down), but that’s less than ideal. Usually you wan’t to Zap + Poison them for a +3 Elixir trade, then take out the tank as usual. If your Inferno Dragon somehow dies, be ready with the Mini P.E.K.K.A.
Hog Rider / Miner + Support
The Mini P.E.K.K.A and Mega Minion are both great ways to deal with Hog Riders / Miners. As for the support, either let your Mini P.E.K.K.A / Mega Minion take them out too, or use the Baby Dragon if they are Swarm troops. On some occasions, you may need to use either Zap or Poison as well (most notably: Miner + Minion Horde when your Baby Dragon isn’t in rotation).
P.E.K.K.A Double Prince
Definitely one of the trickier match-ups, as this deck doesn’t really have any distraction troops and neither the P.E.K.K.A nor the Princes target air troops. Start with the Inferno Dragon, as always, and make sure it targets the P.E.K.K.A, NOT the Princes. In the meantime, have a Mega Minion whittle away at one of the Princes. Once the P.E.K.K.A is gone, spawn a Mini P.E.K.K.A to take out the surviving Prince. If the Dark Prince is left, then the Mini P.E.K.K.A will survive with a decent amount of health left. If the Prince is left, then the Mini P.E.K.k.A won’t fare to well.
Lava Hound + Miner
This can be countered for as little as 7 Elixir (+3 trade). Spawn a Mega Minion to attack the Lava Hound. As soon as your opponent’s Miner gets sent across the way and the Lava Hound dies, either spawn a Poison or Baby Dragon to kill off the Pups. The Miner by itself does a pathetic amount of damage, and the leftover Mega Minion and/or Baby Dragon will further shorten its lifespan.
GiLoon or LavaLoon
This push costs as little as 13 Elixir, but it can be countered easily for 7 (+6 trade), or riskily for 4 (+9 trade).
Safe way: Start by placing your Inferno Dragon, being sure to have it target the Giant / Lava Hound. Next, place your Mega Minion to destroy the Balloon. This isn’t as easy as it sounds, and I highly recommend you check out this excerpt of Orange Juice’s Intro to Mega Minion, which teaches you when and where to place the Mega Minion to make sure it takes out the Balloon before the Balloon reaches the Tower.
Risky way: Place your Inferno Dragon, making sure it targets the Balloon. As the Mega Minion and Inferno Dragon have the same movement speed, I highly recommend you use the same placement as in OJ’s Mega Minion video above. This is more risky, as a well-timed Zap spell from your opponent will allow the Balloon to reach the tower and get a hit off, however this strategy is when you’re in a pinch.
Want more of these?
Just ask! These are some of the more popular strategies, and I trust that most of you have some ability to figure out how to defend against other types of decks. However, if you find a deck that you just can’t figure out how to counter, just make a comment below! I will respond to it, and possibly put it here as well for everyone else to see.
The Counter-Pushes
Most Elixir trades with an air-based deck end in your favor, believe it or not. The Inferno Dragon costs one less than its building-based counterpart, the Baby Dragon almost always ends up with nearly full health, and the Mega Minion can make insane trades against 4+ Elixir cards (Giant, Bowler, Mini P.E.K.K.A, Sparky, etc.). If you have the Elixir for it, dropping a Lava Hound in front of any leftover air troops is going to be your best bet. Even if your opponent manages to kill all of the leftovers, you still have a ripe opportunity to do a full Lava + Miner push. If you don’t have the Elixir to spawn a Lava Hound in time, the Miner is always a great option as well. Any troops in this deck, with the exception of a lone Inferno Dragon, have an uncanny ability to make a great counter-push, and you better be using that to your advantage. That’s all I really have to say about this!
Gameplay
It’s been sped up and sliced to fit all 9 battles into an 11 minute period. I didn’t have time to make a voice-over, so it may be a tad boring to watch. Sorry about that!
You may notice that I am using this deck, not the one being described in the post. That’s because all footage in the video was recordedbefore I decided to swap out my Ice Wizard for Mini P.E.K.K.A. The basic strategy is still very much the same; the only real difference is some defensive plays.
Conclusion
What do you think of the deck? Like it? Dislike it? Strong? Weak? Tough? Easy? Don't forget to leave a comment down below! As always, this is Q, and see you in the Arena.
Thanks QuaternionsRock for sharing such an informative deck guide with us, this deck first appeared on Reddit.
More Related
Clash Royale Guides for Arena 7-8
Clash Royale Guides for Legendary Arena
>>> Like Our Clash Royale Facebook Page for latest guides and updates.