Clash Royale Common Card Rankings

/ June 24, 2017

Common cards are the basic cards in Clash Royale and today we are going to rank the best common cards in Clash Royale 1-18! I’ve done this post before where there were only 16 common cards which you can view here. Lets start the new 2017 rankings!

Clash Royale Ranking the Common Cards

How the Common Cards are Ranked

When ranking these cards we put a lot of thought and effort into what makes the best common card the best. We are considering a variety of different ways to rank which are order in importance as follows:

  1. Versatility
  2. Cost/Damage Ratio (is the card worth it?)
  3. Strength on defense and offense

So now that you know what we are judging on, lets go ahead and get into the rankings, starting with number 18!

Common Card Rankings

#19- Mortar

Clash Royale Mortar

The mortar is usually a win condition which just hurts it so much. Even if you can manage to get the mortar locked onto the tower after its 4 second deploy time, it just doesn’t do a lot of damage to the tower. Hated among basically all Clash Royale players, the mortar comes in at last for the common card rankings.

#18- Tesla

Tesla Clash Royale

Another defense, the tesla is going to come in also in the bottom of the common card rankings. The tesla is generally referred to as the worst defense, simply doing no damage. It is kind of nice that the tesla is able to hide, but it pops up when troops are near, making it vulnerable to spell damage. Also, its pull range is quite low, making it not an ideal defense against hogs and other fast units.

#17- Spear Goblins

Spear Goblins Clash of Clans

While spear goblins are overall not too bad of a card, compared to some of the other common cards they just don’t stack up. If you need a cheap air defense, go for spear goblins, but they are extremely vulnerable to any damage, being one of the lowest HP cards in Clash Royale. There are better substitutes in the princess and archers!

#16- Bomber

Clash Royale Bomber

The bomber has been on a slow rise over the last few months in Clash Royale, usually rankings at the bottom of common card rankings prior to a few buffs. The bomber does a ton of damage, but his weak health and ability to only destroy ground units gives him a pretty low rankings here on the common cards rankings.

#15- Goblins

Goblins Clash Royale

Unlike the bomber, goblins have been on the decline over the last few months due to the introduction of the goblin gang and the return of the fourth skeleton (which is now gone again). Goblins do offer some great distraction on defense, but skeletons are usually the more popular option due to their cheap cost.

#14- Fire Spirits

Fire Spirits Clash Royale

While their building, the furnace is often considered one of the best cards in Clash Royale, fire spirits aren’t too bad themselves. As long as they aren’t taken out too soon, the fire spirits can deal a ton of damage. Placed behind any tank, the fire spirits are great for taking out any support units that are placed on defense.

#13- Cannon

Cannon Clash Royale

The cheapest defensive card in Clash Royale, the cannon more than lives up to the 13 rank for common cards. The cannon is such a great take down building for the hog rider, easy to place and easy to defend with. This defense also does quite a bit of damage against giants and golem, giving good value for only 3 elixir.

#12- Barbarians

Barbarians Clash Royale

In the old rankings, back in May of 2016, barbarians were the number 1 common card! The times have changed a lot as with the introduction of new cards that can do a lot of splash damage. Barbarians are still a very good card for defending against royal giants and elite barbarians, giving you ammo for a strong counter push.

#11- Skeletons

Skeletons Clash Royale

If there were still 4 skeletons, this card would definitely be in the top 5 common cards! However, in the last balance changes, the skeletons went back to 3. Despite this, skeletons are still a strong 1 elixir card, able to counter a lot of 3 and 4 elixir troops giving you a massive elixir trade. This is just a good all around card that fits into any deck!

#10- Minion Horde

Clash Royale Minion Horde

The minion horde is one of the most powerful cards in Clash Royale if untouched and can deal TONS of damage. Unfortunately, it is very easy to counter, falling to a lot of different splash damage cards. Lots of players use the minion horde though to take out big pushes quickly, such as giant beatdown.

#9- Arrows

Arrows Clash Royale

It is only fitting that the counter to the minion horde is ranked right above it! Arrows used to be a terrible card, always being overshadowed by the cheaper zap, but balance changes changed everything! Arrows now fly faster, making it easier to take out big groups of troops. Also, when minions are played on defense, arrows can take them out before they do too much damage.

#8- Archers

Archers Clash Royale

As mentioned earlier, spear goblins are very weak on health, which makes archers the better counter to most cards. Since archers can’t be destroyed by the log, zap, and low leveled arrows, it gives them a lot of power on defense. Archers also can do a lot of damage together, taking out units very fast for good elixir trades usually.

#7- Ice Spirit

Ice Spirit Clash Royale

Now that skeletons have been nerfed, it is almost undeniable that the ice spirit is the best 1 elixir card in Clash Royale. The ice spirit just offers SO much value for only one elixir, giving off both a freeze and doing damage. Also, the ice spirit can fit within any deck, allowing versatility and cycling.

#6- Knight

Knight Clash Royale

The knight was ranked last of the common cards back in May 2016. Last. And, my oh my, has the knight changed for the better. The knight offers incredible defensive and tanking value for only 3 elixir. He is the better choice out of him or the mini-P.E.K.K.A. since he does have that great health. He is able to take out lots of ranged 5 elixir units, making him one of the most valuable cards in the game.

#5- Royal Giant

New Troop Royal Giant Clash of Clans

And we finally get to the royal giant! It is almost undeniable to say that the royal giant isn’t a good card after so much bite back from the Clash Royale community. The royal giant is good because of its range, allowing him to shoot defenses without them shooting him. Great offensive card, even if you hate it!

#4- Goblin Gang

Goblin Gang Clash Royale

When the goblin gang was first released, everyone assumed that it would just be a new part of zap/log bait decks. It did become an integral part of those decks, but it also became one of the best defensive cards in Clash Royale. Even with two spear goblins now, the goblin gang is a great group of goblins to defend pushes with.

#3- Elite Barbarians

Elite Barbarians Clash Royale

Just like the royal giant, the elite barbarians are one of the most hated cards in Clash Royale, but there is good reason for that. Especially in the lower arenas, elite barbarians are just so powerful, due to their quick speed and huge damage. They are easy to counter, but bringing the right counter is the hard part!

#2- Minions

Minions Clash Royale

Personally, minions are one of my favorite cards, simply because they are so great at countering so many cards at such a great elixir cost. Not only are minions great at defense, but they also provide a ton of support value on offense, pairing with almost every push within Clash Royale. They don’t die to zap either, requiring arrows to take them out.

#1- Zap

Zap Clash Royale

And finally, the number one common card is the zap! There should be almost no surprise here since the zap has been dominant and consistently included within top decks. It does enough damage to take out numerous troops, as well as providing a quick stun that can allow your troops to get another hit on the tower.

So that is going to wrap it up for our common card rankings for June of 2017! Stay tuned soon to see our rare, epic, and legendary card rankings soon. Thanks for reading and comment below what you think of the rankings!

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71 thoughts on “Clash Royale Common Card Rankings”

  1. Pingback: Clash Royale Common Card Rankings (February 2019) | Clash for Dummies

  3. Pingback: Clash Royale Common Card Rankings | Clash for Dummies

  5. Right now, the best common cards are no doubt Zap, Knight and Goblin Gang. Zap is so versatile, Knight offers way too much value for 3 elixir and the recent spear goblins buff made the gang better than the bats!

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  6. I afraid, the worst common card so far is the Cannon and Royal Giant. Cannon has been terrible since December last year, And Tesla’s rework made it more useless. Royal Giant sucks cause PEKKA wrecks him easily, and he only works in level 12-13.

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    • True, Cannon, Tesla And Mortar wrecks some cards

      Cannon shoots down hog rider

      Tesla zaps lava Hound

      Mortar wrecks the furnace until it turned into dust

      Just suggesting : try using mortar if you really hate Furnace

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  8. My re rank

    20. Spear Goblins

    19. Tesla

    18. Cannon

    17. Royal Giant

    16. Mortar

    15. Barbarians

    14. Skeletons

    13. Bomber

    12. Bats (not my style)

    11. Goblins

    10. Fire Spirits

    9. Arrows

    8. Minions

    7. Minion Horde

    6. Archers

    5. Goblin Gang

    4. Elite Barbarians

    3. Knight

    2. Ice Spirit

    1. Zap

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  13. Stop nerfing the Elite Barbarians and Royal giant ! Especially Royal giant since he is totally underpowered at tournaments! Instead buff their counters!

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  16. This is my rank

    19 Tesla
    18. Cannon
    17. Mortar
    16. Goblins
    15. Bomber
    14. Spear goblins
    13. Barbarians
    12. Skeletons
    11. Royal GG (only good while over levelling)
    10. Fire spirits
    9. Arrows
    8. Minions
    7. Knight
    6. Minion horde
    5. Archers
    4. Elite barbarians
    3. Goblin Gang
    2. Ice spirit
    1. Zap

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  17. Cannon sucks, just because how brutal supercell is, nerfing it a lot while it’s balanced, just because they wanted to make tesla better, which they failed. Nowadays tesla is still very bad, while cannon is pretty bad too

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  18. A lot of the cards that don’t die to zap but only to arrows are useless to me. I have level 8 commons, and I usually get put up against people with level 10 or 11 commons. The other day, a person dropped a level 12 royal giant in the back, and when it reached the bridge, he dropped level 12 elite barbs. He zapped my entire minion hoard and goblin gang when I tried to defend.

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  19. Pingback: Clash Royale Common Card Rankings | Clash of Clans Guide, Strategies, Tricks and More!

  24. “Since archers can be destroyed by the log, zap, and low leveled arrows, it gives them a lot of power on defense. ”
    Do you mean since archers CAN’T be destroyed by zap Log and arrows?

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  25. Ok, to be hones in the worst card list I said mortar is the worst of the worst, but it turned out that I’ve underestimated it. Mortar is awesome in mortar cycle

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      • Low damage, high cost in tournament standard, so weak that giant is much better than RG, Elite Barbarians however even without overlevelling they still have decent HP and damage

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