Clash Royale Siege Strategy Complete Guide

Clash Royale Siege Strategy Complete Guide by Team-Tea

This guide will be all about one of my favorite archetype besides Miner control: Siege. In my opinion, the siege archetype require immense skill to master; you must remember each micro interaction between cards, and also understand the overview of the entire match. However, siege is a very fun archetype to play once you master it, and can be a very stable, consistent deck in every meta.

Contents:

• Background
• Archetype Overview
• Subarchetypes
  • Beatdown Siege
  • Cycle Siege
  • Control Siege
• Placements
  • Normal Placement
  • Center Placement
  • River Placement
  • Defensive Placements
• Gameplan
  • Starting Moves
  • Early Game
  • Mid-Game
  • Double Elixir
  • Overtime
• Tips
  • Rocket
  • Tornado
• Matchups
  • Log Bait
  • Hog Cycle
  • Miner Control
  • Cycle/Control Siege
  • Giant Beatdown
  • Golem Beatdown
  • Lava Hound Beatdown
  • Heavy Control
• Summary
  • tl;dr

Background:

Here’s a bit about me if you want to know where this guide is coming from. If you don’t want to read it, just skip it.

As mentioned above, my reddit name is “Team Tea” as well as my in-game name. I consider myself as an above-average player, and I’m hovering around the 4K region, held back because of my low card levels (10.5/7/4/1.5), and over-levelled opponents. I can consistently get 11 to 12 wins in Classic Challenges, and wins most of the special event challenges (Bats Challenge, Mega Knight Challenge, etc). I’m also part of a Top 200 North American clan.

My favorite decks to play are Miner control and X-Bow cycle, since I’m more of a slow, defending player who probes the opponent’s deck and playstyle before making the first maneuver. I have a lot of experience with control and siege decks, since I practice almost everyday in Classic Challenges, where those archetypes excel. I like to analyze decks and playstyles, and I enjoy reading and writing deck guides as well as strategy posts on Reddit.

Anyway, enough about me, let’s jump into the strategy part.

Archetype Overview:

Siege is one of the three main archetypes in Clash Royale, aside from Beatdown and Control. It’s a unique archetype that generally refers to decks using either the Mortar or X-Bow as the main win condition. Siege’s sub-archetypes can be classified in multiple complex ways, but in this guide for the sake of simplicity, we’ll use three terms: Beatdown Siege, Cycle Siege, and Control Siege. Please keep in mind that some of the terms are made up by me, so it might contradict with popular terms.

Examples of each sub-archetype mentioned above will be given below. But before that, let’s get into more detail about the general archetype. Siege decks rely on a card which can kill the tower from a far distance as a win condition. Buildings like the X-Bow and Mortar are no-brainers, but Royal Giant is actually also considered as a siege card, as well as the Princess. With a siege deck, the general playstyle is really quick and defensive until the right moment to strike.

The Siege archetype has just returned to the meta after the August 2017 balance changes which buffed both siege win conditions by decreasing their deploy time. It’s a very consistent, stable, reliable archetype for ladder and challenge grinding. Most cards in the deck are easy to level up, as there are a lot of commons and rares especially in Mortar decks, which make them viable on ladder too. A lot of players do not know how to deal with this archetype, especially Mortar with its dead-zone, giving you an advantage.

The worst enemy of siege decks is the Royal Giant. He can kill Siege buildings easily, all the while soaking all the hits from the building and support troops. However, he’s quite weak right now, and is almost non-existent in challenges; while on ladder, you can easily play for a draw. When using this archetype, you must have a good understanding of the current meta, and adapt to each matchup.

Sub-Archetypes:

Beatdown Siege:

This sub-archetype of Siege has a drastically different playstyle when compared to other Siege decks. It’s essentially a hybrid between Beatdown and Siege, and has elements of both components implemented in it. It requires a tank to defend the Siege weapon, or as the main offense itself. Most common Beatdown siege decks implement the Royal Giant as the main win condition, while others use heavy tanks, such as the Bowler to defend the X-Bow or Mortar.

Royal Giant Beatdown Siege decks can hard counter all other Siege decks, due to the fact that it has the Royal Giant. Its playstyle is similar to other Tank Beatdown decks, but its main goal is to disrupt the opponent’s cycle so that the main win condition can have an easier time dealing damage. Some common support cards used in this sub-archetype are Minions (Inferno Tower/Dragon Distracter), Bowler (Crowd Control), Ice Wizard (Slow& Control), and Fireball (Swarm/Glass Cannon Incinerator). These decks usually can set up the win condition, use support troops to destroy the opponent’s defending troops, and with the leftover support troops, set up another win condition, thus disrupting the opponent’s defense pattern.

These decks are almost non-existent these days both on ladder and challenges. Although you still see some Royal Giants at around 3K~4K, it has disappeared from challenges, making other Siege decks stronger.

————Decks————

X-Bow, Bowler, Princess, Guards/ Goblin Gang, Ice Spirit, Inferno Tower, Fireball, Zap

Royal Giant, Minions, Furnace, Lightning, Ice Wizard, Log, Executioner, Goblins

X-Bow, Sparky, Tornado, Ice Golem, Fire Spirits, Log, Archers, Mega Minion

Cycle Siege:

Cycle Siege decks are one of the hardest decks to use. These decks rely on quickly cycling cheap cards to get back to the X-Bow or Mortar, and constantly pressuring and chipping the opponent’s tower. The ultimate goal is to whittle down the opponent’s tower by cycling your win conditions quicker than your opponent’s proper defensive cards. Cycle Siege decks can require as many as 10 pushes to take down an opponent’s tower, or as little as one if your opponent can’t defend it.

Cycle Siege decks require many cheap support cards, such as the Ice Golem (Distraction, Mini-Tank), Ice Spirit (Utility), Goblins (Damage), Bats(Damage), Skeletons (Cycle), and Fire Spirits (Swarm Control). Using these cycle cards, you can net many positive trades on defense, thus converting to offense. Commit to a push if the opponent cannot defend it, but don’t overcommit if you know that your push can be easily shut down. Cycle Siege decks have an advantage over other Siege decks, since they can cycle X-Bows/Mortars and spells quicker than the opponent.

Recent Cycle Siege decks have implemented Elixir Collectors as a building to gain a TURBO cycle. Some recent decks also include the Tesla, a recently buffed cheap, stable defensive building, and almost all Cycle Siege decks have the Knight and Archers, two staple cards. These type of decks are strong against other cycle decks and control decks with its quick cycle, but tends to have a hard time against Beatdown decks, since it’s very hard to break though with your X-Bow or Mortar. Mortar decks have a better match-up against Beatdown decks because of its dead zone, quicker cycle, and better control over the match.

————Decks————

X-Bow, Ice Golem, Goblins, Ice Spirit, Mega Minion, Archers, Elixir Collector, The Log

X-Bow, Tesla, Rocket, The Log, Knight, Archers, Ice Spirit, Goblins

Mortar, Rocket, Arrows, The Log, Knight, Goblins, Archers, Ice Spirit

Control Siege:

Control Siege decks are Siege decks that control the match. These decks are focused on defending the opponent’s pushes, gaining an elixir advantage, and counterpushing with your leftover defensive troops. By waiting for the opponent to make the first move, you can react to that, gaining you the control of the game. The opponent will be constantly forced to play in your cycle, and in the end, you will be able to finish off their weakened tower with one final counterpush.

These decks usually implement crown control cards and defensive cards, such as the Ice Wizard (Slow and Splash), Tornado (Crowd Control, Synergy with splash units), Executioner (Splash and Swarm Control), Princess (Splash and Range) and Miner (Counterpush King). Current X-Bow decks usually use the Tornado paired with the Ice Wizard as a defensive wall, while Mortar decks implement Bait elements into it by adding the Princess, Miner, Minion Horde, Goblin Gang, etc. Rocket is also common in these decks, acting as a heavy spell to finish of the tower.

Control Siege decks are used by a lot of Top 200 players (it was the deck used by the #1 player last season) as well as making a big appearance in CCGS, used by Surgical Goblin, MusicMaster, and other pros. These decks fare well against Three Musketeers, Hog Riders, Log Bait, and Miner Control decks, but fighting against Beatdown decks, especially Lavaloon can be quite hard if you don’t learn and adapt to the matchup.

————Decks————

X-Bow, Ice Wizard, Knight/Ice Golem, Ice Spirit, Mega Minion, The Log, Tornado, Rocket

X-Bow, Barbarian Hut, Goblin Hut, Ice Wizard, Knight, Fireball, Mega Minion, The Log

Mortar, Miner, Princess, Goblin Gang, Minion Horde, Knight, Ice Spirit, Arrows*

*This deck is a hybrid Siege deck, since it can be played with more than one playstyle: Siege and Bait

Placements:

There are three common offensive placements to the two Siege buildings, Mortar and X-Bow. Each of the placements have different pros and cons, and you should adapt to each situation and place the structures accordingly. Examples of all placements will be shown in a link to a picture below. (Credit to Clash Royale Arena for the image)

Normal Placement:

This is probably the most common placement and the best for any situations. It is done by placing the structure one tile below the bridge, and one tile towards the outer side of the arena. By doing this placement, you will be able to put troops in front of the structure to protect it, your tower will be able to help kill melee troops/tanks and your leftover defensive units will be able to protect it too. You can also place buildings to the side of it, and be able to pull tanks and melee troops instead of them attacking the X-Bow or Mortar. Always place the X-Bow/Mortar here unless in some rare situations (explained below).

Center Placement:

*This is not the optimal, recommended placement. Although it can work in some situations, learn the placement above. The paragraph below highlights the differences between the optimal placement and this one

This is the second common placement. It can be done by simply centering the X-Bow/Mortar one tile below the bridge without an offset to the right or left. Although one tile might not seem so different to the “Normal” placement, it actually makes a lot of difference. You will not be able to pull tanks to another building, and they will end up targeting the structure, which can be a crucial factor in deciding whether your weapon reaches the tower or not. This placement is better for beginners and novices as there is less room for error if your finger slips.

River Placement:

This is a rare placement that you should use only in certain situations. This placement can be done by placing the X-Bow/Mortar directly below the river in the center of the arena, and offsetting it towards the tower you want to attack. By placing it here, you will not be able to place troops in front of it to block the opponent’s troops, your tower will not be able to help out, and the structure will get easily taken down by ranged and aerial troops. However, if you know that the opponent only has melee troops in cycle, you can place it here, forcing them to walk around the arena. One clutch situation is if you’re using a Mortar and a tank is incoming. By placing the Mortar in this position, the tank will get pulled, waddle into the Mortar’s deadzone, and the Mortar will target the tower, giving you some clutch damage. This is also the best placement against Hogs, as it will give you more time.

Defensive Placements:

Defensive X-Bows/Mortars are a common thing too, especially if you need to defend against a beatdown push or you can just turtle up and launch rockets. Proactive defensive placements are good for turtling, making it very hard for the opponent to execute a push, giving you a defensive advantage and the ability to launch Rockets safely. A standard 4-3 placement will pull all tanks, effectively shutting them down and separating them from the backend support troops. A 4-2 placement is decent in shutting down pushes, tanking for backend supports, and pulling Hogs. These defensive placements can lead to a counterpush with another structure, thus resulting in the leftover defensive structure protecting the offensive one. Check out this for the ultimate building placement guide by yyarn.

Here are examples of X-Bow Placements. Here are examples of Mortar Placements.

Gameplan:

Starting Moves:

First, let’s start out with the starting hands of a Siege deck. In here, two example decks will be used, the X-Bow Ice-Wiz Tornado Control and the Mortar Cycle deck, both of which are mentioned above. The best starting hand is if you have a Punisher, Defender, Spell, and a Cycle Card.

• X-Bow or Mortar in your starting hand is solid. They can be used to punish pumps and heavy tanks by pressuring the same or opposite lane.
• Rocket is always a good hand. Use this card to kill pumps or troops placed behind the king tower, especially the Executioner, *Musketeer, Inferno Dragon, etc.
• Tornado is an amazing starting hand. If the opponent uses the Hog Rider, Miner, or Goblin Barrel immediately, use this card to activate your king tower, giving you a big advantage throughout the rest of the match.
• Knight or Archers in a starting hand can be used to defend against blitz pushes. Splitting Archers at the back or Knight is not a bad move either.
• Having The Log as a starting hand will be able to counter Goblin Barrels and Gangs.
• A Cycle Card is good as a scouting play, and can be used to cycle to cards.

A standard starting move would be splitting Archers at the back to defend or attack both lanes, cycle Ice Spirit at the bridge, or just waiting for your opponent to make the first move, then react according to what they deploy. You don’t want to wait too long though, since X-Bow decks have the advantage during normal elixir. Once it hits Double Elixir, you’ll struggle even more against beatdown and will completely lose the option to go on offense. If the opponent pumps up, immediately rocket it. If you don’t have it in cycle, you can punish with a Mortar plus a simple support troop. Make sure not to overcommit on offense.

3:00 ~ 2:00 (Early Game):

In early game, your main goal is to scout the opponent’s deck, determine their rotation, and devise an attack/defense plan. The current meta is pretty diverse, but you should be able to determine the opponent’s deck once you see them play a few cards. Below are decks you can infer from seeing a certain card. Each matchup will be explained in detail in later sections.

• Knight/Gang/Barrel/Princess: Once you see two or more of these cards, you should immediately that the opponent is running Log Bait of some variation.
• Ice Spirit/Ice Golem/Goblins/Bats: Many cycle cards is a signal that the opponent is playing Hog cycle or X-Bow/Mortar cycle.
• Hog Rider/Miner: Even if you see the opponent’s win condition, they might be carrying another win condition, like Pekka, Mega Knight, Three Musketeers, or Mortar. Read the sections below to learn how to predict if the opponent has another win condition and what it is.
• Goblins/Bats/Inferno Dragon/Electro Wizard/Bandit: Current heavy control decks usually use these cards. Seeing an Inferno Dragon and Goblins or Bats might signal that the opponent is playing a Mega Knight Hog Rider control deck, while seeing the Electro Wizard and/or Bandit with Goblins/Bats means that it’s very likely to be a Pekka Miner control.
• Pump/Minion Horde/Ice Golem: Seeing these cards, you should immediately infer that the opponent is playing Three Musketeers, meaning that you have to be extra careful with your spells.
• Pump/Night Witch/Lumberjack/Mega Minion: These cards are usually included in a heavy Golem beatdown deck. Be prepared for a hard matchup!
• Tombstone/Minions/Mega Minion/Inferno Dragon/Gang: These cards are included in a Lava Hound beatdown deck, with a great chance that it includes the Balloon. Pray that you don’t get three-crowned!

Once you’ve identified their deck, you must alter your playstyle accordingly. Never go on offense until your opponent drops a tank or pumps up and you don’t have Rocket in cycle. Instead, better moves are to play the support troops at the back, defend with them, and possibly counter-push with your Mortar/X-Bow/Royal Giant. Generate as many positive elixir trades as possible by defending with your cheap support troops.

2:00 ~ 1:00 (Mid-Game):

This is the time when you go more aggressive. As a cycle siege player or a control siege player, your main damage comes during this period of time, as during Double Elixir, opponents using heavy decks will be able to constantly go on the offense, making you unable to setup an X-Bow or Mortar. During this time, you must setup a good rotation depending on the opponent’s rotation and the flow of the game. An ideal card rotation is to be able to place down support troops behind the tower, place down an X-Bow, defend with your troops, and place another X-Bow with the left-over supporting troops. This makes it very hard for your opponent to deal with your pushes, and your support troops will gain value over time. An Ice Wizard can be there on the field, defending three X-Bow rotations! You can also stack up multiple support troops, and they will be able to easily kill any tanks or defending troops, gaining lots of value over time.

Save specific cards against certain cards that the opponent has. If the opponent has Hog Rider, make sure to save your Tornado against it, and not to get outcycled. If they pair it with other support troops, such as Knight+Hog Rider+Archers, you can use your other troops to defend it with the Tornado, then go on the counterpush with your defending troops, knowing that their Hog Rider is out of rotation. Slowly building a push from the back with your support troops is a good idea when you know a push is coming in that lane, or you want to build a push with your X-Bow, Mortar, or Royal Giant.

Identify the opponent’s deck and devise a plan. Against cycle or control decks, your deck has the upperhand. Execute perfect defenses, and continue counter-pushing until you whittle the opponent’s tower down to zero. Against beatdown decks, you do not want to reveal your win condition early, since once you have revealed it, the opponent will always play their tank against your X-Bow/Mortar, which will never lock on to the tower. Once they play a tank, decide whether to go all out and siege them, or sit back and defend. Here are some scenarios against beatdown decks and how to react accordingly:

Once the opponent plays a tank, if you have around the same elixir as them or an elixir advantage, attack the opposite lane with your structure immediately, as this will be your only chance of getting tower damage in the entire match. Attack will an X-Bow/Mortar and try to get as much damage as possible, by placing a Ice Golem, Knight, or Mega Minion to support, but do not overcommit more than 5 elixir on offense, as you will need elixir to defend against a possible big Golem push.

On the other hand, if you are down elixir, attacking would make you without elixir to defend properly, thus resulting in a lost tower. Your best move would be to do a defensive X-Bow plant, mitigate damage done to your towers, and counter-push before the opponent has cycled back to another tank. A typical defense would be a center siege building, Knight/Ice Golem for distraction, and Mega Minion/Archers to kill the support.

Make sure to not overcommit and always have enough elixir to rocket their pumps, especially against beatdown decks and Three Musketeers.

1:00~0:00 (Double Elixir):

In Double Elixir, this is where it gets really hard, or really easy. It all depends on the opponent’s deck, and if you have done the things mentioned above correctly. If you’re running a cycle siege deck, and the opponent is running a cycle deck, this should be relatively easy for you, since your deck can cycle like crazy. By continuously cycling your win condition and stacking up troops, you can easily overwhelm the opponent, and take the win. Even if your X-Bow/Mortar does not connect, don’t be afraid to launch Rockets aggressively.

However, if you’re against beatdown decks, this gets really hard. Beatdown decks will have an advantage over you, since their deck functions better during Double Elixir. A good opponent will constantly use their tank to distract and kill your weapon, and then overwhelm you easily with their elixir advantage and sheer force. You must play perfectly, defend with the X-Bow/Mortar consistently, execute perfect defense (mentioned above), take minimal damage, and either counterpush with another building or launch a rocket. Read the “Tips” section for tips on how to use Rockets and Tornados smartly.

Just remember, rocketing towers can win you the game in some situation if the opponent’s tower is around or under 1000 health. Don’t be afraid to go aggressive and quickly cycle rockets to win you the game.

Overtime:

This is when you finesse the opponent. Start rocket cycling like a true sir, while continuing to defend, and inserting dominance at the end when you win. Turtle X-Bows or Mortars by placing them in the defensive positions, and place your support troops at the back on the side they’re focused on attacking. However, if you’re confident that your X-Bow or Mortar will lock on and break through, don’t hesitate and go aggressive.

Sometimes, it’s better to go for the draw. Drawing is better than losing, right? If your deck completely counters the opponent’s one and vice versa, definitely go for the draw in overtime unless your opponent messes up. The same can be done against beatdown decks if your pushes cannot break though at all. Sit back, and rely on your steel-solid defense to play for a draw, saving your precious trophies.

Tips:

Rocket:

The Rocket is almost an essential heavy spell in this meta, and fits in X-Bow decks especially well. It’s the 5th top used card by top 200 players, which shows how broken it is. Let’s take a look at some tips in completely mastering the rocket:

• The rocket deals 493 damage at Tournament Standard levels. Remember this number!
• Get used to how long the Rocket deploys and its arc of travel. Always hit the inner, front edge of the Princess towers when *rocketing them to make it travel faster, giving you clutch wins!
• Get used to the Rocket’s radius and make sure not to Chief Pat them!
• Rocket on defense in dire situations or when their troops are all clumped up for a positive elixir trade. In certain circumstances, *don’t be afraid to Tornado+Rocket an entire push down.

During Double Elixir, be sure to always rocket any troop above 3 elixir placed next to the weaker tower to start rocket cycling.

Tornado:

The Tornado is an amazing card, can manipulate troop’s pathings, hard-counter Hogs, and can bring everything together, giving value to your splash troops and spells. The Tornado can be used together with the Ice Wizard, Ice Spirit, and Rocket in siege decks, giving you amazing value and control over the match.

• Use the Tornado to pull cards away from your X-Bow/Mortar to allow your support troops to kill them without them damaging your structure!
• Bunch troops up and allow your Ice Wizard to freeze and splash everything, or your Rocket to decimate the entire push!
• In clutch situations, use the Tornado to pull a tank out of the X-Bow/Mortar’s sight range, allowing your structure to lock on the tower and take the win!
• Tornado+Ice Spirit can kill the Skill Horde, Gang, and other threatening swarms to your X-Bow/Mortar. Use this combo wisely!

Matchups:

Log Bait:

Log Bait should be a relatively easy matchup if you play it correctly. Always save the Log exclusively for the Barrel is that’s the only spell you carry in your deck. However, if you have another cheap spell, such as Arrows or Tornado, use them to counter the Barrel instead, and save the Log on offense to protect your X-Bow/Mortar. Activate that king tower with the Tornado by pulling the Barrel to your king to get an advantage.

On offense, make sure to never give them value rockets, and spread out your support troops away from the X-Bow/Mortar. Even if they rocket your structure, either you’ll get a positive trade (Mortar) or you’ll get a bit of chip onto their tower (X-Bow). During late game, the opponent will be faced with a dilemma to continue rocketing your structure and slowly lose, or to start rocket cycling your tower. Either way, you’ll win the game, since once they start rocket cycling, you can punish with a X-Bow/Mortar.

Use your splash troops wisely on defense. Ice Wizard+Tornado and/or Ice Spirit+Tornado can effectively shut down large swarm pushes for a positive trade, and gives you the ability to counterpush. Usually, beatdown siege decks have less of an advantage against Log Bait, but Mortar decks (especially the F2P Mortar cycle) can absolutely wreck bait.

Hog Cycle:

Hog Cycle is a fairly decent matchup. In order to securely take the win, you must first determine which card(s) to use to counter the Hog, and make sure to not get outcycled. Having the Tornado makes things a lot easier, as you can activate your king, and counter the Hog for a +1 trade throughout the rest of the match. Even if you don’t have it in your deck, you can use Knight+Ice Spirit and/or Mega Minion+Ice Spirit to shut down the Hog easily and reinforce the counterpush.

On offense, you have to identify their counters to your pushes, and counter that accordingly. Let’s say the opponent uses the Tesla to counter your X-Bow/Mortar the first time. The next time you push, by placing a Knight in front you can block that Tesla. If the opponent then uses Tesla and Knight to counter your push, you can use the Knight+Archers next time you push to counter their counters. It’s all about reading the opponent and being unpredictable.

On defense, if the opponent pairs the Hog Rider with a mini-tank (Knight, Ice Golem), or with a support troop behind (Archers, Bats, Goblins), you can counter the combo with a similar elixir troop, then if you have sufficient leftover defensive troops, turn into a counter-push. Let’s say the opponent pairs the Hog with an Ice Golem in front and Goblins at the back. You can use a Log to counter the Goblins and knock both the Hog and Ice Golem back, and use Goblins+Ice Spirit or Knight+Ice Spirit to take down the rest of the push.

Miner Control:

Miner control is a medium matchup. You have the Goblins to counter the Miner for a positive elixir trade, and if they support the Miner with the Poison, the Knight can counter it perfectly and survive for a counterpush. If you have the Tornado in your deck, that’s even better, as you can activate your king tower with it by pulling the Miner on to your king. Even if they support the Miner with, let’s say, Bats or Goblin Gang, you can counter that for a positive elixir trade, and net an overwhelming elixir advantage over time, turning the advantage into an offensive push.

On offense, make sure not to give the opponent Poison value. A lone Poison on the X-Bow/Mortar and the tower will give you an elixir advantage, but if the opponent manages to catch another few support troops (Ice Wizard, Archers, etc.) with the Poison, you’ll be in trouble. To prevent that, spread out your troops, and know not to overcommit to an already dying push.

On defense, everything should be fine as long as you spread out your troops, and defend the Miner properly. Do not overcommit on defense, and make sure to know when to counterpush and when not to. Let’s say that the opponent deploys the Miner+Poison+Goblin Gang. This can be countered with a Knight for the Miner and Poison, and the Log for the Gang. After this positive elixir trade, you now know that the opponent is down a lot of elixir, and you can successfully set up a counterpush by placing a Mortar, followed with Archers at the back for support.

Cycle/Control Siege:

In a mirror archetype match (possibly even a mirror deck), you have to organize your cycle correctly, and be the more aggressive player. If you are using the Rocket, make sure to save it for the opponent’s X-Bow and nearby support troops. However, if you can counter the X-Bow with a cheaper card, such as Knight+Bats, then definitely go for that and save the Rocket for the tower. Once you’ve identified the opponent’s deck archetype as siege, make sure to start rocketing troops placed next to the weaker tower.

On offense, build up a good push formation, with the main siege weapon (X-Bow/Mortar) protected by a mini-tank in front (Knight, Ice Golem), and support troops in the back (Mega Minion, Archers, Ice Wizard). If you’ve identified that the opponent is running the Rocket too, make sure to spread out your troops to make them not get value from their Rockets. If they Rocket, you’ll still get some damage, and it’ll put them behind in the Rocket cycle race, giving you a free Rocket on the tower.

On defense, refrain from using rockets on their X-Bows (if they’re running one), since you’ll need it for their tower. Place a Knight or Ice Golem to tank the damage, then destroy the X-Bow with a Mega Minion or Archers or anything that deals damage. Remember, you don’t need to fully counter the X-Bow, just mitigate most damage, and keep up with the Rocket cycling race! Against Mortar, this’ll be a bit easier. You can easily overwhelm their defenses, and they will be forced to continue Rocketing your X-Bows (if you’re using one), which puts you ahead by a lot. With Mortar mirror matchups, deal with the Mortar normally, defend properly, and be the first to Rocket cycle.

These Siege mirror matchups are all about Rocket cycling and capitalizing on opponent’s misplays.

Giant Beatdown:

Compared to Golem decks, Giant decks are easier to face against, since he’s a bit less tanky when compared to the Golem. Use the Ice Wizard to slow the Giant down, and the Mega Minion will take him down easily. If the opponent supports the Giant, use the Tornado and/or Log to bunch up the troops and kill them quicker. Play slowly, and find a chance to counterpush. Most likely, your X-Bow will connect to the tower, since it’s pretty easy to kill the Giant, especially if you stack up a lot of support troops. Even if your X-Bow doesn’t connect, you can Rocket cycle with as much risk when compared to Golem decks.

Make sure not to overextend on offense if you know it’s going to be shut down easily or it’s already a dying push. Instead, focus on defending, and turn that into a bigger counterpush instead. Use the Tornado to activate the king tower, and/or use Knight, Archers, Ice Wizard, Mega Minion, etc. to stop the push. Easy and simple defense will do it. If you’re running Mortar, and you need some clutch damage to take down the tower or put it in spell cycle range, by placing the Mortar at the river placement, it’ll actually pull and ignore the Giant, and target the tower.

On offense, identify the opponent’s counters by scouting their deck with an initial X-Bow/Mortar. If they use ranged troops to counter, you can use a mini-tank to sponge up the damage while your siege structure or support troops take them out. Against mini-tanks from the opponent, use Skeletons, Ice Spirit, and/or Goblins to distract them and possibly tank them out with the help of the your tower. Use your Rocket on offense if they clump up troops, but during the end, save it exclusively for the tower and Rocket cycle.

Golem Beatdown:

Oh boy. This is a really tough matchup here. Before Double Elixir, make sure to always Rocket their pumps to avoid giving them an overwhelming elixir advantage. If they pump up as the initial move and you don’t have Rocket in cycle, either cycle to the Rocket in time, or pressure with a X-Bow/Mortar and reinforce the structure adequately. Once they play a Golem, immediately pressure the opposite lane with a X-Bow/Mortar. Go all out with this push, as this will be the only time in which you will get damage; the rest will come from Rocket cycling.

Make sure to always Rocket their pumps during normal elixir, but after that, you’ll always save it either on defense, mainly on offense.

Try to get as much damage as possible with the first push, as experienced Golem players will play either Golems in the middle or reactive Golems once they see your X-Bow/Mortar, meaning that you’ll be unable to get an X-Bow/Mortar lock to the tower after you reveal to the opponent your win condition. You need to either take out the tower, or put it in feasible spell cycle range. After that, defend with a defensive X-Bow/Mortar placement, use Knight or Ice Golem to distract support troops, while Archers, Mega Minion, or Ice Wizard to kill the supports. Use the Tornado, Log, or Arrows when necessary.

Rocket cycling will be your only source of damage during late game, as you’ll be forced to continuously defend massive pushes. Note that Rocket cycling is a very risky move, and you can be punished badly for doing it at the wrong time. Try your best to get positive elixir trades on defense, and if you have to, you can Tornado+Rocket the entire Golem push down, gain an elixir advantage, and cycle back to another Rocket for the tower. Be confident with your defenses and do not overcommit on defense.

If you know that the opponent does not have their Golem in rotation, capitalize on the fact by punishing HARD with an X-Bow+Ice Wizard+Mega Minion all out push to squeeze in some damage, bringing it down so you can quickly cycle Rockets like a true sir. If you can’t deal any damage at all, you can try a X-Bow on the lane with less tower health. A good Golem player will always save the Golem reactively to tank the X-Bow, but being an even better player yourself, you can do a clutch Tornado to pull the Golem out of the X-Bow’s sight range, allowing it to lock on, and either take the tower, or put it in Rocket+Log range.

If the opponent is running a heavy spell or medium spell, such as Rocket or Poison, it’ll be even harder for you. Against Poison, spread out your troops to avoid giving the opponent value Poisons, and refrain from using defensive Rockets unless you can get crazy value (with the Tornado). Instead, just mitigate damage, and Rocket cycle to keep up with the damage race. Against Rocket, its basically gg, they’ll rocket your defenses away and you’ll get overwhelmed. If they only have a light spell, then you’ll have a better chance, since you can just execute perfect defenses, and Rocket cycle.

Remember, get good damage at the beginning, then sit back, defend, and launch Rockets after gaining an elixir advantage.

Lava Hound Beatdown:

Lava Hound should be an okay matchup if you play correctly. As they’re running a mainly aerial deck, identify their ground troops, and once those are out of cycle, punish when a X-Bow/Mortar. Once they play the Lava Hound, punish the same lane with your structure. This way, they’ll be forced to kill the structure with their support troops, thus disrupting the overall structure of their push. You’ll always have something (Ice Wizard, Mega Minion, Archers, Minion Horde, Bats, etc.) to deal with the pushes.

Just make sure to punish adequately to force them to commit elixir on defense, disrupting their attack pattern, and making defense much more manageable. If you desperately need to, Rocket their Balloon, but do this only when the Hound is popped, and all the support troops are clumped up together. If you have the confidence to start Rocket cycling, start placing defensive X-Bows/Mortars. Continue to pressure to make sure the opponent doesn’t build up an unstoppable push.

Remember, the best defense comes through offense.

Heavy Control:

This is one of those impossible matchups, as the opponent will have either the Pekka or Mega Knight. Never place an early X-Bow/Mortar, as you want to scout out their deck as early as possible. You have three playstyle options, all of which require great skill in order to pull off the win:

1. Count the opponent’s elixir, and place the X-Bow/Mortar once their Inferno Dragon is out of cycle, and they don’t have enough elixir for the Mega Knight/Pekka. Even if you do this, they’ll probably have another counter in cycle. This method gets harder as the match progresses, and in the end it’ll be almost impossible to execute, meaning that you have to punish hard early in the game. If you fail to do so, it’s good game for you, as you’ll get whittled down with Poisons and Miners/Hog Riders.
2. Defend the pushes and Rocket cycle. Use the Tornado to activate your king tower by pulling the Hog or Miner towards it, and continuously set up defensive X-Bows/Mortars, while launching Rockets. Make sure to spread out your cards to avoid giving the opponent value Poisons, but eventually, it’ll be super hard to defend the pushes. Use the Ice Wizard+Tornado combo to stop the pushes, and with the elixir advantage gained, use it for the Rocket. DPS down the Mega Knight/Pekka with Knight/Ice Golem+Archers/Mega Minion, and protect your defensive structure perfectly.
3. Continuously pressure, and kill their heavy control card on the opponent’s side of the map. You can do this with the Knight/Ice Golem to block, Goblins/Skeletons to distract, and a high DPS card to kill the tank asap. Although this may be risky at times, by making sure they never build up a strong counter-push, you’ll be able to slowly whittle their defenses down and connect to the tower. However, if you mess up, you’ll get punished hard by a devastating counter-push, which makes this playstyle the most high risk high reward.

Summary:

Thanks for reading this insanely long guide (if you did read it)! It was 6700+ words long, and was really fun to write! If you appreciate this, feel free to give me an upvote, and I’ll probably continue to write guides in the future. If you have any questions, also don’t hesitate to ask away in the comments, and I’ll probably reply and give an answer!

tl;dr:

The Siege archetype is an amazingly strong archetype. It consists of Beatdown, Control, and Cycle, all of which differs in playstyle. This archetype relies on defending, and launching structures or spells to attack and whittle down the towers eventually.