3.0 Lava Cycle

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Introduction

This deck is all about making your opponent mad that they lost to Lava Hound as the win condition. There is not a single other reason to use this deck. I have used only this deck for more than 5 years and I have reached 15,000 trophies and Ultimate Champion. You only have to know one thing: it is possible to win if you are good enough. You just have to be really good at 2.6 defense — then swap the Hog for Lava.

Deck Information

Deck Created by: alay

Minimum Recommended King Level: 1

Maximum Recommended King Level: 15

Arena Required: Rascal's Hideout (Wrong?)

Average Elixir Cost: 3 (Wrong?)

More Statistics: Go to Deck Builder

Card Roles

Tower Princess: Your Princess Towers do most of the honest work: chip safely, buy time until Evolutions are ready, and then let Pups and Musketeer take over. Never donate early damage; play for single-crown control and tiebreaker edges.

Lava Hound: Primary win condition. Many decks cannot fully stop a well-timed Hound without the Inferno series. Aim for minimal damage early; create overwhelming Pup value later.

Ice Spirit: Cycle + control. When a Hound is on the board, toss Ice Spirit on that lane to force Elixir and freeze key defenders. Also used to shove Ice Golem forward at the bridge.

Musketeer: Core DPS/air control. The Evolved Musketeer deletes ranged supports so your Hound/Pups connect. Protect her at all costs — she is effectively a win condition from Double Elixir onward.

The Log: Small spell/cycle. Clear swarms and predict to protect your Musketeer. Log + Fireball becomes your spell win condition in many matchups.

Ice Golem: Mini tank/kiting. Instead of fronting a Hog like 2.6, drop it just before Hound death so the Princess Tower retargets to Ice Golem and Pups go unchecked. Can be “pushed” by Ice Spirit/Skeletons to speed it up.

Cannon: Primary ground d. Kites and deletes building-targeters to buy Musketeer time. Keep it ready vs RG/BDR/Battle Ram/Hog and to answer Princess at the bridge with precise placements.

Fireball: Big spell/secondary win condition. Versus Inferno Tower/Inferno Dragon or Royal Delivery, Fireball trades often become how you actually win.

Skeletons: Cycle + micro DPS. Evolved Skeletons stabilize defenses right after a Hound drop and double as surprise dual-lane pressure when split.

Strategy

Single Elixir

• Do not drop Lava before you know their deck. If you open Hound and they rush the opposite lane, you often lose on the spot.
• Exception — punish early ranged support. If they reveal a ranged DPS (e.g., Wizard/Musketeer) first, place Hound at the very back with perfect spacing so that the ranged unit shoots your Hound inside your Princess Tower’s range. You gain Elixir value while defending ground units separately, then counterpush with the surviving Musketeer.
• Leverage early uncertainty. Opponents tend to play cautiously before they realize you’re 3.0 Lava. When you drop a Lava Hound, they may hesitate to pressure the opposite lane, thinking you’re LavaLoon—but are you that bold?
• Same-lane rule. Always fight in the same lane as your opponent. Lava pins their ranged card; Musketeer cleans it. If they insist on opposite-lane pressure, either absorb some damage to pull them back into your lane or hard-swap lanes decisively.

Double Elixir

• Evolution timing is the hinge. Right before/at Double, Evolved Musketeer and Evolved Skeletons come online.
  • Evolved Musketeer = win plan. Delete ranged supports → Hound/Pups pour damage.
  • Cover the Elixir gap after a Hound drop with Evolved Skeletons on defense; if surplus, convert them to offense to bait spells.
• One-crown control deck. Don’t overreach for two towers. Prioritize clean defense → spell chip and Pup chip → win on tiebreaker if needed.
• Spell game. Into Inferno series or Royal Delivery, your realistic win path is Fireball (and Log) value stacking while protecting Musketeer.

Triple Elixir

• Time is on your side. The “Elixir hole” after a Hound drop effectively disappears. Start stacking two Hounds.
• Aim for double-Hound pop. First Hound draws tower aggro; second Hound forces units/spells; second Hound's Pups will do massive damage(like few hundreds or so) if not dealt with with big spell. If they lack big spell/Arrows, or you’ve already baited spells with split Evolved Skeletons, games flip instantly.
• Versus Infernos. Avoid pushing at single or double without Evolved Musketeer. In Triple, two Hounds popping + Skeletons to bait + Fireball support is the reliable clear.

Micro & Advanced Techniques

• Protect the Musketeer = exponential damage. With Hound tanking tower shots, even a 1-HP Musketeer will stack huge damage. If they have swarms, throw prediction Logs to keep her alive.
• Ice Golem retarget. When your Hound is about to pop, drop Ice Golem at the bridge so the tower retargets to it and Pups free-fire.
• Shove tech (speed up Ice Golem). Place Ice Spirit/Skeletons behind Ice Golem to push it faster across the bridge. Repeat this throughout Double Elixir — this is a primary win condition in practice.
• Executioner timing trick. If they drop Executioner in the back, when he passes the tile just up-right of their Princess Tower, place your Hound in your far back: their Princess Tower hits the Executioner while the Executioner hits your Hound — effectively making your Hound feel like it cost ~2 Elixir. Adjust slightly by the support unit’s move speed.

Matchups

Mega Knight

• One of the most fun parts of this deck: Lava Hound body-blocks ranged supports, which makes pulling and distracting Mega Knight to king tower very easy. Abuse this.

X-bow

• use evo-musketeer well, don't get predicted. Unlike other matchups, Front Lava (at the bridge, same lane)

Log-Bait (Princess/Dart Goblin)

• Place Lava hound on the middle tile in front of your King Tower (centerline placement).
• This forces Princess/Dart to target the Lava hound while standing in both Princess Towers’ range, so towers can remove Dart Goblins and Spear Goblin without spending Log.

Save The Log exclusively for Goblin Barrel unless you must prediction-Log to keep Musketeer alive.

Golem (Hardest)

• Hard because you lack explosive opposite-lane pressure.
• Gameplan: Full defense with Evolved Skeletons (buy DPS time around Cannon/Musketeer), and constant opposite-lane pings: Ice Golem at bridge + Skeletons behind (if opponent has spirit or Log, GG). Force Elixir splits, but i doubt it will be effective.
• In Triple: double-Hound pop + Fireball on Night Witch/Dragon clumps, then Log to finish swarms.

Inferno Tower / Inferno Dragon

• Don’t brute-force single Hound pushes without Evolved Musketeer. Best window is two Hounds popping simultaneously, with Skeletons baiting resets/spells and Fireball sniping Inferno + support.

Buildings / Spells (Tesla, Cage, Tombstone, Arrows, Royal Delivery)

• You don’t need Hound to break buildings; you need Musketeer to live.
• Graveyard: Ice Golem death-slow on the Tombstone/knight + Log is safest.
• Arrows/Royal Delivery: Split Evolved Skeletons to dilute spell value, then Fireball cycle and protect Musketeer.

2.6 Defense

• You have to perfectly know every 2.6 Hog defensive element. This deck wins because it defends like 2.6 and converts tiny windows with Hound.

Combinations

• Defense
  • Cannon + Musketeer (core)
  • Cannon + Ice Spirit/Skeletons (cheap stops)
  • Ice Golem kiting + Musketeer (time buys)
• Offense
  • Lava Hound + Ice Golem (bridge, right before pop) → retarget → Pup free-fire
  • Lava Hound + Evolved Musketeer + Log/Fireball (remove support, stack chip)
  • Split Evolved Skeletons + Ice Golem opposite (dual-lane nibbles)
  • Ice Spirit at bridge (freeze chip) + prediction Log (anti-swarm)

Golden Rules

1. Single: Info first, Hound later. Only punish when they reveal a ranged card early and you can place Hound so your tower shoots it.
2. Double: Evolutions online. Evolved Musketeer deletes supports; Evolved Skeletons plug the Elixir gap. Defense first; spell chip second.
3. Triple: Two Hounds and spell-bait into a double pop.
4. Always same lane unless you intentionally absorb to pull them back or you hard-swap.
5. Protect Musketeer and throw prediction Logs — that’s your real win rate lever.

Notes

• Average Elixir: 3.0
• Primary win plan: Hound pressure + Musketeer survival, with Fireball/Log as secondary win condition.
• This is a one-crown control deck. Don’t overextend for two or three.
• If you lose a tower early, just emote “GG” and move on. This deck is about control and small edges; comeback potential after an early tower loss is low.