Deck:3.0 Miner Poison

Early Game (3:00 - 2:00)

 * If you have Miner in your starting hand, send it to their Princess Tower. Do not support it with Poison, as you will not know their whole deck and could possibly end up without a counter to an air swarm.
 * Cycle to Miner if you don't have it in your starting hand. Then play it.
 * Play passively and don't leak elixir. Invested units can often gain value from an opponent attacking the same lane.
 * If you gain an elixir advantage, don't be afraid to send a lone Miner to their Princess Tower. Your other cards are versatile enough to recover from a 1 or 2 elixir deficit.
 * Save your Inferno Tower until you figure out their deck archetype. Using it on a mini-tank may be a waste when you could counter it with other units, and it will be difficult to cycle to it in single elixir should you need it right after using it.
 * Be careful with your placements. A Tornado can activate their king and be devastating to your future chips.
 * Try not to invest Valkyrie as she is much more valuable on a reactive defense. Musketeer is ranged, so she can attack sooner. If you must, play her in front of your King Tower.

Mid Game (2:00 - 1:00)

 * Begin making small counterattacks with Musketeer and Miner. However, don't play Musketeer then Miner right after. Get defensive value first.
 * Play Poison with Miner if you can clip more than one unit. Do not pre-Poison yet; overcommitting can cost you the game.
 * Keep chipping away with single Miners. Mix up your placement if they don't have Tornado. Otherwise, your gameplay here is similar to the early game, except you have scouted their deck.
 * If they have a heavy spell for your Musketeer, stop playing her in the back, as they will get spell value on your tower.

Late Game (1:00 - 0:01)

 * Switch to an aggressive playstyle. Knowing your opponent's cards and counters to Miner, begin preplanting Poison in the expected position of their counter right after you send in your Miner.
 * Begin making aggressive counter attacks with your leftover defending units. Protect them with Miner.
 * Be careful not to overcommit with Miner and Poison. You should have an Inferno Tower in hand at all times if you are facing a beatdown or Hog deck, and generally should not be below 3 elixir.
 * You can cycle much faster with the 2x elixir bonus. Your cheapest cycle is 7 elixir (but most of the time, you will be cycling to a Miner, so your cycle is closer to 8), so don't be afraid to invest some of those units to get to a desired card.
 * If your opponent begins building a large push in the back, pressure the weaker tower harder. This can cause their supporting units to move in front of their win condition, making them easier to deal with.
 * Valkyrie is very good at separating grounded support troops from a win condition (i.e Wizard behind Golem), so save her for those large pushes.

Leagueless Ladder (Trophies < 4000)

 * This is a much harder game state because you only have one minute to finish off the game. It may be a good idea to play for a draw if your opponent's tower is around or above 1000 HP.
 * It may be tempting to go ham on their Princess Tower, but this overcommitment can cause you to be down a lot of elixir to defend a devastating counterpush. Continue using moderate elixir combos.
 * If their tower is at 600 HP or lower, this means two The Logs and two Poisons can chip it out. This is 12 Elixir. Combined with a Miner, you may be able to stretch this threshold to 700 or 800 HP.

League Ladder + Every Other Game Mode (Trophies > 4000)

 * Because you have three minutes, you can play much safer than leagueless ladder. This allows you to continue making steady pushes for their tower and discourages an overcommitment due to a less strict time constraint.
 * Continue playing like you did in Late Game.

Deck Substitutions
Miner - Cannot be substituted without changing the core of the deck. The closest thing to it is possibly Hog Rider, but your dynamic is different due to the Hog being more threatening to your opponent and easier to distract.

Poison - Can possibly be substituted for Fireball. Fireball has a smaller radius, does less damage, and does not deny swarms aside from the initial hit, but its immediate damage and knockback can let your Miner get an extra hit or secure you the game more safely.

The Log - Can be substituted for Giant Snowball or Zap. Giant Snowball knocks back all but the heaviest units, has a slow effect, a wider radius, and hits air units at the cost of damage and prolonged area denial. Zap can hit air units and reset charge attacks. Both spells kill Bats and drop Minions low enough to be one-shotted by an Ice Spirit or Musketeer. This is useful for the typical distraction units sent to your Inferno. Barbarian Barrel has no knockback, does not guarantee chip damage, can be countered for a positive trade, and the Barbarian is rather frail. Valkyrie does a better job and can counter attack.

Ice Spirit - Can be substituted for Fire Spirits or Ice Golem. Fire Spirits can take out a Minion Horde or a Goblin Gang, can distract most units just as well, and can chip the tower, but they are more expensive, frailer, and can be countered for a neutral trade by the cheap spells. Ice Golem is a cheap tank with a slow effect + death damage that can do the same things as Zap or Snowball in terms of damage. However, its only practical use is kiting and killing Skeletons, and most of the time Ice Spirit is just more versatile in terms of defense.

Skeletons - Can be substituted for Goblins, Spear Goblins, or Bats. Goblins are bulkier and deal more damage. Spear Goblins are grounded units that can target air. Bats are a higher DPS anti-air but cannot kite or tank ground units. All are more expensive than Skeletons.

Valkyrie - Can be substituted for Knight, but... Valkyrie does everything Knight does but better. Higher DPS, higher health, splash, for just one extra elixir. Knight is easier to level up, though. Bandit is another alternative that is stronger in different ways but is not very F2P friendly.

Musketeer - Can be substituted for any of the three wizards. Wizard costs more but splashes and one-shots Minions. Electro Wizard stuns and has a spawn zap, but isn't as F2P friendly. Ice Wizard's slow is amazing on defense, but does almost no damage and again, isn't very F2P friendly.

Inferno Tower - Can be substituted for Inferno Dragon, but Inferno Tower is just so much better on defense. It can kite the dreaded grounded tanks, has more range, doesn't have its attack reset by knockback, and more health for one elixir. The Inferno Dragon is air, and can counterattack, I guess. If there was another defensive building in the deck, maybe this would make sense, but Inferno Tower is just better here. Also Inferno Dragon is not as F2P friendly.