Skeleton Army

"Summons an army of skeletons. Meet Larry and his friends Harry, Gerry, Terry, Mary, Ledoot, etc."

Summary

 * The Skeleton Army is unlocked from the Training Camp (Tutorial).
 * It spawns 16 single-target, melee Skeletons with very low hitpoints and damage.
 * A Skeleton Army card costs 3 Elixir to deploy.

Strategy

 * Due to their high numbers, the Skeleton Army is effective against slowly attacking, high hitpoint opponents such as the P.E.K.K.A, Prince and Mini P.E.K.K.A.
 * Another benefit is the Skeleton Army's cost of 3 Elixir, making it a very versatile card that can give you an Elixir advantage in almost any case. (Most tanks will be killed for a 1-5 Elixir advantage, mini-tanks are Elixir neutral.)
 * They are also useful for countering building targeting troops such as Giant and Hog riders if they are by themselves.
 * While being powerful in numbers, they are very weak against splash damage. This means that Bombers, Valkyries, Arrows, Fireballs, Poisons, Fire Spirits, and Zaps are extremely effective against them and will most likely wipe them out instantly. Thus, they are generally not used in higher Arenas, as most opponents have many splash troops and large area spells. In addition, they can be outclassed by other swarms like the Minion Horde and Barbarians which do more damage, have more health, and in the former's case can't be attacked at all due to being an air troop.
 * Even a small group of for example Spear Goblins and/or Minions can destroy the group one by one.
 * The Skeleton Army can force the enemy to use their splash spell, allowing you to deploy other swarms of low hitpoint troops to deal high damage.
 * However this may not be wise because it generally costs less Elixir to destroy the Skeleton Army than deploying it.
 * Zap, The Log and Fire Spirits are the best as they give an Elixir advantage. Arrows and Bombers give an even Elixir trade. Using Poison or Fireball will incur a 1 Elixir loss against yourself. Using a Valkyrie, Witch or Wizard, while being themselves 1-2 Elixir higher than the Skeleton Army, they will generally be at full health after eliminating the Skeleton army, so may not be a negative trade. Spear Goblins can also be used against a "lone" skeleton army that is in your side of the arena.
 * However, at tournament levels, Spear Goblins can not be used to eliminate the skeletons. A level 10 Spear Goblin is required to one-shot the skeletons from a level 1 Skeleton Army.
 * The Skeleton Army is not recommended to use offensively, as they can be easily wiped out with spells such as Arrows, and are most effective as a distraction.
 * Keep in mind that, if by some chance the Skeleton Army manages to get on a tower, it will deal unfathomable damage to it.
 * If the opponent has left the game, a Skeleton Army can do immense damage to Crown Towers, without being countered by other opponent troops.
 * The Skeleton Army is best paired with troops like Witch, Prince or any other troop with high damage.
 * It can also be used to protect a P.E.K.K.A, Royal Giant, or other heavy troop when attacking.
 * If you use Mirror with a Skeleton Army, and if your opponent has no AoE cards that are available, they will be instantly routed.
 * 3 Skeletons cost 1 Elixir, while 16 cost 3. Playing the Skeleton Army profits 7 more Skeletons at the Skeletons card's Elixir rate. However, splash units and spells can still easily end them.
 * It can be used as a lure for the opponent's Zap or Arrows before you throw a Goblin Barrel. This won't work, however, if the opponent has a way to take out your Skeleton Army and/or Goblin Barrel (such as a Mirrored Zap or Arrows).
 * Also in either case, you'll be losing a plenty of elixir, meaning it may not be a very good strategy.
 * During double-elixir period, the Skeleton Army can be used to great effectiveness if the opponent is forced into wasting their AoE cards. You can play the Skeleton Army along with Rage as this increases the Skeletons' attack as well as travel speed, leaving little room for the opponent to counter.
 * In general, the Skeleton Army should not be used to counter cards that deal Death Damage, as the death of the latter card will often result in only 3-4 skeletons surviving, although this will always give you a positive Elixir trade (a large 5 Elixir profit if used to counter a Golem, 3 elixir extra for Giant Skeleton).
 * Playing the Skeleton Army against an Ice Golem, would give you a 1 Elixir loss, but nonetheless can be still effective, as the Ice Golem will be destroyed almost instantaneously, and the Skeletons will be able to survive the miniscule death damage.
 * Skeleton armies are not a good counter against themselves unless one is 1 level higher. However using a skeleton army on your side to counter an invading one can help clear it, with no elixir loss.
 * Using a rage spell on the skeleton army makes it a huge threat since they are already fast movers and hitters this now makes them more deadly, also mirroring the skeleton army gives you a huge numbers advantage.
 * The Skeleton Army can be an excellent card to play on the opponent's side if the player has knocked down one of their towers. If they play a tank or mini tank in the corner nearest their King and remaining Arena Tower and the Skeleton Army there immediately after, the skeleton army will split three ways with one portion going toward the arena tower and two sets taking different paths to the king tower. If your opponent does not respond with a centrally placed ground unit or building,the Skeleton Army will do great damage to all targets, and will not be as susceptible to area spells as it normally is because of the split.

History

 * On 19/2/16, a Balance Update increased the Skeletons' hitpoints and damage by 11%.
 * On 18/5/16, a Balance Update increased the Skeletons' hitpoints and damage by 5%.
 * On 4/7/16, the Tournaments Update increased the number of Skeletons spawned to 21 (from 20).
 * Clash Royale said that the fourth Skeleton from the Skeletons card joined the Skeleton Army, making it from 20 to 21.
 * This newly joined Skeleton is named "Ledoot", according to the updated description.
 * This is a nod to a popular meme, the Skull Trumpet.
 * This is a bit of an odd name, as all of the other skeletons' names end with the letters "-ry".
 * The spawning pattern now gets compressed when the card is deployed by the river.
 * Previously skeletons would spawn on top of the river and even in enemy territory.
 * On 20/10/16, a Balance Update decreased the Skeleton Army's Elixir cost to 3 (from 4) and increased the Skeletons' levels by 5. However, it also reduced the number of Skeletons spawned to 16 (from 21).

Trivia

 * The Skeleton Army is one of the 10 cards associated with Skeletons.
 * The Skeleton 'Larry' in the Skeleton Army's description is a reference to the Clash of Clans commercial, Larry.
 * It is the only Epic swarm card, with the Minion Horde and other swarm cards being Common.
 * When deployed, the Skeleton Army takes up the most space out of any card.
 * However, Arrows have enough radius to cover the entire swarm.
 * It also contains the most number of troops.
 * Each Skeleton has a diagonal scar over their left eye if the player looks closely.
 * It will actually deal a lot of damage. When all of the level 8 Skeleton Army's skeletons are damaging one target, it does a staggering 1568 (16×98=1568) DPS, many times more than the record-holding P.E.K.K.A. at max level, and more than twice as much as the Minion Horde (with 738 total DPS at max level), which is the card with the second highest collective DPS in the game.
 * The Skeleton Army's in-game stats on the deck tab and battle log are currently incorrect. A tournament-level Skeleton Army summons tournament-level Skeletons, but the stats displayed are still for Skeletons of the same level as the Skeleton Army card itself, rather than reflecting Skeleton values five levels higher than the Skeleton Army card.  The correct Skeleton levels are displayed when watching replays.

Armée de squelettesSkelettarmeeАрмия скелетовOrda di scheletri