Goblin Barrel

"Spawns three Goblins anywhere on the Arena. It's going to be a thrilling ride, boys!"

Summary

 * The Goblin Barrel is unlocked from the Goblin Stadium (Arena 1).
 * It is a spell that launches a barrel from the player's King's Tower.
 * Upon impact, the barrel breaks open and unleashes three Goblins.
 * A Goblin Barrel card costs 3 Elixir to deploy.

Strategy

 * If left ignored, the Goblin Barrel will do significantly more damage on a tower than an equivalent level Rocket. At tournament standard, the Goblins will stab a Crown Tower seven times, dealing 742 damage.
 * The Goblins from the Goblin Barrel have high damage per second, but relatively low hitpoints. If placed accordingly with units that have high hitpoints that will distract the Crown Tower and any defending units, the Goblin Barrel can deal extremely high damage in a relatively short amount of time.
 * The above strategy also works vice versa. If you have a troop that deals high damage but has moderate or even low health, deploy the Goblin Barrel first and then drop the troop. This strategy is effective with Hog Riders or even Mini P.E.K.K.A.s. The Goblin Barrel will draw enemy fire while the other troop easily destroys the opposing Crown Tower.
 * As Goblins have relatively low hitpoints, they can quickly be eliminated by Crown Towers. When using a Goblin Barrel to attack a King's Tower, either distract or destroy the Towers to prevent your Goblins from being destroyed.
 * Arrows and The Log can be used to shut down a Goblin Barrel.
 * Zap is tied with The Log and Fire Spirits for cheapest spell counter to the Goblin Barrel, however, if the Zap is the same level as the spawned Goblins, then the Goblins will survive with a sliver of health, allowing them to continue to do damage. They will get 2-3 stabs in if your Zap leaves them with a sliver of health.
 * Do not play the counter spell too early, as early spells have no effect on the Goblins, and Zap and Arrows have a very short cast time.
 * However, seasoned players can cast the Goblin Barrel in the far corner of the opposing territory, out of the radius of the defending player's Arrows instinctively cast "on" the Crown Tower. This allows the Goblins to survive, so you'll have to react accordingly to their Goblin Barrel placements.
 * The Log is more effective than Zap to counter Goblin Barrels, as a Lvl 1 Log can counter all non-maxed out Goblin Barrels and it can hit troops in front of the Goblin Barrel as well.
 * If no other spells are readily available, the player can use cheap distracting troops and/or area damaging troops such as Bombers, Fire Spirits, or Skeletons to prevent the spawned Goblins from dealing severe damage to their intended target.
 * Fire Spirits are a good counter to the Goblin Barrel, as they will shut down most, if not all, of the Goblins for a positive Elixir trade.
 * As the description says, the Goblin Barrel can be launched anywhere, allowing players to finish off buildings they cannot reach. However, it is easily countered with spells and area damage troops.
 * The Goblin Barrel can be used to force the opponent to use their Arrows, Zap, or other area damage spells, allowing the player to swarm their opponent with cards such as the Skeleton Army and Minion Horde. However, this strategy can backfire if the opponent has some splash damage troops or a Mirror.
 * The Mirror can be used in affiliation with this card to do extra damage on Crown Towers. However this move is very risky since if your opponent has area damage spell cards like The Log or Arrows they will easily counter it, putting you at an Elixir disadvantage.
 * If placed correctly, the Tornado can pull the Goblins from the barrel to the King's Tower which will allow it to activate, and therefore, giving yourself a huge upper hand in the game.
 * If the Goblin Barrel is placed at the center of an Arena Tower, it will cause the spawned Goblins to split apart on all sides of the tower, making them harder for splash units to kill.
 * An Executioner can destroy every Goblin in one throw, but his axe destroys Goblins in two hits at tournament standard, so the Barrel will get two stabs onto your Crown Tower. His average speed and overall tough stats and combo potential means that the enemy will have a harder time preparing to counter him than with most troops.
 * For ranged units, as long as they are in range, the result will be the same. Archers, Musketeer and Wizard prevent all but two stabs on your tower, and a Dart Goblin only lets three stabs on your tower.
 * There is a precise technique for the Electro Wizard's spawn damage to splash all three Goblins. Drop your Electro Wizard right when the Goblin Barrel's shadow crosses the river and the Goblins will get a maximum of one stab on your tower.

History

 * The Goblin Barrel was added with Clash Royale's soft launch on 4/1/16.
 * On 11/1/16, a Balance Update decreased the spawned Goblins level by 1. Prior to the balance, a max level Goblin Barrel could spawn level 14 Goblins, which was 2 levels higher than the max level at the time.
 * On 19/2/16, a Balance Update decreased the Goblin Barrel's Crown Tower impact damage by 20%.
 * On 21/6/16, a Balance Update decreased the Goblin spawn time to 1 sec (from 1.2 sec).
 * On 4/7/16, the Tournaments Update decreased the Goblin Barrel's Elixir cost to 3 (from 4), increased its Goblin spawn time to 1.2 sec (from 1 sec) and removed its impact damage.
 * Before the May 2016 Update, the Goblin Barrel was able to summon level 13 Goblins while the level cap for the Goblins card was 12. The Witch was able to do the same with her Skeletons.

Trivia

 * The Goblins spawned from the barrel are 5 levels higher than the barrel itself.
 * The Goblin Barrel is one of the three cards that spawns troops anywhere in the Arena, the others being the Miner and the Graveyard.
 * Arrows and the Goblin Barrel are the only two 'launched' spells which don't push back affected targets.
 * You can see another Goblin's leg sticking out of the barrel on the card image.
 * The Goblin Barrel has the smallest radius out of all spells with a 1.5 radius.
 * This song depicts 4 Goblins coming from the barrel, instead of 3.
 * It's one of the 6 cards associated with Goblins, including Spear Goblins, Goblin Gang, Dart Goblin, Goblins and Goblin Hut. It is also the only Epic card and spell card associated with Goblins.
 * The Goblin Barrel can be played on the river, but no Goblins will fall into the river.

Koboldfass Barril de duendes Fût à gobelins Barile goblin Гоблинская бочка