Clash Royale Countering Royal Giant Guide

Clash Royale Countering Royal Giant Guide by AnotherThroneAway

Royal Giant is now a good card, but you might think it was the Voltron combination of all the Legendaries put together. It’s not. It’s a solid card that YOU refuse to tech against. You tech against Hog. You tech against Minion Horde / Princess. Why would you rather bitch and moan than actually address your inability to beat RG?

Here are some Grade-A ways of beating Royal Giant, all of them tested by me in Legendary Arena, to the point that I am quite happy to see RG decks.

Tesla tower

The RG can’t outrange the Tesla because of the popup mechanic. It can also distracts the RG, keeping it off your towers. Doesn’t need to be played reactively. Also a decent counter to Hog.

Inferno Tower

Yes, RG outranges it. But guess what? It has a 40 second duration, which means you should be playing it reactively anyway. Notice all those top 100 players using Inferno? How do they play it? They play it reactively, because you get the most value and surprise factor from that approach, and now, you also get to eat RGs for breakfast.

Barbarians

Yes, their support troops will tag your barbs. But RG is expensive and it’s likely your Barbs will chew through most of the RG before they die. Often, they kill him outright and go on to make Ice Wizard ice cream for dessert. Add a Musketeer in the mix and you definitely win the skirmish, plus have a counterattack going.

Archers/Spear Gobs/Gobs

Weenies wreck RG. Yes, if their support troops are splash damage this doesn’t work. But if their support is Archers or Muskets or Prince or something, then fling a handful of midgets at the Giant and go about your day.

Minion Horde

Same as above; if they use wizards and Princesses to defend, Horde isn’t as great, otherwise it devours RG.

Mini PEKKA

Contender for best counter to RG. At almost 300 dps and 1000 hp, the little butcher makes quick work of RG. Throw in a Musketeer / Archers / Minions and RG and his support troops will be dead in no time.

PEKKA

Surprise! Also a contender for best counter to RG. PEKKA will down a Royal Giant in a handful of hits, while shrugging off any support troop bullshit. What, you thought PEKKA was only an offensive card?

Poison

Let me guess: your biggest whine about RG is that you can’t hit his support troops. Hello! Spells? Remember those? A puddle of poison dropped with the leading edge right under the giant’s feet will burn away those squishy support troops in no time. Drop a Barbs or Goblins/Minions/Mini on the RG, and his 12+ elixir push is gone, with only a few hits on your tower.

Miner

Yes, one of the new cards is actually kinda usable! :) This is one of the (few?) times Miner is good. Pop him down on top of whatever support unit has the highest DPS/HP ratio, ideally out of range of the opposing tower. Dirty!

Bad players whine. Good players adjust.

So get to techin!

Addendum: Some combinations that appear frequently, and suggested counters:

RG+Valk This is designed to preemptively take out the standard Barbarians counter to RG. Best counters are Archers, Musketeer, Minions, Minion Horde and/or Spear Gobs. Horde is best, but ONLY if you are confident they don’t have elixir left or Arrows or Fireball in hand. For this reason, I prefer laying out Minions to bait the Arrows. If it doesn’t come, then add Spear Gobs a second or two later.

RG+ wizard Wizard is fragile, and will backwards-hug RG first chance he gets (ie when he has no targets in range). A Fireball dropped on his head is probably the easiest solution, but a subtler approach is to AVOID placing melee units at the RG, which will give Wizard a target. Instead, lay down your ranged troops to attack RG, so the Wiz has to hug the RG to get in range. Then hit it with splash damage (a la Baby Dragon, Dark Prince, Valk, etc) or a carefully placed sniper unit.

RG+ princess Arrow the Princess. Always Arrow the Princess. Poison is another good option, as she’ll die in just a few ticks, and you’ll stave off small support units besides.

RG+Ice wizard: Ice Wizard damage is low. The only real worry with him is if you drop Barbs, and the enemy Fireballs, then the Ice dick will finish off your Barbs. Also, if you see him, don’t drop Horde or Minions. Fireball won’t kill Ice Wiz, so your best bet is to treat him like a normal wizard, as above.