Giant

“Slow but durable, only attacks buildings. A real one-man wrecking crew!”

The Giant card is unlocked from the Training Camp (Tutorial). He is a building-targeting, melee troop with high hitpoints and moderate damage. A Giant card costs 5 Elixir to deploy. He wears a large, brown coat made of cloth and has ginger sideburns and bushy eyebrows with blue eyes.

Strategy

The Giant is effectively used as a shield for other troops. He can soak up the damage of enemy troops while other supporting units behind the Giant deal damage to them.
- Dealing with an opposing Giant that is paired with a support troop can be difficult. The player must wait for the troop(s) to cross the river, then counter them with an appropriate counter. They must not forget to deal with the Giant right after, or distract him with a building to give their Crown Towers more time to take him out.
- Keep in mind that being at 10 Elixir will stop Elixir production and can give the enemy a strong Elixir advantage.
A good way to counter the Giant is by using high damage troops like the Mini P.E.K.K.A. or the Prince, or by using swarms of troops that output a large DPS like the Skeleton Army or Minion Horde. If the support troop behind the Giant has low hitpoints, the player can use Arrows to eliminate them, and then deploy any of the aforementioned cards.
The Witch is a very good way to counter the Giant. While her damage is very low, she continuously spawns Skeletons that can build up to enormous strength and can hit everything behind the Giant with her splash. They can then be used in a counterpush, especially if paired with other troops such as another Giant or a Golem.
The Giant costs only 5 Elixir, which is very cheap for a tank. The player should use this to their advantage by using the remaining 5 Elixir after dropping a Giant to build a powerful push with their Giant or prepare for an enemy attack.
One of the most effective counters to the Giant is the Inferno Tower, which can eliminate a Giant in seconds.
- When using the Inferno Tower, the player must first destroy small troops surrounding the Giant, as they will distract the Inferno Tower. Also, they must be careful of Zap, Ice Spirit, Freeze, and Lightning as they can reset the Inferno Tower's damage. These cards can also make it re-target something else.
- If your opponent has placed an Inferno Tower in a location where your Giant cannot reach it without being incinerated, a Dart Goblin is best used to take it out, as its range is slightly longer than the Inferno Tower's range, meaning the Dart Goblin will be able to attack it safely. Another riskier way to deal with it is to drop a Skeleton Army. The sheer amount of Skeletons will kill the Inferno Tower in seconds, but can be killed very easily.
- A good alternative to the Inferno Tower is the Inferno Dragon. The Inferno Dragon costs less Elixir than the Inferno Tower and can be used in a counterpush. If an Inferno Dragon is used instead of a Tower, make sure to use the above strategies anyway while keeping in mind that the Dragon flies and can attack Towers.
A very strong strategy is a Giant-Balloon combo. Although it costs a heavy 10 Elixir, it is hard to defend and can catch the opponent off-guard, especially if they start a push in the other lane.
- It is most effective to play the Balloon on the outside of the bridge to let the Balloon bypass some defences.
- An Inferno Tower/Dragon + Zap combo is enough to defeat this attack.
- The Minions, Minion Horde, and Mega Minion cards can decimate this push. However, if doing so, be careful about the enemy using cards like Arrows or Fireball to counter cards mentioned above. Also, the Balloon's death damage may eliminate your Minions, so be prepared with another card.
An overlooked Giant attacking a Crown Tower can easily take it down on his own, so never ignore an offensive Giant.
A Sparky + Tornado combo is a very good answer to the Giant and anything that may be behind one. Wait until the enemy drops a Zap, Lightning or Electro Wizard, and once the Sparky has charged up two rings, use the Tornado to pull everything into one spot so that Sparky can obliterate it all.
If a win is impossible, a defensive Giant can stall for time in Overtime until the match ends.
The Giant can be easily distracted by placing a building in the centre, such as the Tombstone, as it allows both Princess Towers to attack the Giant. Using a Tombstone is very useful, since once it's destroyed, the Skeletons spawned will aid in eliminating the Giant.
A Giant can be used to protect troops from spawners, like Spear Goblins from the Goblin Hut, allowing them to build up into a powerful strike force.
A P.E.K.K.A. is a quick and easy answer to the Giant. She will kill the Giant for a negative Elixir trade, but she can then be used for a counter-attack.
When a Crown Tower starts targeting a Giant, it will not switch targets until the Giant is dead or the Tower stunned. This means using a Goblin Barrel when the Crown Tower is focused on a Giant can be very effective, as the Giant's large amount of hitpoints will allow the Goblins to deal immense damage.
- This can be easily countered with a Skeleton Army placed behind the Tower. The Skeletons will split up and take out all three Goblins. Even if the enemy uses a spell on the Skeleton Army, the Goblins will be dead.
Placing a Prince behind a Giant is a good idea since the Prince's charge speed will speed up the Giant. Remember to support them with a troop or spell that does air targeting splash damage, as both the Prince and the Giant are weak against swarms of troops and air troops.
Countering a spawner with a Giant is not a very good idea, as he will let the troops build up into a strong push. Support the Giant with area damage troops, such as a Valkyrie, Wizard or Princess to eliminate these spawned troops.
- The Giant, however, can counter the Furnace since its spawned Fire Spirits will die when they attack the Giant.
The Giant has the second best health-to-cost ratio out of any units, second only to the Golem plus its Golemites.
If the player has nothing else to defend with, a Giant can counter a Giant Skeleton that has reached the Tower. Deploying the Giant in front of the Crown Tower pushes the Giant Skeleton, thus causing it to retarget, and since it is slow, it will lure the Giant Skeleton away from the tower, taking away with it the enormous death damage that the Giant Skeleton can deal.
If the player only has fragile cards to counter splash units, they can use the Giant to tank and distract the splash unit and then quick-drop the card directly behind the splash unit. If the unit in question is a Dark Prince or Valkyrie, use an air troop like Minions, as they both can attack in a 360° radius.
Whenever a Giant is deployed in the very back, a player must prepare for a very big push such as a Sparky behind a Giant accompanied with a splash unit such as a Wizard. A good idea is to get the opponent to use Elixir by pushing on the other lane. However much Elixir the opponent uses to counter this push is how much Elixir is denied from their Giant push.

History

The Giant was added with Clash Royale's soft launch on 4/1/16.
On 9/2/16, the Chest Rewards & Card Balance Update increased the Giant's hitpoints by 5%.
On 23/3/16, a Balance Update increased the Giant's damage by 5%.
On 19/9/16, a Balance Update decreased the Giant's damage by 5%.
On 20/10/16, a Balance Update decreased the Giant's hitpoints by 5%.

Trivia

The Giant and his targeting system are similar to those of his counterpart in Clash of Clans.
- The Giant's patch on his right shoulder is the same as the Level 1 Giant in Clash of Clans.
- However, he attacks all buildings, not just defences. For example, he will willingly attack a spawner like the Goblin Hut over a defence like a Cannon if it's closer.
The Clash Royale player Jason won the Helsinki tournament undefeated, using a deck based on the Giant.
The Giant's past four balance changes have resulted in him having the same stats as he did when Clash Royale soft launched.
He is one of the eleven cards who are cheered for by the audience upon spawning and booed when killed, the others include Sparky, Giant Skeleton, P.E.K.K.A., Electro Wizard, Night Witch, Bowler, Inferno Dragon, Golem, Lava Hound, and Royal Giant.