Clash Royale Common Card Rankings (November 2017)

/ November 2, 2017

It is time for a new common card rankings for all the common cards in Clash Royale! We will be having a power ranking, 20-1, of the common cards in Clash Royale as of November 2017. As many of you know, I have done this ranking before, when there were only 19 common cards. The top 5 cards then, in order, were zap, minions, elite barbarians, goblin gang, and royal giant. Let’s see how much those rankings were shaken up over the past couple balance changes and updates!

You can view the old ranking here: https://clashfordummies.com/2017/06/24/clash-royale-common-card-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 20!

Note: Text color indicates which way the card is trending in regard to the June rankings.

Common Card Rankings

#20- Mortar

Clash Royale Mortar

Coming in at the bottom of the common card rankings is the mortar, just like the previous common card rankings. The issue with the mortar is that it is too difficult to play with as a win condition. There are more reliable win conditions out there than the mortar, so players will go with those. I think the mortar would be better a defensive card instead of an offensive one.

#19- Bomber

Clash Royale Bomber

Our first troop for the common cards is going to be the bomber. To be honest, the common cards really aren’t that bad overall (that’s where the epics come in), but the bomber just isn’t at the same level as the other ones. It is very weak and easily taken out, all while dealing an average DPS.

#18- Royal Giant 

New Troop Royal Giant Clash of Clans

The royal giant is going to have the biggest drop since last rankings. In the last common card rankings, the royal giant was way up at #5, but now he drops towards the bottom at the #18 spot. Similar to the mortar, there are just better win conditions than the royal giant out there. Also, in order for the RG to be a good card, it HAS to be overleveled!

#17- Cannon

Cannon Clash Royale

In my opinion, the cannon isn’t too bad of a card, it is just extremely underused. With the rise of the tesla and the ever present inferno tower, the cannon is overshadowed by stronger defenses. Still, the cannon can be a great card for countering the hog and other non-defense seeking structures like the bandit or knight.

#16- Tesla

Tesla Clash Royale

In the last common card rankings, the tesla just missed out on the bottom spot, only thanks to the mortar. While it is still fairly low in our rankings, the tesla has made a whole bunch of progress, starting with the big damage increase received in the last balance changes. The tesla is now a great card for taking out giants and LavaLoonion pushes.

#15- Barbarians 

Barbarians Clash Royale

While barbarians are a great defensive card, they are just too expensive to really have any real impact on the meta. Also, with so many splash damage cards like the executioner and wizard being at the top of the meta, it is tough to use barbarians to counter pushes. Still, they do a great job for the most part, but don’t give much offensive value.

#14- 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. With bats, you can get a stronger air defense and with goblins, you can get a stronger ground defense. I still like spear goblins as a card, but like all the common cards below them, the spear goblins often get overshadowed by other, better cards.

#13- Fire Spirits

Fire Spirits Clash Royale

Despite disappearing right after use, the fire spirits actually add up to a lot of damage. They are pretty good once you figure out exactly how to use them. While the biggest flaw is that they don’t live after use, they can be played smartly. Combined with a balloon or giant, the spirits can eliminate minions or goblin gang that is played to counter.

#12- Arrows

Arrows Clash Royale

When zap is at the top of the meta, arrows will never be. The arrows are actually lower than they were in the last rankings, showing the prevalence of zap in most decks. The main claim to fame that the arrows have are that they can completely kill minions, but besides that, zap is usually the right call in most decks.

#11- Skeletons

Skeletons Clash Royale

Skeletons were #11 last ranking, and they stay even here. Despite the skeletons gaining Larry back, he was taken away back in June. Even with this clear nerf, the skeletons still come middle of the pack for the common cards, offering an extremely cheap counter to a whole lot of different ground cards.

#10- Archers

Archers Clash Royale

The first card in our top ten is going to be archers, which are a great 3 elixir counter to basically any card. Archers are great because there are two of them, which means that prince, bandit, and other single targeting cards can’t kill them both at once. While not up to the level of the goblin gang, archers are still a decent counter card.

#9- Elite Barbarians

Elite Barbarians Clash Royale

Just like the royal giant, elite barbarians were originally in the top 5, but have fallen quite a bit. While not too powerful at 4,000 trophies and below, the elite barbarians terrorize Hog Mountain, providing a low skill way to win easily. This is a very unskilled card to play, which makes it easy to win with, which thus puts it still at #9 on our list!

#8- Minion Horde

Clash Royale Minion Horde

Despite the fact that the minion horde can offer some of the worst elixir trades in Clash Royale, being so powerful leads it to be quite a high card on the common card rankings list. Being paired with miner and giant, the minion horde can survive a zap and then proceed to wreck havoc on a tower, with it only being at half health.

#7- Goblins

Goblins Clash Royale

Goblins are going to be the biggest jumpers in this edition of the common card rankings, climbing 8 spots up to #7. With the drop of 4th skeleton, goblins became the go-to, cheap defensive counter to ground troops. Another huge reason for the rise is the ability to no longer die to zap, which makes them great on offense.

#6- Ice Spirit

Skeletons Clash Royale

Will the ice spirit ever drop out of the top 10? Doubtful, because it is such a useful card for only 1 elixir. The versatility of the ice spirit makes it one of the best common cards in Clash Royale, being able to combined in any deck. The ice spirit can be played on defense or as support, providing a great 2 second freeze to allow your units to get a couple more shots in.

#5- Minions

Minions Clash Royale

Even at the #5 rankings, minions have taken a couple spot tumble since the last rankings, mostly due to the introduction of bats. Minions are still an amazing card though, doing well at any point in the game except against splash damage troops. Having the advantage of not dying to zap allows it to be played as a fantastic support card.

#4- Goblin Gang

Goblin Gang Clash Royale

Just like with goblins, the goblin gang received a massive buff with goblins not being able to die to zap. In a lot of cases, it put it ahead of the skeleton army since the SA would die to zap. A lot of decks now carry goblin gang as a nice ground defensive unit. It is very popular within log/zap bait decks as well, providing the perfect cover.

#3- Bats

Bats Clash Royale

Bats, not being in Clash Royale before this power ranking, debut at number 3 in our rankings. Bats have definitely become one of the top defensive cards in game, providing an extremely cheap air counter that does a whole lot of damage. Especially with the introduction of the skeleton barrel, we can only expect for bats to keep rising up!

#2- Zap

Zap Clash Royale

What else can you expect but zap to be in the top 3? Zap is one of the best cards in all of Clash Royale because it can kill all swarm troops, giving it a huge edge on offense. Combine that with the fact that it can reset sparky, inferno dragon, and inferno tower, and you get one of the two best spells in Clash Royale and a deadly counter to most decks.

#1- Knight

Knight Clash Royale

How. The. Meta. Changes. In our first common card rankings, the knight was ranked last. LAST. The knight was quoted from the old article being “the straight up worst card in the game”. Now, the knight is at the forefront of nerf calls, with it being able to counter literally every card in Clash Royale. He offers insane value for only 3 elixir.

So that is going to wrap it up for our common card rankings for November 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!

Check out our videos on YouTube: https://www.youtube.com/channel/UCNo3IxCrp34erbCRLmG8HIA

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74 thoughts on “Clash Royale Common Card Rankings (November 2017)”

  1. Pingback: Clash Royale Common Card Rankings (February 2018) | Clash for Dummies

  3. Back then I put RG at 11th place out of all common cards, but put the Elite Barbarians way up high at 4th place. Now RG is 4th last for me while EBarbs also tumbled down quite a bit (Still top 10 though)

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      • Actually, EBarbs are just annoying for ladder, where people overlevel them to win. But where the Elite Barbarians really shines though is in touchdown. Unlike Royal Giant Which is garbage in it, Elite Barbarians has insane damage which let’s them reliable on defence. But what made them insanely OP is their very fast speed, which can make them rush to the touchdown line as long as supported, especially after Hog Rider got banned. Is the Elite Barbarians used just for no skill wins? I’d definitely say yes for touchdown, but not really otherwise.

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      • Yeah, EBs are great for touchdown because of their speed. 1v1 with overleveled EBs is definitely a small skill way to win… drop the elite barbs and hover zap!

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  4. Heard that the Knight has lost a lot of usage rate at the top 200. I don’t think the nerf affected anything, but what hurts him a lot is the Royal Ghost

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  5. My ranking

    21. Bomber
    20. Spear goblins
    19. Cannon
    18. Royal Giant
    17. Fire Spirits
    16. Skeletons
    15. Barbarians
    14. Mortar
    13. Arrows
    12. Skeleton Barrel
    11. Tesla
    10. Archers
    9. Goblins
    8. Elite Barbarians
    7. Minion Horde
    6. Bats
    5. Knight
    4. Minions
    3. Ice Spirit
    2. Goblin Gang
    1. Zap

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  7. I think Elite Barbarians should be altered a bit. They’re too strong at ladder, but their HP isn’t high enough in tournaments. I think they should have more HP but slow down their hit speed by 0.1 seconds

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    • The problem comes down to they can be overleveled too easily. The only way to fix the discrepency between ladder and tournament is to make them into a rare or epic card.

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  10. “When zap is at the top of the meta, arrows will never be.” Even If Zap wasn’t at the top meta, arrows still won’t be at the top since we got the Log and Fireball

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  20. My rank

    20. Cannon
    19. Royal Giant
    18. Bomber
    17. Mortar
    16. Barbarians
    15. Spear Goblins
    14. Skeletons
    13, Fire Spirits
    12. Tesla
    11. Arrows
    10. Archers
    9. Minion Horde
    8. Elite Barbarians
    7. Goblins
    6. Ice Spirit
    5. Bats
    4. Minions ( I like them more than bats)
    3. Goblin Gang
    2. Knight
    1. Zap

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  21. “Just like with goblins, the goblin gang received a massive buff with goblins not being able to die to zap.” and the recent spear goblins buff made this successful card even better.

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  25. I disagree with the bats. I think Goblin Gang is slightly better as it can offer more distraction . The spear goblins buff made them better!

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  26. Mortar isn’t bad at all! It counters a lot of spawners! Mortar cycle is so powerful, and Can overall deal heavy damage. Don’t forget it got buffed 2 months ago!

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  27. Pingback: Clash Royale Common Card Rankings (November 2017) | Clash of Clans Guide, Strategies, Tricks and More!

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