2.9 Freezeyard Cycle

Introduction

DISCLAIMER: This is intented to be an extended guide for a modified version of GrandWiz05's original Freezeyard Cycle deck. Full credit to them for the original deck.

With that out of the way, let's actually talk about this deck. It is neither a classic deck that can stand the test of time nor a meta deck that fits perfectly with the recent balance changes, but it is a fun deck with a shot at being viable. If you want a silly deck and like the cycle archetype, this is the deck for you!

Deck Information[]

Deck Created by: GrandWiz05 (original version) - TypicalLumberjack (the modified version shown here)

Minimum Recommended King Level: 1

Maximum Recommended King Level: 13

Arena Required: Spooky Town (Wrong?)

Average Elixir Cost: 2.9 (Wrong?)

More Statistics: Go to Deck Builder

Card Roles[]

Graveyard: Your win condition. Use it to take towers and stall on defense.

Freeze: Freeze is used to complement your Graveyard (by freezing counters) and to stall on defense.

Skeletons: A cheap cycle card that can be used to distract as well.

Ice Spirit: Same as the skeletons, but can also chip the tower.

The Log: Your small spell with a lot of uses. Use it on goblin/skeleton barrels, swarms, to spell cycle, etc.

Dark Prince: A reliable mini tank that can deal with most ground cards. He is your only troop with a splash attack (technically the ice spirit and ice golem have splash attacks but they are one time).

Inferno Dragon: Your high damage defensive troop. Use it to melt tanks and most win conditions. In rare cases the Inferno Dragon can be used as an unorthodox minitank for your Graveyard.

Ice Golem: Ice golem is a cheap and reliable mini tank. Pair it with a graveyard to punish on offense and protect units and your tower on defense.

In-depth Card Explanation and Uses[]

Graveyard[]

As said previously, Graveyard is your win condition, so you have to use it wisely. First off, placement is VERY important with Graveyard. Improper placement could lead to a skeleton activating your opponent's king tower, which is almost always a death sentence for Graveyard decks. The best general placement of Graveyard is two tiles from the center of the princess tower, one tile away from the border. This is the placement you will use the majority of the time. However, if your opponent repeatedly places a troop(s) with splash and/or fast attack speed (e.g. Valkyrie, barbarians, lumberjack) at the center of the Graveyard, you can move your Graveyard one tile above. This will mean more skeletons spawn away from that unit, allowing for potentially more damage.

Another important thing with Graveyard is knowing when to use it. This is a cycle deck, so you can be more aggressive with your GY than other GY decks, but still be fairly passive. You often only need one or two really good GYs to win you the game, so be sparing with your GY. And when you use your GY, almost NEVER send it in alone. Even if you have the elixir for freeze and can use it on offense, still at least send in a two elixir ice golem to tank the princess tower shots. The damage will be increased exponentially. Back to when to use this push, you will usually use it as either

A punish for a high cost unit being place in the back (e.g. Golem).
To disrupt a push your opponent wants to make (e.g. Night Witch in the back). Only do this you know you won't be able to defend their push otherwise.
If you have performed a successful defense and are up elixir or ready for a counterpush.
If you know you have outcycled their GY counter and need to maintain pressure. Only do this in double and triple elixir.

As for defensive GYs, they are pretty situational, but quite good in those situations. They should be used to stall troops, like a pseudo freeze. Defensive GYs are most effective against either units that have a slow attack speed (e.g. PEKKA), or units that have a long movement mechanic (e.g. to make MK play hopscotch). They can also be useful to stall supporting units in a big push, but I would really only do this in the last 20 seconds of a match to prevent a push from taking a tower and going into overtime. Another useful defensive GY is placing it in the back to generate a skeleton army ready to go. If you've already taken a tower and just need to defend, this can be useful for preemptively preparing a defense for ground units like Hog Rider. Only do this when you're freeze is out of hand and/or you just need to hold onto a tower for the last 15-20 seconds.

Freeze[]

Freeze is a card that is very useful on both offense and defense. On offense, its use case is fairly simple, just drop it on GY counters and clip the tower. Most GY counters can be negated with freeze, forcing more elixir out of your opponent to prevent critical damage onto their tower. There are two exceptions to this though, the first being if they respond with something that the skeletons won't be able to kill or nearly finish off shouldn't be frozen. For example, a baby dragon shouldn't be frozen as the skeletons can't hit air and thus the baby dragon will survive for a counterpush and since it is frozen this counterpush will be held off for longer so your opponent can generate more elixir. You may do significant damage to their tower with this, but it leaves you very vulnerable to a counterpush. Only freeze counters like this when you know your opponent is low on elixir or they don't have the cards in hand to do an efficient counterpush. The second exception is if your graveyard is already around halfway through. The skeletons are alive, you’ll get great tower damage anyways. They aren’t? Well you just wasted four elixir to get a few more chip shots onto the tower. Generally, you want to save your freeze on offense for double elixir most of the time, as a GY+Freeze combo alone is nine elixir, and that's not even talking about the mini-tank.

As for defense, freeze is actually quite useful. If you can, avoid using the freeze on defense before your first GY+Freeze push, as otherwise the surprise factor on your first push is removed. However, if you can't avoid it (e.g. against certain balloon decks) it's completely fine giving up the surprise factor if it means saving your tower from critical damage or destruction. Using a freeze on defense is just as simple as using it on offense: Just try to hit as many troops as you can with the freeze. However, there is a catch like on offense. Do not use your freeze on defense when the opponent is ready to do another push. You really only need to worry about this with cycle decks and aggressive control decks, but stalling the push with a freeze(s) can often allow your opponent to build up more elixir so they can do another push. Sometimes this is unavoidable, and luckily you don't need to worry about this as much against beatdown decks and more defensive control decks (which is usually where you need your freeze most on defense anyways).

When you are defending big pushes, in double/triple elixir you may want to consider repeatedly cycling freezes on defense. This is a valuable defensive tactic when faced against heavy beatdown, but you likely won't do this anywhere else. The uptimes of freeze are approximately the following:

Single Elixir: 14%
Double Elixir: 29%
Triple Elixir: 44%

Again, these are approximates and based on your other cards you want to use, amount of elixir before the initial freeze, network connection, etc. these uptimes will be higher or lower. They were calculated by multiplying the amount of elixir to cycle back to a freeze and use it (ten elixir) by the seconds required to generate elixir in each portion of the match (2.8, 1.4, and 0.9 seconds respectively). Then I divided the amount of seconds freeze lasts (four) by the number calculated previously. And finally, I multiplied the result from that by 100. Hope this gives you a better understanding of how long freeze cycling can stall for.

Inferno Dragon[]

Inferno Dragon is very simple. It is your primary defense against tanks and most single unit win conditions (hog rider, balloon, etc.) . Make sure you protect your Inferno Dragon on defense, as they will get a LOT of value if done so. The idrag can survive every spell except rocket (including lightning), so you have quite a bit of cushion room. Against electro giant you can place the idrag juuuuuust outside the egiants range. However, it’s likely the egiant player will tornado it into its range. To avoid this, when you know the egiant player will make a push, place the idrag in the back. While they are building their push cycle back to another idrag. They will tornado your old idrag, but now you’re already back to another! This same trick should also be used when the opponent has a spell combo that can kill your idrag (e.g. lightning plus arrows. Sounds ridiculous I know but golem is quite ridiculous). If you need to stall your opponent so they don't attack, place an idrag by your tower with the least health. Your opponent will have to either deal with that idrag in their offensive push, or wait until they have a good response for it.

As for offense, the idrag is decently useful. They pair well with the dark prince, as the DP can take out ground swarms for the idrag to advance further. One very good example of why it’s good to save your freeze is the idrag on offense. If they use something like skeletons to stop the idrag from getting any good damage, you can bring out an unexpected freeze to often do critical damage to the tower. Only do this when the idrag is not practically dead. I’ve made the mistake of freezing a tower when my idrag dies to the last arrow. In certain chippy matchups, idrag can also come in clutch to get a damage advantage when it locks onto a tower (even for just a second or two) which is very plausible in triple elixir. You can also use the idrag as a pseudo baby dragon to tank for your graveyard. But just because you can doesn’t mean you should; only do this when you absolutely have to.

Dark Prince[]

The DP is a very versatile card in this deck. He is a reliable mini tank that can deal with most ground units, as well as synergizing well with freeze on defense. Make sure you get the most out of his splash on defense. Place him in a position that allows him to deal damage over the most distance, particularly to support units in a big push. He can also just deal with any swarm unit that your tower might struggle with. Like wallbreakers (I know it's not technically a swarm unit but whatever), goblin gang, etc. The DP also functions as a great mini tank for when your ice golem is out of hand. This is why it's fine to cycle an ice golem in the back as you have DP in case you need a mini tank, unlike other decks where you only have one mini tank. However, DP can also function as a tank in certain cases because of his shield. Any enormously powerful single attack will only take out the shield. For example, a sparky, a mini/momma PEKKA hit, etc. Keep this in mind during these matchups.

WARNING: Do NOT punish with Dark Prince alone if you don't know for sure your opponent has tornado. If they do, it's possible (albeit a little difficult) to activate the King Tower with a lone Dark Prince. A King Tower activation isn't as detrimental in this deck as other Graveyard decks, but its still very difficult to deal with nonetheless.

With that out of the way, Dark Prince is also a good tool on offense. A DP+GY combo, although expensive, can be very difficult to deal with. Especially if you did it to punish a high cost unit being placed in the back. Be careful though, if they block your DP at the bridge with a mini tank, that GY is gonna be really weak. So hold off on your GY a bit until you know they won't block the bridge with DP. DP can also come in clutch like the inferno dragon by splashing onto the tower and getting really good damage in. Occasionally, you may actually want to consider using the GY to tank for your DP instead of the other way around. Do this if they don't have a good response for the DP, and/or your GY is practically useless (a cycle deck with poison, activated king, etc).

Skeletons & Ice Spirit[]

The role of skeletons and ice spirit in this deck aren't different from other decks and you likely already know a decent bit about them. They are cheap cycle cards with a lot of uses (especially on defense). Skeletons are great for distracting slow single targeting units (like PEKKA), DPSing down distracted units, and surrounding splash units. Ice spirit is great for extending a freeze's duration (if timed properly), doing chip damage, and just all around useful on defense. Knowing placements and timing with these cards can be very rewarding. I could go into those, but instead I'll link Milo the Great's videos, as they are very good:

Skeletons

Ice Spirit

Note: Ice Spirit plus GY is possible but should rarely be used. I only do this when I want to be able to freeze immediately in single elixir, which is only used in a few matchups. And ice golem+GY will have a freeze ready very soon anyways, and immediately in double elixir by the time the GY starts

The Log[]

Your trusty, reliable small spell. Whether it be deleting ground swarms, knocking back tanks, or murdering princesses, the log can do it all. Except anything related to air. The Log (like the other cards near the end of this uses list) is pretty simple. When you aren’t against logbait, the log can be used as a cycle card to chip the tower (log cycling can be very important to finish off towers, to clear ground units that have little health (especially swarms), and to knock back even the biggest of tanks. Knock back, for those who don’t know, is also a true stun that can reset every attack frame (can’t reset a Sparky’s charge tho). Keep this alongside the regular uses of knock back in mind for things like resetting units with a change attack (e.g. prince or battle ram), knocking back a golem before it dies to avoid its death damage clipping the tower, and other creative uses of these mechanics.

I’ll go into more detail in the matchup section, but against logbait your log is ridiculously valuable. Of course the obvious use for this is to deny goblin barrels. However, sometimes, it can be beneficial to log a bait card and freeze a goblin barrel. This isn’t always practical, but if you can make a serious positive elixir trade with the log (e.g. princess plus goblin gang for +4 elixir) then the negative trade of the freeze doesn’t matter as you’ll still be up elixir. Against double barrel bait, ALWAYS save your log for the goblin barrel. The tactic mentioned earlier might still work, but it’s better to play it safe against double barrel. The reason you save it for the goblin barrel is because there are other ways to counter a skeleton barrel for no damage without log (even an ice spirit can counter a skelebarrel for only the drop damage if you time it properly), but countering a goblin barrel for no damage without log is very difficult to do without making a negative elixir trade.

Ice Golem[]

Your cycle-able mini tank. As said previously, it's fine to cycle your ice golem since you have DP if you need a backup mini tank. On defense use your ice golem as a meat shield (or ice shield I guess) to tank for whatever. It can tank for your tower, an inferno dragon, etc. Make the most out of the ice golem's high health to elixir ratio. Also, learn how to kite. It's quite simple, but you can send most non-building targeting units into the opposite lane by placing an ice golem just inside the other lane. Since the ice golem targets buildings, it will not walk towards the building but rather the closest opposing tower, which is on the right side. Thus, the unit you are kiting will follow the ice golem in it's journey to the other lane. You can only do this at the river or three tiles away from the river. Otherwise the unit will go to the tower instead. This trick will not work with air units placed on the border of the arena. You also need to make the most out of the ice golem's death nova. Whether it be, killing bats, killing a skarmy, slowing down a fast unit, etc. The death nova is your only good response for bats as well, as an ice spirit usually won't clip all the bats (especially if the bats are from a night witch).

On offense, you are really only going to use the ice golem as a tank for your GY. I mean, if you have a leftover inferno dragon from a defense you might want to protect it, but that's usually not the case. This doesn't apply to the DP as if you have a DP that won't easily die to spells to a shot from a splasher then using a GY is a better counterpush option. Back to tanking for your GY, the ice golem is the preferred mini tank. This is because...

It's cheap cost means you can easily just drop it at the bridge alongside a GY and still have a freeze ready to go shortly after. Also means you have more elixir leftover to deal with your opponents counterpush (assuming you don't go in for a freeze).
Can't be easily blocked at the bridge. Unlike the DP (or ice spirit), the ice golem can only be stopped by a building. Otherwise the ice golem continues walking forward. There isn't a single building that can block the ice golem at the bridge for a neutral/positive trade and still attack. the majority of your GY skeletons. Spawners in theory can work as they will still be attacking after dealing with the ice golem and the spawned troops might attack the GY skeletons, but I never have (or will likely see in the future) someone block an ice golem with a goblin hut.
Can't be distracted/kited. In a similar vein to the second reason, since the ice golem only targets buildings you can't kite the ice golem into the opposite lane. The main bonus of using the DP is that he's much more of a threat, but the DP can still be easily distracted. The ice golem can't be distracted, but only because it doesn't really need to be.

Substitutions[]

Good Substitutions[]

Ice Golem --> Knight[]

Although this slows down your cycle a bit, knight is a very competent replacement for the ice golem. The knight's DPS shouldn't be ignored, and can be very helpful in defending some pushes. Not much else to say here, as other than that you can just use the knight like an ice golem. Be warned though, you may struggle against bats as ice golem is your best response to those pesky bats (and minions to a lesser extent).