3.0 Goblin Cage Cycle

Introduction

The deck is designed for you to always have goblin cage, valkyrie, and musketeer in your hand, explaining the fast cycle. Take over the meta and apply consistent pressure with the approaching goblin brawlers! Finish them off with rocket and watch them cry as your defense is unstoppable.

Deck Information[]

Deck Created by: theGreatJash

Minimum Recommended King Level: 6

Maximum Recommended King Level: 14

Arena Required: Electro Valley (Wrong?)

Average Elixir Cost: 3 (Wrong?)

More Statistics: Go to Deck Builder

Card Roles[]

Tower Troop:

Skeletons: Good cycle card, as well as a good distraction card. Any charging princes and dashing bandits will never make it to your tower. They also have very high DPS for 1 elixir, and if an approaching unit is distracted by something else, say a Valkyrie,you can place them in the back to shred the unit faster. Not particularly level dependent, but it's useful if they are high leveled.

Fire Spirit: Another good cycle card. In reality you can choose any spirit you want to go in this role, but I think fire spirit synergizes the best with this deck as the damage can prove vital a proper defense. This guy melts bats, goblins, skeletons, low minions, and any other little swarm that needs to be cleared. Also is a nice opening play at the bridge. However if your ice spirit or electro spirits are higher leveled, then you can use those as well in place of this.

Bats: Bats are another good cycle card, but they also provide air defense and insane DPS if not dealt with immediately. If you are prioritizing leveling a common card in this deck, this card is the priority over the other possible two. They work similarly to Skeletons, in that if an approaching unit is distracted by something, even if they have an air splash attack, such as a Baby Dragon, you can put them behind that unit to shred it into oblivion. Also extremely good support for your pushes. Counters Inferno Dragon for a positive elixir trade as well, no need for any stun.

The Log: The Log is your small spell. Use it to stop prince charges and squash all the dart goblins and princesses. Also gets around 70 guaranteed damage on the opponent's towers if placed at the bridge, if the game comes down to it. You could hypothetically replace this with another small spell, such as Giant Snowball or Zap, however the area denial the Log grants is unmatched. The only legendary in your deck, so use all your books and wild cards on this to level it up, because if you're put in a spot where your Log doesn't kill a princess or dart goblin in one shot, you could be in trouble.

Goblin Cage: The legendary Goblin Cage (not actually a legendary card), and the star of this deck. The goblin cage is easily the most versatile and therefore best building in the game due to the different things you can do with it. Not only does it act as a building, initially distracting Hog Riders, Ram Riders, Balloons, etc, but it also spawns a goblin brawler with low hitpoints but insanely high DPS. With this deck and it's fast cycle with spirits, bats, and skeletons, not only will make all the Balloon and Hog players cry themselves to sleep, but you will also continually apply pressure with the approaching goblin brawler, which will deal 1000+ damage to an enemy tower is not dealt with. If there a full health brawler crossing the bridge, you can support it with spirits, bats, a musketeer, etc, and the opponent will be forced to respond. Aside from it's offensive capabilities, it's defensive capabilities are insane as well. If placed correctly it can fully counter a Ram Rider, prince, or even the king of arenas 7+, the Mega Knight. This deck guarantees you will always have a cage at the ready for easy and clean defense that will soon result in a heavy counterpush. The possibilities of this card are limitless.

Valkyrie: The Valkyrie is another essential part of this deck, as it acts as the deck's tank. The Valkyrie is also one of the most versatile and consistent cards in the game because not only is it extremely tanky, but also has a full 360 degree splash attack. Anything that comes near this troop will be shredded. Have this placed right in front of a goblin brawler so that any swarm card placed to stop the brawler will be eliminated, but also the brawler will push the Valkyrie, making it approach the opponent's tower faster. You could also replace this card with another tank, such as the Knight or the Ice Golem, but this card beats both those cards out with its splash damage and it's offensive presence.

Musketeer: The Musketeer is a solid tank killer and also a solid air defence. This is your primary air defense, and the fast cycle of this deck will allow you to almost always have one ready. Minions, minion hordes, baby dragons, and anything else in the air will quickly be stopped by the musketeer. Make sure something else is tanking for her, though, such as the Valkyrie, so that she can be used later for an offensive push. The musketeer is also your primary source of chip damage in single elixir as even just a couple shots to the opponent's tower that slip through can be quite a bit of damage.

Rocket: Finally, the rocket. The rocket is essential to this deck because it works almost as your win condition. The goal of this deck is flawlessly defend until double and triple elixir, when you begin to cycle rockets to opponent's tower, eventually destroying it, or outdamaging your opponent until a tiebreaker occurs. You usually don't use the rocket until double and triple elixir, however that's not to say it's useless in single elixir. You can use the rocket to destroy anything the opponent places in the back as well as damaging the princess tower in a single rocket. If they place a witch, planning to start a big beatdown push, just rocket the witch and the princess tower. You may argue this is a negative elixir trade, but the one extra elixir went to directly damaging your opponent's tower for 400+ damage. Sparky in the back? Rocket. Elite barbs? Rocket. Elixir pump? Rocket. It really is just a mindless card that acts as more than just your win condition.

Strategy and Tips[]

Perfectly defend in single elixir with your cages, Valkyries, Musketeers and Bats. Then rocket cycle in double/triple elixir.
If the opponent is playing Lumberloon, if possible, then just Rocket both the lumberjack and balloon in the same rocket.
Don't plan on three-crowning anyone.
All chip damage is extremely important in single elixir, brawler, Valkyrie, Musketeer, etc.
Elite barbarians are very easy to defend with this deck. Put a cage in the middle to draw their attention, bats for DPS, and a valkyrie behind them to finish them off. Not even raged ebarbs will break through this and you may end up with a reasonable counterpush.

Alternatives[]

You could replace skeletons with goblins, however the faster cycle is more valuable than the additional damage.
All spirits work in place of the Fire Spirit. If you really want a stun, then electro spirit would work best.
You could replace bats with minions, however they have virtually the same DPS but bats are cheaper. However, the extra health on minions will allow them to break through for chip damage more often, which could prove more valuable.
Valkyrie can be replaced with other tanks such as Knight or Ice Golem, for a faster cycle, but a weaker defense,
Rocket can be replaced for fireball, however you would have to solely on chip damage to win, and have to flawlessly defend. However, on the flip side, the fireball offers more versatility due to its lower elixir cost.
Musketeer could also be hypothetically replaced with dart goblin, however due its frail health it will not break through for chip damage nearly as often as musketeer. It is also vulnerable to Log, while Musketeer is not.
Also Mirror is incredibly strong with this deck as well. Replace the Mirror with the Log and you can mirror all the Musketeers, Valkyries and Goblin Cages your heart desires. My personal favorite thing to do is to have a brawler or two approaching the tower with two heal spirits, one mirrored. Your opponent will not know what to do and they become paralyzed in the hands as they watch the brawler three crown them.
Miner is also incredibly effective in this deck, as a well placed Miner can tank for any low health brawlers, musketeers, or bats. This will force a response out of your opponent unless they want to give up a tower. Miner is also a good way to slowly chip down a tower until it's in rocket range. Miner can be used in place of Rocket or Bats, sacrificing air defense, but in return providing easy ways to break through and almost guaranteed chip damage.

Upgrading Priority[]

Valkyrie (high). It is vital that your valkyrie is high level since she serves a vital role in this tank. Her health and damage, surprisingly, scale very well in the higher levels and you'll be using her a lot in this deck. This deck has a lot of rare cards in it, which aren't particularly easy to level up, but Valkyrie is the highest priority out of all the other rares.
Rocket (high). WIth rocket being your win condition it would only make sense to level this card up as well. A higher level rocket can be the difference between you taking the tower and you barely winning with a tiebreaker.
Musketeer (high). You want your musketeer to have high health and damage, it's pretty simple.
Fire Spirit (high). Fire Spirit's level is pretty important. If your Fire Spirit is equal or higher level than your opponent than it can connect to the tower if placed at the bridge if ignored, acting as free chip damage. However, if you are running something like a Heal Spirit instead that healing scales less compared to the damage from a Fire Spirit and it would be lower on this list.
Goblin Cage (moderate). Goblin Cage isn't actually that high in priority, since the strength of the card is actually in the card itself and not its levels. However, higher health means better chances of chip damage and a more threatening offensive presence.
Bats (moderate). Low level bats only tickle troops. Bats are fortunately common so they aren't relatively hard to level up.
Log (low). Since log is your only legendary and since legendaries are not that difficult to level up Log shouldn't be a problem in terms of levels. However, keep in mind that a log 2 or more levels below a princess or a dart goblin won't kill it in one shot, so just make sure that you consistently are leveling as you climb the ranks.
Skeletons (low). Another card where the strength is in the card, not the levels. The extra damage is nice, but not necessary.

Matchups[]

PEKKA Bridgespam. This is a very hard matchup, easily one of the worst. Battle Ram isn't a problem due to your Goblin Cages. Bandit isn't a problem due to Skeletons. Neither is the ghost or Electro Wizard. It's the Pekka and Magic Archer. The Magic Archer can very reliably can a good amount of chip damage with proper placing and since this deck relies on slowly outdamaging your opponent, you will most likely not be able to keep up. The Pekka is also a problem since it will shred your brawlers and valkyries, and the bats will most likely be taken out with Zap. Not a good matchup.
Miscellaneous Mega Knight Decks. This deck is very good at countering midladder decks and your opponents will be surprised about how well you can defend. Mega Knight is not a problem, since you have Valkyrie and Goblin Cage in cycle constantly, two very good counters to mega knight. If they back it with an Electro Wizard, thinking you'll use an Inferno Dragon, distract the Mega Knight with a goblin cage and valkyrie behind the Electro Wizard. If they back it with an inferno dragon, use bats. Sparky? Just rocket. Bats or minions? Musketeer. Prince? Log the prince to stop its charge, then use a cage to kill the Mega Knight and valkyrie on the top of the prince. Nothing will break through. You can also very easily activate king tower against a mega knight using skeletons and then a spirit.
Golem Beatdown. Golem beatdown decks aren't too difficult to deal with either. If they Night Witch or WItch in the back to build up a push, rocket both the witch and the tower, immediately shutting down their dreams. If they golem in the back you can goblin cage in the middle and quickly cycle back to another to have double brawler action. Golem beatdown decks usually have an air defense card as well, usually one of the three dragons. If they clump up with the witch and golem, rocket all of it to smithereens. You can also just rush the opposite lane if they start with Golem in the back. You'll find that decks that use building-targeting win conditions don't do so well.
Elixir Golem-Battle Healer. If everything is clumped up, rocket all of it. The musketeer can take care of the Electro Dragon and Valkyrie will take care of all the little elixir blobs, giving you a massive elixir advantage. The elixir golem will rarely reach the tower due to your cages and valkyries.
Miscellaneous Electro Giant Decks. Electro Giant can be a problem, but usually if you have a cage and a valkyrie you'll be fine.
Hog Rider Cycle. This is actually a pretty even matchup, as both decks use similar cards, and both rely on slow chip damage. The hog rider will very rarely make it to your tower due to your cages, but on the flip side the hog player should have all the responses to your counterpush that they need. Stay strong, persist, and rocket cycle.
Logbait. Another pretty even matchup that also relies on chip damage to win. Do not use your log on anything but the cage and instead use a valkyrie and/or a musketeer to deal with the dart goblins and princesses. The game will probably come down to who can rocket-cycle faster. Alternatively, if you are using fire spirit instead of Heal Spirit that could be used to stop the goblin barrel from getting any damage.
Miscellaneous Royal Hog Decks. Use a goblin cage and a valkyrie to counter the hogs and start a threatening counterpush. If they are using the Archer Queen variant, just rocket the archer queen. If they are using the Royal Recruits variant, you should have enough valkyries to deal with the recruits. Alternatively, if they split the hogs, cage in the middle to draw them all in and either valkyrie or rocket to destroy everything, assuming the recruits are missing their shields. You also have log.
Miscellaneous X-Bow decks. This matchup is a bit tricky since you always want to rocket the X-bow for an even elixir trade. This means both of you have to solely rely on chip damage. Your defense should hold up denying the opponent any.
Miscellaneous Mortar decks. This matchup is really hard since you don't want to rocket the mortar for a negative elixir trade. You'll probably won't be able to win against a mortar player, but not people play mortar so you should be fine.
Miscellaneous Double Prince decks. Log the princes to stop their charges, cage, valkyrie, and bats just in case. Simple.
GIant Graveyard. Use the cages to distract and eventually kill the giant. Always have valkyrie ready for the graveyard, which isn't difficult to achieve due to this deck's fast cycle.
Splashyard. Same thing, use valkyrie to counter the graveyard, and the cage the counter anything tanking for the graveyard.
Elixir Pump 3M. Rocket the elixir pump so they never have the chance to play the three musketeers. Valkyrie the three musketeers if they ever do use them.

Goblin Cage is the Best Card in the Game[]

Here I will explain why Goblin Cage is the best card in the game. I have statistics to prove my point. For only four elixir you get a building and a unit, with combined health of 2,344 health at level 14, more than an Inferno Tower or any other building in the game. If placed correctly it can fully counter 61/77 troops in the game, or 79% of all troops in the game, and around 50% of these interactions are neutral or positive elixir trades. This isn't even counting the cards which it almost fully counter for an insanely high elixir trade. It's cage also can absorb 14/19 spells in the game, or 74%, since the cage works with the mechanics of a shield. Combined with all the troops, spells, and X-bow and Mortar (the only two buildings it can truly counter), then the Goblin Cage can fully counter around 74% of the cards in the game. (This also isn't including the cards that it can partially counter, Golem, Giant, etc, or the building cards that the brawler itself can destroy by itself, including Bomb Tower, Elixir Collector, Cannon, etc.) If you are not using Goblin Cage in your deck, you need to start right now.

Cage Cycle Terms[]

These terms are only used by the mighty Cage cycle players. Only the members of the High Society of Cage Cycle will be able to understand.

Handshake: When you fire spirit the bridge opening play and they let it connect for 300 free tower damage.
Double Brawler Boogie: Two brawlers destroying everything. Heal spirits and mirrored heal spirits are invited.
Sweep: When you Log something into a rocket that otherwise wouldn't be in rocket range. Hit the tower with both spells.
Supermarket Sweep: When you do a sweep but with three or more troops in the same Log and Rocket.
Ghetto: When you have three or more Goblin cages on the map at once, only possible in single elixir with a Mirror. If you have five or more, usually in 2v2s, you have achieved Auschwitz.
Red Letter: When you send a Fire Spirit off with a musketeer, brawler, etc, to counter any swarms that may emerge. Blue Letter for Ice Spirit, Purple Letter for Electro Spirit, and Yellow Letter for Heal Spirit.
Little Jimmy: (Pronounced L-lih-t-ULL y-ih-M-ee), when one bat or minion is partnered with a Miner to do devastating tower damage, or if the one minion or bat gets extreme value. If done with one skeleton, it's called a One Carry Larry.
Elon Musketeer : When a musketeer gets way more value than it should.
Livin' the Rocket Life: When you are in double or triple elixir, and are rocketing anything that crosses your opponent's tower from the back. Even rocketing something as cheap as a bomber or a princess is truly livin' the rocket life.
Second Class Cage: A term used for any building except the goblin Cage. When will these players realize the true potential of a deck isn't unlocked until it has goblin Cage?
Twig: An underleveled Miner.
Fat One: An overleved Miner.
CM2: Cage (middle) musketeer, VM2, valkyrie (middle) musketeer, CMB, cage (middle) bats, VMB, valkyrie (middle) bats, CMVM2, cage and valkyrie (middle) musketeer, CMBM, VMBM are the first two setups but with bats as extra insurance. These are common defense terms for defending setups. Another setup, rather uncommon, is the M3, miner in the middle with a musketeer. The most common defense setup, the CM2, is also referred to as the Sicilian Defense.
Knock It & Rocket: When you miner on a tower and rocket in advance to destroy anything that is placed to respond to the miner. These rockets often end up not hitting anything except the tower, however.

Fire Spirit Tricks:[]

There a lot of cool things you can do with a Fire Spirit, here is a list of some of the tricks you can destroy your opponents with.

Miner Trick: Miner + Fire Spirit at the bridge. Hopefully the Fire Spirit jumps on and destroys any swarms the opponent places down for the miner. However, the fire spirit can also jump on anything else close to the miner, more than likely splashing onto the tower with it.
Forward Trick: The fire spirit can act as a tank for any low-health troops approaching the opponent's tower. For example, if a low-health brawler is approaching the tower and would otherwise be killed by the princess tower alone before dealing any damage to it, put a fire spirit in front of it to tank two hits. The brawler will more than likely get at least one hit on the tower unless the opponent further responds and spends elixir. This also works with low-health musketeers.
Backward Trick: This essentially a Red Letter except the fire spirit is placed in a specific spot behind an approaching brawler or valkyrie so that it pushes them, making the brawler/valkyrie connect to the tower at lightning speed. This trick is extremely difficult to perform, however it displays true mastery of cage cycle.
Disco Trick: This trick only works with goblin cage. When the cage breaks there is a split second when neither the cage or brawler are technically on the battlefield, allowing for whatever was targeted on the cage to target to something else if anything else is close enough. This knowledge can be used to your advantage and you can quickly place a fire spirit right as the cage breaks and the fire spirit will absorb a hit for the brawler. This trick is especially potent against Mini PEKKAs, PEKKAs and princes, as the brawler dies quickly to these troops and the hit absorbed can be especially useful if you choose to miner under the brawler after it crosses the bridge.

Conclusion[]

This deck will soon take over the meta. Defense is the best offense. If you are losing with this deck you just lack skill and are doing it wrong. Anything is possible with a Goblin cage. Thanks for reading.