Three Musketeers

"Trio of powerful, independent markswomen, fighting for justice and honor. Disrespecting them would not be just a mistake, it would be a cardinal sin!"

Summary

 * The Three Musketeers are unlocked from the Royal Arena (Arena 7).
 * It spawns three single-target, medium-ranged Musketeers with both moderate hitpoints and damage.
 * A Three Musketeers card costs 9 Elixir to deploy.

Strategy

 * The Three Musketeers is a risky card to play. Being a high-cost card, at 9 Elixir, it is imperative to know if the opponent does not have cards to punish the player for playing the card.
 * The player can simply cast a Fireball and Zap, Poison, Rocket or Lightning spell on the Three Musketeers to eliminate all of them, giving them a significant Elixir advantage.
 * The Three Musketeers will not be killed by a Fireball of an equal level.
 * Be careful when using the Lightning to counter them. It always targets the units with the highest hitpoints, so if they are using Barbarians as a tank, the Lightning will only target the Barbarians and leave all 3 Musketeers alive.
 * One could also use a Zap in combination with Fire Spirits. Deploy the Fire Spirits shortly after zapping all three Musketeers, and they can potentially wipe them all out for a 5 Elixir advantage. Said Musketeers will be eliminated by Zap and Fire Spirits that are at least 1 level higher than them, so this strategy can work well at Tournament Rules levels. As of the 24/8 update, however, this strategy will not take them out completely due to the zap stun time reduction. However, it can take out two Musketeers should your opponent have decided to split them up.
 * A well placed Ice Spirit paired with the Guards are capable of taking out the Three Musketeers for a 5 elixir advantage, so be wary if your opponent has these cards.
 * The Three Musketeers can be very powerful support for a tanky troop like the Royal Giant, catching the opponent off guard and quickly annihilating them if no defensive cards are available.
 * A good combo to take care of this is a Valkyrie or Barbarians then quick-drop Freeze.
 * The Three Musketeers deal heavy damage with a Rage, easily demolishing a Crown Tower in a few seconds.
 * It is an effective but very risky idea to pair them with Lumberjack. It can easily take a Crown Tower if not effectively countered. However, it costs a massive 13 Elixir, and may leave you unprepared for an enemy push.
 * It is extremely important to distract the Musketeers when they are spawned, as they will not change their target once they lock onto a Crown Tower, dealing devastating damage even if the player tries to destroy them.
 * Keep in mind that when the Three Musketeers are not distracted, deploying cheap swarm troops like Spear Goblins is very ineffective. This is because they are in a group of 3, and therefore can eliminate 3 low hitpoint troops in a single burst.
 * If they lock on to the player's Crown Tower, try making them retarget by "pushing" them away with a troop that only targets buildings like the Giant or by placing down troops in front of them and zapping them with a Zap spell.
 * When deploying the Three Musketeers, deploy them in the back of the arena so there is time to generate Elixir before they attack the enemy. It is recommended to use tanks to protect them, but unfortunately, as risky as it is, spells like Rockets and Fireballs can damage a tower and simultaneously kill/weaken the Three Musketeers. A better idea is to place a tank at the rear of the arena and the Three Musketeers behind them.
 * The player can also deploy the Three Musketeers in the middle of your part of the arena so they will split up into 2 groups. The opponent will always try to counter the 2 musketeers group, so supporting the solo musketeer might take your opponent by surprise. You may also support the 2 musketeer group with a mini tank and the solo one with a stronger tank, or vice versa.
 * Never try deploying Four Musketeers or more (3 Musketeers + a single Musketeer) unless the opponent has no splash cards. In the case of 4 Musketeers, not only does it cost 13 Elixir, a Fireball + Zap combo can wipe them off the Arena and give a huge 7 Elixir profit.
 * The player can, however, deploy the Three Musketeers in the middle of the arena, making them split up, and then deploy another Musketeer in the solo-musketeer side.
 * When the opponent has 1 Crown Tower destroyed, the player can deploy the Three Musketeers in the middle of the Arena, doing lots of damage to the other Crown Tower. It is not recommended to do this if the opponent has a building on their side of the arena, as this will give them time to counter the musketeers.
 * If you place a Lumberjack near the Three Musketeers the enemy can be instantly destroyed by the sheer speed and destruction, but be sure to pull out the Three Musketeers so as to surprise your enemy.
 * If you have taken one tower, you can deploy Three Musketeers in the extra territory so as to take the opponent by surprise and pair them up with a Rage.
 * Although a Valkyrie can defeat a Musketeer with ease, the Three Musketeers' sheer DPS will kill the Valkyrie in 3.3 sec before she can kill them, assuming that the Valkyrie is not placed directly on top.
 * When a Giant approaches the player's tower, they can deploy Three Musketeers, as they will kill the Giant and then make a strong push.

History

 * The Three Musketeers were added to the game on 29/2/16 with the March Update.
 * On 23/3/16, a Balance Update decreased the Three Musketeers' cost to 9 (from 10).

Trivia

 * Before the Balance Update, when the Three Musketeers cost 10 Elixir, mirroring them would still cost 10 Elixir.
 * They are the most expensive Rare card and the most expensive card in the entire game.
 * The name and description of the card is a reference to the classic novel The Three Musketeers.
 * When compared to the player spawning 3 Musketeers individually, the Three Musketeers card is cheaper by 3 Elixir.
 * Playing the regular Musketeer and using the Mirror on her costs the same as the 3 Musketeers, but only yields 2 Musketeers.
 * In the card image, the Three Musketeers lack the crater on their helmets which the single Musketeer bears.
 * The Three Musketeers also seem to have lighter colored hair than the single Musketeer.

Trois mousquetairesDrei MusketierinnenТри мушкетёра