Clash Royale: The best common, rare and epic cards to mix up the deck

SuperCell's Clash Royale has been receiving a warm response from players, especially those who are fans of Clash of Clans, the developer's most popular game. Although Clash Royale is relatively new and came to Android and iOS only recently, players have been up and ahead, spending a considerable amount of time on the game.

While Clash Royale is a strategic game and one can only excel as they keep playing, we can help you out with one of the most basic parameters of this game — setting up the card decks. There is no sure shot success rate to selecting these cards, as it will also depend on how you attack and how you combine forces. Nevertheless, have a look at our pick of the best common, rare and epic cards to include in your deck.

Common cards

Arrows: Arrows can be obtained for only three elixirs and have a huge radius, which gives a player numerous opportunities to deal with swarms of troops approaching their towers. If a player combines a Goblin Barrel card with the Arrows card, they can gain one elixir advantage. The best way to use an Arrow is to obtain even greater value by inflicting damage on multiple troops or buildings of your opponent clumped together. Skeleton Army, in particular, is sensitive to Arrow attacks. So use them as much you can on them.

Spear Goblins: Obtained with just two elixirs, the Spear Goblins are very fast and can be a good backup to increase hit points. When combined with the Giant, it can be used effectively to take down air troops such as the Minions or Balloons. They also have a unique ability to pressure the opponent into defending or taking tower damage. Spear Goblins are unlockable from the Goblin Stadium (Arena 1).

Barbarians: You will probably recognise this one the most as it's been used in most ads for the Clash Royale game. Similar to the Minion Horde, the Barbarians card is a useful card for both defence and offence. They are effective for both tanking and dealing damage and are a great option to use against enemy cards and Crown Towers. If you club four Barbarians together, it will quickly eliminate the target when dropped directly on top of them. Barbarians are unlockable from the Barbarian Bowl (Arena 3).

Goblins: They are small, fast, green and mean and come for only two elixirs. When seeing TV Royale to view the best players of the game, the Goblins and Spear Goblins are very commonly spotted. They are an excellent substitute for Barbarians if one's average elixir cost is too high. Proves to be useful as a distraction for higher damage dealing troops, such as the Prince and Mini P.E.K.K.A. Attainable in the very beginning of the game from the Goblin Stadium (Arena 1).

Zap Spell: A powerful spell that can be used for area damage, dealing and stunning enemies for a brief period of time. The Zap is valuable for damaging small hordes of troops and can be also used to briefly stun enemy troops and buildings. It posses the capacity to weaken the Minion Horde, making room for your Arena Tower to finish off all the Minions, resulting in the player receiving three elixirs. The Zap spell works well with the Hog Rider to make one of the cheapest and deadliest offensive combos. The Zap is unlockable from the Spell Valley (Arena 5).

Rare cards

Elixir Collector: A must have card under all means. It has a lifetime of 70 seconds, which allows it to produce seven elixir within its lifetime, which means if the Elixir Collector took more than 30% damage, then a player is not going to profit from it. So it is important to use it wisely and defend it. You can also use the card to distract building-targeting troops. It gets unlocked only in Arena 6 so choose to spend your elixirs well until then.

Wizard: The splash damage capabilities of the Wizard makes this one of the sought after cards in the game. Its hit speed is medium, with an average damage rate of 77 per second. It is a must use to beat hut spammers and some of the common cards in the game. Best used against swarm troops, such as Barbarians and the Skeleton Army. It is unlockable from the Spell Valley (Arena 5).

Hog Rider: Probably the best offensive card in the game, as he is very fast and powerful, and can go straight for the Arena Tower, target other buildings and jump over the river. Best to use when your opponent does not have too many buildings. The Hog Rider should be combined with the Freeze spell or Zap spell to gain maximum results. It is unlockable from the P.E.K.K.A Playhouse (Arena 4).

Fireball: Can only be used in a small area but does high damage, effectively weakening Crown towers or buildings. The spell can be used on decent troops that do not have extremely high hit points like the Barbarians. Fireball is one of the best cards in the game and is often misused. This card is unlockable from the Training Camp (Tutorial) itself.

Valkyrie: Do not be intimidated as Valkyrie is often listed as one of the worst cards in the game. One has to know how to use her as after the recent game update she is much more bulkier and powerful. The major advantage is that she's cheaper than the Wizard, who performs similar attacks, and has more than twice the hit points than him. Very effective against the Skeleton Army and other common cards.

Epic cards

Baby Dragon: The Baby Dragon is hard to kill and there are few cards that can counter it. Obtainable from the training camp, it is a steal for an Epic card with only four elixirs, the best investment you can make. It's bulky and can deal splash damage and attack both air and ground troops. You should be able to grab this one around level 3.

Dark Prince: This is one of the newer cards introduced as most people will be familiar with Prince. Ideally, if you already have the Prince it is best not to have the Dark Prince too. But we suggest you choose the Dark Prince over Prince as it is a powerful card with ability to deal area damage and costs only four elixirs, which is lesser than what the Prince costs. When he attacks a target, he will do twice the damage to the target and any nearby targets. Also, unlike the Prince, the Dark Prince can withstand splash damage and kill horde of troops all at once. In fact, the Dark Prince can also be used to stop the Prince's charge.

P.E.K.K.A : Most of you who have played Clash of Clans will be familiar with this name. In the Clash Royale game, it is a little different from the Clans game and the P.E.K.K.A here is a single target, melee troop with high hit points, who is heavily armoured, swings from the hip and packs a huge punch. Can be deployed for three seconds with an average damage rate of 250 per second. The P.E.K.K.A's usage has shot up among the top players since her elixir cost was reduced to seven. It can be obtained from the P.E.K.K.A Playhouse (Arena 4).

Golem: Get this card only when you have the Elixir Collector card. It costs a steep eight elixirs and is one of the most expensive cards of the game. It is slow and only attacks buildings and can be deployed for three seconds. When destroyed, it splits into two Golemites. It is a lot like the Giant. Pair up the Golem with a high damaging support card like Mini P.E.K.K.A. or a Prince. It is unlockable from the Builder's Workshop (Arena 6).

This is just our pick of what we think works best but there is no deck of perfect cards. So if you think your deck of cards is giving you good returns, hold on to it and enjoy Clash Royale.