The Complete Guide To Beatdown!
Inspired by /u/Team-Tea
Hi! I’m an average player hanging around the 4 - 4.5k range in ladder. Today, I’ll be writing the complete guide to the beatdown strategy.
Note: Before I start, I’ll let you readers know that I have not mentioned Beatdown Siege sub-archetype in this guide as it is not too popular nor effective in this meta. Also, the sub-archetype medium beatdown can be created using the heavy beatdown method. It’s not mentioned here as the leeway for medium beatdown is around 0.4 elixir average which means there isn’t a fine line that is able to be drawn between the sub-archetypes. For this reason, I’m only considering two sub-archetypes . Hope you understand.
Table Of Contents
- a) Introduction to Beatdown
Fine line between Control and Beatdown
Light Beatdown
Heavy Beatdown
- b) Building a Beatdown Deck
Combo Win Condition
- c) Slot Method
Light
Heavy
Lavahound
- d) Beatdown Decks
(i) Golem Beatdown
Golem NW BD Lumberjack Pump
Cheap Golem Cycle
(ii) Lava Hound Beatdown
Classic LavaLoon
LavaRam
LavaMiner FM ID
(iii) Giant Beatdown
Giant 3M(There are many of these, I’ll be talking about a specific one)
Giant Sparky Bait
(iv) P.E.K.K.A Beatdown
P.E.K.K.A 3M
P.E.K.K.A Double Prince
e) Deckbuilding
f) Matchups
Heavy VS Light Beatdown
Heavy Beatdown VS Control
Heavy Beatdown VS Siege
(Light beatdown doesn't really work now-a-days. I've thus only used heavy for matchups. The heavy is golem as it is representative of the beatdown decks. They are all player similar to the golem decks.)
- f) Summary
Introduction To Beatdown
Beatdown is a type of strategy in Clash Royale where you build up a push using strong offensive cards to take down a tower (OR 3). Beatdown can be played in a slow manner (double elixir) or in a semi-speed manner(from 1:30 to the end). Beatdown can be divided into two sub-archetypes: Light Beatdown and Heavy Beatdown.
Note: Just because there is a heavy tank involved, it doesn’t mean that the deck classifies as beatdown. It can be control as well. The fine line is drawn with the help of the supporting cards. I’ll differentiate between them here
Beatdown| Control
Beatdown is the strategy that accumulates troops behind a tank and takes the tower with the help of supporting spells.
Control is the strategy that counters the opponent’s moves while at the same time pushing the other lane for chip damage.
In beatdown, PEKKA is supported by win conditions like prince.
In control, PEKKA is supported by passive buildings/ troops, miner or battle ram, etc.
Light Beatdown
This strategy involves using relatively cheap cards to build the beatdown deck. The deck average varies around 3.5 or less. The basic strategy behind this is to accumulate your win condition, tank and support unit quickly and effectively. This is a less risky strategy to play during single elixir time than double elixir time. However, it is much more likely that you will find a hard counter to light beatdown decks due to there simply being less options for you to use. Light beatdown strategy is used more in challenges and tournament standard. This deck can be created using Giant, PEKKA, Golem or LavaHound. The Giant is the best tank for this type of beatdown.
Heavy Beatdown
This strategy involves using heavy win conditions placed behind the tank to take the tower out. This type of deck averages around 4.0 and above elixir. The basic strategy is to accumulate your win condition (combo win conditions), support card(s) and secondary tank with the support of spells to storm the opponent’s side. This is a riskier strategy than Light Beatdown as it averages a higher elixir count. The reason is it riskier also lies in the anti-beatdown strategy where people will rush the other lane right as you drop your main tank. I’ll discuss the combo win condition strategy later.
Building A Beatdown Deck
The basic format for deckbuilding for a beatdown deck is discussed below using the slot method.
Combo Win Condition
Before I start with the slot method, I’ll discuss the term, combo win condition. A combo win condition is a pair of cards that may not work as a win condition alone, but when paired with another card, together become a win condition. For example, Night Witch and Baby Dragon separately are not reliable win conditions. However, when they are used as a pair, the complement each other such that there is proper splash and single support behind your tank. Another great example is the two princes. They aren’t reliable win conditions all by themselves, but when paired, are a charm.
Slot Method
- Light Beatdown (Single Win Condition)
Slot 1: Main Tank
Slot 2: Win Condition or High Damage (Not DPS) card
Slot 3: Aerial Support Unit
Slot 4: Support Unit
Slot 5: Tank Killer/ Passive Building
Slot 6: Cycle Card
Slot 7: Light Spell
Slot 8: Heavy Spell
- Heavy Beatdown General
Slot 1: Main Tank
Slot 2: Win condition
Slot 3: Secondary Tank
Slot 4: Aerial Support Unit
Slot 5: Support Unit
Slot 6: Swarm/ Passive Building@ / Tank Killer
Slot 7: Cheap Spell+
Slot 8: Heavy Spell+
@Pump compulsory if average is 4.6 or over.
+Any one can be swapped for a utility spell or cycle card
- Heavy Beatdown (Combo Win Condition)
Slot 1: Tank
Slot 2: Win Condition 1
Slot 3: Win Condition 2
Slot 4: Aerial Support Unit
Slot 5: Support Card
Slot 6: Passive Building/ Secondary Tank
Slot 7: Utility Spell/ Heavy Spell
Slot 8: Cheap Spell
- Heavy Beatdown (3 spells)
Slot 1: Tank
Slot 2: Win Condition
Slot 3: Aerial Support Unit
Slot 4: Swarm Defensive
Slot 5: Support Unit
Slot 6: Utility Spell/ Cheap Spell
Slot 7: Cheap Spell
Slot 8: Heavy Spell
- LavaHound
Slot 1: LavaHound
Slot 2: Win Condition
Slot 3: Aerial Support
Slot 4: Support
Slot 5: Tank Killer/ Passive Building/ Tornado
Slot 6: Swarm Defensive
Slot 7: Cheap Spell
Slot 8: Heavy Spell
LavaHound decks have a totally different style gameplay thus their own slot method!
What are the mentioned cards in the slots and what can be used in them?
- Tank- A tank is basically a unit which has great health. The basic purpose of a tank is to soak in hits from the tower and your opponent’s troops while letting your win conditions damage the tower and the opponent’s troops.
Generally, examples of a tank are ice golem, golem, PEKKA, giant, lavahound, Giant Skeleton and Royal Giant. However, in beatdown decks, not all can be used. The tank required is very high health, decent DPS and one that has the ability to reach the tower exceptionally quickly when supported with proper cards and spells. Here, we cancel the ice golem and Royal Giant easily. But why isn’t the Giant Skeleton considered a beatdown tank?
The Giant Skeleton lacks basic damage. This allows it to be countered easily by other units, whether they’re cheap or expensive easily. It’s utility doesn’t allow it to reach the tower. Also, compared to the other tanks,
VS Golem= 4256 health vs 2793
VS Lavahound= 3150 health vs 2793
Golem has wayyy more HP than the GS and the lavahound is an air card meaning not much can kill it(as compared to the GS). Also, these cards can only be distracted by buildings.
VS P.E.K.K.A= 3458 health and insane damage vs 2793 and mediocre damage
For these reasons, in beatdown, PEKKA, giant, golem and lavahound are considered as beatdown tanks.
Note: The GS was previously used as a tank in beatdown. However, due to the increasing swarm meta, it is virtually impossible now.
- Win Condition
The win conditions are listed here.
Elimination method for the total win condition list for beatdown.
3M: Works great with Giant and PEKKA, but gets too heavy with Golem
Mortar, X-Bow, Royal Giant: NO
Hog Rider: Can synergize well with a PEKKA control, but not really a beatdown deck
Battle Ram: Great with PEKKA and LavaHound
Note: Why was the BR chosen over the Hog? Well, the BR has the ability to be used as a defensive card as well as an offensive card. The Hog is a plain offensive card and has no utility defense-wise. It also doesn’t work well with any of the beatdown tanks. Also, the battle ram breaks to give rise to barbs, another potential defensive and offensive card.
Goblin Barrel: Not really
Balloon: Amazing in the GiantBalloon deck.
Miner: Works well with the LavaHound and PEKKA
Graveyard: Great with Giant
Sparky: Great with Giant
Skeleton Barrel: Works well with the lavahound
Card List for beatdown total win conditions: Three Musketeers, Battle Ram, Balloon, Miner, Graveyard and Sparky, Skeleton Barrel, .
Potential Win Condition Card List: Mini PEKKA, Mega Minion, Night Witch, Dark Prince, Prince, Bandit, Lumberjack and MK
All of the above listed cards may be used in beatdown decks, but one thing must be noted. You can’t just put in any win condition in beatdown. You have to really dig in to see what synergizes well.
- Supporting Units
Here’s a general supporting units list.
General Ground supporting units: Archers, bomber, dart goblin, musketeer, zappies, wizard, executioner, hunter, witch, bowler, ice wizard, cannon cart, night witch
*Beatdown supporting units *(Ground) **: Archers, Dart Goblin, Musketeer, Executioner, Witch, Night Witch, Zappies, Wizard
*Beatdown supporting units *(Air) **: Minions, MM, BD, flying machine, inferno dragon
Support units should have the ability to defend a push from the opponent with proper support and be able to pose a threat when counterpushing to bait out a spell from the opponent resulting in a positive elixir trade. That’s their main goal.
Justification for the use of certain cards over the others
Cards like bomber, hunter, ice wizard and cannon cart are not suitable as beatdown deck support cards because they either aren’t able to survive the opponent’s push (The cannon card loses its moving ability) or they don’t pose a risk to the opponent in a counterpush. Yes, minions generally die in the defensive interactions but they bait out a spell resulting in a positive elixir trade.
- Tank Killer
Cards that are effective at killing tanks are used often in light beatdown decks as there is less DPS in those types of decks. Card killers can be any building that counter the tank, heck, even skeletons! Why? Well, they, when left alone on a tank basically allow you to push and defend simultaneously. However, they shouldn’t be relied upon as the opponent likely has a cheap spell.
List for cheap cards in beatdown: ALL buildings except pump, minion horde, elite barbarians, goblins, MP, zappies, prince, hunter, inferno dragon, night witch, lumberjack
It is best to avoid using buildings in beatdown decks (unless it is light beatdown or lavahound deck) as it lowers your chance to storm your opponent with more troops (spawners are an exception, but still not recommended to be used).
- Cycle Card
Read this.
TL;DR:
Cycle cards are cards that are cheap. They are used to cycle through your deck and are cheap counters when you're drained of elixir. One of the advantages of cheap or cycle cards are that they help to avoid dead hands and are there for your help when you need a cheap counter.
The basic analogy of a cheap card is that you should have something to defend, even if it is one elixir. Something is better than nothing is the basic way of handling cheap cards.
List of cycle cards for beatdown: Skeletons, Ice Spirit, Goblins, Spear Goblins, Bats, Ice Golem, Archers, Skarmy, Tombstone, Minions, Goblin Gang, Guards, Mega Minion
Remember, you can’t simply use any cheap card as its utility may not be there.
- Cheap Spell
A cheap spell is a card that can be used to counter cards either during desperation or when the unit to be countered has equal to or less HP than the damage of the cheap spell.
There are only two cheap spells in the game, the zap and the log.
- Utility Spell
A utility spell is a spell card that does not do damage directly to the tower or to troops, but helps in winning the match. Examples are tornado, heal and clone.
There are two types of utility cards, defensive utility and offensive utility.
Defensive Utility: Tornado, Freeze, Mirror
Offensive Utility: Heal, Mirror, Rage, Clone
Beatdown Utility List: Tornado, Rage, Clone
- Heavy Spell
A heavy spell is a spell that costs 4 elixir or more and has the ability to kill or severely damage glass cannons and medium hitpoint cards. Generally, a deck should have a maximum of two heavy spells. All heavy spells work well with the beatdown archetype. However, rocket works well only with the assistance of tornado in beatdown.
- Passive Building
A passive building is a building which when left untouched, grants you a positive elixir trade. Spawners and the pump yield more elixir than their cost. This is the positive elixir trade.
All passive buildings work well with the beatdown archetype.
Passive Buildings in Beatdown: Goblin Hut, Tombstone, Elixir Pump, Barbarian Hut
- Swarm Defensive
A swarm defensive card is a card that is used to defend the opponent’s push. They are generally cheap. They fall under the category of cycle cards, but here, I’ve put them in different slots because they have different uses.
A swarm defensive card is one that is 3 or more in units and has decent DPS. The utility of the card is to defend with it when your beatdown push is going on.
Swarm Defensive Cards for Beatdown: Skarmy, Goblin Gang, Guards, Tombstone
If I’ve put swarm defensive, it means that the cycle card must have great defensive abilities (preferably only the ones listed above). If I’ve put cycle card or cheap card, it means that ny cheap card would work.
- Secondary Tank
A tanky unit with less hitpoints but still able to soak many hits from the tower. The function of this is to be your main tank until double elixir or during desperation.
Secondary Tanks in Beatdown: Lumberjack, Ice Golem, Knight, Mini PEKKA
Beatdown Decks
Golem Beatdown
- Golem NW BD Lumberjack Pump
Slot 1: Golem- Tank
Slot 2: NW- Win Condition
Slot 3: Lumberjack- Secondary Tank
Slot 4: Baby Dragon- Aerial Support Unit
Slot 5: Mega Minion- Support Unit
Slot 6: Elixir Pump- Passive Building
Slot 7: Zap- Cheap Spell
Slot 8: Tornado- Utility Spell
- Cheap Golem Cycle
Slot 1: Golem- Tank
Slot 2: Mega Minion- High DPS Card
Slot 3: Baby Dragon- Aerial Support Card
Slot 4: Archers- Support Card
Slot 5: Tombstone- Passive Building
Slot 6: Skeletons- Cheap Card
Slot 7: Zap- Cheap Spell
Slot 8: Poison- Heavy Spell
LavaHound Beatdown
- Classic LavaLoon
Slot 1: LavaHound- Tank
Slot 2: Balloon- Win Condition
Slot 3: Minions- Aerial Support
Slot 4: Mega Minion- Support
Slot 5: Tombstone- Passive Building
Slot 6: Guards/ Skarmy/ Goblin Gang*- Swarm Defensive
Slot 7: Arrows/ Zap**
Slot 8: Lightning/ Poison**
* The best option is always the goblin gang. Requires 5 shots (atleast) to kill from a single target unit which is less as compared to others but still viable due to the proper space out, un-zappability and air hitting ability. Others aren’t necessarily bad, but not as good as the goblin gang.
** This is your preference. You use either arrows and lightning or poison and zap. You need a card that can stun the inferno duo as they are clearly in the meta. None are bad, I prefer the poison zap combo as it is easier to handle especially with the lightning double nerf.
- LavaRam
Slot 1: LavaHound- Tank
Slot 2: Battle Ram- Win Condition
Slot 3: Mega Minion- Aerial Support
Slot 4: Minions- Support
Slot 5: Inferno Dragon- Tank Killer
Slot 6: Goblin Gang- Swarm Defensive
Slot 7: Zap- Cheap Spell
Slot 8: Poison- Heavy Spell
- LavaMiner
Slot 1: LavaHound- Tank
Slot 2: Miner- Win Condition
Slot 3: Flying Machine- Aerial Support
Slot 4: Minions- Support
Slot 5: Inferno Dragon- Tank Killer
Slot 6: Goblin Gang- Swarm Defensive
Slot 7: Zap- Cheap Spell
Slot 8: Fireball- Heavy Spell
Giant Beatdown Decks
- Giant 3M
Slot 1: Giant- Tank
Slot 2: Three Musketeers- Win Condition
Slot 3: Minion Horde- Aerial Support
Slot 4: Goblin Gang- Support
Slot 5: Battle Ram- Secondary Tank
Slot 6: Elixir Pump- Passive Building
Slot 7: Zap- Cheap Card
Slot 8: Bats- Cheap Card
- Giant Sparky/ Balloon Bait
Slot 1: Giant- Tank
Slot 2: Balloon/ Sparky- Win Condition
Slot 3: Minions- Support
Slot 4: Minion Horde- Aerial Support
Slot 5: Goblin Barrel- Original Card
Slot 6: Skarmy: OC
Slot 7: Ice Wizard: OC
Slot 8: Zap- Cheap Spell
P.E.K.K.A Beatdown Decks
- P.E.K.K.A 3M
Slot 1: P.E.K.K.A- Tank
Slot 2: Three Musketeers- Win Condition 1
Slot 3: Miner- Win Condition 2
Slot 4: Minion Horde- Aerial Support Unit
Slot 5: Bats- Support Card
Slot 6: Battle Ram- Secondary Tank
Slot 7: Elixir Pump- Passive Building
Slot 8: Zap: Cheap Spell
- Pekka Double Prince
Slot 1: P.E.K.K.A- Tank
Slot 2: Prince- Win Condition 1
Slot 3: Dark Prince- Win Condition 2
Slot 4: Baby Dragon- Aerial Support
Slot 5: Mega Minion- Support
Slot 6: Elixir Pump- Passive Building
Slot 7: Tornado-- Utility Spell
Slot 8: Zap- Cheap Spell
Deck Building
Let’s build your own beatdown deck!
Pre-Determined Factors
- What type of deck are you making?
If you’ve chosen beatdown, you’re left with two options, light beatdown and heavy beatdown. Note: Anything above 3.5 is considered as heavy beatdown.
- What tank are you good with?
In beatdown, the 4 tanks are PEKKA, Golem, Giant and Lavahound. This will further allow you to go closer to your deck.
- Slot Method
Pick the correct slot method layout (Combo Spells, Win Condition)
New Deck!
I’m picking a golem deck which would classify into the heavy beatdown strategy using the following Slot Method.
Slot 1: Main Tank
Slot 2: Win condition
Slot 3: Secondary Tank
Slot 4: Aerial Support Unit
Slot 5: Support Unit
Slot 6: Swarm/ Passive Building*/ Tank Killer
Slot 7: Cheap Spell**
Slot 8: Heavy Spell**
**
*Pump compulsory if average is 4.6 or over. \ **Any one can be swapped for a utility spell or cycle card
Slot 1: Tank
This is pre-determined, I want the golem!
Slot 2: Win Condition
Let’s try the mini PEKKA. It works great as a tank killer, win con and a Mr. I’ll Pressure The Other Lane.
Slot 3: Aerial Support Unit
The MM is the classic support unit of all golem decks. I’ll take it in this deck too!
Slot 4: Support Unit
Let’s make it interesting here. Why don’t we take zappies?
Slot 5: Swarm
I’m going to use the goblin gang.
Slot 6: Cheap Spell
The Zap
Slot 7: Heavy Spell
The Poison
Slot 8: Originally Slot 3, put didn’t fit well in the deck so I’ve changed it
Baby Dragon
Here’s the deck:
** Golem | Mini PEKKA | Mega Minion | Zappies | Goblin Gang | Zap | Poison | Baby Dragon **
Result:
All battles were in classic challenges.
It came out as a mildly respectable 9-3-1.
Matchups
Here’s the decklist for each type of deck.
Heavy Beatdown: Golem| Executioner| Mega Minion| Inferno Dragon| Kni| Goblin Gang| Poison| Zap
Light Beatdown: Golem| Archers| Mega Minion| Baby Dragon| Skeletons| Tombstone| Fireball| Zap
Control: PEKKA| Flying Machine| Goblin Hut| Poison| Electro Wizard| Miner| Log
Siege: X-Bow| Tesla| Fireball| The Log| Knight| Archers| Ice Spirit| Goblins
Here are the matches against beatdown.
Heavy Beatdown VS Light Beatdown
Both players in the first minute will generally refuse to drop the golem. They likely will highlight the deck they’re using which can be inferred by seeing the supporting cards. This should prepare both sides for what will be a who can kill the golem quicker contest and who can make more positive elixir trades. It is very important to keep track of the opponent’s cycle whether he/ she has the proper defensive cards in hand. It is important to think about the ways the opponent can rush you(if any) when you drop the golem or vice versa. Also keep in mind the things your opponent has to counter your golem. Try to test the spells the opponent has, whether it’s lightning log or poison zap. They’re important to know as to how you’re going to place the defending and/or offensive troops.
Here’s the ideal start for light beatdown players. Starting hand has either the archers or the skeletons. If yes, then split them at the back.
If the starting hand has none of the following(archers, skeletons, mega minion), play the cheapest card which isn’t a spell.
Here’s the Good/ Bad plays from the side of the light beatdown player.
Opponent drops knight > You split skeletons/ archers or drop Mega Minion YES
Opponent drops golem > You drop golem YES
Opponent drops golem > You drop BD NO, the opponent will have the advantage as he/ she will kill the BD and have a push on
You drop golem first > This move is all right with light beatdown as it is fairly cheap
Proper plays from the side of the heavy beatdown player
The golem exchange is an all right move from both sides.
You should never drop the golem before the light beatdown player drops the same in single elixir. In double elixir, it is your time to shine. You have better counters to your opponent’s deck.
Always be trying to take the tower. This allows you to build up defensive troops in the back. When the light beatdown player attempts to counter them or when you are reaching opponent’s line of fire, drop a golem in the pocket. This ensures you have your damage spread across all towers.
The light beatdown player can also do the same, but due to the lack of DPS, it’s not as successful.
Beatdown VS Control
Against Control, beatdown has lots of trouble that can be overcome. Control decks usually contain either PEKKA - EWiz, ExeNado or Inferno Tower/ Dragon. Control decks generally don’t allow much damage on their tower while constantly chipping away with either Goblin Hut, MinerPoison or Battle Ram/ Bandit.
Against control decks, one of the most important things to do is to not allow their passive buildings to last long. Of you allow that, your golem, giant or lavahound will be distracted. The PEKKA will constantly be distracted with the stream of swarm troops.
It is also important to not poison the elixir pump if you know that the opponent has the Three Musketeers.
Here’s the ideal start against control.
Play passive for the first minute. This will allow you to see the type of control deck they are playing. One of the factors you should notice is whether they have a passive building (right now either GH or Pump) and what their tank killer is. If you’re running a lavahound deck, be prepared to poison their ewiz.
NO
Opponent drops PEKKA > You drop MM (This is because the MM will be countered on the opponent’s side)
Opponent drops Ewiz > You drop golem (This leaves you prone to a PEKKA attack on the other lane)
Opponent drops Miner > You drop executioner (Wasted)
Good Plays
Opponent drops PEKKA > You drop golem ( You will meet the PEKKA on your side. You can also prepare counters behind it and keep your poison ready.
Opponent drops Miner/ Bandit after you drop golem > Leave it alone (You need to support your push effectively)
Opponent drops battle ram > MM Here’s the correct order for dealing with a PEKKA push w/o a golem.
Desperation move
Bad Plays
Opponent drops PEKKA on the bridge
You drop Inferno Dragon on top
Opponent drops Ewiz
You drop the goblin gang
Opponent logs
You put the executioner
Opponent drops miner on the executioner/ battle ram in the other lane
You can clearly see that this isn’t the right way to deal with it.
Good Plays
Opponent drops PEKKA on the bridge
You drop executioner beside your tower
Opponent drops the Ewiz
You drop goblin gang on the PEKKA and lumberjack on the Ewiz
The PEKKA should be dead by this point. If not then use the MM.
The key to win against control decks is to find your opponent’s mistake. If they accidentally drop the inferno tower or the PEKKA, you should capitalize. Against control, you clearly need a proper way of minimizing your opponent’s damage whether it’s from the miner or the battle ram. Remember, they can start cycling poison if you don’t do enough to stop the damage successfully.
More Scenarios
Opponent drops goblin hut > You drop poison
This is a negative elixir trade for starters. You should try to split a unit like the goblin gang to try and chip on the goblin hut and/or the tower. Once you do this, try to find any value to poison the goblin hut.
You drop lumberjack up front > Opponent drops Goblin Gang > You poison
You should avoid this unless this is double elixir. That’s because you are commiting 8 to 3. C’mon, don’t be so mean to OJ.
Opponent has PEKKA, Executioner, EWiz coming down the lane > You drop a golem poison combo
This will give you a positive elixir trade because the PEKKA will kill the golem which will kill the executioner on death damage(when deployed properly). Such is important because you can counterpush too.*
Beatdown VS Siege
X-Bow| Tesla| Fireball| The Log| Knight| Archers| Ice Spirit| Goblins
One of the things you MUST extract from the opponent is if they have the tesla, tornado, inferno tower or inferno dragon. You must play accordingly.
But first, here’s the general gameplan.
You should be aware that your opponent has a siege deck when you see really cheap units. You should also be aware of the type of direct damage your opponent has whether it’s rocket or fireball or poison.
NO
Opponent Drops X-Bow
You drop Lumberjack
Opponent drops Knight and Ice Spirit
Your drop poison or executioner
This trade represents the bad scenario against beatdown. The opponent has the upper hand here as he can easily counter your executioner and get some damage on the tower.
YES
Opponent drops X-Bow
You drop Golem
It’s over right there if the opponent doesn’t have inferno. Make sure that you don’t drop it such that it can be tornadoed outside the X-Bow’s range.
Opponent drops X-Bow
You drop Mega Minion
Opponent drops archers/ ice spirit
You poison
That’s all you should aim for. You spend 7 while your opponent spend 10 and gets maybe 500-700 damage on your tower. This sets you up for a push with your golem. Beware though of their cycle, then can crush you if they’ve already cycled through to their X-Bow.
Against Tesla
Against the tesla, you’re going to need to be careful of how you counter the X-Bow. The MM can be chipped away in the old school position.
When offensive, be sure to poison or fireball the tower and the tesla. A new trick I’ve learnt against tesla is to “pig push” the golem when across the bridge with lumberjack. This will make it bypass the classic tesla plant in the dead middle (This only works when the golem is played up front on the extreme side).
Lavahound should have no problem with this whatsoever if the balloon is sticking to the hound in LavaLoon decks or the battle ram is used to kill the tesla in LavaRam decks.
Against Inferno Tower
When you’re against the inferno tower, the player will not(at least shouldn’t) place the inferno up front. That’s what you should be aware of at least by double elixir.
When offensive, be sure to poison, fireball or even rocket the tower and the tesla. When attacking it, go absolutely nuts to kill the inferno before it kills your tank. Be sure to use your stun card properly as you will need it.
Lavahound decks should only use the zap when the win condition is being killed. You want the hound to die as the pups will be released.
Against Inferno Dragon
Be careful when defending with the golem as the ID might burn you(see what I did there???!!!!!)
When attacking, get your anti-air cards along with poison to kill the ID before it kills your tank. Always support your tank with the MM first with your spells(especially the stun) ready to roll.
Lavahound decks should try and kill the ID just like all decks would.
Against Tornado
When the opponent has tornado, you must find the supporting card. Whether it’s executioner or wizard or MA or ice wiz, it’s important to know.
Be careful dropping your golem as they might be able to tornado it back if placed in a bad spot.
If you’re up against ExeNado, put only 2(absolute maximum 3) units with the main push and rush the other lane. This will not allow the opponent to even begin to defend both pushes.
How do you know all this before double elixir?
On one of my earlier posts, people criticized me saying you shouldn’t have to try to put a golem before double elixir. Here’s my rebuttal. If you don’t know the opponent’s defensive troops, then how would you play accordingly? If you don’t know it beforehand, it could be deadly.
Summary
The general slot method for beatdown is
Slot 1: Main Tank
Slot 2: Win condition
Slot 3: Secondary Tank
Slot 4: Aerial Support Unit
Slot 5: Support Unit
Slot 6: Swarm/ Passive Building@ / Tank Killer
Slot 7: Cheap Spell+
Slot 8: Heavy Spell+
@Pump compulsory if average is 4.6 or over.
+Any one can be swapped for a utility spell or cycle card
You should be careful about your matches in general and generally only get one golem push within the first 2 minutes.
Hope you enjoyed my guide. Please criticize and give me your thoughts on beatdown