3.0 E-Spirit X-Bow

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Introduction

Hi! This is a guide for 3.0 (e-spirit) X-Bow. It is a versatile deck, being able to spell cycle if necessary, and punish opponents with the X-Bow. It is a variant of 3.0 X-Bow, with electro spirit as a substitute for the ice spirit. It has been a somewhat decent deck for years now, and it probably won't be nerfed (directly or indirectly) anytime soon.

Deck Information

Deck Created by: Supernova

Minimum Recommended King Level: 9

Maximum Recommended King Level: 13

Arena Required: Electro Valley (Wrong?)

Average Elixir Cost: 3 (Wrong?)

More Statistics: Go to Deck Builder

Card Roles

X-bow: X-Bow is your main win condition. It should not be played when the opponent has a tank in hand (or is close to cycling back to it) that counters it well (Electro Giant, Royal Giant, and Golem if supported with troops), since they can place it down and get a neutral/negative elixir trade, but it will remain very healthy for a massive counter push. Try and out-cycle your opponent's counters by using your cheap cards to get back to it before the opponents get to their counters. When they are low on elixir, you might want to consider "punishing" opponents; this means placing down your X-Bow when they are low on elixir.

Tesla: Tesla is your main defensive building. It should be used relatively quickly if they, for example use a building-targeting tank in the back, so that if they use a spell on the Tesla, your fast cycle should allow you to get back to another one.

Archers: Archers are your main reliable anti-air unit. Ice Spirit can attack air, but cannot consistently damage troops. Archers are weak, so be careful. They are decent at countering swarms, due to their fast attack speed. They usually should be placed off to the side, since they have very little hit points and can die quickly to almost any unit.

Knight: Knight is a tank that can tank damage, preferably from splash units. Tanking low/moderate damage single-targeting shots are okay, since it has a very high number of hit points (about half as much as a golem of the same level!).

Skeletons: Skeletons are a cheap troop to use, mainly for distracting single-targeting troops. However, it can be used to tank splash damage if absolutely necessary (try to use knight instead though). It can, if placed correctly, alone completely counter Wall Breakers, Musketeer, Mini Pekka, and the Bandit. It can also be used to kite troops (pull them to waste the troops' time, then tank some shots, with the skeletons potentially dealing damage to the troop).

Electro Spirit: Electro Spirit is a great card for countering swarms. It counters all swarm cards with the exception of Barbarians and Minion Horde. It can be used for chip damage if at full health and ignored, assuming the electro spirit and the princess/king tower are the same level (will not work if king and princess tower is shooting at the e-spirit simultaneously). It can pull a troop, tank one shot from low damaging troops, then stun them, meaning they are good at finishing off troops if they would otherwise deal damage to your tower.

The Log: The Log can stop the Battle Ram, Prince, and Dark Prince's charges. In addition, it is the highest damaging spell for two elixir. Alone, it can counter Princess and Dart Goblin, and leaves the Firecracker with a sliver of health. It can do relatively similar damage to arrows. It has a special mechanic of being able to destroy a spawner if the building has the same/less amount of hit points as the log deals, and then being able to kill the troops that are spawned upon death. This does not work for Goblin Giant. It is also the only card that can stop the Mega Knight's jump, if the log hits the Mega Knight before it is in the air, and it appears preparing to jump.

Fireball: The Fireball requires little strategy to use. You need to manage your usage when playing against Fireball bait, and try to get value with the Fireball.

Strategy

• Single Elixir: Try to get as much damage as possible with your X-Bow, since this is the main time you can break through with it. Use the cycle aspect of 3.0 X-Bow to try and out-cycle the opponent's counters to the X-Bow, as this will become harder in Double Elixir.
  • Place down your X-Bow to "bait out" their counters, then use your cheap cards to quickly cycle back to another X-Bow, before the opponent can cycle back to theirs. This likely will not work well with other cycle decks, especially decks such as 2.6 hog, which has a faster cycle than you.
• Double Elixir: This is where it gets much harder to connect with X-Bow, since it is harder for opponents to get punished, as elixir generates faster. They can put more responses faster to your X-Bow. It is recommended not to use an offensive X-Bow unless they are very low on elixir, or have used their counters to it.
  • Spell cycle with fireball and/or log when the tower is within double log and double fireball range. Try and get value with the tower and troop(s) if possible, and also try to defend (so don't just spam all your cheap cards). If it is not at that range, you can occasionally log if it is not needed for anything else, or if you're going same-lane, log any troops that they put at the bridge. You can also try using ice spirit to chip the tower down, and getting negative elixir trades, but you get value with the tower.
• Triple Elixir: You can pretty much spell cycle as long as you don't need the spells on defense, since elixir comes quickly. At the last 20-ish seconds or so, you can pretty much only use your spells on the weakest tower. It is nearly impossible to break through with the X-Bow, so only go with defensive X-Bows (if needed at all).

Matchups

• 2.6 hog: 2.6 Hog is a difficult matchup, since it out-cycles 3.0 X-Bow (they have Ice golem instead of Knight). It might be a good idea to tap through the intro and go X-Bow first play, since they might be caught off-guard by how quickly it is placed, and they could have a bad hand. They will attempt to out-cycle your Tesla so their hog can break through, so try not to let them do so. Try to apply as much pressure as possible, so that they do not have a chance to go with a decently large push. In addition, you might even break through!
• 2.8 Miner WB Cycle: This is an okay matchup, since they do not have a hard counter. Be careful of their Wall Breakers, as they may connect to it without proper defending of the X-Bow. They do not out-cycle you, so you could try out-cycling them. You can defend Wall Breakers with only Skeletons (if Wall Breakers are not supported).
• 2.9 X-Bow: This is actually a very difficult matchup, since they out-cycle you, and their mini-tank (Ice Golem) is cheaper than your Knight. Try to cycle your cheapest cards when possible since they might try to out-cycle you. It is still possible to break through, but be wary of a Tesla absolutely wrecking your X-Bow. Use a prediction Knight or some other unit, as the Tesla will be able to lock on almost instantaneously onto the X-Bow if not distracted.
• PEKKA Bridge Spam: This is not necessarily a tough matchup, but making a single mistake or them landing a prediction could result in tons of HP lost to the point where you can't recover. You should use Skeletons and e-spirit to distract/delay the PEKKA. Fireballing the Magic Archer is, most of the time a good play to make, since it can get tons of value and it's decently hard to counter it. Use Knight for the Royal Ghost, Skeletons for Bandit (be prepared for zap!), and Tesla for Battle Ram (try to use other troops to keep your tesla healthy). On the offensive side, try to out-cycle their PEKKA and make sure to only X-Bow at around 10 elixir and when you have a good defensive hand, since they may try to rush you opposite lane.
• 3.4 RG MW Fisherman: There are many variants of RG, but this part will apply to RG decks with mainly 3-4 elixir cards. You should almost always Fireball the Mother Witch, since it can get a lot of value and turn a lot of your troops into pigs. You can use Knight, but you probably need the Knight for other cards such as the dark prince. While RG does hard counter X-Bow, allowing for a neutral elixir trade, the RG will still remain healthy for an amazing counter-push. Because of this, try to out-cycle their RG, due to their relatively slow cycle.
• RG Cycle: The following will apply to RG cycle decks in general, and doesn't apply to any deck in particular. RG cycle is a very difficult matchup, since they can cycle back to their RG with ease. However, some RG cycle decks could allow you to cycle back to X-Bow before the opponent can. Most of the time, it will be X-Bows in single, as a lock is very crucial. From there, you just spell cycle each other, as it is hard for both players to break through.
• Golem Beatdown: Golem beatdown is another one of those matchups where if you mess up even once, it could mean you lose. Try and out-cycle their Golem. If they Golem in the back, immediately go opposite lane with an X-Bow, and put down Tesla. Putting down Tesla ASAP means that if they Lightning your Tesla, you can still cycle back to another one due to your fast cycle. They usually shouldn't ignore it, but be careful since you will be at a large elixir disadvantage it they don't. Your E-Spirit should help tremendously in taking out the Night Witch's bats, especially when the opponent is playing Golem clone.
• Splashyard: Splashyard shouldn't be too difficult, as long as you play correctly. When going with offensive X-Bows, be careful of their Bowler, as it has a good amount of health and can kill supporting troops if placed incorrectly. It is recommended to go with a Knight, since your other troops are weak and can easily die to splash. Use Archers immediately when they Graveyard, and remember that you can use Tesla to distract tanks for the Graveyard. Try and cycle back to your Archers after you place them, since they usually have a spell to take care of them. Use Ice Spirit and Skeletons to distract the Graveyard Skeletons if needed.

As for building placements, I'd recommend checking out https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=iy7102X1rRI. It's pretty old, but the same general placements will be taught. In addition, you'll also learn about building placements for more buildings!

Remember that practice is necessary! This guide certainly helps, but practice is also important.