Snow Balloons

Introduction

Variations of this deck have popped up on Youtube since May 2019, meaning it's been floating around for two years now. It was very popular late 2019, when it was one of the top decks in Grand Challenges. This deck appeared in the Classic Decks Challenge on Aug, Sept and Nov 2019 as well as Jan and May 2020. It's died down a bit since, but is still very much alive and in use around the community. I'm surprised it's not on the wiki. Lumberloon is an extremely well-known and lethal synergy. The speed at which it can take your towers, along with being generally difficult to counter, make it very hard to react to. This deck is extremely fast-paced. It counters small pushes and takes towers faster than big pushes. Even if your opponents do have counters to your Lumberloon, you can out-cycle that card with an astonishing 2.8 Average Elixir Cost and have another push locked and loaded in no time at all.

Deck Information[]

Deck Created by: Drewski99

Minimum Recommended King Level: 7

Maximum Recommended King Level: 13

Arena Required: Serenity Peak (Wrong?)

Average Elixir Cost: 2.8 (Wrong?)

More Statistics: Go to Deck Builder

Card Roles[]

Balloon: Win condition

Ice Golem: Kite threats, tanks splash damage, distraction

Ice Spirit: Resets, cycle card, distraction

Giant Snowball: Knockback, slow effect, anti-air damage

Lumberjack: Supports Balloon, tank DPS

Musketeer: Main defensive DPS and anti-air

Bats: Secondary DPS and anti-air

Barbarian Barrel: Area damage, mini-tank

The Game Plan[]

Your main objective is to rack up positive trades or partial counters for an elixir advantage, then punish with a Lumberjack-Balloon push dropped at the bridge. Keep those two cards in your hand and cycle everything else freely until you think it's safe (or necessary, to split a push) to stockpile 9 elixir and drop the Lumberloon. If you played it right, you'll both be low on elixir. Fortunately, this deck is made to work on empty reserves. With 5 of your cards costing 2 elixir or less, you can panic spam cards forever (not recommended, but possible). Barbarian Barrel, Snowball and Ice Spirit work wonders towards glancing off cheap blows. Ice Golem takes one for the team as your Crown Towers whittle down threats. Musketeer picks off most everything from a distance and Bats swoop in to rain damage from above whenever the skies are clear from ranged damage. Anything too big, Lumberjack drops in from behind to assassinate and distract while you pile on anything else that helps.

Keeping tabs on what cards your opponent uses is crucial so you can bookmark what you need to save to deal with certain threats. For example, making sure to save The Log for Princesses so your Bats won't get one-shot from afar right when you need them most.

Cards[]

Balloon - Your main source of tower damage. All of your other cards are for defense or Balloon support and won't get much more than chip damage on towers. An ignored Lumberjack in a Lumberloon push might score a handful of stabs on the tower, but that's about it. Don't forget you can place Balloon in the far corner to bypass centrally placed buildings

Lumberjack - Fairly flexible source of damage, but will almost always be dropped with Balloon to go in for the kill. He can also be used to help damage down big tanks like Giants or drop in behind pushes to assassinate support troops from behind. Though not desirable, a Lumberjack can be used as an emergency tank whenever Ice Golem isn't in hand. Any Lumberjack leftover from a defensive sequence should be used to form an immediate counterpush with Balloon if possible.

Musketeer - The backbone of your defense. Half of your cards are cycle cards designed to stall for time as long as possible, giving Musketeer ample opportunity to clean up whatever is barreling towards your tower. Any and all successful defensive sequences will heavily rely on protecting your Musketeer at all costs. Kite, stun, do anything in your power to ensure she takes as few hits as possible. Of course, your tower takes priority, but keeping Musketeer alive when defending will often be the difference between winning and losing.

Bats - Your cheap DPS unit. Picks off ground targeting units and is also your second anti-air troops. Bats are very effective in any Balloon deck since Balloon necessitates the air counters Bats would otherwise die immediately from. Also, any air counters played to remove Bats (happens a lot with over-leveled mid-ladder opponents with no spells) can be punished with a Balloon push. Even when ranged troops do exist, Bats can be played in tandem with Ice Golem to score a few hits whilst Ice Golem distracts everything.

Ice Golem - Though modest in tankiness, Ice Golem is your main tank. He is multi-purpose and fast to cycle. While Ice Golem is first and foremost a meatshield, he is almost equally important for kiting enemies. Separating the the ranged damage from the melee damage before picking each of them off individually is the only way you will survive aggressive counterpushes.

It can also be used to take big, scary units played alone, such as P.E.K.K.A., Mega Knight and Giant Skeleton, and send them around the loop instead of towards your tower, all while chipping away at their health with a Musketeer placed in front of the King Tower or Bats played on top of them.

For more on the specifics of kiting, the PEKKA Bridge Spam strategy page has a very useful segment.

Giant Snowball - Knockback, slow effect and anti-air. Giant Snowball is an incredibly versatile spell. If you can play it correctly, you'll be playing it so often you'll need to keep tabs on when your next Snowball is available. In some cases, it acts as your secondary ground-swarm clearer, but it does more than just wipe out ground swarms and reset certain charge attacks. It's your only anti-air area damage, for one. Apart from damage from your Golem and Spirit martyrdom, Snowball is the only reliable way take out Bats and Minion Horde. With 1.5 tiles of knockback to send small troops reeling for about a half second on top of 2.5 seconds of 35% slowdown, it's the ultimate stalling spell.

But it's function doesn't stop at just defensive value. Many players, when faced with a Lumberloon push running at them, will place their ranged DPS unit beside their Tower so they can help take out both the Lumberjack and Balloon without being sliced to pieces by the incoming Lumberjack. Throwing a Snowball to hit both the Tower and ranged unit will slow them both down, and will often spell the difference between a Balloon connection and just death damage.

Barbarian Barrel - Your go-to for dealing with ground-based threats. Takes out swarms and can do a little tanking or kiting in a pinch. Great opening move to drop at the bridge, threatening more damage than a Fireball with two Barbarian swings. One Barbarian can also go to town on defense when you have nothing else, chipping in his sword against building targetters. Barbarian Barrel is also very important for countering Goblin Barrel, so remember to be a little more stingy with your Barrels when your opponent is carrying said card.

Barbarian Barrel's most important role is to assassinate support troops in a push. You need the little guy to take out the squishier ranged units in the back to allow safe placement of your Bats against the melee fighters in the front.

Ice Spirit - 1 second can make all the difference for cycle deck defenses, but if you think 1 second of freeze is all this little guy has to offer, you're dead wrong. Its frail little body can kite enemies briefly and can often tank a hit before pouncing on its target. Ice Spirit can mitigate damage from a variety of sources. There's so many unique interactions using Ice Spirit. However, all of his uses in this deck are the same as with most any deck, so you're better off finding a YouTube video to help you. (I'm also just lazy)

Tips[]

Putting an Ice Golem in front of a Musketeer leftover from a defense will forms a nice little counterpush that baits a response from your opponent.
Another strategy you can use for leftover Musketeers with full health is to wait for the Musketeer to just cross the bridge before dropping Bats behind her. Any melee troops played to counter the Musketeer will immediately receive a lot of damage from the Bats.
- This tactic is situational and should only be used when your opponent is using a ground-troop-heavy deck and never against opponents playing cycle decks or air-troop-heavy decks, as it can potentially waste your main damage sources.
Yet another strategy for leftover Musketeers is to try and stick an Ice Spirit in front of her. The Ice Spirit can tank enough hits to reach the tower and freeze it, potentially scoring two or three hits from a one-shot Musketeer that would otherwise get none.
Certain "lightly armored" cards can be eliminated unconventionally with two cards.
- Minions will die to Snowball + Spirit or Snowball + Golem death.
- Any combination of Barrel, Snowball and Spirit may take out cards killed by Arrows.
Depending on what Balloon counters your opponent has, it may be helpful to send in an Ice Spirit or Bats behind a Lumberloon push to assist in stalling or taking out defenses. Using a Musketeer leftover from defense in your push can also be helpful for gunning down counters.
If you place your Balloon on the furthest edge of the Arena, you can push it further to the side by dropping Bats on the the Balloon two tiles from the edge. This can help bypass not-quite centrally-placed buildings erected in such a position to prevent you from using the top corner bypass.
Leftover Ice Golems can be used to start a push behind.
Always kite away Lumberjack rush attacks with Ice Golem, so his rage can't be used with anything played behind him. This is especially important going up against another Lumberloon.
You generally shouldn't care about Lumberjack counters placed as part of a Lumberloon defense, unless it's a Loggable swarm.
Mix up your attacks frequently. Go for the opposite tower whenever the opportunity presents itself, even if there's a difference of half-health between the two. As with any cycle deck, splitting your opponent's elixir with constant aggression is the key to victory. Adversely, dogpiling your cards over the same bridge will end in defeat.
- If it's one tower down, you can still mix it up by deploying Lumberjack or Balloon in the pocket.
Getting rushed from the opposite lane immediately after defending a previous push? If there's a stray Musketeer hanging around, lure the rush attack into range of the Musketeer with an Ice Golem or Spirit so she can help pitch in with the damage.
For players at lower Arenas, try challenging yourself to make troops, running at your tower, take the longest amount of time possible before they might finally reach it, using only Log, Snowball, Spirit and Golem. It's a fun little exercise that will help you to better understand those cards' interactions with certain threats. It's also how you'll be performing defensive sequences when you get to higher levels, just with your other troops chipping damage unto the stalled cards.
Pay close attention to what troops your opponent might use to make a rush attack with, and be prepared whenever there's downtime to react quickly should they choose to drop it at the bridge. If they're carrying a rush card that targets anything, like Mini PEKKA or Elite Barbarians, hover over the center with an Ice Golem or Ice Spirit, ready to kite. If they have building rush troop like Hog Rider, hover a Lumberjack or Bats in front of the tower they're targetting in anticipation.
You'll almost always want to place your Musketeer in the center of your side of the arena, and almost never invest her behind the King Tower. There will occasionally be situations where investing her is the best option, or when placing her in the center will cause her to target the wrong card, but it's a good general rule of thumb. This is a good practice to help prevent opponents from gaining tower value with spells aimed at eliminating your Musketeer.
Switching lanes on your opponent is never out of the question. Given the speed at which you can take towers, opting to attack the side without the Wizard (or other ranged counter) if at least just to keep up pressure will always be preferable.
If you're feeling stylish, you can start a push behind an Ice Golem that already has a Giant Skeleton or PEKKA in tow. Be careful, as your opponent may use it to form a push behind. So only do it if the behemoth behind it is already being taken care of.
Sometimes attacking with just a Balloon is the best option. If your opponent only has expensive counters such as Wizard or Rocket, it might be better to spam Balloons to outcycle counters and save your elixir.

Working Against Balloon Counters[]

NOTE! This section has not been edited since The Log was exchanged for Barbarian Barrel. Some interactions may no longer be accurate.

Wizard, Musketeer, Zappies - Snowball them (along with the Tower whenever possible) to buy some extra seconds for your Balloon. You can also Log them if they're in range to stun them with knockback. Punish your opponent anytime they carelessly drop an aerial counter in the back.

Electro Wizard - Oftentimes dropped on top of the Balloon. If played alone, Lumberjack will take him out. If your opponent is smartly playing a Lumberjack counter before playing their Ewiz, try to utilize leftover Musketeers for your push, so she can pick an Ewiz a soon as possible. If that's not realistically possible, Ice Spirit to stun him and Bats or Ice Golem to distract. An Ewiz played near the Tower to give him more protection should be Snowballed like normal.

Dart Goblin, Rascals - Log. Snowball if out of range to stall.

Spear Goblins - Log or Snowball.

Minions, Minion Horde, Bats - Snowball them. If you're feeling stylish, send an Ice Spirit behind a Lumberloon to maim defensive Minions before removing them with a Snowball. Prediction Snowballs also work wonders against Minion Hordes.

Inferno Dragon - Snowball him. This knocks him out of the way and resets the charge. A Snowballed Inferno Dragon that was placed near the river will often be outrun by an enraged Balloon, completely bypassing him as a defensive threat.

Skeleton Dragons, Electro Dragon, Mega Minion - Snowball them out of the way. Stall them with Ice Spirit. Use leftover Musketeer to gun them down. Bats are also effective against Mega Minion.

Flying Machine - Stall it with Ice Spirit or Snowball. Send in Bats or utilize leftover Musketeers to take it out if they place it in front of the Tower. Snowball along with the Tower like you would a Musketeer if placed beside or behind the Tower.

Inferno Tower - Anticipate reactive placement of the Inferno by dropping Bats at the center of the river about a half second after your Lumberloon push. The Bats will get up in the Inferno's grill as a distraction long enough for the Balloon to arrive and eliminate it. If Bats aren't in hand, send an Ice Spirit behind the push to reset any accumulated charge.

Tesla - Use the bypass corner or a nudge from Bats to try and circumvent Teslas. If they start placing their Tesla in front of their tower, start stacking unit

Other Buildings - Attempt to bypass them. Send in Bats behind the push or at the river to dismantle the building quickly. Depending on the distance placed, Musketeer at the river may also work. Since an anti-bypass placement of buildings only works for one lane, don't be afraid to attack the other lane instead.

Hunter - His close-up damage can make him a threat against both your Lumberjack and Balloon if your opponent plays him expertly, but generally he'll be used against the Balloon only. Hunter is different from other sustained DPS ranged cards, since he wallops Balloons with heavy burst damage. He's also a fair bit tankier than other Balloon counters. Preventing him from getting a shot off is nigh on impossible, but using Ice Spirit's freeze or Snowball's knockback, you might be able to mitigate the damage a little by creating a bit more distance between him and your Balloon.

Rocket - Outcycle it, if possible.

Ram Rider - Her snare can temporarily halt a Lumberloon push, but she can't stop it completely on her own. She'll often charge on out of the scene before the job is finished, and from there you have Snowball, Log and Ice Spirit to counter her. She's also fairly pricy, so focus on spelling any cheap swarms played in conjunction with her in an attempt to damage down the ensnared cards. If your opponent is smart and plays her defensively similar to an Electro Wizard, start sending in Bats along with your pushes to hopefully distract her from snaring the Balloon.

Archers - Snowball the Archers if they're by the Tower. You could eliminate them with Log + Snowball, but that is a negative trade that expends both of you spells.

Two partial-counters make a full counter - There are several cards that deal only medium anti-air damage. Alone, they will not prevent a Balloon from reaching its destination, but can mitigate the damage one deals. However, any two of these will often be enough to stop a Balloon. Oftentimes this will be an overcommitment of elixir, but all of those troops might be used in a counterpush, so be wary. Even so, Snowball or Log these cards even when they're alone whenever the opportunity presents itself for some free Tower value and potentially an extra Balloon hit. Sending Bats in from behind or using a Musketeer can also be effective, since most of these cards will be distracted by the incoming Lumberloon threat. These cards include: Firecracker, Executioner, Baby Dragon, Magic Archer, Ice Wizard, Witch, Mother Witch, Princess, Spear Goblins.

Others - Ice Spirit, Fire Spirits, Giant Snowball, Tornado, Freeze, Fireball and Lightning all have significant stalling/stopping power against a Balloon, but won't be enough alone to counter it completely. They're also not really counterable.

Double-Tapping[]

Double-tapping is a strategy for spamming troops in an extremely short amount of time. The process allows you to select two troops and place them on the same square. Also, if the spammed troops occupy the same space (i.e. two air or two ground troops), they will spawn arranged with one in front and one behind every time. It is an incredibly useful skill to learn for any bridge spam strategy.

Using your main hand, drag the troop you want in the rear of the formation from your hand and hover it over the tile you want to spam on.
While hovering, use your other hand to tap the card of the troop you want in front. The card will pop up.
Release the troop you are hovering with and immediately tap the same tile again.

The result is both troops appearing nearly instantaneously with your first selection behind the second.

Substitutions[]

The Log (Barrel)- One slightly different card makes a world of difference for this deck's playstyle. Another versatile card for dealing general damage to ground-based pushes while knocking everything back 1 tile. Can also deal reliable chip damage to towers. Similar to Snowball, The Log can briefly stun carelessly-placed ground units targeting a Balloon with its knockback. Everything else you'd use Log for in this deck is just common Log knowledge.

This variation is MUCH easier to use, and is better suited for people outside of, or perhaps still very low in, Legendary Arena. Given how extremely similar these two cards are, it often depends on which you feel you can get to a higher level fast than the other. In fact, it is recommended you use The Log at lower levels.

Once you get to Legendary Arena, though, The Log simply isn't enough to stop stacked units from stomping towards your tower. You need that Barbarian to take out units like Wizards and Witches hiding behind tanks (if they're distracted, that is). Anyone at over 5000 Trophies should have the skill to make Barbarian Barrel work in all the same places as The Log.

Even the tower chip from Log; you don't need it. All you need are those definitive Balloon connections. You shouldn't be wasting your spells on Tower finishing, anyway. You need those for defense. Just focus on getting another Balloon to the tower. Death damage can finish it off otherwise. However, in a pinch, Snowball cycle can be used to finish a tower below 200 hp.

Heal Spirit (Spirit) - Very helpful offensively when spaced about a second behind a Lumberloon by healing the exposed Balloon and Lumberjack. Harder to defend with without Ice Spirit's one second freeze. Can support a defense by allowing your troops to last just a little longer, but can be rather difficult to pull off.

Heavily recommended to also substitute The Log with this variation to help stall and reset charge attacks from Princes and Rams in lieu of Ice Spirit. Very effective deck variant for the Sudden Death game mode.

Electro Spirit (Spirit) - Supports offensive pushes in a different way by clearing swarms like Bats and and Skeleton Army with ease. Also has different defensive uses than Ice Spirit with both its stun and chain abilities. He can better mitigate damage from Goblin Barrels and Skeleton Barrels in a pinch. Deals less damage and stuns for a shorter time, but can chain to a larger area.

Goblin Cage (Spirit or Ice Golem) - Less aggressive playstyle with a more robust defense. This is the only variant that can actually defend a Golem push.

Inferno Dragon (Bats) - A reliable tank-buster who can also be sufficient for dealing with the medium-health units you'd normally use Bats against. Given this deck's nature for stalling, he should have plenty of time to ramp up the damage.

Miner (Spirit) - Extremely aggressive variant stakes everything on Balloon connections and Miner chips. Can fully deny big pushes with constant attacks, but can just as easily crumble on defense. This variant has tons of options for units tanking for each other as they venture into enemy territory as part of a counterpush. Very effective in Sudden Death challenges.

Miner (Lumberjack) - See MinerLoon variant below.

Mega Minion (Bats) - If you're tired of your bats constantly being Zapped away or turned into Hogs, it might be time to switch to an air unit that's a little more sturdy. Mega Minion may not be as fast or as damaging or as cheap as Bats, but he gets the job done. What you get is a reliable flying troop that contributes damage and doesn't get immediately wrecked by spells.

Archers (Musketeer) - Actually quite good. From a damage standpoint there's not much of a difference. As a pair, they're even usable for kiting. However, they are a fair bit squishier, especially when it comes to spells. The main reason for using Musketeer is that she can't be immediately Fireballed. When rotating Archers into this deck, it's heavily recommended you also swap Bats for Mega Minion or Inferno Dragon so you have a damage source that isn't as vulnerable.

Zap (Snowball) - Similar to Giant Snowball but trades the slowdown and knockback for faster damage and guaranteed stun. Not a recommended substitution, but a valid temporary replacement if your Snowball isn't at a high enough level yet.

MinerLoon Variant[]

In the wake of a new meta including hard-hitters like Golem and Electro Giant along with grievances such as Royal Hogs and Mother Witch, all of which this deck struggles immensely against, a contemporary variant of the Balloon cycle deck has emerged, one that is more reliant on counterpushes than sheer aggression.

Replaces Lumberjack with Miner for a deck equally suited to both quick tower devastation and chip damage. Bomb Tower (Cannon, Cage and Tesla can work too) in place of Bats for a less vulnerable defensive option along with Skeletons subbing in for Ice Spirit to compensate for Bomb Tower's lack of single-target capabilities.

Matchups[]

A few of the scenarios you will face. Generally, you have good defense against medium-sized pushes, but only if you can micromanage each of the threats properly.

Other Users are welcome to ADD more information or matchups here.

Spell Bait (General)[]

Goblin Barrel or Skeleton Barrel, other spell-able troops like Goblins and Princess

Your deck boasts two small spells: Giant Snowball and Barbarian Barrel. Barrel outright crushes all Goblins from Goblin Barrel, and Snowball is still a valid counter, only allowing one hit from the Goblins so long as they aren't tanked for. If you have neither, Bats can help take out the Goblins. Ice Spirit and Ice Golem may also be used in an emergency to mitigate some of the damage without creating an elixir deficit. Musketeer and Lumberjack, too, are effective since they one-shot Goblins. Be a extremely stingy with your Barbarian Barrels and only use it to Goblin Barrels.

Skeleton Barrels are easy to spell down the Skeletons, but generally you want to avoid the chip damage and save those all-important spells whenever possible. Use Musketeer to pop it early whenever the situation allows the investment. The sooner a Skeleton Barrel goes down, the more time the Princess Tower has to pick off the Skeletons. Place Ice Spirit right when the Barrel is about to drop and he'll take out most of the Skeletons. Alternately, use Ice Spirit to stall the Barrel to prevent it from coming in range of the tower. Ice Golem can also soak up the spawned Skeletons. If it dies, it takes the skellies with it.

Be wary of the Princess, she'll be a nuisance against you Bats, and you often can't afford to use your Barrel on her. Use spells on her whenever other targets are near her. Balloon death no longer kills Loggables, Princess included, but a Snowball or Spirit can finish her off easily.

Detail: Classic Log Bait[]

Inferno Tower, Princess, Gob Barrel, Knight, Gob Gang, Log, Rocket, Ice Spirit

You have the cycle advantage and two small spell counters, as detailed above. Their only Balloon counters are Inferno Tower and Rocket, which are at best neutral exchanges.

Lumberjack will have a tough time dealing with both the Knight and Goblin Gang, so use him sparingly. Instead, focus on using a Golem or leftover Barbarian (do not waste your Barrel!) in front of the Balloon to tank. They're much cheaper options that will allow you to hopefully maintain an elixir advantage if they opt to Rocket your Balloons. This way, you can cycle back to another Balloon faster than their Rocket. Always drop in the bypass corner so they can't pull your Balloon that easily. Drop Balloons with Bats and/or Ice Spirit a bit behind to frazzle Infernos.

If the match drags on your opponent has opted to Rocket your Balloons at any given opportunity, start sending in Balloons alone without tanking support. This turns Rocket from an inefficient counter into a negative trade.

Lacking an anti-air small spell, this forces your opponent to play Princess defensively to counter Bats instead of dropping her in the attack position. DO NOT send a Barrel for Princess. Unfortunately, this means Princesses will have the annoying tendency to stack up during double or triple elixir. Don't fret, though. Just wait for them to inevitably walk towards the river before picking them off with Musketeer. No chips allowed.

Bridge Spam[]

PEKKA, Ewiz, Battle Ram, Poison, Zap, Bandit, Ghost or Dark Prince, Magic Archer or Minions

Decks of this archetype have notoriously low air defense. Given your faster cycle and use of a flying win condition, you should have the edge. That said, it's still got enough to stop your Balloon and beat you down if you play carelessly. The strategy is generally the same as with any ground-heavy deck: Use your Towers, Bats and Musketeers to damage down everything while using everything else at your disposal to keep the threats away from you Tower and Muskies for as long as possible.

Your Bats may have difficulty gaining value with Zap around, but you should be able to cycle around Zap enough to get some use from them. Keep playing them as often as possible, but don't rely on them too much for defense. Be stingy with your Ice Golems, as they play a pivotal role in kiting and tanking ground threats. Lumberjack will also play a mostly defensive role in this matchup by fighting Ghosts, Bandits and Rams head on, but will always be useful for counterpushes should he survive. PEKKA can (always) spell trouble if not dealt with properly. Make sure she is always chasing something. Ice Golem kites will be crucial for this, but Ice Spirit, Barbarian or Lumberjack may also suffice. While she's distracted, get some Bats or a Musketeer on the scene to help damage her down. Preferably Musketeer, since Bats can be Zapped away, and Poison will not stop a Musketeer from gaining value.

Offensively, you're aiming to stall or dismantle their two Balloon counters. Musketeer, Bats or Barbarian Barrel can help remove an Electro Wizard, while Snowball and Ice Spirit help slow down (or even kill) Minions / Magic Archer. Keep splitting the pressure by sending lone Balloons opposite lane, and stall Ewiz with Ice Spirit and/or Snowball to close the distance and get at least death damage.

Hog Cycle[]

Cannon, Ice Golem, Ice Spirit, Hog Rider, Log, Fireball, Musketeer

As with any building chaser, getting a Lumberjack to start chopping it down to size is usually the best option. He has higher damage than Musketeer and can't be spelled easily like Bats, and forms easy counterpushes. As such, use Lumberjacks directly on Hogs. Alone, he'll allow two hits. Add an Ice Spirit and it goes down to one. Investing a Musketeer near their chosen tower after one of your own pushes is near complete will threaten any incoming Hogs. Importantly, Classic Hog lacks a direct counter to Bats! Their only way to deal with them is Ice Golem and Ice Spirit. Piling Bats into any encounter is easy damage. Try not to rely too heavily on them for Hog countering. Often, they'll send a Hog with a Golem in the lead. Try to stick an Ice Golem of your own in front of the group to nudge them out of formation and disrupt any mischievous Ice Spirits sent behind them. While your Tower will target the Golem, Bats or a Lumberjack placed closer to the tower will hit the Hog as the Hog rushes past the Golem.

Your cycle is slightly slower and they have a building. Fortunately, Musketeer is their only real Balloon counter. Unfortunately, their Musketeers will be heavily guarded and generally unkillable until she panders over to your side of the arena. Combined firepower from Cannons, Towers and Musketeers along with cheap stalls from Spirits, Golems and Skeletons will stop invading Lumberjacks from touching their defensive Musketeers, but they're fair game once they come into Barrel range. Focus on maintaining dual-lane pressure while always placing in the bypass corner. You'll eliminate Cannons faster than they can place them, and any surviving Cannons won't interfere with the opposite lane during their lifetime. Snowball a Musketeer and the Tower together to slow them both down and buy your Balloon effectively an extra second. Cross-lane rushes of their own are easily met with Bats. This matchup usually ends 2-1. Whoever comes out the victor is up to you, of course.

X-Bow (General)[]

X-Bow, Tesla, Archers or Ice Wizard, Rocket or Fireball, Knight or Ice Golem, Log, Cycle cards, might have Tornado

This is always an incredibly difficult matchup. The game plan is to always answer X-Bows with Balloons and tank X-Bows with Ice Golem. Lumberjack is to be used as an emergency tank only. Stack Musketeers and Bats behind the Balloon to damage down Teslas, Ice Wizards and Knights (countered by Bats, played against Musketeer). Snowball Archers. Get a Barbarian in there. Aim to at least get death damage with every sequence while taking no damage in return. Also an option is to send in a Lumberjack after the Balloon, but this is risky and should only be done if you know their Knight / Golem is out of rotation. Keep up the pressure to avoid losing to spell chips.

More information needed, looking to the community for help.

Golem (General)[]

Golem, Night Witch, Lightning, usu. Mega Minion

Notoriously one-sided matchup. Since this deck relies heavily on stalling threats instead of directly countering them head on, it lacks any reliable and efficient damage sources necessary to deal with a Golem, much less whatever's behind it. The only chance you'll have is rushing the opposite lane HARD and racing for the 3-crown faster than them.

More information needed

LavaLoon[]

Lava Hound, Balloon, Minions, Mega Minion, Defensive swarm (Tombstone, Guards, Barbarians), Lightning

A daunting but possible matchup. Your best counter is simply prevention. If you fail to defeat them before double elixir, you are toast. When they invest Lava Hound, immediately push the other lane. The elixir they spend defending your Balloon will mean they can't stack a Balloon behind the Lava Hound in time. Even if they do, this means they absolutely cannot Lightning your Musketeer. The slow, methodically nature of a LavaLoon deck can be used against it by repeatedly spamming Bats and Musketeers at any given opportunity. Snowball works great for knocking either Minion types away from your Balloons.

Fireball Bait[]

Royal Hogs, Zappies, Flying Machine, Fireball, Barb Barrel, Mother Witch, 2 of the following: Gob Cage, Recruits, Mega Knight, Ebarbs, Barb Hut

They can't bait your big spell if you don't have one, right? No. That means you can't counter their fireballies. The Hogs are a nightmare for this deck since it lacks big area splash. They always get a lot of damage. And that's not even the worst of it. Flying Machine is also very bad for this deck. Specifically Flying Machine. All other Balloon counters are ground-based, swarm-based or easily shot down by Musketeer. But not Flying Machine, because it has range. The variant featuring Mother Witch has recently taken Ladder by storm. Mother Witch is the bane of Bats.

The result: Musketeer will never lock on to a Flying Machine fast enough as she'll be constantly dealing with medium-health swarms, Lumberjack can't kill Hogs fast enough and Bats get turned into Pigs. While FB Bait lacks the aerial damage necessary to fully stop a Balloon, the sheer aggression of its playstyle can cause your defense to crumble. This deck statistically loses to Fireball bait 9 times out of 10.

The best chance you'll have is to constantly split aggression between lanes whenever possible. Avoid letting them counterpush with a Flying Machine. And get Bats on the Hogs. This specific flavor of FB Bait lacks a direct answer to your Bats. Take advantage of this whenever they don't have Mother Witch in cycle. Be sure to take out Mother Witch before she can cause trouble for your Bats by dropping a Lumberjack on her. Don't be afraid to stick Musketeers directly under Flying Machines to ensure she lock onto it. Chances are you'll lose one tower in this matchup, but with good dual-lane pressure you can take two of theirs down before they can whittle your second tower out.

RG Fisherman[]

This matchup is nearly impossible. Firstly, they have BOTH Skeleton Dragons and Hunter for your Balloon, so you simply cannot spam balloons. Next, you can’t defeat their push (Royal Giant, Hunter, Fisherman, Skeleton Dragons). Hunter and fisherman will kill your Lumberjack and Musketeer, Skeleton Dragons will kill your bats. You WILL be 3 crowned. They can utilize counterpushing troops, so you cannot simply spam balloons. There is virtually no way to win unless you 3 crown them when they try to activate their King Tower.

History[]

2018

The Snow Balloons deck could be created from as early as Giant Snowball's release, which happened on 20/6/2018.

2019

On 5/8/2019, the Snow Balloons deck was featured in the Classic Decks.
On 7/10/2019, the Snow Balloons deck was removed from the Classic Decks.
On 4/11/2019, the Snow Balloons deck was featured in the Classic Decks.
On 2/12/2019, the Snow Balloons deck was removed from the Classic Decks.

2020

On 6/1/2020, the Snow Balloons deck was featured in the Classic Decks.
On 3/2/2020, the Snow Balloons deck was removed from the Classic Decks.
On 4/5/2020, the Snow Balloons deck was featured in the Classic Decks.
On 1/6/2020, the Snow Balloons deck was removed from the Classic Decks.

2023

On 2/10/2023, the Bats were allowed to evolve.
On 4/12/2023, the Ice Spirit was allowed to evolve.

2024

On 4/11/2024, the Musketeer was allowed to evolve.
On 2/12/2024, the Giant Snowball was allowed to evolve.