Baby Dragon

“Burps fireballs from the sky that deal area damage. Baby dragons hatch cute, hungry and ready for a barbeque.”

The Baby Dragon card is unlocked from the Training Camp (Tutorial). It is a short-ranged, area damage, flying troop with moderately high hitpoints and low damage. A Baby Dragon card costs 4 Elixir to deploy. The Baby Dragon is a small, green baby dragon with short, stubby wings.

Strategy

Receiving a Baby Dragon right after finishing the Tutorial is a big advantage in lower arenas since only a few troops can kill and survive it, like the Witch or the Musketeer. It has a level advantage over Commons and Rares since they can't be levelled up to match the Baby Dragon that quickly.
It can be countered by any air targeting troop if it is distracted by another unit. If the Baby Dragon is surrounded with troops that don't die in one shot to it, such as Minions or the Minion Horde, it will be taken out very quickly.
The Baby Dragon's area damage allows it to effectively support and protect tanks such as the Giant and the Giant Skeleton from swarms. This is more effective due to its ability to fly, allowing it to attack without endangering itself to as many cards.
- However, because the Baby Dragon doesn't do much damage per attack, consider supporting it with other, high damage per second troops.
A lone Baby Dragon is quite easy to counter, as it does low damage and doesn't have a lot of health. Musketeer and Mega Minion are the most effective due to their high damage per second and similar Elixir cost to the Baby Dragon.
- After the Baby Dragon has locked on to the tower, frailer troops such as the Spear Goblins, Minions or Archers can also work.
- If the support of a Crown Tower is available, even tanks that don't target troops or air units can soak the Baby Dragon's hits for long enough that the tower is able to take it out on its own.
If split, Archers can take it out as the Baby Dragon won't splash on to the second Archer. This can also work with Spear Goblins; however, this requires incredibly precise timing and, in most cases, another card will need to be backing the Spear Goblins up.
Two reliable counters to the Baby Dragon are the Inferno Tower and the Inferno Dragon. Because the Infernos' damage intensifies over time against higher health units, they will take down the Baby Dragon without taking much damage in return. Although this isn't a positive Elixir trade, the former will often still stay alive long enough to defend a few other troops, while the latter can be used for a counterattack.
- If the opponent has placed a tank in front of the Baby Dragon, an Inferno card will burn straight through both of them, negating the combo for a major Elixir advantage.
  - If using the Inferno Dragon, place it so that it targets the Baby Dragon first, and then the tank, to maximize the amount of health the Inferno Dragon will have remaining. This isn't necessary with the Inferno Tower as its lifetime means it will decay away soon regardless.
The Tesla can counter the Baby Dragon, but be careful when using it. If the opponent has something like the Royal Giant or Hog Rider, it is better to save the building for that.
A Tombstone can distract the Baby Dragon long enough for the Crown Tower to take it out.
The Baby Dragon pairs well with Spear Goblins. The Baby Dragon's high health and fast speed allow the Spear Goblins to damage a Crown Tower while the Baby Dragon tanks the Crown Tower's shots.
Despite its low damage output, it is not wise to ignore a lone Baby Dragon on a Crown Tower, as its health pool allows it to rack up quite a bit of damage.
It is effective to pair the Baby Dragon with the Prince. The Baby Dragon can take out swarms, the bane of the Prince, while the Prince does major damage. This is extremely effective at lower levels, as most troops early on can not target the Baby Dragon. However, this combo can be defeated with Barbarians.
The Baby Dragon can weaken Barbarians, allowing the player's Crown Towers to take care of them.
Pairing the Baby Dragon with the Inferno Dragon is a good idea since the Baby Dragon takes care of small swarms while the Inferno Dragon takes down high health units; this is known as the Double Dragon Combo. However, this combo is vulnerable to a Minion Horde or Rocket and is easily countered by the Musketeer or Wizard.
By placing a Baby Dragon at the leftmost or rightmost side of the Arena, it will be able to ignore buildings placed in the centre of the Arena, as well as avoid being kited to the opposite lane.
When using this to support a Slow or Medium speed troop, such as a Giant, it is best to place the Baby Dragon a good distance behind the tank. Otherwise, the Baby Dragon will outpace them, and will get targeted first by the Princess Tower, which weakens the combo.

History

The Baby Dragon card was released with Clash Royale's soft launch on 4/1/16.
On 3/5/16, the May 2016 Update fixed the "range bug" and decreased the Baby Dragon's range to 3 (from 3.5), but its effective range remained unchanged.
On 24/8/16, a Balance Update increased the Baby Dragon's hit speed to 1.6 seconds (from 1.8 seconds).
On 13/2/17, a Balance Update increased the Baby Dragon's range to 3.5 (from 3).
On 6/8/18, a Balance Update increased the Baby Dragon's hit speed to 1.5 seconds (from 1.6 seconds) but allow it to be knocked back as well.
On 5/9/18, the September 2018 Update changed the Baby Dragon's card description. It used to read "Flying troop that deals area damage. Baby dragons hatch cute, hungry and ready for a barbeque."
On 4/11/19, a Balance Update decreased the Baby Dragon's hitpoints by 4.5%.
On 5/5/20, a Balance Update decreased the Baby Dragon's hitpoints by 8%.

Trivia

It is one of the two troops that are "miniature" versions of another troop in Clash of Clans, the other being the Mini P.E.K.K.A. They are smaller versions of the Dragon and P.E.K.K.A. respectively.
The Baby Dragon is one of the nine troop cards that inspired a troop in Clash of Clans. The others are the Miner, the Night Witch, the Ice Wizard, the Bomber, the Skeleton Barrel, the Battle Ram, the Giant Skeleton, and the Ice Golem.
The Baby Dragon is the subject of four Emotes.
- In the card's art, the Baby Dragon's tongue is blue, but in its Emotes, the Baby Dragon's tongue is red. This does not depict an enemy Baby Dragon, as the spikes on its head are still blue in its Emotes.