3.0 Rocket Cycle

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Introduction

This deck focuses on maintaining an unbreakable defense and gradually chipping away at your opponent's tower using both Rocket and Princess. Although it can be quite challenging to master, when played correctly, it becomes virtually unbeatable due to the guaranteed damage from Rocket. This deck has been very helpful in helping me reach 9000 trophies and is particularly effective against common meta and mid-ladder decks. It can also be successfully utilized at higher levels of Path of Legends.

Deck Information

Deck Created by: maurice77766

Minimum Recommended King Level: 11

Maximum Recommended King Level: 15

Arena Required: Silent Sanctuary (Wrong?)

Average Elixir Cost: 3 (Wrong?)

More Statistics: Go to Deck Builder

Card Roles

Tower Troop:

Rocket: Your most versatile card and often your primary "win condition" and. Depending on your opponent's deck, it can serve as your win condition as well as helping obliterate big pushes. Use very wisely depending on your situation and the opponent's cards.

Knight: A reliable mini-tank capable of fulfilling a myriad of roles and countering many pesky cards and other mini-tanks. A very versatile and useful card. Evolution recommended but does not make too significant of a difference.

Princess: Your second win condition. Depending on the matchup, the majority of your tower damage may come from this card. Used at the bridge for chip damage, and can also be used on defense in rare situation, such as the occasional Minion Horde.

Goblins: A cheap high DPS cycle card capable of countering many cards for positive elixir trades, as well as being a serviceable response in a pinch for cards such as Hog Rider, Giant, Ram Rider, etc.

Bomb Tower: Your defensive building. Counters many swarmy cards successfully that this deck could otherwise struggle with, such as Royal Recruits, Royal Hogs, and Barbarians, as well as being decent counters for most win conditions by itself, although often you will have supporting cards with it.

Electro Spirit: Your cheap cycle card. Used to pick off many low health cards from far away, serve as a distraction, stun/reset troops, or simply cycle to your other cards.

Barbarian Barrel: Your small spell. Used to counter swarms and cards such as Goblin/Skeleton Barrel. Can also be helpful in picking off cards such as Firecracker, Archers, and other cards placed across the bridge, as well as serving as a small mini-tank in some scenarios.

Little Prince: Your ranged attacker. Compresses many roles into one, being a defensive card that can counter both air and ground cards with it's ability, as well as unlocking a 3 card cycle (particularly useful in 2x/3x elixir when cycling Rockets). Also can be used in counterpushes.

Tower Troop (Princess Tower)

For this deck, the Princess Tower is by far the most effective. The Royal Chef is obviously of little use, and despite being appealing options for their high HPS in this otherwise more passive deck, the Dagger Duchess and Cannoneer are also poorer choices. Despite being advantageous in single elixir, they simply cannot compete with swarmier cards in 2x/3x elixir, which this deck nearly always finds itself in. Additionally, this deck also is a bit thinner on swarm counters, making the Princess Tower even more necessary.

General Strategy

Here is the general strategy for this deck. More in-depth strategies against specific decks are below.

Single Elixir: In single elixir, you should have only two things on your mind: take as little damage as possible and chip away the tower with Princesses and small counterpushes. Despite the decks name, do not begin to cycle Rockets on your opponent's tower in single elixir unless either 1) there is a troop you can also kill alongside with chipping the tower that is at minimum 4-5 elixir, or 2) you are in a similar matchup with a defensive deck such as Logbait or Xbow which also relies on spell cycling (in this case you do not want to begin to lag behind on Rocket cycling). However, even with this stated, you should be very careful of your Rocket usage, as given it's high cost and it's value on defense, a single bad Rocket can often cost you the entire game.

With that stated, as mentioned, you should focus primarily on defense. Scan out your opponents cards and figure out their win condition, and mentally allot which cards will counter which. For example, against Lumberloon, reserve your Rocket exclusively for that combo; against Bait, save your Barbarian Barrel for their Skeleton Barrel. Maintain a strong defense using Bomb Tower and Goblins to handle most win conditions, while Knight and Little Prince tackle threats like Bandits, Royal Ghosts, Goblin Gangs, Mega Knights, etc. After defending, if possible, create counterpushes with whatever is left over. Given the comparative passivity of this deck, it is imperative that you take as little damage as possible, as a single hit from a Hog Rider is the equivalent of a Rocket lost of damage for you. Do not take many risks with this deck, especially during single elixir, and prioritize protecting your towers even if it may require you to overspend. Finally, constantly use your Princess for chipping the opponent's tower, as this deck very often leads to Triple Elixir, so ensure that you do not begin to lag behind in damage. You should now find yourself at Double Elixir with minimum damage taken and hopefully some solid chip damage.

Double/Triple Elixir: This is now where you begin to step things up. Start becoming more aggressive with your Princesses, attempting to outcycle your opponent's counters. Ensure your Little Price stays on the map for as long as possible to get the 3 card cycle, especially useful for Princess and Rocket. As always, continue to play stellar defense, denying as many chances of damage as possible. Furthermore, you can now start to become more aggressive with your counterpushes, if possible assisting them with cards such as Goblins or activating the Little Prince's ability. Finally, unless your Rocket is specifically allocated on defense (such as for Lumberloon), you can now become more lenient with your Rockets. Try to kill troops that are at least 4 elixir alongside with damaging the tower, and if you are in a very comfortable position, you can send of the occasional lone Rocket as well. However, do not get too aggressive, as a bad Rocket can still cost you very dearly. At this point, most rounds will go into Triple Elixir. The strategy here is the exact same, however, you will now need to become more aggressive with your Rockets. Continue focusing on defense, limiting damage and potentially placing multiple Bomb Towers at once. If possible, continue pressuring with Princesses, although at this stage of the game the map may become too crowded for it to be an effective threat to the towers. You will also need to start cycling lone Rockets, utilize keeping your Little Prince alive as long as possible to ensure you cycle back to another Rocket after 3 cards. Finally, if you have found yourself in a safe damage lead, focus purely on protecting your towers and use Rocket for defense only, and await for the tiebreaker to win.

Deck Specific Guides

These are specific guidelines with matching up against many popular decks, as well as a rating out of 10 comparing how well it fares against them (1 being impossible, 10 being extremely easy). Keep in mind that the general strategy is typically the same, just with extra things to keep in mind.

Logbait (8/10) - With the Barbarian Barrel, Goblins, and Bomb Tower, as well as the often slightly cheaper average elixir compared to your opponent, this deck fares very well against most Logbait decks. In this matchup, it is recommended that you prioritize your Barbarian Barrel solely for the opponent's Goblin Barrel (Goblins can also be used as a counter but require precise timing). Utilize the Knight and the Little Prince for countering Goblin Gang, and use Goblins for the Princess. Furthermore, if your opponent begins to predict your Goblins against their Princess with Log, you can place preemptive Bomb Towers near the bridge to prevent incoming Princesses or Goblin Gangs, although you may need to be wary of Inferno Towers. Finally, given the defensiveness of both decks, this matchup nearly always results in a spell cycling race, and given this you may need to start cycling your Rockets earlier than usual. All in all, this matchup is quite easy if played correctly.

Hog 2.6/Hog Cycle Decks (6/10) - Against Hog Rider decks, especially Hog 2.6 or other variant cheaper than your deck, you will need to utilize the 3 card cycle from keeping your Little Prince alive. Defend with Bomb Tower and Goblins, and be wary of Earthquake placements if they are carrying it. Utilize Barbarian Barrel to pick off pesky Firecrackers and Musketeers. You will likely not be cycling Rockets as much especially in the earlier stages, and in turn apply greater pressure with Princess cycling. You can also use the Electro Spirit to activate your King Tower against a Firecracker by placing it in front of the corner of the King Tower. Finally, play even more cautiously than you would against other decks: one bad Rocket or Hog Rider that slid in and the game could be over.

2.9 Hogs Cycle (10/10) - With Bomb Tower, this matchup becomes very easy, as it completely hard-counters Royal Hogs. Keep in mind is to place your Bomb Towers in a way so that your opponent's Earthquake cannot both hit the Bomb Tower and your Princess Tower. Ensure you don't get outcycled and consider beginning to cycle your Rockets earlier than usual, especially if you can hit the Archer Queen as well, as your opponent may begin spell cycling themselves with Earthquake.

Splashyard (8/10) - Given Splashyards relative passivity and your cards such as Bomb Tower and Goblins to counter Graveyard, this is a very strong matchup in your favor. Splashyards biggest strength is it's suffocating defense, however, considering your damage comes nearly exclusively from Princess and Rocket damage, this is completely void. Reserved Bomb Tower for Graveyard (Goblins also may work however the majority of Splashyard decks contain Poison), and be aggressive with both Rocket and Princess, given their decks lesser ability to punish quickly for spending elixir. Overall, this is a strong matchup.

PEKKA Bridgespam (7/10) - With your myriad of cards that counter those pesky mini-tanks and Battle Rams such as Goblins, Knight, Little Prince, and Bomb Tower, as well as Rocket to clean up any big push they make, this deck has quite the favorable matchup. Defend strong with your cards, and use Barbarian Barrel to pick off potential Magic Archers that can become troublesome. As always, pressure with Princess, and be wise with your Rocket as it's very valuable on defense and you can easily be punished for misusing it.

Lumberloon (4/10) - Lumberloon is a bit of a tougher matchup, as your Rocket will need to be used solely for countering the combo. Be aggressive with Princesses and attempt to protect them with cards such as Knight. Many Lumberloon decks carry Barbarian Barrel as their small spell which at equal level does not kill the Princess, in which case you can use Knight or late placed Goblins to protect it from the Barbarian from behind. Be more aggressive with your counterpushes with cards such as Little Prince, and prevent your opponent from comfortably reaching 9 elixir to pull of the combo. Finally, be careful and ready with your Rockets, as you have only about a second to use the Rocket to kill both the Lumberjack and Balloon.

Miner (6/10) - Against Miner decks, your primary goal should be reserving Knight solely for the Miner, and using Bomb Tower to sponge against incoming Wall-Breakers, Bats, Spear Goblins, and Magic Archers. Goblins can also be used for Miner, however will die to poison. If you mess up the placement of your Knight, use Electro Spirit to retarget the Miner to the Knight. Electro Spirit can also be used to kill off Bats, as well as kill Wall-Breakers with the assistance of a Barbarian Barrel in a pinch. Barbarian Barrel can also be used to pick off Magic Archers from across the bridge. Ultimately, neutralize the Miner with either Knight or Goblins, prevent threats such as Bats or Magic Archers, as well as play as normally as one would and you will be set.

Golem Beatdown (7/10) - Going up against Golem decks is a very interesting matchup. On one side you have Rocket, which decimates everything in Golem pushes apart from the Golem. On the other side, with your Rocket reserved for defense, your offensive arsenal is limited. Of course, the best course of action is to wait until your opponent accumulates all their troops and Golem into one push and Rocketing it. Then, use the Bomb Tower, Goblins, or Little Price to kill the Golem. Electro Spirit can also be used to clean up troops such as Bats from a Night Witch. On offense, Rocket cycling is obviously not viable and you should instead use Princess and other cards. Protect your Princess from Barbarian Barrels using Knight or Goblins to block the Barbarian after the Princess is hit by the barrel. Focus on diverting the opponent's elixir after a Golem has been placed, using cards such as Knight and even Little Price as offense. Depending on how careless your opponent is in regards to defense, this alone may already give you significant damage. Long story short, use Rocket to defend and counter push with Princess and supporting cards, and always pressure the opposite side with whatever you can to take away from their push.

Royal Recruits (5/10) - The gameplan against Royal Recruits is pretty standard. With the spammy nature of the deck requiring very focused defense, I would not recommend Rocket cycling until Triple Elixir, instead getting all your damage from Princess and counterpushing. When playing defense, go all in even if it means overspending and utilize the Bomb Tower carefully, as it serves as a good counter for Royal Recruits and common supporting cards such as Royal Hogs, Goblin Gang, and Skeleton Barrel, and the latter 2 are also countered by the Barbarian Barrel. Once again, play super strong defense and reserve your Rocket until elixir is abundant, as this opposing deck can quickly get out of hand.

Lava Hound (3/10) - This is likely the most difficult meta deck to matchup against. A solid strategy is to place the Bomb Tower directly in front of the combo, which will cause the Balloon to come in front as the Lava Hound will begin attacking from further range, allowing your Little Prince to target the Balloon. Another option in a pinch is to Rocket the Lava Hound and Balloon. However, this is typically not recommended as the Balloon will still be alive after a Rocket and will survive an Electro Spirit hit, making it difficult to deal with behind the Lava Hound. You can also place a Bomb Tower strategically far enough way where it is to kite the Balloon but not the Hound, as the Lava Hound has a shorter sight-range then the Balloon, allowing you to isolate it. If wanted, Fire Spirit can be substituted for Electro Spirit for better countering this exact deck, as it will kill a Balloon after it has taken a Rocket. Otherwise, offense is more the less the same, although you may have to rely on the Princess and counterpushing more if you use Rocket on the defensive side. Be careful with defense, as one mistake can cost you the tower and likely the game.

Xbow (5/10) - Xbow is a similar deck to this one: highly defensive and often reliant on spell cycling. In this matchup, it is recommended in the early game to utilize Rocket as a counter to the Xbow rather than an offensive unit, as well as try out squeeze out Princess value before the board gets too crowded in 2x/3x elixir. Eventually, this matchup often becomes a spell cycle race and a bit of a mind game. If an Xbow is heavily protected and the opponent spending a lot of elixir, it is often a good idea to Rocket it for a positive elixir trade instead of risking a connection. However, if it is a lone Xbow, it is best to save your Rocket and to use other cards to defend it. Finally, start Rocket cycling early (in some instances even in single elixir) and do not begin to lag behind on Rocket cycling, as this can become impossible to catch up to if your opponent is doing the same. Overall, this is not a lopsided matchup per say, however it is one that requires immense focus.

Card Alternatives

Here are some alternatives for cards you may like to better fit your playstyle or if you have higher level cards. However, these are generally not recommended. Furthermore, there are no listed replacement options for the Rocket, Princess, or Bomb Tower, as I have found them too crucial to the deck to consider substituting.

Knight - Can also be replaced with Mini PEKKA for more damage output against tanks or Valkyrie for more splash coverage, but I have found that it often gets the job done for a cheaper price. Evolution is recommended however does not make too significant of a difference.

Barbarian Barrel - For more versatility and damage, Arrows are a solid substitute for this card, being able to kill cards anywhere on the map as well as being able fully kill Firecrackers, Archers, and Princess without relying on the Barbarian to do so. However, this does come at the cost of +1 elixir, as well as preventing you from picking off medium health troops such as Magic Archer, Mother Witch, or damaged mini-tanks.

Goblins - Goblin Gang can be substituted for higher DPS and versatility, or Guards for spell immunity, however this does come at the cost of +1 elixir.

Electro Spirit - Skeletons and Ice/Fire Spirit can also be substituted, however I found found the Electro Spirit to work best. Furthermore, due to the fact that essentially all of your damage will be coming from far away from the tower, this deck takes little to no harm from King Tower activations, ridding this card of its biggest downside.

Little Prince - Can be replaced by the likes of Mega Minion, Ice Wizard, Archers (specifically Evolution Archers), Musketeer, Dart Goblin, or any other cheap anti-air card. Furthermore, if you opt for using a splash card (such as Ice Wizard), you could also potentially use Cannoneer as your Tower Troop for higher damage output (although this is still not recommended). Despite all this, I would still highly recommend the Little Prince. This is due to the fact that (apart from Mega Minion) it is the only 3 elixir anti-air card that does not die to Fireball, as well as the fact that it can be used to defend ground troops with its ability to spawn the Guardian. Finally, having a champion in your deck unlocks the 3 card cycle, which provides a huge advantage in the late game when you are cycling Rockets.

Upgrade Priority

1. Goblins - Goblins die to Zap/Snowball/Rage 1 level higher and makes the defense of this deck significantly worse.
2. Princess - Not weak when under leveled but having an over leveled Princess can allow it to survive an additional hit from many cards and by extension often get an additional hit on the Tower.
3. Rocket - Additional damage is helpful for Tower damage since it is our win condition. Otherwise many interactions don't change.
4. Rest of the deck (not affected significantly by levels and are of equal priority).

Advanced Tips

• A Bomb Tower placed 6 tiles horizontally away from your Princess Tower and directly in front of the bridge prevents your opponent from using both Earthquake on the Bomb Tower and your Princess Tower. Additionally, a Bomb Tower placed 5 tiles horizontally and 3 tiles vertically away from your Princess Tower does the same thing but with Fireball.

• You can counter Mega Knight and activate your King Tower by using Goblins/Electro Spirit to make in jump into the middle area of your side, and then placing Goblins/Electro Spirit in front of your King Tower to make it jump onto it.

• If timed correctly, Goblins placed in front of your King Tower just before a Mortar is done deploying will cause the Mortar to activate your King Tower, all the while the attack misses the Goblins.

• Goblins played directly after a Hog Rider is deployed will counter it for 2 hits. Although not ideal, it can be used in a pinch.

• Against Lavaloon, place the Bomb Tower directly in front of the the Lava Hound and Balloon, which will cause the Balloon to come in front as the Lava Hound will begin attacking from further range, allowing your Little Prince to target the Balloon.

• Feel free to cycle Electro Spirits at the bridge towards the tower for chip damage. Due to the fact that this deck does essentially all of its damage from afar, a King Tower Activation is of little to no concern. In fact, it can potentially provide a very small elixir advantage, as in doing so the opponent will waste elixir on a troop to link the electric chain to their King Tower.

• Practice basic Spirit interactions (such as countering a a lone Fisherman, Hunter, Ice Wizard, Night Witch, etc.). Simply place them afar so the troop has to move towards it before it jumps onto them, all while your Princess Tower whittles them down.

• Place Goblins 1 tile to the left of the bridge connector instead of right in front of it. If left unattended, they will do 720 damage against a Princess Tower instead of 480 if placed regularly, due to their formation pushing them towards the tower faster.

• Goblins can fully counter Goblin Barrel. When the Barrel is released, place the Goblins on the Middle/Back tile of your Princess Tower. They will walk about one tile, fully countering the Goblin Barrel.

• If you are tight on time, place a Rocket on the middle facing corner of your opponent's Princess Tower. This is the fastest possible way to send a Rocket.

Conclusion

To conclude, this deck is a very fun yet effective and challenging, providing a unique approach to Clash Royale gameplay. With Rocket as your key to victory, it’s the only deck that when executed properly, guarantees unstoppable damage. Plus, the skills you develop mastering this deck will enhance your overall gameplay. Enjoy giving it a try and leave any comments below!